Vision and the Scarlet Witch #12

The second, and so far final, miniseries starring the android Vision and the mutant Scarlet Witch, comes to a close. Wanda finally gives birth to her miracle child. But there's a twist! It's twins!

It's a total family affair in this extra-large finale. Vision's spiritual brother Simon Williams- AKA Wonder Man, is on hand for the joyous occasion. So is recently resurrected from the dead evil brother, the Grim Reaper. Plus, there's the zombified body of the real Simon Williams, who for some reason is decked out like Rambo with the arsenal to boot! Oh, and we can't forget grandpa Magneto, who was recently revealed to be the real father of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. 

There's essentially 2 stories going on here. Vision is with Wanda, whose delivery has taken some tricky turns. Meanwhile, on the streets below, Wonder Man and Magneto have teamed up to stop the Grim Reaper and the Simon Williams zombie, who are trying to enter the hospital to kill the expectant parents. 

This issue has got to be the most underrated or understated appearance of Doctor Strange in a comic book. The Scarlet Witch chose him to be her OB-GYN. There's not a single act of magic conducted by the Sorcerer Supreme. Unless you consider delivering twins to be magical. Otherwise, the presence of Stephen Strange just seems unnecessary here. 

Though this issue doesn't take place on Mother's Day, I feel like the holiday theme was at play here. Wanda does give birth in the month of May. And you can't get much more motherly than giving birth. So I guess this issue counts as a Mother's Day issue. Though probably only by technicality.

This was an enjoyable series. Having the holiday themed issues, which except for the Thanksgiving issue, was unexpected by me, was a delight. Steve Englehart crafted a fun maxi-series and having completed it now makes me want to watch WandaVision. Sadly, I know the truth about Wanda's children and I am more than aware of the tragedies that befall the Marvel Universe as a part of that eventual revelation. Avengers: Disassembled and House of M both have their origins here. Required Marvel reading. I just wish things would have ended positively for the starred married couple.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2

In West Coast Avengers #2, Ultron kidnapped his 'father', Dr. Hank Pym. Then as the Scarlet Witch joined up with the Avengers of the Pacific in their quinjet, Ultron unleashed an assault on the plane and it's going down!

Now in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2, as the plane is crashing, Hawkeye is contacted by his wife, Mockingbird who has been away from the team, assisting SHIELD in a mission. This is fortuitous because when Grim Reaper's minions kidnap the crash's survivors, it's Mockingbird who saves the day.

Look, this book is over 30 years old. If you haven't read it now, you're probably not going to read it later. Although, if you're wanting to read the inspirations behind Disney+'s WandaVision, maybe you will read this book. Don't worry, I've not really spoiled anything. If anything, the big revelations that could spoil this issue involve Vision, Wonder Man and Grim Reaper. Let's just say that what transpires explains a lot of the villain's motives and why Simon Williams went from being Baron Zemo's lackey to an Avenger. However, I think in the past 30 years of Avengers stories, what happens to the trio has been retconned and distorted to the point that any spoiler I were to reveal wouldn't have any long-term repercussions to your knowledge of this corner of the Marvel universe.

A bit of a mess. Steve Englehart does manage to keep me from being lost in the material that was covered in the West Coast Avengers issue I've not read. Nor own. A lot of the action on the Quinjet seemed unnecessary. It's almost like Englehart needed to add that scene as filler in order for this issue of Vision and the Scarlet Witch to meet minimum page count requirements.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1

The second miniseries to star Vision and the Scarlet Witch begins with quite a few changes. What do you expect? 3 years have elapsed since then. Here's a small rundown of important things that have some impact of the current plot:

• The American Government has decreed that there are too many Avengers. The team has been trimmed down to 7 members with Hawkeye and Iron Man going to California to start the West Coast Avengers. 
• Since revealing that he is the father of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Magneto has pledged to repent of his past sins against humanity and is currently on trial for his past crimes as the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants.
• Ultron, acting through a super-computer, turned Vision temporarily evil. Just inches away from taking over the world, the Avenger reclaimed his synthetic humanity and is awaiting being cleared of any dark influences on him...

Issue #1 opens with Wanda and Vision quitting the Avengers due to how Vision has been held by the government without due process. But the heroes' freedom is short-lived when the biological brother of Simon Williams, the Grim Reaper, sends an army of zombies to capture Vision and Scarlet Witch. Meanwhile on the West Coast, Ultron has tracked down Wonder Woman and kidnapped him, leading Hawkeye and his team on a search for their missing comrade.

One of my greatest pet peeves about comic books takes place at the closure of this issue. It ended on a cliffhanger. But instead of being resolved by reading issue #2 of this mini, you have to read issue #2 of West Coast Avengers. Normally, I would have held off on reading any further. But I really want to get to a certain issue of this series before Turkey Day. As I've been waiting almost all year to read these books, I said 'screw it' and went on ahead to the next issue. 

If you are someone who has to have all the correlating issues in your possession before reading the whole story, take note. Otherwise, trust that the team of Steve Englehart and Richard Powell will keep readers abreast of what was missed out if you decide like me to forgo reading West Coast Avengers #2 first.

Worth Consuming! -but losing points for the cliffhanger pet peeve.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #3

While an attack on the life of Nuklo resulted in the mutant being cured of his radioactivity, the results of last issue's battle have let the family of Wanda Maximoff and the Vision in tatters. Robert Frank, the Whizzer, is dead while Vision is left mangled, minus an arm and in a sort of coma. As the Vision's brain patterns were taken from that of Wonder Man, the Hollywood Avenger is called to the Big Apple to help restore the synthezoid hero's mind.

This was a trippy issue as the majority of the story takes place in the mind of the Vision. The level of action is upped by the addition of the Grim Reaper who blames both Viz and Wonder Man for the death of Simon Williams, which confuses me because I thought Wonder Man was Simon Williams. Internally, both Vision and Wonder Man must battle Ultron, as a small part of the Vision's creator still lingers in the Avenger's brain and has been trying to kill him ever since the hero rejected the influence of his creator!

I've figured out the theme of this miniseries. It's family and its many facets on people. Family sometimes is who you are born into. Other times, family is who you care about the most. It's that latter version of family that is sometimes the closest and the most meaniful. 

Being that so much of this story is based on symbolism and the exploration of the deepest recesses of the psyche, this is the kind of tale that my wife would be a fan of. As for me, it's just a little too metaphysical. Not the worst story. Just not my taste.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Bill & Ted Are Doomed

One of the positive highlights of the lockdown caused by the pandemic of 2020 was getting to watch the film Bill & Ted Face the Music. My bride and I got to watch it On Demand and for a couple of brief hours, we got to forget about the world outside that was supposedly going all to heck 

2020's Bill & Ted Are Doomed is a prequel series to Bill & Ted Face the Music. Set about 8-10 years before the events of the threequel, Bill & Ted are in a rut. Stymied by the pressure of writing the song that will usher in an era of world peace, the guys have allowed their music career to slump. Wyld Stallyns are considered Mild Stallions by the music loving community and it's putting a strain on the lives of Bill and Ted.

Along with relationship woes with their princess brides, bass playing Grim Reaper is ready to quit the band and the guys are completely broke. This stagnant period of the boys' career is having drastic effects on the time stream. Without the song, not only is the future promise of international peace threatened, but so is the fabric of the entire multiverse! Hopefully, the guys can put things right with a World Tour!

Original Marvel Comics series writer Evan Dorkin returns to craft this 4-issue miniseries that gets readers and potential movie goers up to date on what's happened to Bill and Ted since we last saw them in in 1991's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Unfortunately, life got in the way with this plan. 

Bill & Ted Face the Music debuted in August, 2020. That's exactly when issue #1 hit store shelves. That's actually about 6 months later than Dark Horse Comics originally planned to release these books. It was late March to early April when the comic book industry as a collective whole shut down new releases. Remember, a lockdown was in place and a lot of non-essential stores were forced to close. Even though I consider them essential, local, state and federal government branches didn't consider comic book stores to be all that necessary. Hence the delay.

I enjoyed this book. It captured the franchise very well. Okay, maybe too well. The ridiculously verbose talk of Bill and Ted got a little bit annoying at the end. But I loved the silliness of the whole thing and Death's banter and annoyance at everybody was just perfect. And all those Easter eggs of things to come in Face the Music! So fun!

 If you are familiar with Evan Dorkin's original Bill and Ted run or his magnum opus Milk and Cheese, then you know that he's a master of madcap mayhem. However, I feel like Dorkin was trying to stuff 5 pounds of story into a 4 pound container. 

Characters that aren't even in the threequel are given a lot of unneeded extra attention. Plus there's one scene in which the symbiotic duo Station are looking sadly at the night sky that just doesn't go anywhere. I felt sad for Station, figuring that they miss their home world. Yet, they don't return there. I probably would have blown this minor scene off had Evan Dorkin not included a sketch of it in the artist notes in the back of the book. But with it's conclusion, I sure did feel bummed that Station doesn't get a happy ending. 

While it was great to get more insight into the progression of Bill and Ted from their bogus journey to their third adventure, this miniseries was a tad uneven and at times over the top to a point of discomfort.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.