West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #44
Better a Widow…
The West Coast Avengers are on a mission to rescue the Vision from an organization called Vigilance. Infiltrating the facility, the Scarlet Witch and Mockingbird find the lab where Wanda’s husband is being held and are horrified to discover that the scientists there have completely disassembled the synthezoid. Seeing his psudo-organs suspended in stasis tanks and his mechanical parts spread across a dissection table, Wanda demands to know what they were doing to her husband. Looking over their work, Mockingbird discovers that they were erasing the Vision’s entire personality.
That’s when Wonder Man enters the room carrying Cameron Brock, the leader of Vigilance. He tells them that Vigilance is an international organization that was formed to monitor the Vision after he failed to take over all the world’s computers.[1] The group was satisfied that the Vision was no longer a threat when he retired from the Avengers to start a family, however this changed when he and the Scarlet Witch joined up with the west coast team recently.[2]
Wanda doesn’t care who is responsible, all she wants is for her husband to be put back together. Unfortunately, Hank Pym points out that it won’t be that simple as putting him back together. While he can reasonably put the Vision’s body back together, his memory will be a blank slate.[3] Although they could reprogram the Vision’s memories based on what they know about his past, he won’t have any emotional connection to those memories. Hank says that their first priority is rebuilding the Vision’s body, which will be a challenge even though his body was once the Human Torch, an android created in 1939, he is still a highly sophisticated construct.[4]
That’s when the Wasp arrives with a surprise addition to the discussion: Phineas Horton, the creator of the Human Torch. Wanda can hardly believe it since she had heard that Horton died after creating the Vision.[5] Cameron Brock explains that they discovered the old man to still be alive and sought him out to give them advice on the Vision’s inner workings. That’s when Horton makes a shocking revelation: The Vision is not one of his creations.
Elsewhere in the facility, Hawkeye is looking around and he discovers that a lot of it are various false fronts to make Vigilance seem like a bigger operation than it seems. He then finds Tigra terrorizing some of the facility staff. When he tries to get her to stop, Tigra lunges at him instead.[6]
Meanwhile, at the campus of Absolom Collage in Saunders, Texas, a meeting has been called to find a suitable subject among the mutant population. They go through a list of 41 candidates before they ultimately settle on the Scarlet Witch.[7][8]
Back in Los Angeles, an ambulance has been called for Phineas Horton. After he is carted away and the Vision’s components are removed from the Vigilance facility, the Scarlet Witch uses her hex powers on the building, making it collapse. When the Avengers return to their compound, they discover that the alarm is going off in Wanda’s bungalow. Racing to see what’s wrong she find the governess she hired in a panic. She tells Wanda that her children — Tommy and Billy — have gone missing. However, when the Scarlet Witch checks the bathroom she finds the boy still playing in the tub. Believing that the governess has been neglectful, Wanda fires her on the spot.[9]
After making sure her children are safe, and then leaving them in the care of the Wasp, Wanda waits outside Hank Pym’s lab for her husband to be rebuilt. She is joined by Wonder Man, who can’t understand how the Vision and the Human Torch can be separate entities and wonders why Immortus — the one who revealed this fact to them — would have lied to them. That’s when they hear a crash from Pym’s lab. When Wonder Man goes in to see what’s going on, he is attacked by the Vision, who appears ghoulish without his synthetic skin. Hearing the commotion, Hawkeye goes down to try and help wrangle the Vision. Ultimately, Hank Pym recovers and deactivates the Vision. He apologizes to everyone as he hadn’t reprogrammed his memories and the rebuilt android’s default setting was to defend itself from perceived threats.
After seeing this latest bit of trouble, Hawkeye decides to call the Avengers’ governmen liaison, Raymond Sikorsky in Washington to voice his complaints. Sikorsky points out that the Vision was a threat to national security. However, to make sure the Vision doesn’t become a threat again, Raymond tells the Avengers that the government are imposing a new leader onto the team to keep them in line from now on and that he should be arriving right about now. Clint, Simon, and Hank then race upstairs to the front door just as their new leader arrives. They are deeply disappointed when it turns out to be the US Agent. The Agent is pleased to have finally made the big leagues.
Recurring Characters
West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wasp, Hank Pym, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man, Tigra), Vigilance, “Phineas Horton”, Billy Maximoff, Tommy Maximoff, US Agent
Continuity Notes
After being rendered comatose in Avengers #233, the Vision was revived using ISAAC the world-mind of Titan. Through ISAAC’s influence, the Vision attempted to bring about world peace by taking over the world’s computers from Avengers #251-254, he was stopped by his teammates.
Vision and the Scarlet Witch stepped down from the Avengers in Avengers #255. They retired to Leona, New Jersey starting in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1. However, they were convinced to join the west coast team in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #37. vision was kidnapped two issues ago.
Hank makes mention of the time he explored the inside the Vision’s body as Ant-Man. This was way back in Avengers #93.
The Human Torch was created by Phineas Horton back in Marvel Comics #1. The Avengers learned that he was used as the template for creating the Vision in Avengers #134-135.
It’s later revealed in Avengers Forever #8 that the Phineas Horton seen here is actually a Space Phantom in disguise. It was sent by Immortus to confuse the Vision’s true origins in an effort to manipulate the Avengers destiny. The real Horton seemingly died after creating the Vision in Avengers #135. There is some issue with that, and I pose a theory in my summary for last issue.
Tigra had started becoming more feral two issues ago. Her transformation is complete in Avengers West Coast #49, but she eventually gets cured in Avengers Spotlight #38.
This organization represents That Which Endures a symbiotic being that has bonded to dominant life forms since the dawn of life on Earth, as explained in Avengers West Coast #47-48.
The list of mutants actually includes non-mutants, characters with complicated situations, or dead. They are:
Banshee is referred as too weak: This is because at the time of this story, Sean Cassidy has burned out his powers back in X-Men #118-119. His powers won’t get restored until Uncanny X-Men #254.
The Beast is called unstable here: This is likely in reference to his fluid mutation. He had been transformed into a hairy beast in Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #11 until he was reverted back to his pre-hairy state in X-Factor #2-3. His intelligence then took a hit when he was infected by Plague in X-Factor #19 that caused him to lose intelligence whenever he used his strength. This was reversed when Infecta used her powers to make the Beast furry again in X-Factor #30-31.
Cloak and Dagger are listed here as being too unstable:
First of all, the pair were status as mutants has always been in question. Their powers derived from being injected with synthetic drugs, as explained in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64/Coak and Dagger #1. They were later incorrectly identified as mutants in New Mutants #23-25. This would be supported by the demon D’Spayre who said he manipulated how their mutant powers manifested in Cloak and Dagger (vol. 3) #19. However, this was all refuted in the Cloak and Dagger (vol. 4) #1 one-shot, where Doctor Nemesis determines that they are not actually mutants. Most recently, the summary pages in Cloak and Dagger: Negative Exposure #1-3 goes back to referring to them as latent mutants.
As for the pair being unstable, that is such a broad term. Since the beginning Cloak struggled to control the hunger for light caused by his powers. More recently, Dagger was turned evil, was restored to normal but is blind as seen in Strange Tales (vol. 2) #17-19 and Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #1. Her vision will be restored in issue #13 of that series.
Colossus, Dazzler, Havok, and Rogue are referred to as dead. At the time of this story, the X-Men were believed to be dead following the events of Uncanny X-Men #225-227.
Cypher: Is dead, at least as of this story. He was fatally shot in New Mutants #60. He will eventually get resurrected in X-Necrosha #1.
Legion is listed as unstable: Legion suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. See New Mutants #26-28.
Magik: Is referred to as no longer viable. Illyana Rasputin was aged to her adolescence due to an extended stay in the demonic realm of Limbo in Magik #1-4. She was restored to her rightful age in New Mutants #71-73, deactivating her powers.
Quicksilver: Is also stated as being too unstable. He is also not really a mutant. Just like his sister the Scarlet Witch, he was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary as a child, per Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5. In order to cover up his work, the Evolutionary made it so that future genetic tests would have them both register as mutants. More recently, Pietro was driven mad by Maximus, as explained in X-Factor Annual #2.
Sabra is listed as “unverified”, I’m assuming they don’t know if she is a mutant or not. Which is fair enough as her status as a mutant is not confirmed until Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #6.
Sabretooth is also listed as “unverified”: This I guess was true since his profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition #11 lists the source of his powers as unknown. I’m hard pressed to find an issue that specifically confirms that Sabretooth is a mutant (although that is not in question), my guess is at the point where Sabretooth claimed to be Wolverine’s father in Wolverine (vol. 2) #41-43. If I’m wrong, shoot me an e-mail.
Wanda’s kids did vanish last issue. It’s later explained in Avengers West Coast #51 that Wanda’s children only exist due to her own will power and that they have been blinking out of existence whenever she isn’t thinking of them.
Topical References
When naming off the various intelligence agencies involved in Vigilance, Cameron Brock makes references to agencies that are now defunct and therefore their references here should be considered topical:
He refers to France’s intelligence agency as the Deuxieme Bureau. However, this organization was dissolved in 1939. It’s modern day successor is the Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure or Directorate-General for External Security in English.
Russia’s intelligence is referred to as the KGB here. This organization was disbanded in 1991 following the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s modern day equivalent is the Federal Security Service.
Brock — a Canadian — incorrectly refers to his organization as the Canadian Secret Service. This is not the correct name for the organization is the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS for short. As a Canadian himself, I’m a little surprised that John Byrne didn’t already know this.
Here it is stated that the android Human Torch was built 50 years prior to this story. This should be considered a topical reference due to the Sliding Timescale. As the Modern Age is pushed forward in time, the gulf of time between the Torch’s creation and the start of the Modern Age grows wider.
