Avengers #58 (1968)
By Roy Thomas, John Buscema, George Klein
Background: Despite being largely unaware of his own history, Vision has rebelled against Ultron and sided with the Avengers. The current Avengers roster is Black Panther, Wasp, Goliath and Hawkeye.
So, What Happens? Captain America, Thor and Iron Man briefly return to the Avengers to discuss what to do with the Vision, who wishes to join the team. Cap stages a short fight so that Vision can prove his powers, and the synthozoid is so impressive that it takes Thor to bring him down. Despite his obvious usefulness, the Avengers are wary because too much is not known about the origin of the Vision, whose only memories are of having been created by Ultron to destroy the Avengers. Hank Pym has identified the Vision as a sun-powered synthozoid, something he himself had been working on, but now realizes he doesn't remember what happened to his own experiment. The Avengers go to Hank's house and lab, where his once-destroyed machines have somehow been rebuilt some time ago. Using his electronic memory bank, Hank finally remembers creating the Ultron prototype, who referred to him as father and attacked immediately, eventually hypnotising Hank into forgetting everything and moving to Avengers Mansion. Iron Man notices that the memory tape with the brain patterns of their erstwhile foe Wonder Man is missing, and the team realize Ultron must have used them as template for the Vision. Returning to the mansion, the Avengers welcome Vision into their ranks, explaining they don't consider him anything less than a man. Touched, the Vision walks out of the room to hide the tears in his eyes.
Notes: Stan Lee was notoriously against having Captain America, Thor and Iron Man as active Avengers, so Roy Thomas had to resort to guest appearances whenever he wanted to use them. Typically, their presence would signify a major threat or a momentous event for the team. When Thor mentions past members, a splash page shows the current roster, Hulk, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Black Widow, Hercules and... Spider-Man. Spidey had never been a formal member at the time, but had been considered for membership in Amazing Spider-Man annual #3, before eventually refusing due to a misunderstanding over the Hulk. The Wonder Man memory banks are one of Marvel's earliest continuity retcons as nothing like that was mentioned in Avengers #9.
Something Silly This Way Comes: Thor creates a small vortex to take the team to Hank's house. It must have been an uncomfortable ride as he will never use it again.
Review: Well, what an issue! Typically, people making comic-book history are unaware of the monumentality of what they are doing, and this tale is no exception. In only 19 pages, we get a new Avenger, learn the full origin of the Vision, the origin of Ultron and the fate of Wonder Man, literally creating enough material for decades of stories. The use of Wondy's brain patterns and the resulting jealousy towards Vision will be the driving force behind many subplots running all the way to the Busiek era, and the same can be said for the Oedipal relationship between Ultron and Hank Pym. Arguably, however, it's Vision joining the Avengers that takes the crown in terms of importance and consequences.
With Cap, Thor and Iron Man already starring and developing in their own books, the Vision will not only become the one Avenger with the most character development and subplots over the years, but will also come to be the most iconic member of the team, depicted in the box on the top left corner of the covers for years and years. From his turbulent love story with the Scarlet Witch to the man/machine dichotomy, from his relationship with Wonder Man and Quicksilver to being taken apart and rebuilt, the fate of the Vision will often define entire eras of The Avengers, and it's not unusual among fans to discuss how individual writers handled him as a starting point to exemplify the merits or demerits of their entire stints on the title.
Was Roy Thomas aware that he was introducing such an iconic and long-lasting character? Probably not, but the beautiful splash page ending the story is a clear indication that he already had a good grasp of the complexity of the Vision. Throughout issues #57 and #58, we are introduced to a character who is aloof, calm and rational, and yet also sensitive, self-doubting, occasionally proud and prone to bursts of anger. A living contradiction, which by itself is the most human trait of all.
One thing Thomas must have had very clear in his mind from the start are Vision's powers, as in the space of two issues our synthozoid showcases pretty much his entire arsenal and skill-set. Very often, writers end up having "pet characters" and force them to the spotlight by having them accomplish feats they would normally never be able to (looking at you, Englehart and Mantis), but thankfully this isn't the case here, as Thor quickly proves. This consistency works in the Vision's favour, as it never feels like Thomas is trying too hard to make him useful or likeable, and as a consequence the character doesn't feel rammed down the readers' throats the way others will.
With all of this going on, the revelation that Ultron was created by Hank Pym feels like a small detail thrown out there for the sake of closure. Interestingly, Hank doesn't show much guilt or shame, likely because he believes Ultron to have been destroyed last issue, and the robot wasn't at his genocidal best yet anyway. Personally, I never found Ultron's connection to Hank to be his most interesting trait, and it will take a little while for the robot to evolve from a creepy but generic villain into a truly terrifying arch-nemesis.
"Big" John Buscema's art is stunning as usual, but some panels in the second half of the book are a little messy in terms of composition, and overall it looks like the large cast of characters affected him a bit. This is reflected on the underwhelming cover and on some below-par facial details on middle-distance characters. In the end though it matters little: by rights, Avengers #58 isn't his best work, but so iconic is the closing splash page that everything else falls by the wayside.
Final Verdict: History is made. 5/5
Was Roy Thomas aware that he was introducing such an iconic and long-lasting character? Probably not, but the beautiful splash page ending the story is a clear indication that he already had a good grasp of the complexity of the Vision. Throughout issues #57 and #58, we are introduced to a character who is aloof, calm and rational, and yet also sensitive, self-doubting, occasionally proud and prone to bursts of anger. A living contradiction, which by itself is the most human trait of all.
One thing Thomas must have had very clear in his mind from the start are Vision's powers, as in the space of two issues our synthozoid showcases pretty much his entire arsenal and skill-set. Very often, writers end up having "pet characters" and force them to the spotlight by having them accomplish feats they would normally never be able to (looking at you, Englehart and Mantis), but thankfully this isn't the case here, as Thor quickly proves. This consistency works in the Vision's favour, as it never feels like Thomas is trying too hard to make him useful or likeable, and as a consequence the character doesn't feel rammed down the readers' throats the way others will.
With all of this going on, the revelation that Ultron was created by Hank Pym feels like a small detail thrown out there for the sake of closure. Interestingly, Hank doesn't show much guilt or shame, likely because he believes Ultron to have been destroyed last issue, and the robot wasn't at his genocidal best yet anyway. Personally, I never found Ultron's connection to Hank to be his most interesting trait, and it will take a little while for the robot to evolve from a creepy but generic villain into a truly terrifying arch-nemesis.
"Big" John Buscema's art is stunning as usual, but some panels in the second half of the book are a little messy in terms of composition, and overall it looks like the large cast of characters affected him a bit. This is reflected on the underwhelming cover and on some below-par facial details on middle-distance characters. In the end though it matters little: by rights, Avengers #58 isn't his best work, but so iconic is the closing splash page that everything else falls by the wayside.
Final Verdict: History is made. 5/5
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