New Faces

The United States government has sent US Agent to take over as leader of the West Coast Avengers. This annoys the group’s current chairman, Hawkeye. When Mockingbird takes his side, he lashes out at her since she recently left the team, and that a lot of their recent troubles were her fault.[1] After the Wasp breaks up the couples squabble, Hawkeye tries to take a swing at US Agent. However, the government agent grabs his fist and tosses him into some furniture. After stopping Wonder Man from getting in a scrap, Hank Pym points out that they are stuck with Agent until they smooth things over with the government. This is the final straw for Clint, who quits and storms out. When US Agent says that they don’t need Hawkeye anyway, Bobbi gets offended and storms out as well.[2]

Hank then takes Wonder Man down to the lab to show him his progress on rebuilding the Vision. While he has been able to put his body together and rebuild his memory using Avengers records, his synthetic organs and skin have been deeply traumatized, causing them to lose all colour.

Six hours later, the Scarlet Witch is meeting with a new prospective governess to care for her twin children — Tommy and Billy — whenever she is away on Avengers duty. She is impressed with the caretaker’s credentials and hires her on the spot. She is then called to the lab for an update on the Vision. After Wanda leaves, the governess goes upstairs to check on the children and is shocked to discover that they are nowhere to be found.[3]

Meanwhile, in Tigra’s private bungalow, the cat-woman has been hiding away because her feline persona is trying to take full dominance for her personality. Struggling to keep in control, Tigra can’t help herself when she hears a bird chirping and her hunting instincts to kick in.[4]

By this time, the Scarlet Witch has arrived in the lab. There she is reintroduced to her husband and she is shocked by the sight of his new ghostly white complexion. When she hugs him, the Vision doesn’t hug back. Hank explains that while they were able to rebuild the Vision’s memories, they could not recreate the emotional connections he had to them. Hank theorizes that they could restore the Vision’s emotional core by using Wonder Man’s brain engrams, as this is what was done when the Vision was first created.[5]

Wanda goes out to talk to Simon, who is sitting outside and asks if he will help restore the Vision’s emotional. Simon recalls the circumstances that led to his brain engrams were used in the first place. Before he became Wonder Man, Simon Williams was arrested for embezzling money from his own company while it was going under due to it’s inability to compete with Stark Industries. The Nazi war criminal Baron Zemo took advantage of this by offering Simon power to crush Iron Man. Bombarded with ionic energy, Simon became Wonder Man, but was told that the process that gave him his power would eventually kill him if he wasn’t administered an antidote, which would only be given if he destroyed the Avengers. Although Williams infiltrated the group, in the end he sacrificed his own life to save them from Zemo’s trap.[6]

After his apparent death, Hank Pym made a copy of his mind, which Ultron later used to create the Vision’s personality. However, Simon wasn’t dead, although briefly turned into a zombie by the Black Talon, he was miraculously resurrected. It wasn’t until later that he learned that he didn’t actually die, but was in a inert state as his body metamorphosized into a being of pure ionic energy.[7] After explaining all this, Simon explains that when his brain engrams were used the first time, it was against his will and because of this he doesn’t want to offer them up again.[8] This deeply upsets Wanda and when Simon tries to explain himself further she uses her hex powers to collapse a nearby hill on top of him. Digging himself out, Simon is filled with rage and frustration and flies into the sky and beyond Earth’s atmosphere, bellowing the whole way.

Meanwhile, the Vision presents himself to US Agent, who is disturbed by the synthezoid’s lack of clothing. Not seeing how it is important, the Vision agrees to put on something. Asking for his old costume — comprised of unstable molecules — and repairs the damage and changes it white to match his new continence. When Wanda questions why her husband would bleach all the colour from his appearance, he explains that his appearance should match his name. That’s when Hank Pym makes another bombshell about the Vision: After closely examining his android’s components he confirms what Phineas Horton said earlier, that there is no way that the Vision was once the Human Torch.[9]

Later, Hank and the Wasp are discussing their concerns over Wanda’s mental well being. As they pass by the US Agents room they hear him talking to somebody, but can’t look into his room to see who it is. They figure it’s none of their business and walkaway, little knowing that the Agent is talking to photos of his dead parents as though they are actually in the room with him.[10]

Recurring Characters

West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wasp, Hank Pym, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man, Tigra, US Agent)

Continuity Notes

1. During a trip through time, Mockingbird was kidnapped by the Phantom Rider who forced her to drink a love potion. After freeing herself from its spell she allowed the Rider to fall off a cliff to his death. When Hawkeye learned about this he turned his back on her because of the Avengers code against killing. The two eventually split up. More recently, Mockingbird was duped by the Vigilance organization to kidnap the Vision and have his disassembled. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #17-23, 35, 37, and 42-43.

2. It’s mentioned how the Vision once took over all the world’s computers. This was in an ill conceived attempt to bring about world pace. See Avengers #251-254.

3. It’s later revealed in Avengers West Coast #51-52 that Wanda’s children exist through sheer will power and as long as she is thinking of them. When she doesn’t, they wink out of existence.

4. Tigra has had this problem since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42. She will be cured of this condition in Avengers Spotlight #38.

5. The Vision’s creation was chronicled in Avengers #57-58 and 134-135.

6. Wonder Man’s origins and such was originally told in Avengers #9.

7. Wonder Man was resurrected in Avengers #151. He learned the truth of his resurrection in issue #165.

8. The reason why Simon doesn’t want to offer up his brain engrams a second time is because he has come to realize that he loves the Scarlet Witch, as we’ll learn in Avengers West Coast #47.

9. In Avengers #134-135, Immortus revealed to the Vision that he was created from the remains of the android Human Torch. This was later refuted by a man claiming to be Phineas Horton, the Torch’s creator, last issue. However, this is part of a grander deception. As revealed in Avengers Forever #8, Immortus tricked the Avengers into thinking the Torch and Vision were separate entities as part of a grander scheme to manipulate the team’s destiny. In reality, Immortus created a chronal duplicate of the Torch. One was rebuilt into the Vision, while the other was buried in a grave circa Sub-Mariner #14 and will be freed in Avengers West Coast #50.

10. US Agent’s parents — Caleb and Emily Walker — were murdered by the Watchdogs back in Captain America #345.