Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1
Lovers
Deep within Project PEGASUS, government operatives Henry Gyrich and Raymond Sikorski are questioning the Vision after he briefly took over the world’s computer.[1] While he is being interrogated, his wife the Scarlet Witch waits impatiently in a waiting room. Gyrich treats the Vision like a machine, upsetting Sikorsky. The Vision decides enough is enough and decides to details his origins to them.
The Vision tells them that his life started as the original android Human Torch who was created by Professor Phineas Horton in 1939.[2] The Torch fought crime during World War II and later joined many heroes of that era to form the All-Winners Squad.[3] He continued to fight crime until 1955 when his powers flared out of control and he died going nova. In more recent times, the Torch’s body was recovered by the Mad Thinker and revived to use as a weapon against his foes, the Fantastic Four. This ended with the Torch being deactivated once again.[4][5] Later, the Human Torch’s body was uncovered by Ultron who wished to use it to create an android of his own. He kidnapped Phineas Horton and forced him to reconfigure the Human Torch to give him a new appearance, powers, and a whole new personality based off the brain patterns of Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man.[6][7]
Transformed into the Vision, he was originally sent to destroy the Avengers, but instead ended up betraying his master and joining their ranks and served with the team for many years.[8] It was during this time that the Vision met his teammate the Scarlet Witch and the two fell in love and eventually got married.[9] During this time, the Vision went from believing himself to be a soulless machine to discovering that he has thoughts and feelings like any sentient being and believes that he is human, even if his body was artificially created.
By this time, the Scarlet Witch has gotten fed up of waiting and decides to go into the Project PEGASUS facility to retrieve him. When security tries to stop her she uses her hex bolts to get past the security systems as well as the armored Guardian.[10] When she reaches the chamber where her husband is being kept, Wanda champions the Vision’s humanity and demands that he be treated like a person and not a machine.[11] When Gyrich tells Wanda that they are whatever he says they are as long as they work for the government, Wanda tells them she and her husband quit and tosses away their Avengers priority cards. While Gyrich takes offense, Sikorsky cheers them on. Wanda then flips Gyrich off and walks out. As she and the Vision take the elevator out, they share a kiss.
The next day, the couple have returned to Leonia, New Jersey, where they still want to live even though their previous home was burned down by anti-mutant bigots.[12] They go to the local real estate office to announce their interest in buying a home. They are greeted by Norm Webster who believes he has the perfect house for them. When they see the property, Wanda and Vision fall in love with it instantly.
Meanwhile, at Avengers Compound on the west coast, Hawkeye tries desperately to reach the Vision for help in their battle against Ultron but the number he dials is no longer in service. When Tigra questions why they don’t just call the east coast team for help, Clint admits that he wants to prove that his new team can handle a crisis on their own without the more established team’s help.[13]
Back in New Jersey, Wanda and Vision walk outside to check out the back yard of their new home. There they are ambushed by a horde of zombies. When Vision tries to phase through the shambling horrors something about the magic used to resurrect them interferes with his artificial body and he begins to short out. While Wanda tries to figure out what to do next she is knocked out from behind.
By this time, Hawkeye has to swallow his pride and call the east coast team and tell them of the trouble they are having with the Grim Reaper’s Lethal Legion. Answering the call is the Wasp, and after hearing Wonder Man has been captured she figures that the Vision would make another possible target and sends Starfox off to assist the team in finding the Vision.[14] Ending the call, Hawkeye meets with Iron Man who was tracking Goliath and Man-Ape after they captured Wonder Man and Hank Pym. Unfortunately, the two were able to get away without a trace.[15]
Meanwhile, the Vision finally gets free from his perpetual state of short circuiting and separates himself from the zombie. He then forces the undead creature to take him where the others took his wife. Moments after they are gone, Nekra — one of the Reaper’s Lethal Legion — arrives after having lost Black Talon’s zombies. Finding no trace of them, she curses the wild goose chase she has been put upon but is forced to run for cover when Starfox passes over the area.
Not far away, Black Talon has the Scarlet Witch bound to a table to restrict her movement and ability to cast hexes. While he waits for the Vision to come for her, he douses Wanda with sleeping gas and she begins to dream about her past. She thinks about all the name changes she has undergone over the years and asserts that she is simply Wanda, with no last name, just like her husband. She dreams about how she and her twin brother Pietro were the children of Magneto and his wife Magda. Afraid for the safety of her children, Magda ran off to the High Evolutionary’s Citadel of Science where she gave birth. Magda fled in order to prevent her husband from finding the children.[16] Meanwhile, Robert Frank and Madeline Joyce — aka the Whizzer and Miss America — came to the Citadel to have their own child. Unfortunately, Madeline and the baby died during childbirth. The High Evolutionary then tried to pass off Pietro and Wanda as Frank’s children but he abandoned them.[17] Instead, they were then given to Django and Anya Maximoff a pair of Romani who raised them as their own.[18][19]
However, as the two grew up, they discovered they had mutant powers and when the other villagers found out they formed a mob. The pair were then rescued by Magneto who used their debt to force them to join his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants as Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. With the Brotherhood they fought the X-Men on a number of occasions.[20] Eventually, they repaid their debts and left the Brotherhood and, seeking to repent for their past deeds, joined the ranks of the Avengers.[21] It was there she met and fell in love with the Vision, a romance that her brother did not approve of, at least to begin with.[22]
While Wanda sleeps, Nekra returns to the hideout and is told that the Vision is still loose and may have followed her back. She and Black Talon then go out to the nearby graveyard where the voodoo practitioner uses his power to raise more of the living dead so they have an army to fight. Not long after this, the Grim Reaper returns just as the Vision has finished untying his wife and freeing her. In the ensuing battle, the couple face overwhelming odds. However, during the fight the Vision uncovers a body that looks just like Simon Williams before he was transformed into Wonder Man.[24] When the Vision threatens to destroy this body, the Grim Reaper agrees to retreat with his minions. Vision tries to follow after them but their getaway shit is too fast.
Wondering what this is all about, Wanda and Vision call the West Coast Avengers. Hawkeye is pleased to finally hear from them and asks for their help in rescuing Wonder Man and Hank Pym from the Lethal Legion.
… This story is continued in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #2.
Recurring Characters
Vision, Scarlet Witch, West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Mockingbird, Iron Man, Tigra), Lethal Legion (Grim Reaper, Nekra, Black Talon), Henry Gyrich, Raymond Sikorsky, Wasp, Starfox, Guardsman
Continuity Notes
This is a bit of a complex story to parse out. In Avengers #233, the Vision was rendered immobilized during the team’s battle with Annihilus. During his recovery he was hooked up to ISAAC the Eternal world-mind computer on the moon of Titan in issue #238. Seeking to achieve world peace, the Vision thought the only way this was possible was by taking over the world’s computers. Realizing his error and discovering ISAAC was exploiting a crystal inside his mind that stunted his emotions, the Vision gave up his ambitions and remove the crystal, thus unlocking his full emotional potential. Whoof. That happened in Avengers #254.
The original Human Torch was build in Marvel Comics #1.
The All-Winners Squad first formed in All-Winners Comics #19.
The Torch’s deactivation and his use against the Fantastic Four by the Mad Thinker occurred in Fantastic Four Annual #4.
What people don’t know is that following this deactivation, the time traveler known as Immortus used his power to create a chronal duplicate of the Torch, as revealed in Avengers Forever #8 One copy was buried in a grave in Sub-Mariner #14. The other was…
… Taken by Ultron and used to create the Vision as detailed in Avengers #134-135.
When Simon Williams was transformed into Wonder Man in Avengers #9 by Baron Zemo, he was told his powers would eventually kill him. Seeing the aid of the Avengers for a cure, they were unable to find one before his apparent death, however they were able to make a copy of his brain patterns. Wonder Man eventually came back to life in Avengers #151.
Originally programmed to attack the Avengers, the Vision overcame it and joined the team. See Avengers #57-58.
Scarlet Witch and the Vision first met in Avengers #76, began falling in love in issue #91, and started dating following the events of issue #108. They eventually got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4.
A footnote here reminds readers that the Guardsman was last seen in Avengers #236. It also says he is from “Old Iron Mans” this is in reference to Michael O’Brien’s long running appearances in that book that lasted from Iron Man #82 through 109. He first became the Guardsman in issue #96 of that series.
Here and at multiple points throughout the story Wanda refers to herself and her brother (Quicksilver) as mutants. However, we learn that this is not the case in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5. The pair were actually experimented upon by the High Evolutionary who then covered up his work by making so future genetic tests would have them register as mutants.
Wanda and Vision moved into their first house in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1. It was later burned down in Avengers #252.
Hawkeye and the West Coast Avengers appear here following the events of West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1, wherein Wonder Man and Hank Pym were captured by the Lethal Legion.
The Wasp recounts that the west coast branch of the Avengers was the Vision’s idea. This occurred during the time the Vision was being influenced by ISAAC and lead the Avengers. He decided the team could be more effective if they opened a west coast team. See Avengers #243 for the deets.
ibid West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1, again.
In Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4, Wanda was led to believe she was the daughter of Magneto and his estranged wife Magda. This has since been proven false. Keep following along, we’ll explain why…
Back in Giant-Size Avengers #1, Wanda was made to believe she was the daughter of the Whizzer. This was the case for years until the events described in point 16 and 18 occurred.
A while after the Whizzer parentage story, but before the Magda story, Wanda learned that she was raised by Django and Marya Maximoff who raised them like they were their own children after they were rejected by Robert Frank in Avengers #185-187. However, there is more to that story…
As detailed in Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4 and 11 as well as Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5, Pietro and Wanda were actually the children of Natalya Maximoff and an unidentified Scarlet Warlock. They were kidnapped by the High Evolutionary when then turned the children to Django and Marya are actually their aunt and uncle.
Wanda and Pietro’s time with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants lasted from X-Men #4 through 11.
They then went on to join the Avengers in Avengers #16.
When Quicksilver first learned of Wanda’s romance in Avengers #110 and was vocally disapproving of it for quite some time. Ultimately, he got over his prejudice after having his thoughts rearranged by Moondragon in Avengers #176.
The Grim Reaper has blamed the Avengers for the “death” of his brother in Avengers #9 and started attacking them since Avengers #52. Since the arrival of the Vision and the return of Wonder Man he has either tried to manipulate or destroy one or both in some insane plot to restore the “true” version of Simon Williams whom, in the Reaper’s mind, is from before he was transformed by Baron Zemo. See Avengers #78-79, 102, 106-108, 160 and Vision and the Scarlet Witch #3.
Topical References
Wanda and Vision’s priority cards are signed by Ronald Reagan who was the President of the United States when this series was published. This should be considered topical particularly since Reagan’s term ended in 1989 and he subsequently died in 2004.