The Vision #3 (Marvel)

I read the first few issues of this series last year, but decided to skip going further, because I had already made a commitment to one Tom King story (Omega Men), and didn't want to entangle myself with another such commitment (I'm really trying not to spend all my money on comics).

The gist of this one is that the Vision, the robotic Avenger, built himself a family, but it's not turning out as he would've thought.  Of course, he doesn't know it yet.  And that's the rest of the story.  I assume the conclusion will be him finding that out.

It's a story that's familiar to me already.  In Star Trek: Voyager's "Real Life," the holographic Doctor creates for himself a holographic family.  His colleagues suggest that he's made it too perfect, so imperfections are introduced, and tragedy ensues.  It becomes a learning experience.

In a classic sense, this is how family life always turns out in a Marvel comic.  It implodes.  I mean, it's written into Vision's backstory.  Like Buddy Baker in DC's Animal Man, family tends to mean trouble for superheroes.  The Vision previously had a family with the Scarlet Witch.  King acknowledges this. 

As a lead character, the dispassionate Vision presents a unique opportunity, one that King is playing out to its logical conclusion.  Like artificial life in Star Trek, can such an individual truly understand the ramifications of what he's committed to experiencing with this family?  Like I said, Marvel superheroes tend to have worse family relations than DC.  That King, who has written the majority of his comics for DC, and recently signed an exclusive deal with the company so it'll remain that way for a while longer at least, The Vision represents a unique opportunity indeed.  I'm told there'll be twelve issues, like his Omega Men.  I guess that's the magic number, a full year to explore a given scenario.  This is the first time he's focused on a story like this.  In a lot of ways, it's the classic wartime narrative, too.  What effect does Vision's life have on his family?

I don't know, though.  I'm still not convinced to read the complete story.  The Marvel partisans at my local shop suggested this issue would do the trick.  It's got some valuable insights, but I wish there were more moving parts.  King's Omega Men worked so well because it worked in the opposite fashion as his Vision.  It was constantly bold.  His Batman, at the outset, seems to be bold, too.  The Vision reads tentatively.  As an offbeat character study, as Marvel does a lot these days, it gives King a chance to experiment.  Hopefully it'll at least lead to something greater.

Then again, maybe it's just me.  Maybe The Vision already is great.

Reading Comics 178 "Tom King, the Breakout Talent of 2015"

I've been chattering a lot about Tom King lately.  Well, it's official: he's my favorite breakout talent this year.

After lavishing his Omega Men with repeated praise, it felt like time to check out more of his recent work.  The first came by accident, looking inside the Justice League: Darkseid War - Green Lantern special and realizing that he was the writer.  With all due apologies to Robert Venditti and IDW's Star Trek/Green Lantern, this is now my favorite 2015 Green Lantern.  King handles Hal Jordan like a pro.  He's the first writer since Geoff Johns to get him so clearly.  Which is to say, if you loved Johns' Hal, you'll love King's.

I've been reading good stuff about King's Vision over at Marvel (don't you let him get away, DC!), and so had a look at its first two issues.  Very literate, more like sci-fi prose than superhero comic.  It's the latest version of comics evolving past their stereotype (which will of course always have hopeless devotees, as these things tend to go).  DC (and Brad Meltzer, in the pages of Justice League of America...several volumes ago) tried doing this sort of thing with Red Tornado.  But bringing out a true "other" perspective from the Vision is exactly what you can expect to find here.

Lastly, King's Sheriff of Baghdad from Vertigo, which draws on the writer's own background, flashing back to the chaotic early days of the Iraq War.  As Eastwood's immensely popular film American Sniper did before it, Sheriff imagines a Western vibe to the events.  Like his Omega Men, you might need a few issues to get your bearing, but it's another example of King separating from the rest of the pack with vital writing that is among comics' best.

This guy will be one of the biggest names among a lot of fans soon enough...