Celebrating Artist Rick Leonardi

Celebrating the birthday of artist Rick Leonardi (August 9, 1957) with his covers to the first Vision and Scarlet Witch mini-series...

...which resulted in a big revelation about Wanda's dad!

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1 and #2 (November and December, 1982)

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Vision and the Scarlet Witch #3 and #4 (January and February, 1983)

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Happy Mother's Day To Scarlet Witch

A throwback to a happier time in comics, when Vision and Scarlet Witch took a (12 issue mini-series) break from being Avengers and concentrated on their family....here, covers to Vision And Scarlet Witch #4 and #12 (January and September, 1986) with art by Richard Howell...

...all to wish you a Happy Mother's Day. 

Oh, and Wanda had twins here (but later, things got SO much more complicated...)

Spider-Man Teams With Vision And The Scarlet Witch

He's a density-altering synthezoid (synthetic android) created by Ultron, she's a reality-altering mutant who worked for Magneto in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...but, the Vision and the Scarlet Witch put aside their criminal pasts, and both went to work for the Avengers...

....and even fell in love!

Better still, each of them teamed up with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

A Vision Of Trouble

Marvel Team-Up #5 (November, 1972) gave us a whole new Vision....well, not really, but it was a chance for the character to shine away from the Avengers, facing off against the Monstroid code-named Ballox (a Skrull robot, left over from the Kree-Skrull War) in the tale "A Passion Of The Mind" by writer Gerry Conway, penciller Gil Kane and inker Mike Esposito.

Vision was passing out on the street, and thankfully, Spidey was there to lend a hand....and found it was the Puppet Master (foe of the Fantastic Four and father of Alicia Masters) who was controlling the Monstroid (which was causing the problems the Vision was having).  Vision went and phased through the Puppet Master, ending his control of Ballox, and Vision left Spider-Man to deal with Puppet Master in the next issue (with some Thing helping him, and the Monstroid ending up in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D.), as the Vision went to rejoin the Avengers.

Time Enough At Last

Spidey met up with Scarlet Witch in Marvel Team-Up #41 (January, 1976), but she wasn't quite herself then in the tale of "A Witch In Time!" by writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt.

Cotton Mather took control of Scarlet Witch and had her come to Dr. Doom's castle in upstate New York (injuring Vision as she took a Quinjet from the Avengers to get there).  Wanda had enough of her own mind left to summon help, in the form of Spider-Man, but Spidey was no match for the Salem witch-hunter and his thrall...who used Dr. Doom's time machine to go back to his home in the 17th Century, with Spider-Man soon following to go rescue the Scarlet Witch from the time of the Salem witch trials (though not having much luck)....and soon a Vision appears (who also used the time machine)....leading into the next issue.....

With Marvel Team-Up #42 (February, 1976), readers get "A Vision Of Hate" as writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt continue their story, with Vision working with Spider-Man to free the Scarlet Witch from the Salem witch trials, and facing off against Cotton Mather.

The heroes get separated, and Spidey ends up in prison, where he finds out more of the trials, and how Cotton Mather stirred up the controversy to use witches for his own ends.  Vision soon joins, and the two heroes go looking for Cotton Mather, finding out he is working for a sorcerous being calling itself the Dark Rider, who was powering Cotton to lure beings so that he may get more power...and while relating his plans, Vision attacks.

Then,  Fantastic Four foe, Dr. Doom appears!

This leads into the next issue, Marvel Team-Up #43 (March, 1976) with "A Past Gone Mad" by writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt, and it was Dr. Doom who was mad (because all these people kept breaking into his castle and using his time machine!).

Sadly, this worked in the Dark Rider's favor, as he battled Dr. Doom, the Dark Rider also drew power from Doom, and the heroes (taking Dr. Doom along) had to continue the battle...

...with the Dark Rider eventually winning, or so it would seem....

At least until Marvel Team-Up #44 (April, 1976), with Moondragon (an Avenger with mental powers) who was having visions of the last three issues, walks away from Iron Man and gets pulled into 1692 by the Scarlet Witch to help in "Death In The Year Before Yesterday" by writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt.

With the help of Moondragon, Vision, Scarlet Witch and Dr. Doom, Dark Rider is defeated and Cotton Mather has his mind broken.  Dr. Doom is nice enough to let the heroes use his time machine to get home, but Spidey lingers (sadly, not being able to save those accused of being witches from hanging....).

Spidey shouldn't have stayed behind by himself, as using Dr. Doom's time machine throws him into the alternate futures of Killraven and Deathlok in Marvel Team-Up #45 and #46  (1976), and returning for a team-up with the Thing in Marvel Two-In-One #17 and Marvel Team-Up #47 (both July, 1976), then into a lengthy team-up with Iron Man starting in Marvel Team-Up #48 (August, 1976)....but more on these in a later article.

I Found The Snake

All that time travel makes you want a simple story...but Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (1982) isn't quite as simple as it seems, with Spider-Man not only working with the Scarlet Witch, but also the Thing, Dr. Strange and even former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Quasar...all dealing with the Serpent Crown in "Serpent Rising" by writer Mark Gruenwald, who also provided the pencils...and inked by Jim Mooney and Al Milgrom.

This was a chance to review the long history of the Serpent Crown as it passed through the ancient hands of Conan and Kull as they fought the Serpent Men, to more modern times with Namor the Sub-Mariner, his foe Krang, the Serpent Squad and even as Hellcat got her powers and faced the Squadron Supreme, as the Elder God Set tried to use the crown's power to take over the world by first taking control of Quasar at Project: PEGASUS (where it had been kept for safekeeping).  Thankfully, this awakening stirred Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, the Thing and the Scarlet Witch (who had all faced the Serpent Crown before) to prevent Set's plans of making everyone his serpent slaves!

All Together Now

Time for a tale that focused on only Vision and Spider-Man, and that is in Marvel Team-Up #129 (May, 1983), with Vision going to New Hampshire on his own, "And Much To Ponder Before The Dawn" by writer J. M. DeMatteis, penciller Kerry Gammill and inker Mike Esposito.

In New Hampshire, Vision encounters androids in the small town of Rain, but these androids seem familiar, as they look like famous authors like Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare and Fiodor Dostoyevsky (all left behind by Fantastic Four foe, the Mad Thinker after a battle with Captain America and Team America in Captain America #269).  Peter Parker ends up in Rain as well, taking photos for the Daily Bugle with reporter Andrew Pauncholito, following up on a murder case where the murder looked like Fiodor Dostoyevsky.  Soon, the police arrive, and begin shooting the androids, until they are protected by their new enforcer and protector...the android, Alpha, who was bested by Vision and Spider-Man.

With Vision occupied, the Defenders' magical foe, Necrodamus, takes advantage, capturing the Scarlet Witch while disguised as Vision in Marvel Team-Up #130 (June, 1983) in "Till Death Do Us Part" by writer J. M. DeMatteis, penciller Sal Buscema and inker Mike Esposito.

The dispossessed spirit that is now Necrodamus wants the Vision's android body for his own, and promises to free Vision's wife if Vision lets the spirit in.  Meanwhile, Andrew Pauncholito has figured out Peter Parker is Spider-Man....and threatens to expose him to further his own career.  Vision gives up his body to save his wife, and Spidey and Scarlet Witch team up to exorcise Necrodamus, and eventually do...teaching Andrew a thing about humanity (inspiring him not to reveal Spidey's secret identity to the world...knowing what trouble that would cause the hero).

Sadly, Spidey's identity was later outed during Marvel's  Civil War (for a time), thanks to Iron Man.

As alluded to, Iron Man had many team-ups with Spider-Man, and they follow soon! 

Marvel Legends 2016 Wave 2 3 and 3 Quarters

Coming at you soon, the latest in Marvel action figures, wave two of the new Marvel Legends 3 and 3/4th line!

True, we've seen Ant-Man before, but his movie was so successful, Vision also gets a figure update in a more recent look, Daredevil goes back to his original costume that only a blind man could love, Spider-Man comes out in an armored version of his costume pre-Iron Spider, and new figures for Rage (of the Avengers), Living Laser (of the Lethal Legion) and Gamora (of the Guardians of the Galaxy).

Not the greatest of released, but something to help you pass the time while pumping your fist in the air waiting for more releases!

Avengers Ultron Unleashed

Back in August of 1999, Marvel Comics put out a collection of important Ultron stories under this beautiful cover by John Buscema and George Perez...

...who happened to do the art on the stories reprinted within....


...and here's a little on those stories all about the robotic foe of the Avengers!

The Early Days of Ultron

Ultron premiered in Avengers #54 (July, 1968), but wasn't seen as Ultron until Avengers #55 (August, 1968), working with the Masters of Evil, but this issue collects Avengers #57 (October, 1968) and Avengers #58 (November, 1968; all issues by Roy Thomas and John Buscema).  Within these pages,  the Vision is introduced, tries to join the Avengers, and kill them as well.  Vision revolts against Ultron's control, and along the way, we learn the origin of Ultron, how he was created by Hank Pym (Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath...and more?).

Ultron Returns Again

Ultron did return multiple times, most notably in Avengers #162 (August, 1977), where he created Jocasta, who was meant to be his bride, and the second selection of stories in this collection are Avengers #170 (April, 1978) and Avengers #171 (May, 1978; all these stories by Jim Shooter and George Perez).  Ultron, like Frankenstein's Monster, just wanted someone to share his lonely existence with, and tried to create his own mate, Jocasta.  This didn't work out so well for Ultron, as he was stopped by the Scarlet Witch and her unpredictable mutant hex power.

Even More Than Ultron?

If you are unable to find the Avengers: Ultron Unleashed, and don't quite want to spend money on getting the actual issues, you can also find the earlier issues in Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers #6 (reprinting Avengers #51-58, Avengers Annual #2 and X-Men #45...a whole wonder of great stories, including Ultron's first appearance, the second Masters of Evil and a case of the Avengers vs. the X-Men!).

The second batch of issues are included in Avengers: The Korvac Saga, which includes Avengers #167, #168, and #170-177, which include folks like the original futuristic Guardians of the Galaxy, the Collector, the Kree Captain Marvel and more Avengers than you can shake a stick at as the team fights for universe against Korvac.

Avengers Assemble!
 

Avengers History 203

We start here with more on Roy Thomas' original run on the Avengers, and his most epic tale to date!


A galactic tale, spanning the history of Marvel Comics....and involving the two major interstellar races that have had contact with Earth....


It's all been leading up to this!

Kree-Skrull War

Now, the Kree were an intergalactic empire that are the home race of the original Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell, that is), and the Skrulls are shape-changing foes of the Fantastic Four.


Both races have been on Earth before (the Kree, involved in creating the Inhumans, and the Skrulls facing off against the 3D-Man), and battling each other through the cosmos, but things were beginning to heat up.


From Avengers #89-97, the heroes got between the warring races, trying to prevent the factions from destroying the Earth in their battles.


This fight ranged over the Earth, and involved not only the Avengers, but the Fantastic Four, Annihilus, the Inhumans, Maximus, Carol Danvers (she who would be Ms. Marvel/Binary/Warbird), the Super-Skrull, Sentry #459, Ronan the Accuser, as well as Hank Pym briefly returning to his Ant-Man identity...

...and would only end with the Kree Supreme Intelligence working with Rick Jones on unleashing Earth’s heroic myths.

This battle had many ramifications, leading to the formation of the Illuminati and Marvel’s Civil War (and is covered all too briefly but will be referred back to as needed).   With all this, the war didn’t involve all the Avengers, but the god of war planned to rectify that.

Back to Earth

Olympian Ares ended up with the Black Knight’s Ebony Blade, and pursued his grudge against Hercules with help from the Enchantress in Avengers #98-100 (with art by Barry Windsor-Smith), where all members of the Avengers team reunited for the first time since their earliest days, including the usual hold-outs of the Hulk and the Swordsman, and Goliath/Clint Barton goes back to being Hawkeye in a costume he thankfully doesn’t keep for long!

Sadly, things did not end well for the Black Knight, as he kept the interest of the Enchantress.

This larger team didn’t stay together, and the usual team stuck around, and a few members checked up on the Hulk.

After that, the Ant-Man and Wasp worked on their own for a while in Marvel Feature, facing familiar foes, like Egghead and Whirlwind, as well as Para-Man and Doctor Nemesis!

Team Dynamics

Then, a new menace in Avengers #101, and a return of the Grim Reaper in Avengers #102, (August 1972, art by Rich Buckler) giving the Vision a choice involving his brother, Wonder Man, where he chose independence, and a battle with the Sentinels in Avengers #103-104, Roy Thomas ended his first run on the Avengers (with the Scarlet Witch facing the Sentinels in “This Is The Way The World Ends”), leaving behind quite a legacy of stories for future writers to pick up on.

That will end the current rundown of the Avengers roster and history, until we assemble again, where we can pick up with what Steve Englehart did to the Avengers…and beyond!

Avengers History 202

Continuing our coverage of the Roy Thomas' years of Avengers chronicles, with Roy's biggest contributions to the team, the Vision and Ultron!


The Vision, a synthozoid (synthetic android) who can control his own density and fires a solar beam through a jewel on his forehead, meets the team in his first appearance of Avengers #57 (October 1968 art by John Buscema), and after a quick fight with the Avengers, reveals that Ultron built him to destroy them, but instead he helps the group to defeat Ultron.

Visions Of Things To Come

Vision joins the team in Avengers #58, (November 1968, drawn by John Buscema), where it is revealed that the Vision possesses the brain patterns of the supposedly dead Wonder Man (given to him by the evil Ultron), and that Hank Pym is the creator of Ultron! (Not the least of the secrets concerning the Vision, Wonder Man and Ultron, but the ones available to the Avengers at this time…).

The team plans to confront Goliath, but has to deal with Yellowjacket in Avengers #59, (December 1968, art by John Buscema) and Yellowjacket claims to have killed Goliath, and wants to be a member of the Avengers. Strangely, the team accepts this, and the Wasp even marries Yellowjacket in Avengers #60 (all the while fighting the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime in January 1969 drawn by John Buscema)! Janet does this because she knows Yellowjacket is Hank Pym (aka Goliath)! Hank explains away his temporary insanity (and it is later revealed that the team was playing along with Hank to help him…still, when he returns to the team after a honeymoon with the Wasp, he keeps the identity of the Yellowjacket, which foreshadows the many identity problems that Hank Pym will have in the future. Some of the guests at the wedding who would be Avengers in the future made their first appearance in the Avengers title, including the Inhuman elemental Crystal, man without fear Daredevil and sorcerer supreme Dr. Strange (who also sticks around to help the newer Black Knight…but more on him in a bit).

New Big Man In Town

Change is afoot, as Hawkeye deals with a broken bowstring by adopting the identity of Goliath to save the Black Widow from the Puppet Master, Mad Thinker and old Ant-Man/Giant-Man foe, Egghead in Avengers #63, (April 1969, art by Gene Colan) where Clint Barton also keeps this new look and power as the new giant on the Avengers...

...but still has to deal with old problems (like the Swordsman, Ultron and Kang) as well as new (like the alien gaming Grandmaster and his distinguished creations, the Squadron Sinister – a team of villains composed of oddly familiar looking people – a strong flying alien Hyperion, speedster Whizzer and power-beam welding Dr. Spectrum and a dark knighted Nighthawk) who fight the Avengers over the period of Avengers #69-70, both drawn by Sal Buscema.

Enter A Dark Knight

With the problems of knights and swords, the Avengers take a new recruit as well, making the new Black Knight (Dane Whitman) an Avenger in Avengers #71. But, a little history on the Black Knight…Nathan Garrett was the Black Knight who was a Giant-Man foe in the Masters of Evil, and then, after a confrontation with Iron Man, had been fatally wounded. Garrett let his nephew know a little of the history of the Black Knight, and Dane tried to help the Avengers against Magneto, first as himself in Avengers #47, (December, 1967, art by John Buscema) then taking on the identity of the Black Knight in Avengers #48 (January 1968, art by George Tuska). Even if the Avengers knew Dane wasn’t a villain like his uncle, the world didn’t, and the Crimson Cowl tried to recruit him to his new Masters of Evil, which Dane helped to defeat as the Black Knight.

It is later revealed that the Black Knight is a long, noble tradition dating back through a lineage to the 12th century, defending the land against invaders, and after an encounter with the ghost of Sir Percy of Scandia (the original Black Knight, in Marvel Super-Heroes #17, November, 1968 by Roy Thomas and Howard Purcell), he proved worthy to draw the Ebony Blade (his own version of Excalibur) and gained that as a weapon, whose enchantments allowed him to help the Avengers (and Dr. Strange) in Avengers #61 (February 1969, art by John Buscema) against Asgardian villains Surtur and Ymir, and returned to aid the team in the battle of Kang and the Grandmaster, and led to the team taking him on in Avengers #71 (December, 1969, art by Sal Buscema, and, is it ironic that the team ends up in World War II again, and meets an early Captain America, the android Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, right when they are forming the Invaders? Cap deals with the Black Panther as they’ve met before though not yet, and Yellowjacket might be angry with Sub-Mariner since Namor took his Giant-Man spot in Tales To Astonish, but what is the relationship between Vision and the Human Torch?).

Still, the Avengers return home to more foes, facing the Zodiac (a team of technology enhanced mobsters based on astrological signs) finding out that Nick Fury hadn’t been killed by Scorpio, and meeting up with the Kree Captain Marvel for the first time, as well as reencountering Rick Jones in Avengers #72 (January 1970, art by Sal Buscema). The team then meet an alternate world barbarian named of Arkon from Polemachus (premiering in Avengers #75, drawn by John Buscema for April 1970) who was seduced by the Enchantress, and she also took an interest in the Black Knight – whose Ebony Blade was cursed, making him more violent and prone to rage). The eventual end of this encounter with Arkon (in Avengers #84, January, 1971, art by John Buscema) left Black Knight without his blade for a time, so he left the team for a time.

A new group of villains came into being to face the Avengers but its members were old foes.
They were called the Lethal Legion, and they first attacked the Avengers with Avengers #78 (July, 1970, with art by Sal Buscema), and their roster included the Swordsman, Power Man, the Living Laser, the Grim Reaper, and the Man-Ape (a foe of the Black Panther, who first appeared in Avengers #62, March, 1969, with art by John Buscema).

The Avengers stopped them in Avengers #79 (August 1970, drawn by John Buscema).

Plenty of Guests

The past comes alive again, as there is yet another legacy hero introduced, the current version of the Red Wolf, in Avengers #80. (September 1970, art by John Buscema).

With the help of Daredevil, they face the Zodiac again in Avengers #81-82.

The women get into the team-building act as the Valkyrie is introduced, and tries to form the Lady Liberators with the Wasp, the Scarlet Witch, the former Frightful Four member Inhuman Medusa, and still not Avenger Black Widow which all happens in Avengers #83 (December 1970, art by John Buscema). All this doesn’t happen as it’s a plot by the Enchantress, which leads to her fleeing to Arkon’s realm for a time.

With Avengers #85-86, we found out why the Squadron Sinister were so familiar…they were based on the Squadron Supreme…heroes from an alternate Earth that included the high-flying American Eagle, beam-welding Dr. Spectrum, their own archer named Hawkeye, his girl friend with a sonic cry Lady Lark, super-strong Hyperion, small scientist Tom Thumb, brooding dark crime-fighter Nighthawk and speedster the Whizzer. The team had to stop the evil Brain-Child from destroying their Earth. This sets the stage for a whole future of crisis between the Marvel Earth and the world of the Squadron Supreme, and also is where the Avengers will prepare for one of their larger battles…after a brief meeting with the Hulk in Avengers #88 (that also featured future Avenger and partner to Captain America, the high-flying Falcon, in his first Avengers appearance).

All this leading up to the most important battle in the lives of the Avengers (as well as everyone on Earth....coming soon!).