Review: The Vision #11
Pro sports exec by day, food & comics connoisseur by night. His Instagram (@adambarnhardt) feed looks like the "What Not To Eat" poster at fat camp and his Twitter (also @adambarnhardt) is mainly full of random GIFs from The Office.
Hey there, ComiConverse readers! Adam here. This is my first post as a new Contributor to ComiConverse and for my introductory bit on this site, I figured I'd give a review of one of the hottest books on the shelves now: The Vision as written by Tom King with art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta.
Review: The Vision #11
With series writer Tom King signing an exclusive writing contract with DC earlier this year, it's been in the works to end The Vision after the twelfth issue. With just one more month left of King's run on The Vision, the action most certainly comes to a head in this thrilling issue.
The Vision #11 Synopsis
(SPOILERS!)
With Vin, the son Vision had created at the beginning of the series, murdered by the hand of his uncle Victor Mancha, Vision is hell-bent on exacting revenge and to put it bluntly, the whole situation doesn't end well for one of the Avengers.
After the Avengers chose to incarcerate Mancha, more likely for his own protection rather than for any wrongdoing, Vision determines he must avenge his son's death and murder the murderer. Outside of the jail where Mancha is located, Tony Stark has assembled many of the heroes in today's Marvel universe including both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, Thor, Beast, Blue Marvel, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange to name a few in an attempt to thwart Vision's plans.
Lot of work to get to this one panel. All worth it. pic.twitter.com/noEAsKFPFy
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) September 21, 2016
While a battle ensues between Vision and the rest of the heroes, we see Vision's wife Virginia and their daughter Viv sitting at the dining room table back at home. With the utmost certainty that their lives are about to change for the worst, Virginia comes clean and admits to Viv that she had a role in the death of Viv's friend Chris earlier in the series. Understandably upset, Viv smashes the table they're sitting at and phases through the ceiling, not to be seen for the rest of the issue. What follows next may be the most gruesome scene in this particular series: Virginia takes her frustration out on the family dog and beats the poor little guy to a pulp.
Back to the jail, we see Vision after defeating all of his colleagues outside and goes inside to complete his mission as he's approach by his former wife, Wanda Maximoff. Explaining to her that she can't stop him, he incapacitates her and enters the cell where Victor Mancha is located only to see the hand of his wife Virginia phase through Victor's chest and rip out his android heart.
The issue ends with Virginia telling Vision he should retreat home to comfort his daughter.
The Vision #11 Analysis
One word: Wow!
This series has been one of the most unique books Marvel has put out in quite some time and it seems like it only gets better issue after issue. The theme of the series has been quite clear all along: trying to fit in a place where you don't necessarily belong. Vision, arguably one of the universe's most powerful heroes, built his own family with the same powers he had and it's become obvious that it's been quite difficult for androids to assume the proper human way of living.
Virginia has had the hardest time adapting between the killing of Grim Reaper, Viv's friend Chris, and Chris' father. After Victor inadvertently killed Vin as he uncovered Victor was spying on his family for Tony Stark and The Avengers, we saw Virginia become more and more unstable, to the point where she had to repeat herself many times to get her point across.
The way the series has played out, everything has been building to a point where a catastrophic event was going to happen that could very well alter future events in the Marvel universe. With the death of Vin being tragic enough for me, I had a gut feeling Vision was going to play judge, jury, and executioner.
The way Tom King has written instills a certain kind of calm, yet unsettling, terror within the reader. The way he uses captions as the narrator tells the story draws the reader in only to have them witness tragic, heartbreaking events happening to a family that just wants on thing: to fit in. With King's stories, Hernandez Walta's art is a pleasant complement to the series, bringing a gritty vibe that makes the reader feel how tired and upset each one of the Vision families characters really are.
While I was surprised that Virginia was the one to kill Victor, it will be interesting to see how the series ends in the next issue. Viv has been confirmed as a part of the new Champions series debuted next month, so we know she'll be around but Virginia?
She's nowhere to be seen.
What have you guys thought about The Vision run by King and Hernandez Walta?
Are you fans of the The Vision as a character and the way he is being portrayed?
Let me know in the comments below!
Adam is a pro sports exec by day and a food & comics connoisseur by night. His Instagram (@adambarnhardt) feed looks like the "What Not To Eat" poster at fat camp and his Twitter (also @adambarnhardt) is mainly full of random GIFs from The Office.
Source: Marvel Comics
Spectacular
As this thrilling and gritty run nears its conclusion, the series takes another life in jaw-dropping fashion. King and Hernandez Walta team-up for the eleventh issue in this twelve-issue series and it sure does not disappoint.