Avengers 24.1

Once again, I’m surprised by Brian Michael Bendis. This is a fairly logical, reasonable follow-up to the cluster-#### that was Avengers Disassembled back in the early 2000’s.

The conceit of the .1 issues is to give new readers a good jumping-on point. I’m not sure this issue qualifies, but I’ll certainly take it, since it does feature the return of the classic Avenger Vision. That guy’s been dead for a lotta years at this point, and even though his return is about has half-assed as I can imagine (“I got better!”) at this point, I’ll take it. Let’s just undo Wasp’s stupid death during Siege or whatever and we’re good to move on.

I may be wrong, but I think this is the first time Bendis has written She-Hulk. Shulkie is understandably guilt-ridden over her involvement in Vision’s death, so she’s willing to take her punishment. Luckily, Vision’s anger disappears quickly once he sees how Disassembled affected She-Hulk too. These are both characters that haven’t been right since that storyline, so maybe a hug and the offer to keep in touch will be enough to make these guys a bit more usable to the Avengers family of books.

Shortly after his peaceful reunion with She-Hulk, Vision shoots off to Utopia to take on Magneto. I loved this entire sequence. Magneto tries to prove how changed he is (to himself and the X-Men as well as Vision) by not immediately attacking the synthezoid hero. But when Vision puts his insubstantial hand in Mags’ chest, the gloves come off. The rest of the encounter consists of Magneto screaming how easily he could destroy the Vision. It’s great. I understand your anger, Vish, but you probably shouldn’t mess with the master of magnetism.

Finally, Vision interrupts a very high-schoolish moment between Hawkeye and Spider-Woman. Luckily, Cap is on hand to point Vision back in the right direction, the Avengers direction. Sure, Vision missed some time and he’s got some unresolved marital issues, but he’s still an Avenger. That’s a good lesson.

Brandon Peterson’s art is solid, throughout. Peterson was a fan-favorite back in the day, but this doesn’t seem to have the same energy. This is simple, solid storytelling with on-model characters and strong emotional beats. I hope this signals a return to regular work for Peterson, he deserves it.

Good