Avengers 1: Absolute Vision

Avengers (1963) #231-241, Annual #11-12

by J.M. DeMatteis, Roger Stern, Bill Mantlo

The ultimate Vision story begins with catastrophe, as the android Avenger is laid low by the mysterious Barrier of Annihilus! But, if it doesn't kill him, will his experience only make him stronger? And are Earth's Mightiest prepared for the answer? The old order changeth once again as the Avengers welcome aboard Starfox and a new Captain Marvel -- but does that leave any room for Spider-Man? And it's guest-stars galore as the fabulous Fantastic Four move into the mansion, the ghost of Spider-Woman haunts the team, and Doctor Strange makes a house call to ask for Scarlet Witch's aid in dealing with Dracula, Lord of the Vampires! All this and...David Letterman?! Writer Roger Stern's acclaimed Avengers run kicks into high gear!

COLLECTING : Avengers (1963) #231-241, Avengers Annual #11-12, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, Fantastic Four (1961) #256, and Doctor Strange (1974) #60 -- written by Roger Stern, John Byrne, and Bill Mantlo; and illustrated by Allen Milgrom, Jackson Guice, John Romita Jr, John Byrne, and Dan Green.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Ebooks, Science Fiction

424 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2013

About the author

Also Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally

Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.

Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.

Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

First things first, this book doesn't have much to do with the Vision. He doesn't even appear until about 150 pages in and spends most of the book in a coma. That being said, the story was good. It's part of Roger Stern's great run in the 80's. I had forgotten how good the editing was in the Jim Shooter era at Marvel. The books dovetail into each other nicely for crossovers with the Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange. When Thor's in outer space in his book, he's unavailable to help the Avengers.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roger Stern was a solid writer in the 80s. Not reinventing the wheel, not deconstructing superheroes on a deep level, but fun and dependable at telling Spider-Man and Avengers stories some of which are minor classics in their own right.

This grand reprint of his first year on the Avengers has different levels of quality. Some of the crossovers with Fantastic Four and Dr. Strange are completely unnecessary. There's also the origin of Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel from a Spidey annual. And one funny off-chapter about some characters going on the David Letterman show. But overall, it's called Absolute Vision because of a longer plot about Vision which was quite smart.

Some of it is really silly, with She-Hulk and Starfox for example, and the art is inconsistent. Still, as a broad overview of this era at Marvel this book is as good a sample as any of what was a pretty good time for Marvel.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it had little to do with Vision and I find old comics a bit of a slog to get through, this was quite a good read. I liked how it crossed over into other books, and was done better than most modern crossovers.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a bait-and-switch the collection editor pulled on us! This book happens to collect a few random pages here and there of Vision falling into an immobile state, working his way into the Avengers computers, and using their (frankly terrifying, to this privacy and security nerd) access to so many world computers to...surveil and report on events? Like a benign news feed?

What’s the threat here, exactly? He seems only helpful and unmotivated to regain his body, and I can’t say I’d blame him - as a program, he’s got unfettered access to the world’s information (even if it is only the pre-Internet computing age, no Facebook or Twitter or even decent UUCP newsgroups in sight). What would be the advantage of cramming his consciousness into a finite body.

Neither is this a Vision-focused volume, nor is it in any way telling me anything earth-shattering about the “Visz” - except that maybe he’s got a pervy predilection for snooping. Is he a synthezoid Encyclopedia Brown?

Reading 80s comics is instructive at least - seeing how many times the writers forced themselves to re-explain old events (like the ten pages of history we got when Hank Pym went on trial), or to make sure that young readers never see actual conflict or aggression between teammates. Maybe these Avengers were taught to back down immediately from obvious accusations? What kinds of skeletons *was* Janet Van Dyne hiding in her expansive closet anyway?

Probably the best part of this whole book was the crossover with Doctor Strange - Roger Stern’s bombastic dialogue works so much better in the two issues of that book, and even making Wanda more interesting over there than here.

For a book collected as “Absolute Vision”, these fuckers spend a whole lot of time dicking around with one-off trash villains and Mansion melodramas, everyone taking a turn watching the bucket of bolts lie in some glass chamber while they talk about “life signs” and other shit that makes absolutely no sense when we’re talking about something without a pulse or any need to exchange O2 for CO2.

Vision goes down for the count here - not for the first OR the last time, but certainly a solid episode of tension and grief for his witchy partner. But he’s a fucking stiff in a jar until issue 238 - might as well have put up a cardboard cutout for all the narrative good he did.

Out of the blue, the last two issues of this collection suddenly cross over with Spider-Woman and her interminable creepy relationship with Magnus (and of course, what would be a Spider-Woman story be without Morgan LeFay escaping death once again and cackling with evil intent?).

One very good note to close out this review: Ann Nocenti (a disease on comics writing everywhere) gets a “Story Consultant” credit on the Spider-Woman issues, but for the good of all, somehow Roger Stern is able to maintain a semblance of his craft in resurrecting SW without making me want to scratch my eyes out.

[Peter Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early eighties non-mutant Marvel at its pomp, this is an odd but wholly representative collection of Avengers storylines as they wind in and out of other titles (we pick up a Doctor Strange and a Fantastic Four along the way). Mainly done in ones, slowly putting together the pieces for the longer running soap opera and storyline which doesn't even really start here (one where Vision takes over all the computers in the world). Its also interesting to see how much of this is also throwaway lore for latter runs - this is the Starfox period of the Avengers where we get a thought bubble here and there of him being too worried to tell the Avengers of his "Other Power" (the breaking sexual consent one).

The actual adventures are often patchy, and they certainly show very little compassion to say the Scarlet Witch, while her husband is comatose they drag her on life threatening adventures to cheer her up. This is a good Avengers line up though of a few big guns but mostly second stingers with potential (Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel they slowly realise is hugely overpowered for this team, but while Iron Man is off being an alcoholic and Thor is "in Chicago" it just about works out). It also has the Avengers On Late Night With David Letterman, which is still a ridiculous joy. Mainly written by Roger Sterns (Byrne jumps over to the Fantastic Four around here), and Al Milgrom on pencils though the house style rules everything here, its also the big runs that were ongoing as the Marvel Super Heroes RPG came out and so very much what was being referenced as I got to know Marvel through that system.

[Brian Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avengers: Absolute Vision Book 1 starts off with a new Avengers/Defenders War, then spotlights the origin of the new Captain Marvel. Back in the regular book, Captain Marvel was promoted to full membership, following the abrupt departure of Iron Man. The team dealt with a plot by the Plant-Man that left Hawkeye with a serious leg injury, just as old ally Eros of Titan (brother of mega-villain Thanos) came to Earth and signed on as an Avengers trainee under the name Starfox. After a visit with the Inhumans on the Moon, the Avengers landed in a cross-over with Fantastic Four and a confrontation with Annhilus that left reservist Vision in a dormant state. The Avengers then had to deal with a grievously damaged Vision. Scarlet Witch took a journey through her own past, before she and Captain Marvel assisted Doctor Strange against a vampire horde. The Witch went back on active duty after Thor left, which, for the first time ever, gave the team a predominantly female membership. Spider-Man tried to join the team in a memorable two-part story that took them to Project Pegasus to repel an invasion by the Lava Men, before the villainous Moonstone led a group of other villains against the team. While the Vision’s body remained inert, his mind finally rebooted and Starfox hooked him up with ISAAC, the sentient computer than ran his homeworld. Vision began projecting a hologram of himself, with some noticeable personality tics. The rest of the team responded to an S.O.S. from Tigra, and missed the return of Hawkeye, with new wife Mockingbird in tow, plus the infamous issue that saw several Avengers guest star on David Letterman’s show. The rest of the team, with guest allies Tigra, the Shroud, Doctor Strange and Hank Pym, investigated the plight of original Spider-Woman Jessica Drew, whose spirit and body had been separated in the final issue of her own series. A clash with sorceress Morgan LeFay ensued.

The Roger Stern/Al Milgrom team hit its stride in this stretch. Their stories embodied some classic superhero action, mixed with strong interpersonal drama. Stern did some excellent work developing the characters, nailing She-Hulk’s raucous personality, building Wasp into a strong and forceful leader and developing Captain Marvel into a first rate hero. Scarlet Witch was a tad more weepy than fans more used to her assertive personality would expect, but under the circumstances it made a certain amount of sense. Starfox has his detractors, but his addition did bring a certain lightness to counterbalance some of the more dramatic aspects of the series. Avengers: Absolute Vision Book 1 is solid, with a lot to recommend it, but is most notable as the beginning of a long journey that would permanently transform both Vision and Scarlet Witch, with major impacts on the whole Marvel Universe.

A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger Stern's run on The Avengers picks up steam as it goes along. The book starts out with a non-Stern tale, Avengers Annual #11, which I had as a quarter box find in 1983 or 1984. This issue should have been collected during The Trial Of Yellowjacket trade, as it was published during the timeframe of those issues. Marvel is really good at picking up spares with their unofficial “no issue remains uncollected” policy. I am sure that whenever they get around to rereleasing this material in the Masterworks or Epic line that the issue will be inserted in it's proper place. Another stray that belonged in that book was Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, which introduced the new Captain Marvel. Better to have them here than not have them collected at all though, right?

I had quite a few of these comics as cheapo quarter box comics shortly after they were originally published. I had Avengers Annual #11, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, and #235, and 236 back in the '80s as a lad.

I really enjoyed the crossover of issues 233 and 234 with the Fantastic Four issues. Annihilus has arrived on Earth and is set to destroy both our universe and the Negative Zone. It is during this arc where the Vision enters the Null-Field surrounding the Baxter Building where Annihilus was running his campaign, shorting the Vision out and putting his synthetic android body into a coma of sorts. Avengers trainee Starfox contacts his home, the moon of Titan, and has the moon's computer brain, ISAAC, beam it's consciousness to Earth so that the Vision can obtain the knowledge necessary to repair his android body. Things change for the Vision in ways that are not yet fully revealed.

Roger Stern is among the holy trinity of Avengers writers, right next to Roy Thomas and Kurt Busiek. Steve Englehart is a close fourth, while Brian Michael Bendis doesn't even enter the conversation when talking about great Avengers writers. Al Milgrom does the bulk of the artwork in this book, and his work is best described as serviceable. I liked his art quite a bit during the '80s but it honestly doesn't hold up very well today. Only when he is paired with a strong inker like Joe Sinnott do things look good.

If you are able to get past that then what you have are some fine stories. Roger Stern comes into his own on the title, continually refining his craft. The issues collected in the next book are where things really get cooking. Stern is basically setting the table here...and what a table it is.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

In terms of villains, Absolute Vision isn't the finest volume of Avengers material. After all, the team face up against less-than-stellar adversaries such as Plantman, the Wizard, Annihilus (who is powerful, but better utilised in Fantastic Four comics), Rhino, Electro, Blackout, Moonstone, Mechano-Marauder and Morgan LeFay. Moonstone and Blackout would be important in the years to come, but right now they aren't quite there yet.

What this volume's strengths are, are focusing on deepening the character's personalities as well as laying down the groundwork for future storylines in the way of adding little pieces of subplot here and there.

It also helps that some of my favourite Avengers are in the book at this time, such as Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch and Vision.

Not the best Avengers stories, but there's something about Roger Stern's writing that I find compelling.

As for the art, Al Milgrom does most of the work here. He's decent enough, but seems to lack a unique style that makes his art pop.

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rileggere queste storie è fare un tuffo nel passato, in un bel passato.
Non solo perché ero giovane, ma soprattutto per le storie di Roger Stern, il quale dopo aver portato a compimento la saga del processo a Pym, rilancia il gruppo con storie di notevole dinamismo e cambiamento nelle fila del gruppo. Cambiamenti in meglio, con l'ingresso di Eros di Titano e la creazione della nuova Capitan Marvel, afroamericana di New Orleans, uno dei miei personaggi Marvel preferiti. In queste storie Stern ricomincia a porre al centro dell'universo narrativo della Marvel i Vendicatori, con intrecci narrativi che coinvolgono i Fantastici Quattro, il Dr. Strange e Dracula, l'Uomo Ragno, la creazione dei Vendicatori della Costa Ovest, persino una comparsa al David Letterman Show. Storie frizzanti.
Peccato per i disegni, per lo più ad opera di Al Milgrom, che se l'è sempre cavata più che bene come inchiostratore, ma come matitista lascia a desiderare. Comunque 3 stelle e mezzo ben meritate.

[Adrian Montanez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing read. The title is a real misconception. While we do give some emphasis on Vision, the real star of this book is Captain Marvel. Like this woman is a powerhouse and just so charming. She-Hulk keeps on being Shulkie, and Janet is proving to be a great leader. While Starfox feels rather forced. The Vision storyline wasn't really that interesting, and it seems like we're going to get a type of Ultron situation in the next volume, due to the fact that the situation still hasn't been resolved. On the other hand, we have Monica Rambeau, so that adds a star in my opinion. I really hope they give her more screen time in the MCU than what they did in Wandavision. That performance doesn't give as much life and vibrancy as the character deserves.

I really want to own Amazing Spider-Man(1962) Annual #16 now.

[ISMOTU · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is curious. It's about three-quarters set up for a story that won't actually begin in earnest until the next volume. The Vision himself doesn't appear until about halfway through the book. There's lots of fun 80's Avengers super-heroics ably illustrated by the likes of John Romita Sr., Al Milgrom, and John Byrne, mostly written by Roger Stern.

It's an interesting look at how the evolution of subplots in comics makes the collections tricky to name. There are a couple explanatory text pages to set the scene or explore references to stories not collected here and I wonder just how necessary they are to understand and appreciate the stories. Given the time the stories were written there are footnotes and recaps within the pages of each issue and the writing is such that any reader should be able to at least follow along even if they don't appreciate every tiny detail.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a shame that there are some lesser annuals and a few lesser issues here that drag the score down to four stars, because there's some great Avengers material here. Roger Stern writes the team as well as anyone and quite a bit better than most, making them feel like a collection of people in a way that many writers never master.

[Derrick Ranostaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good... but there is a lot of material in this trade that has little to do with the actual story of the Absolute Vision. They could have skipped quite a lot, and just shown how Vision was inured trying to get past the barrier Anhilus created and then skipped ahead to when Vision became a hologram. Honestly you can skip this and read the second volume to see Vision turning into a 'villain.'

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

You got a lot for 60 cents.

Good color artwork. Suitable for all ages. Over 400 pages. A lot happens in this book. Captain Marvel origin story. Scarlet witch and the Vision rejoin the avengers. Vision is crippled and takes over some computers. One third of the book is lead up to the Vision story? 400 pages is a lot of material and it's just the first half of the visions tale.

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels very much like it is setting the stage for Book 2.

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, 80’s Marvel, how I love thee!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remeber this storyline being a lot cooler

[Dbetts12 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caught Up

Reading Avengers: Absolute Vision was like going back in time to get a refreshing reboot. I've paid action to a lot of things making it fresh all over again.

[Adam Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not typically a Marvel-goer outside of film, I bought this book on a whim. It being on sale served a good enough excuse, though I figured that at 400+ pages quantity over quality would be likely. You see, I'd always figured The Avengers to be a team of lackluster superheros with complicated origins fighting ridiculous villains who consistently pop up out of the blue. I realize this could describe basically any superhero team-up, but for some reason I imagined The Avengers to be a particularly egregious form of this.

I was not entirely wrong in this thinking, but Roger Stern does a remarkable (dare I say Marvelous?) job imbuing each Avengers hero with enough internal conflict to make them distinct individuals a reader can care about while partaking in a heap of punchy-punchy, smashy-smashy:

- Hawkeye spends the majority of this tome recovering from a broken leg and thus being forced to face his human limitations head on.

- Peter Parker, while not an Avenger, attempts to solve his dire financial issues by attempting to prove himself worthy of being a team member (and thus earning a team member's salary).

- The Scarlet Witch provides a not-so-pleasant origin story and spends the majority of the book worrying about her husband, The Vision, who is recovering from damage sustained in a battle detailed early in these tales.

- Tony Stark faces alcoholism and Captain America, despite all of his strength, faces an inability to rescue his comrade from this.

So, it's a little more than simply:



There are also distinct moral issues indicative of the early 80's social climate and, unfortunately, still relevant to today's realities. The Scarlet Witch and The Vision marry in secret as society cannot support a marriage between a mutant and an android, no matter how human the machine. She-Hulk struggles to find an apartment as landlords won't accept a jolly green woman, no matter how much money she is willing to shell out for a New York City room of her own. These stories that wallpaper the walls of the main conflicts are often (always?) far more interesting than villains like The Plant Man attacking our heroes, but seriousness balanced firmly with schlock makes for a meaningful and highly enjoyable superhero comic. Not to mention the fact that the new Captain Marvel, a strong, black female lead, makes her first debut early on and saves the day many a time.

The throwaway issues are kept to a minimum, like this gem:



Honestly, though, no complaints from that issue. In it, the main team turns their back and gives the backups some time to shine. While nothing spectacular happens, it is an issue grounded in our world, which has to lend it some kind of credibility, right? If anything, the front cover gives two jokes about the horrors of Assistant Editor's Month, so it doesn't commit the sin of taking itself too seriously.

Avengers: Absolute Vision - Book One is a great gateway, albeit an old route, into the Marvel Universe that requires minimal background knowledge. Yes, the annoying see issue so-and-so, ON SALE NOW! sales pitches are sprinkled around liberally, but outside of the ones that are included in this volume, they're pretty unnecessary. Also, in the age of the internet, YouTube superhero origin videos come in handy, but aren't necessary to the stories' enjoyment. (Though curiosity did lead me to Thor , She-Hulk, and The Wasp's origins).

I only wish the remaining volumes were available on The Kindle. I'd prefer not to shell out Marvel Bucks for these massive volumes, but if curiosity eventually gets the better of me...I'll probably still leave them on the shelf.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is really frustrating. You would think by the title and the description that it would be the "ultimate Vision story"--because that is exactly what they tell you, but the book has little to do with Vision. He doesn't even appear for over 100 pages, and there isn't even a story focusing on him until almost 300 pages. And just one issue. The stories here are not bad stories at all, some are really good--especially the origin of Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau)--but they aren't Vision stories, which is what I bought the book for, and what was sold to me.

[Eric Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently finished a long run of 80s-90s Captain America within the Epic Collections, I've jumped back to the corresponding Avengers issues. Many aren't out yet in Epic form, but I do have them in their original paperbacks. This collects Avengers (1963) #231-241, Avengers Annual #11-12, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16.

These issues and a few from the previous trade, The Trail of Yellowjacket, are the foundation for one of the greatest Avenger stories ever told. However, we have quite a few trades to get through before that...so simply put Roger Stern is a great writer and Al Milgrom does a wonderful job with the art. He represents 80s marvel artwork. Spiderman makes a guest appearance as he tries to get on the team, and Vision is setting the groundwork for taking over the team as the new leader.

Until they put out a Roger Stern Avengers Omnibus, this is the best there is...

[Cristian · Rating 3 out of 5]

fond childhood memories add another star and make this a 3.0-rating. on re-read, this felt quite silly and simplistic most of the time and of course, similar to other comics of that time, heavily overwrought. i'm not criticizing the stories per se, they're clearly aimed at children and i remember how excited i was when i read them back in the day. but they don't hold up verywell over time and some of them (=those not written by stern) are basically unreadable at all. stern himself is a capable craftsman, has a good way with character interactions and you can feel that he gets the needs and wants of his protagonists. it gets better towards the end and i hope the next volume will turn out to be more entertaining in a less-nostalgic way.

[Bill Kte'pi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing the theme of my comics reading lately, this collects a chunk of Roger Stern's long run on the Avengers, picking up just about where I started reading the comic as a kid. Lays a lot of plot pipe that won't pay off until the next volume, but notable for the David Letterman issue from Assistant Editors' Month.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice blast from the past for me. These comics were originally published in the early eighties during the height of my interest. Unfortunately for me at the time they were frustratingly intermittent so I couldn't build a collected run of them.

The stories themselves are good fun, and feature the Avengers debut of Starfox, a character who in retrospect has become distressingly creepy.

[James Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much Vision

I gave it three stars because the stories were good. Art was solid, too. However, very little had anything to do with the Vision. Based on the title I expected more centered on him.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasantly and surprisingly good. All new to me and fills a gap in my Avengers knowledge. I rather like this 2nd Captain Marvel.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid. It grabbed together several series' issues into a single coherent plot line. But it is slower paced than modern comics.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avengers #234
Basically just a recap of the Scarlet Witch's life, including Magneto as her father.