West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #2
Sons!
This story continues from Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1…
The West Coast Avengers have come to New Jersey to pay a visit to the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, who are staying in a hotel room until they settle down in their new home.[1] When Wanda notices that Hawkeye’s wife, Mockingbird, isn’t present he tells her that she stayed behind in LA to watch things while they are gone. In reality, this was a necessity because Tigra refused to be left behind, but Clint doesn’t mention this.[2][3]
With pleasantries out of the way, Hawkeye explains the reason why they have came. The Lethal Legion has been reformed and teamed-up with Ultron. Working with Man-Ape, the robot freed the captive Goliath and kidnapped both Wonder Man and Hank Pym were kidnapped. The Vision finds this interesting and tells them how he and Wanda had an encounter with the Legion. They were attacked by Black Talon, Nekra and the Grim Reaper and learned that the Reaper had altered a corpse to resemble Simon Williams before he was transformed into Wonder Man.[4][5] Hawkeye sees that these two incidents are connection, but concedes that they’ll need more information before they know how to deal with this current crisis.
Meanwhile, at the Lethal Legion’s underground hideout, Hank Pym and Wonder Man have been contained in an energy cage. Simon pleads with his brother Eric, the Grim Reaper, to let them go. However, the Reaper refuses to do so, calling Simon a mutated freak. He explains that he will not allow Wonder Man to continue existing as it is a desecration to the memory of his brother. He then unveils the corpse he altered to look like Simon before he was transformed into Wonder Man. It is being hooked into a special computer that has been constructed by Ultron. The Reaper explains that he intends to capture the Vision and transfer both his and Wonder Man’s mind into the computer. The computer will then compare the pair’s memories and delete all the unique ones between the two. What remains will be transferred into the corpse, and creating the idealized version of Simon Williams that Eric is obsessed over.
When Wonder Man tries to break free from their cage, the energy bars prevent him from getting through. Hank Pym chides Ultron for getting involved in such a soap opera. In response, the robot openly mocks his “father” over his recent divorce and decision to quit costumed heroics.[6] Hank retorts that Ultron has reduced himself to being a pawn in another man’s scheme, and is surprised when this hits a nerve. Ultron then decides to prove his superiority by going out to capture the Vision, something that the others have failed to do.
By this time, the West Coast Avengers — along with Vision and the Scarlet Witch — go to the abandoned Williams Manufacturing facility to see if they can find the Grim Reaper and his cronies there. Iron Man explains to Tigra that the company was owned by Simon Williams before he became Wonder Man. He then tells her about the embezzlement scandal that ruined Simon’s reputation and how he was manipulated by Baron Zemo to become Wonder Man to infiltrate the Avengers. This ultimately led to Wonder Man betraying Zemo when he discovered that the process that gave him his power would kill him. Tigra doesn’t like how Iron Man is telling the story, as she doesn’t believe that Simon would have willingly embezzled money from his company, and thinks that Simon worked with Zemo out of desperation. Regardless of what the truth is, Iron Man insists that they need to keep on digging into Simon’s past if they are going to figure out where the Grim Reaper has taken their friends.
Their next visit is to the home of Martha Williams, the mother of Simon and Eric Williams. Seeing Martha for the first time comes as a shock to the Vision. She welcomes the Avengers into her home and agrees to tell them about how her sons grew up. She tells them that Eric was the athletic one in the family, while Simon stuck to his books and education. The boy’s father, Sandford, was a strict parent who often resorted to corporal punishment to keep his boys in line. Reflecting on this now, Martha believes that her husband had expectations that her boys didn’t think they could ever meet. This is why, she thinks, Eric started getting involved in petty crimes while Simon started focusing more on his studies.
Adults, the boys traveled down two very different paths. Simon started his own company which struggled to compete with Stark Industries, their chief competitor. Eric, on the other hand, got involved in the Maggia crime cartel. Desperate to keep his business afloat, Simon went to his brother for help, but despite Eric’s heavy handed tactics there was just no competing with Stark. When talking about the embezzlement scandal, Martha reveals that it was Eric who was responsible and that Simon took the fall for his brother as he felt responsible for his business failing.[7] She then tells the team that Eric operated out of Las Vegas when he was with the Maggia. She then breaks down into tears and asks them to bring back both of her sons alive.
Unable to keep silent any longer, the Vision tries to comfort Martha by calling her mother. This surprises her and the Vision explains that his mind was programmed using Simon’s brain patterns. This brings Martha tears of joy and she welcomes the Vision as part of her family as he represents that young man that Simon Williams was so many years ago.
Back at the Grim Reaper’s hideout, Eric Williams decides to have some time alone with Nekra as they wait for their next move. They are interrupted by the Man-Ape who tells them that Wonder Man is waking up again. Annoyed by the intrusion, the Grim Reaper calls Man-Ape a savage and orders him out of the room. Seeing Eric’s open display of prejudice, Nekra reminds the Reaper that she too is black. However, Eric mansplains that she is different due to the fact that she is an albino, making her the purest woman he has ever known.[8] Not liking the way he has been spoken to, the Man-Ape goes to the Black Talon and the two begin conspiring against their bigoted leader.
Overhearing this is Hank Pym, who believes that this is the break they have been looking for. Wonder Man, however, is more pre-occupied with the idea that his brother is going to kill him. Simon explains that while he had overcome his fear of death in the past, its back now more than ever. He recounts how he has no thoughts or memory during the period he was dead or even when the Black Talon briefly turned him into a zombie prior to his resurrection. He likens his fear of death to being an alcoholic in that you never get cured, you just don’t take another drink.[9] Finding this a pitiful excuse, Pym tells Simon to either give up and die or man up and fight.
By this time, the West Coast Avengers have finished their visit with Martha Williams and head to Las Vegas in their Quinjet. On the trip, Iron Man reflects on what he now knows about Simon Williams’ past and how much he can relate to it now after he almost lost it all himself.[10]
However, as they approach their destination, the Quinjet is ambushed by Ultron who comes smashing in through the cockpit window.
… This story is continued in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #2.
Recurring Characters
West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Tigra), Hank Pym, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Lethal Legion (Grim Reaper, Nekkra, Goliath, Ultron, Man-Ape, Black Talon),
Continuity Notes
Wanda and Vision had originally gotten a house in Leona, New Jersey circa Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1. It was later burned down by bigots in Avengers #252. They will settle down in a new home in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4.
It’s mentioned here that the government has finally left the Vision alone. This is in reference to Avengers #254, in which the Vision attempted to bring about world peace by taking over the world’s computers. The attempt failed and he was interrogated by the government in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1 to make sure he wasn’t a security threat anymore.
Also mentioned here is how Tigra is trying to prove herself as a valued member of the team. This stems from the fact that Greer’s previous stint on the Avengers led to her quitting when she felt she couldn’t compare to heavy hitters like Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, on top of dealing with the types of threats the team usually deals with. Her stint lasted from Avengers #211 to 216.
The Avengers had their encounter with the Lethal Legion last issue, while Vision and Wanda had theirs in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1 (again).
The whole thing with the Grim Reaper is quite complicated so I’m going to get it out of the way all at once:
The Grim Reaper is Eric Williams, brother of Simon Williams, since Avengers #52 he had been a primary antagonist of the Avengers over what happened to his brother. What happened to Simon? Well buckle up, it’s a long story….
After an embezzlement scandal, Simon Williams was transformed into Wonder Man by Baron Zemo as part of a revenge scheme against the Avengers. Discovering his powers were slowly killing him, Williams asked the team to help him find a cure, but they were unable to do so, leading to his apparent demise. However, they were able to make a copy of his brain patterns. See Avengers #9.
These brain patterns fell into the hands of Ultron, who used them at a template when he rebuilt the original android Human Torch into the Vision. See Avengers #57-58 and 134-135.
Wonder Man soon returned to life in Avengers #151 and it was later discovered in issue #165 that Simon didn’t really die, but entered a death-like state as his body went under a metamorphosis and was transformed into a being of pure ionic energy. Despite this, Simon had a fear of death for a very long time.
Since the construction of Vision and the later resurrection of Wonder Man, the Grim Reaper has been obsessed with restoring his brother to how he was before all of the above. There have been many different plots involving mind transfers or killing the inferior brother. See Avengers #102, 106-108, and 160.
At the time of this story, Hank had given up costumed heroics after disgracing himself in front of his fellow Avengers. This started in Avengers #213 when his struck his then-wife Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp. She divorced him soon after and he was court-martialed and kicked off the team. He was later manipulated into assisting his old enemy Egghead in the commission of a crime and was arrested in Avengers #217. Ultimately, he cleared his name in issues #228-229 and redeemed himself, however he decided to give up on heroics all together.
As we’ll learn in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #2, Simon was actually the one who embezzled money from his company. Eric took the blame in order to try and protect his brother and Simon — feeling guilty about the crime — never corrected anybody.
Yeah, Nekra’s origins are kind of problematic I guess. As per Daredevil #110, her parents were African-American. Her mother worked as a janitor at a nuclear testing facility in New Mexico and was exposed to a dose of radiation. This caused young Nekra to be born a mutant whose drew strength and invulnerability from hatred. She was born an albino which was a shock to the family and they disowned her. At the start of her career she teamed up with the Mandril, the black son of a white scientist that worked at the same facility. It was a really odd social commentary that hasn’t aged particularly well.
The only references here that I haven’t covered in footnote #5 include: That Wonder Man was briefly a zombie of sorts from Avengers #151-152. How he overcame his fear of death fighting Michael Korvac in Avengers #177. Lastly, Officially joining the Avengers in issue #194. (He hung out with the consistently up to that point so one could argue he was an Avenger the whole time except for on paper, like I do.)
At the time of this story, Tony Stark had been on an alcoholic bender from Iron Man #167-182. In Iron Man #173, he lost his company to Obadiah Stane who also went out of his way to try and utterly destroy Tony Stark’s life. After getting sober, Tony became Iron Man again and battled Stane to the death in Iron Man #200. Since then, he had regained access to his fortune and started up a new business, Stark Enterprises since Iron Man #217.
Topical References
The Vision and Scarlet Witch are depicted as having a CRT television in their hotel room. If you’ve read my summaries before you know why this is topical.
When pointing out that this whole ordeal is like a soap opera, Hank Pym chides Ultron for not kidnapping Blake Carrington as well. This was a character played by actor John Forsythe on the TV series Dynasty. This should be considered a topical reference as that series ended its run in 1991.
