B. Radtz
As the final issue of the Vision & Scarlet Witch mini is released (Sept. 24th) we say goodbye to the series that Marvel’s released celebrating the 50th anniversary of the duo’s marriage (see: Giant Size Avengers #4 1975). This mini was brought to us by regular Scarlet Witch creators, Steve Orlando, Lorenzo Tammetta, and Jocopo Camagni, with covers by Russell Dauterman, who take us on this magical mystery tour, through some of the darkest corners of the Marvel universe, searching for Vision’s “brother” the Grim Reaper, who seems to have tapped into some dark, ethereal magic that’s causing havoc all over the globe. Can these two stop him, and his new, mysterious sponsor.
Steve Orlando has been the sole creative voice for Wanda since the Darkhold mini event in 2021, which eventually merged into the Trial of Magneto, which helped reinstate Wanda and Pietro as Magneto’s children. These events eventually became the impetus for the Scarlet Witch ongoings, as well as the anniversary minis, including the Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch mini in 2024, celebrating the twins 60th anniversary since their creation in 1964, that set the stage for the 2024 ongoing, that set the stage for this mini. Sigh. That’s a lot to spit out, but it’s a heck of a way to describe these past few years worth of stories and events.
The story opens with what we were when we last saw Wanda, approaching the Powers-That-Be, before she’s brought back to reality. Vision’s brought in to alert Wanda of this new threat to reality. Doors, much like the Last Doors created by Wanda, these doors lead to the Underworld, tempting people to enter them by hearing voices from loved ones’ passed on. The two former lovers team-up to solve this mystery, which brings us to longtime Avengers villain, and some kind of family member, the Grim Reaper. The Reaper seems to be the avatar for an elder god named Shuma-Gorath…I mean Gargantos (Editor’s note: Shuma-Gorath was first created by Conan The Barbadian, which Marvel sometimes publishes. Marvel renamed him Gargantos in Dr. Strange Mayhem of Madness, and it looks like they’ve carried it over to the comics officially).
The impetus for this mini is in celebration of the wedding between Wanda and the Vision, but they haven’t been married in 25 years, and haven’t been a couple since the Darker Than Scarlet storyline concluded in West Coast Avengers (editor’s note: West Coast Avengers 42-57, 60-62). This story stripped the Vision of his emotional state, stripped him of his Wonder Man engrams, and introduced us to white Vision to the world. It was this version of Vision that I met, and the version I became a fan of. It was this moment that future writers would stumble over, trying to return him to a time when he had emotions, but few have succeeded, but we were able to see him behave with real emotions here. It’s one of the best parts of this mini.
Steve Orlando’s taken us on quite the ride over these last few years, and it’s been filled with some great, and sometimes middling adventures. Some scenes hit it right out of the park, but something that’s been an ongoing issue was Orlando’s run is how over powered she is. She’s taken down these high level mystical and sci-fi heavyweights, while having a more difficult time with some of these characters that shouldn’t be. Unfortunately that trend continues here. She’s far too casual when addressing these abstract beings, that it detracts from the gravity of the situation that we see her in. Wanda’s powers have been all over the place.
One of the biggest issues was the ending of this story. Wanda used her powers to create a pocket world, where she and Vision lived for decades out of space and time. While we’ve seen her perform these feats before, it’s always happened when she was being used as a tool by someone else, who was enhancing her magic, and mutant gifts (see: Darker than Scarlet, Avengers Disassembled, and House of M), but she’s no longer the host for Ch’Thon, so where is this power coming from? The ending of this mini teases there’s more to come, and with all of these rumors that Wanda will be the new Sorcerer Supreme, with Steve Orlando headlining that project, we might see it happening over there.
