Avengers #254: Review

Apr 1985

Roger Stern, Joe Rubinstein

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Story Name:

Absolute Vision

Review & Comments

Rating:

Avengers #254 Review by Rob Johnson (June 2, 2023)

Comments: Cover title: The Mighty Avengers, on issues #241-255. Part three of three parts.

Review: So, the Avengers arrive and talk Vision out of his world-controlling scheme in record time so Vision must have had some doubts in the back of his mind—assuming artificial brains have fronts and backs. And kudos to Roger Stern for not having a violent denouement: Vision is their friend after all and more in need of counsel than grievous bodily harm. Instead, we have Vision attempting to justify himself individually to his friends, appearing in an appropriate form to each. And they save Vision by reversing the polarity of the fictitious technology! Very clever and quite enjoyable. And then he learns that his actions have reactions but that’s for upcoming issues to reveal.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #254 Synopsis by T Vernon

The Avengers arrive at the Mansion to face Vision, backed up by Captain Marvel, Thor, and She-Hulk. He confirms that he has taken control of the world’s computer networks; Thor steps forward to defend the wisdom of this plan. But Captain America notices something: he hurls his shield, cutting through CM, Thor, and Shulkie, revealing them to be merely holograms as they did not cast shadows. Vision is also a hologram who has done what he could to slow them down and listen to his reasons. Then he dissolves. The Avengers split up to search the Mansion for his physical form. Cap signals the West Coast Avengers Quinjet…

…where Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Tigra await and Wonder Man has his cue to drop into the River and make his way into the Mansion via the underwater port….

As the heroes search, Scarlet Witch encounters her husband in a very human-looking form….

Hercules and Starfox are trapped in an elevator but Herc is able to break a hole in the floor and Starfox flies free. Herc finds the Black Knight (whom he does not remember from their brief meeting in issue #100) fighting a huge gun. Vision appears to them as a huge musclebound threat….

Cap faces weapons that draw a bead on him but do not fire. He sees the Vision as a caped mystical figure….

Starfox discovers the Titan technology and Vision appears to him as a giant holographic head….

Wonder Man enters the submarine docks and he encounters Vision as a casually dressed pal….

He speaks to them all at the same time, explaining how he discovered the control crystal installed in his head by his creator Ultron, which enabled the evil robot and others to control him. But when hooked up to ISAAC, his memory expanded and, when several teammates vanished in the SECRET WARS event, he was forced to take over. He was able to mimic Starfox’s pleasure-controlling power to manipulate the National Security council into approving the creation of the West Coast Avengers and also to push the Wasp out of the way. But there was never enough power to get things done so he asked ISAAC to help him seize control of all computer systems. The Avengers each have something to say, that Vision can control computer networks but not bombers and submarines which are armed with nukes, that he can’t anticipate future developments, and that for all his control he can’t change human nature. Starfox points out that the world controlled by ISAAC is much smaller than Earth and the stress will cause his personality to cease to be. As Vision shuts down, Wonder Man locates Vision’s body in the Encephalatron Command Chair in a hidden underground lab. Starfox directs the others to break into the micro-relay bank and reverse the impulse flow. The system shuts down but Vision is still alive. He reaches into his head and plucks out the control crystal implanted by Ultron at his creation, now damaged; he apologizes to them all and Wanda takes him for a rest….

At NORAD, the interference detected in the system has been traced to Avengers Mansion. General Peabody demands the Avengers be held accountable….

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