A Review: The Vision by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta

With Disney+ soon to release WandaVision, one comic in a very long list of comics became priority number one: The Vision by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta.

In an attempt to live up to his desire to be more human, Vision, the synthezoid who saved the world thirty-seven times, has created an android nuclear family and moved just outside of D.C. to establish a perfectly pedestrian life to complement his perfectly un-pedestrian career with The Avengers. But their world isn’t ready for the odd family, and when danger comes to their front door, all attempts at what is normal quickly collapses as the family copes with the stresses of morality.

I can easily say that I’m much more an MCU fan than a Marvel Comics fan. While I’ve enjoyed several comics that I’ve read sporadically in my childhood, I was never a comic book “reader.” Perhaps it was the fact that I didn’t have easy access to comics in the 90s. Perhaps it was because the MCU didn’t yet exist to push me down the rabbit hole. Perhaps-and this is likely the main reason-I hadn’t yet read a comic that truly embodied what fantastic comic book storytelling could really, truly be.

The Vision, a 12 issue, self-contained story, is the first time I’ve genuinely loved a comic.

Through the use of a framing device that speaks directly to the reader, often giving away upcoming plot points, the narrative approach to The Vision sets it apart from my previous readings. The narrator functions as a system of footnotes that adds to both the mystery and dramatic irony of the story, giving the reader morsels of information paced in perfect harmony with the dialogue or images of the story at hand.

Further, the story itself, like any good Pinocchio story, is an exploration of what it means to be human-whether or not the soul of an individual can be truly captured. And, ever deeper: how humans are capable of rationalizing and compartmentalizing their actions as a means of dealing with cognitive dissonance. Additionally, it also explores themes of fate.

If you’re a sci-fi reader and MCU fan that is looking for a proper gem in the Marvel Universe to give comics a proper try, I highly recommend The Vision as an entry point.

Originally published at https://www.jimwilbourne.com on November 8, 2020.