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Avengers Spotlight #40: Review

Jan 1991
?, Gavin Curtis

Story Name:

Re/Vision: Avengers Reborn Part 4 of 4

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Avengers Spotlight #40 Review by (November 8, 2022)

Review: Okay, the final episode of “Avengers Reborn” has Vision being reborn, or at least having human emotions restored to his OS. What we’ve lost is Roy and Dann Thomas. No idea why the story arc switches writers for the last installment but here we are. And the story is pretty cool with Vision following up on the ideas of human purpose and such—though this issue is never really resolved. But then it isn’t resolved for much of humanity either. So Vision gets a new OS, he solves Alex’s murder, and goes back to acting like a human being for now. All philosophical matters kind of occupy the periphery. The story’s major problem is that the printing is too dark and muddy, which pops up often in this Marvel era. But the old-fashioned computer tech scenes make up for it.

Comments: Final issue of series. First appearance of Vision as Victor Shade. The Liptons return in AVENGERS #348. Ann Landers was a nationally syndicated advice columnist whose column appeared from 1955-2002. The festival Vision attends is the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua in Greenwich Village, New York City. Written by Len Kaminski and Carrie Barre. The letters page includes one from comics creator/blogger Henry R. Kujawa.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers Spotlight #40 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

The Vision, having been reconfigured in WEST COAST AVENGERS #43-45 and left inhuman and colorless, puts himself through a systems check and learns that everything is working well except one: he lacks a purpose. He goes to speak to Captain America about the matter but finds Cap just leaving with Sersi for a charity auction. Vision asks Jarvis if any other Avengers are at the mansion that evening and there are not. His eye falls on a newspaper and sees Ann Landers’ advice column and has an idea….

Vision visits the lab of AI expert Miles Lipton and asks him for help in solving the problem of purpose. After some discussion, Lipton notices Vision going into a fugue state briefly. Lipton creates a holographic image inducer for Vision to wear so he can mingle with humans unawares and observe how they behave….

One week later, Miles Lipton explains to his daughter-in-law Nancy that he has had no success in tying the murder of his son Alex, her husband, to the Roxxon Corporation; she advises him to stop the search, fearing losing him too. They encounter Vision, in a human form called Victor Shade, and he goes off with Lipton. Vision explains that he has attended religious services, a sports bar, the movies, and other human activities. He goes into the fugue state again and this time Lipton records Vision’s internal workings. After analysis, Lipton discovers that Vision’s troubles stem from the lack of a human template for his operating system, having lost that of Simon Williams in his overhaul. Lipton prepares to install the brain pattern of his son Alex into Vision in sleep mode—but then they are visited by Roxxon thugs, who know that Lipton has been hacking Roxxon’s mainframe for evidence of his son’s murder. They take Lipton and the unconscious Vision to the Roxxon building where they demand Lipton reprogram Vision to serve them, leaving him alone with one guard. Lipton downloads Alex’s brain pattern into Vision who comes online without a hitch. Vision then occupies the body of the sleeping guard and when the other thugs return, he beats them up, switching from body to body as necessary. He seizes onto the leader and forces him to confess to the murder of Alex Lipton, Vision’s memories being admissible as evidence in a court of law.  

Epilogue: Nancy Lipton is so happy that Alex’s killers have been brought to justice that she invites Miles and Victor Shade to a baseball game. The next evening, Jarvis apologizes for having been dismissive of Vision’s concerns the previous week. Vision assures him no harm was done and excuses himself to attend a ball game, confusing Jarvis….



?
Gavin Curtis
Dan Panosian
Renee Witterstaetter
Steve Lightle (Cover Penciler)
Steve Lightle (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)



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