#vision and the scarlet witch vol 2

[nocontextspiderman]

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #11 (1986)

[rains-of-words]

“Love is for souls, not bodies. It does not fade with scars.”

— Wanda Maximoff, Vision and the Scarlet Witch Vol. 2 #12

[brw]

SERIOUS CONCERNS, wendy cope. // WEST COAST AVENGERS VOL 2 #2, steve englehart. // ORSETES, anne carson. // CONJOINED WHITETAIL FAWNS, dr gino d'angelo. // THE VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH VOL 1 #3, bill mantlo. // THE COMPLETE POEMS OF ANNA AKHMATOVA: EPIC AND DRAMATIC FRAGMENTS AND LONG POEMS, anna akhmatova, tr. judith hemschemeyer. // TONY STARK: IRON MAN VOL 1 #16, dan slott. // IN TWO, nine inch nails. // LITTLE MEN, louisa may alcott. // WEST COAST AVENGERS VOL 2 #2, steve englehart. // BARN OWLS, damon tighe. // UNTITLED (LIGHTERS), ariel schlesinger. // AVENGERS VOL 1 #156, jim shooter. // AFTER FOREVER ENDS, melodie ramone. // WEST COAST AVENGERS VOL 2 #3, steve englehart. // AVENGERS VOL 3 #12, kurt busiek. // WEST COAST AVENGERS VOL 2 #2, steve englehart. // I GUESS, mitski.

[scarlet--wiccan]

Scarlet Witch reading guide

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of every appearance, but a walkthrough of what you need to read to understand Wanda's lore, history, and personal life events. I also have a breakdown of the Maximoff's powers and an explanation of their parentage and ethnic background. [This is an updated + condensed version of this post-- the formatting is messed up and I can't edit it, so I made a new one]

X-Men Vol 1 #4-11 (1964)-- Wanda & Pietro's first appearance as teenage mutants & Brotherhood members.

Avengers Vol 1 #16-27 (1965-66)-- The twins join the Avengers. Known as the "kooky quartet" era.

Avengers Vol 1 #91-108 (1971-72) -- Wanda begins a romantic relationship with Vision

Avengers Vol 1 #128-133 (1974)-- Wanda meets Agatha Harkness and begins studying witchcraft.

Giant-Size Avengers #1-4 (1974) -- Wanda meets Robert Frank and believes he is her father; Wanda and Vision get married.

Avengers Vol 1 #181-183 (1978-79)-- introduces Django Maximoff.

Avengers Vol 1 #185-188 (1979)-- also known as Nights of Wundagore, the twins return to Transia and learn about their birth on Mount Wundagore & the origin of Wanda's powers; Wanda is possessed by Chthon.

Vision & the Scarlet Witch Vol 1 & 2 (1983-85)-- Wanda & Vision acclimate to married life. Pietro's daughter Luna is born; the twins learn that Magneto & Magda are their birth parents; Wanda becomes pregnant and gives birth to twin boys.

Avengers West Coast #42-62 (1988-89)-- includes Vision Quest & Darker Than Scarlet storylines. Vision's memories and emotions are erased; the babies are destroyed by Pandemonium and Mephisto; Wanda learns that she is a Nexus Being while suffering the manipulations of Immortus. [the volume + issue numbering is weird on this one-- just look up the storyline titles and you'll find them.]

Force Works (1994)-- Wanda acts as team leader and begins a relationship with Simon Williams.

Scarlet Witch (1994)-- a miniseries which introduces Lore and expands on the concept of Nexus Beings.

Avengers Vol 3 #1-3; 10-11 (1998)-- Wanda learns more about chaos magic and resurrects Simon Williams.

Avengers Vol 1 #503-507 (2004)-- a storyline titled Chaos, which kicks off the Avengers Disassembled crossover. Wanda suffers an apparent mental breakdown and causes a series of calamities as her powers escalate to uncontrollable reality-warping.

House of M (2004)-- a sprawling crossover event set within an alternate reality of Wanda's creation; concludes with Wanda inadvertently erasing a large percentage of the mutant population. This is referred to as the Decimation, or M-Day. Wanda disappears and remains missing for several years.

Young Avengers; Young Avengers Special; Young Avengers Presents: Wiccan & Speed (2005-08)-- introduces Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd, who learn that they are Wanda's reincarnated sons and begin searching for her.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade (2010)-- the Young Avengers, Magneto, and Quicksilver discover Wanda as an amnesiac living in the care of Doctor Doom. They help her recover her memories and her powers are returned to normal.

Avengers vs. X-Men (2012)-- Wanda rejoins the Avengers. Alongside Hope Summers, Wanda helps banish the Phoenix from Earth and causes a proliferation of new mutant to manifest, the first step in her redemption for M-Day.

AXIS (2014)-- Wanda & Pietro learn that Magneto is not their father after all, and they're not actually mutants.

Uncanny Avengers Vol 2 (miniseries, 2015)-- the twins learn that their powers are the result of the High Evolutionary's genetic experiments.

Scarlet Witch Vol 2 (2016)-- Wanda returns to her magical focus and has henceforth been written as an adept spellcaster. The series does a lot of worldbuilding around witches and witchcraft. The twins learn that their birth mother was actually Django's sister, Natalya Maximoff, and that they are descended from a lineage of Scarlet Witches.

Doctor Strange Vol 4 (2016)-- Wanda is featured in the Last Days of Magic storyline.

Uncanny Avengers Vol 3 #26-30 (2017)-- Wanda rejoins the Avengers Unity Division and begins a relationship with Doctor Voodoo.

Avengers Vol 1 #675-690 (2018) -- a crossover event titled Avengers: No Surrender.

Quicksilver: No Surrender-- an excellent miniseries following the previous event. Wanda and Jericho use magic to aid Pietro.

Avengers: No Road Home (2019)-- a sequel to No Surrender.

Strange Academy Vol 1 (2020)-- Wanda becomes a faculty member at a school for young magic users.

Darkhold (2021)-- the original Darkhold is discovered; Wanda's prior experiences have made her strong enough to handle it without corruption; she merges the Darkhold with her own soul and uses it to bind Chthon.

Trial of Magneto (2021)-- Wanda stages her own death as part of an elaborate scheme to gain access to, and magically enhance, the Krakoan resurrection system, leading to her final redemption for M-Day.

Scarlet Witch Vol 3 (2023)-- Wanda opens a metaphysical shop in upstate New York and constructs a magical portal called the Last Door. New friends, enemies, and a new status quo are introduced.

Avengers Vol 9 (2023)-- Wanda joins a new iteration of the Avengers, led by Captain Marvel.

Contest of Chaos (2023) -- a crossover event. Agatha attempts to create a new Darkhold, much is revealed about the origin and nature of chaos magic.

Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver; Scarlet Witch (2024)-- a special anniversary miniseries which leads into the solo title relaunch. The twins are hounded by an abstract entity called the Griever as their powers begin to expand beyond their prior limitations; new context is given to Nexus beings; Chthon escapes containment.

Vision & Scarlet Witch Vol 3 (2025)-- an upcoming miniseries, continuing from the previous volume of Scarlet Witch.

[browsethestacks]

Vintage Trading Cards - Comic Images Marvel Comics First Covers Series II Uncut Sheet (Complete Base Set) - Final Proof (1991)

From ha.com...

There's nothing more iconic than the very first cover of a popular comic book series. That's exactly what's highlighted here! Offered in this lot is an uncut sheet from the 1991 Comic Images Marvel Comics First Covers II trading card set. The 100 cards in this set show the very first covers of popular Marvel comic series, such as Wolverine, Web of Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, The Life of Captain Marvel, The X-Men VS. The Avengers, and more.

This sheet contains 10 rows of 10, for a total of 100 cards.

Checklist: Complete Base Set

1 Beware

2 Giant-Size Chillers - Curse of Dracula

3 The Spectacular Spider-Man

4 The Human Fly

5 The Marvel No-Prize Book

6 Marvel Superhero - Contest of Champions (Limited Series)

7 Hercules (Limited Series)

8 Wolverine (Limited Series)

9 Vision and The Scarlet Witch (Limited Series)

10 The Uncanny X-Men at the State Fair of Texas

11 Marvel Age

12 Obnoxio the Clown vs. The X-Men

13 The Saga of Crystar - Crystal Warrior

14 Hawkeye (Limited Series)

15 Cloak & Dagger (Limited Series)

16 Marvel Tails - Starring Peter Porker - The Spectacular Spider-Ham

17 The Falcon (Limited Series)

18 Magik (Limited Series)

19 The Jack of Hearts (Limited Series)

20 The X-Men and the Micronauts

21 Secret Wars (Limited Series)

22 Power Pack

23 West Coast Avengers (Limited Series)

24 Machine Man (Limited Series)

25 Web of Spider-Man

26 Moon Knight

27 Cloak and Dagger

28 Secret Wars II (Limited Series)

29 The Life of Captain Marvel

30 Longshot (Limited Series)

31 Squadron Supreme (Limited Series)

32 The Vision and The Scarlet Witch (Limited Series)

33 Nightcrawler (Limited Series)

34 Marvel Saga - The Official History of the Marvel Universe

35 X-Men and Alpha Flight (Limited Series)

36 The Punisher (Limited Series)

37 X-Factor #1

38 Classic X-Men

39 Strikeforce: Morituri

40 The Nam

41 The Comet Man

42 Fallen Angels (Limited Series)

43 Strange Tales

44 The X-Men vs. The Avengers (Limited Series)

45 Silver Surfer

46 The Punisher

47 Solo Adventures Starring Hawkeye and Mockingbird

48 Marvel Comics Presents Wolverine

49 Spellbound (Limited Series)

50 Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.

51 Black Panther (Limited Series)

52 What the ?!

53 Wolfpack (Limited Series)

54 Excalibur

55 X-Terminators

56 The Saga of The Sub-Mariner (Limited Series)

57 The Punisher War Journal

58 Wolverine

59 Semper Fi'

60 Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe

61 What If ...

62 Solarman

63 Damage Control (Limited Series)

64 The Sensational She-Hulk

65 Marc Spector - Moon Knight

66 Nth Man - The Ultimate Ninja

67 Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

68 Power Pachyderms

69 The Wolverine Saga

70 Quasar

71 Shadow Masters (Limited Series)

72 The War

73 Damage Control (Limited Series)

74 Open Space

75 The Punisher: No Escape

76 The Thanos Quest

77 X-Men Spotlight On ... Starjammers (Limited Series)

78 Namor, The Sub-Mariner

79 The Saga of the Original Human Torch (Limited Series)

80 Ghost Rider

81 Marvel Superheroes - Spring Special

82 Black Knight (Limited Series)

83 Guardians of the Galaxy

84 Deathlok (Limited Series)

85 The New Warriors

86 The Punisher Armory

87 Spider-Man

88 Fool Killer (Limited Series)

89 Nomad

90 Black Panther: Panther's Prey (Limited Series)

91 Punisher P.O.V. (Limited Series)

92 Darkhawk

93 Nightcat

94 Sweet Sixteen

95 The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man (Limited Series)

96 Damage Control Vol. III

97 Sleepwalker

98 Deathlok

99 The Infinity Gauntlet (Limited Series)

100 Checklist

[scarletwitching]

What would be your recommendations for someone trying to get into Wanda?

There is so much Lore™ with Wanda that they never stop bringing up that you're always going to have questions and be a little confused, no matter where I tell you to start. That said:

Scarlet Witch by James Robinson: The Complete Collection

Scarlet Witch by Steve Orlando Vol. 1: The Last Door

Scarlet Witch by Steve Orlando Vol. 2: Magnum Opus

Scarlet Witch by Steve Orlando Vol. 3: Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver

Vision & the Scarlet Witch: The Saga of Wanda and Vision

There was a time when the answer for where to start with Wanda was some very old, scattered issues of Avengers, and nowadays, I feel like the solo comics are a good place to start. The last one is a collection of comics from the 80's, but those stories are focused on her and Vision.

From there, you can try out Steve Englehart's run on Avengers. Busiek's too, I suppose. Various events, both recent and old. It's hard because sometimes, rather famously, Wanda, as a plot device, will be very important in a story, but then she's barely in the story. Like, she's comatose, she's off-screen, people are talking about her and she's not there. Which, I think, makes them weird to recommend for her, in spite of what it looks like on paper. If you want lore, you can just read a summary of the lore.

And also, those comics are not the best quality and contain many questionable writing decisions, far beyond the normal stuff you get in Marvel comics. I often have quibbles with the things I recommend, elements I have outdated and insensitive, but there's a big difference between that and Disassembled, which I would be hard-pressed to say anything positive about.

[petrerpkr]

Wanda maximoff reading order

Marvel release calendar & marvel timeline

For in depth Reading order

Avengers Origins: The Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver

Mystic Arcana: Scarlet Witch(2007)

Avengers (1965)#16-255

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1 (1982)

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2 (1988) #42-46

Avengers: West Coast #48-62 (1989)

Avengers Vol. 3 #1-84(1998)

Avengers Disassembled(2004) #500-503

Avengers finale (2005)

House of M /reading order(2005)

Mighty Avengers #21-32 (2009)

Avengers: The Children's Crusade (2010)

Avengers vs x men/reading order

Avengers & X-Men Axis (2014)

Uncanny Avengers (2012-2015)

Vision Vol. 2(2016) #7

Scarlet Witch Vol. 2 (2016)

Star (2020)

Strange Academy(2020)

Empyre: X-Men (2020)

X-Men: The Trial of Magneto (2021)

Darkhold (2021)

Scarlet Witch (2023) #1 to #10 & Scarlet Witch Annual (2023) 

Crypt of Shadows(2023)

Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver (2024)

Scarlet Witch (2024)

[vanillaxbiscuit]

The Vision And The Scarlet Witch

"I am a synthezoid, and yet I understand". "I know you do, Darling. That's why I love you." From The Vision and the Scarlet Witch Vol. 1 #2, written by Bill Mantlo.

I did it everyone, I can now digital painting in marvel style. I'm so happy. Thank you so much Alex Ross, Jack Kirby and George Perez. I can now eat my painting and let them rot in my brain.

[oxyintelligent]

I think I just found confirmation of Wanda and Pietro being romani that is earlier than The Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 2

"It was his judgement that we should be raised among our own kind. Seeking out Django and Marya Maximoff, a chidless g**** couple [...]"

The language here is offensive, but this seems to me like a pretty clear statement that Magda, Pietro and Wanda are all romani. This is from Avengers #234 (1983), 2 years earlier than the now-famous panel where Magda calls herself a g**** in V&SW #5- so, Wanda has been officially romani since 1983

[weaving-knightmares]

A thrilling saga.

(The Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 2 #1)

[nocontextspiderman]

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #11 (1986)

[scarletwitchpanels]

Do you know of any comics/panels that show Wanda’s bedroom or house interiors?

oooo good question! here are a few I found digging through my Wanda folder, I can try to find more though! otherwsie the closest we have is vision & the scarlet witch vol 2

[brw]

do you have any wanda recs?

Sure! I'll try to keep it to the main stories in her history, but if you want some of the lesser known issues let me know and I'll include those!

X-Men V1 #4–#11 (you can also read Avengers Origins: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver)

Avengers V1 #16

The Celestial Madonna arc (Avengers V1 #124–#135, Giant Size Avengers #2–#4. Most imporant issues are Avengers #128 and Giant Size Avengers #4)

Marvel Fanfare #6

Marvel Fanfare #58 B Story

Avengers V1 #185–#187

Marvel Team-Up #125

Marvel Comics Presents #60-#164

Vision and the Scarlet Witch Vols 1 & 2

Power Man and Iron Fist #102

You can read West Coast Avengers V2 basically onwards from #34, but the Vision Quest (#42-#46) and Darker Than Scarlet (#53–#64, Avengers West Coast annual 5) arcs are the important ones.

Scarlet Witch V1

Marvel Comics Presents V1 #143–#144

Avengers Vol 3 by Kurt Busiek, you can stop reading by the time Geoff Johns takes over.

I don't like most of the 2000s and early 2010s Wanda stuff to be honest, and I'm assuming you're familiar with House of M so I'd just skip to Avengers: Children's Crusade.

Scarlet Witch V2

Avengers: No Road Home (technically a sequel to Avengers: No Surrender, which you can read if you want but that arc has a LOT of characters so Wanda's involvment isn't consistent)

Darkhold (just the main series, you don't need to read any of the tie-ins)

Scarlet Witch V3, Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch V4

Exiles Vol 2 is an entirely AU series, but Wanda's in it and it has a special place in my heart.

Hope this is good anon!

[marvelman901]

Avengers vol 2 1 (1996)

Heroes Reborn

Awaken The Thunder!

Written by Rob Liefeld and Jim Valentino

Penciled by Chap Yaep and Rob Liefeld

Inked by Jon Sibal and Marlo Alquiza

Colors by Ashby Manson and Extreme Color

Lettered by Steve Dutro

Edited by Rob Liefeld

Cover by Rob Liefeld and Jon Sibal

Donald Blake had found Thor, the God of Thunder, imprisoned in Amber and asked the Avengers (Captain America, Swordsman, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Hellcat and Vision) to help him release Thor.

Loki, who had finally found his brother, was there as the Avengers got Thor out and tricked him into fighting the Avengers...

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers West Coast #65: "Whatsoever a man soweth..."

December, 1990

The REAPER and the ROBOT Part One He's back from the GRAVE -- and ready to PARTY! ... FEAR the REAPER!

Uuuuugh. Can we not do something different?

Grim Reaper suuuuuucks! He's one-note! Even the title of this arc seems to suggest we're back to his old nonsense. The Reaper and the Robot.

Oh, is Grim Reaper going to have a problem with Vision? How fresh and original!

Although, Vision is with the East Coast Avengers. Maybe Grim Reaper is going to harass Jim Hammond Human Torch instead. That'll be new.

Anyway, a quick recap of Grim Reaper's last appearance. He teamed up with Ultron to put Wonder Man and Vision in a giant blender. Superhero shenanigans ensued and Vision and Wonder Man wound up pursuing Grim Reaper into a dark cavern. And then he stumbled off a cliff when Wonder Man ruined his perfect little brother fantasy by claiming credit for doing an embezzlement.

Uh, so, Wonder Man Simon William's original origin is that he was a competitor to Tony Stark but his company got into trouble and Simon did some embezzlement and got arrested. The Masters of Evil bailed him out and turned him into Wonder Man and then he died. Then Grim Reaper came to avenge Simon by attacking the Avengers instead of the Masters of Evil and also revealed that he, Grim Reaper Eric Williams, did the embezzlement instead and framed his goody-good brother.

And then it was later later revealed that the first thing was correct and Simon did the embezzling and just let Eric take the blame because he was ashamed.

Anyway,

Simon visits his brother's grave at the graveyard.

Where he recaps their entire relationship and says how weird it is that he has an easier time talking to him now that he's dead.

Hey, it be like that sometimes.

Simon apologizes that the two brothers drifted apart and says that all the murder attempts probably meant they cared for each other more than most brothers.

Sure!

Anyway, as soon as Simon leaves the graveyard, Eric pops out of the ground as the living dead.

Oh, sure, don't stay dead. God forbid I be happy.

Nekra reveals herself to be the one that brought him back to life. You know, that lady he was smooching on back when he was alive?

Apparently, she and Black Talon brought Reaper back as a zombie later in the Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol 2 book. And Nekra and Reaper smooched again shortly before he re-died. This made her realize she loved him so she studied voodoo herself so she could bring him back.

Reaper doesn't want to be a zombie again and have to take orders but Nekra tells him he doesn't have to obey anyone! Although, he does need to absorb a human life through his scythe once a day to keep living. She recommends he start with the ornery groundskeeper who has started yelling at them for being in the cemetery after hours.

Instead, Grim Reaper backstabs Nekra and eats her life.

Grim Reaper: "Like you said, Nekra -- this time -- I don't have to do what anybody tells me. Anybody!"

What a dick.

Grim Reaper: "You were right -- about my needing to absorb life -- to hang onto my own approximation of it. Still, in sucking out your life -- I've become the walking personification of death! Now, far more than before, I've become -- THE GRIM REAPER!"

It's decades too late to try to be cool, guy.

Anyway, back at the Avengers West Coast Compound, Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, California, Hawkeye is back to training in that device that swings him around by his feet.

He's trying to get three bullseyes in a row but US Agent throws his shield to block the third one. Apparently, just to be a dick.

US Agent: "What's wrong, archer? Think you're the only one who can use a night workout? 'Course, I guess a guy like you needs all the practice he can get."

Hawkeye then punches US Agent in the face. Deserved.

But US Agent is still a super soldier even if his personality is garbage. So he judo flips Hawkeye into a bush when he tries for a second one.

Wanda and Quicksilver interrupt the fight to ask what the heck is going on. And then Wonder Man returns from the grave visit, telling Hawkeye and US Agent that if their enemies (like Master Pandemonium) had seen the Avengers fighting amongst themselves, it would make them so happy.

Geez, Wonder Man. You know that the Avengers always have drama. You were the one causing drama back during most of Englehart's run.

Anyway, he suggests that Hawkeye and US Agent shake hands and forget the whole fight.

Hawkeye: "How about we forget to shake hands, and let it go at that?" US Agent: "What he said."

Wow. So they can agree on things. If only they could broaden that 'fuck you, Wonder Man' attitude into a general sense of camaraderie.

Anyway, Wanda wanders to Wonder Man and asks if they can talk. Because they haven't really talked since her whole Evil and Crazy phase and boy do they have a lot to talk about.

Will they though? I mean, they try!

Scarlet Witch: "I merely wanted to -- well, to thank you for all your kindness while I've been recovering from -- everything that's happened to me lately." Wonder Man: "What are friends for? I see you're not wearing your costume, though -- either of them. Your hex power still hasn't kicked back in, huh?" Scarlet Witch: "No, and I can't be certain it ever will. In fact, with so many things I thought were -- permanent -- having been altered lately, perhaps it would be best if the Scarlet Witch phase of my life were over with, as well." Wonder Man: "Don't even think that, Wanda."

Yeah, editorial will never allow it.

Anyway, Wonder Man has had a hell of a day, thinking about his definitely dead brother and thinks this conversation will be easier over food.

And he looks truly miserable. Like, my god, this is a man in a dark place.

So Wanda suggests Taco Loco and drags him off.

Anyway, over in the plot, Grim Reaper wanders into an abandoned gun emplacement in the coastal hills of San Pedro. Currently being used by the Cult of Satanish, who I guess is like Satan... ish.

The cult gets in his face for interrupting their ritual and then he starts slaughtering. Because they're full of delicious life energy.

Is this your plan, Grim? Just killing random weirdos to live another day?

In his slaughter frenzy, Grim Reaper doesn't notice one of the cultists running away.

Back in the character beats, Wonder Man and Wanda have sat down at a restaurant and instead of talking about what they need to talk about, they're gossiping about Hank and Jan.

Apparently, Hank and Jan have officially explicitly decided to try to see if they can work as a couple again. Instead of them... I dunno, they were like dating in secret but it was super obvious and yet things kept happening that would interrupt them from ever speaking it aloud.

What was the point of playing coy with it?

Speaking of weirdly prolonged subplots, where the fuck is Tigra? I can't believe the Avengers lost an entire person, smh.

Some fans of Simon come right up to the restaurant table and ask him for his autograph. Specifically, the autograph of Simon Williams, semi-famous actor from Arkon 5, a cinematic masterpiece.

The fans don't even have any idea that he's a superhero. Which is weird. Since a huge part of his PR plays up the idea that he's an actor who is a superhero. To the extent that when he was really attacked for real by Last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus Wearing Abomination As a Meatsuit, everyone assumed that it was just a stunt and not a real violent assault.

My point is that it's odd that these young fans don't know Simon Williams is Avenger Wonder Man but they say they don't watch a lot of TV.

So, I guess it's possible. That they're just really big fans of his movies and don't pay a lot of attention to anything else.

Anyway, that one cultist that escaped Grim Reaper's murder spree stumbles into specifically the restaurant that Grim Reaper's superhero brother Wonder Man is in, cries out about a Grim Reaper killing people in a bunker, and then drops dead.

It's just vague enough that Wonder Man has to follow up on it! Annnnd, I guess he didn't bring his rocket belt? Because he asks two cops that were in the restaurant if he (and Wanda) could get a ride.

The cops are like 'yeah, okay.'

When the cop car arrives at the bunker, Wonder Man rushes ahead and finds a bunch of murdered people. And also, Grim Reaper jumps out like a slasher villain.

Wonder Man wonder slams a table into Grim Reaper and yells at him for killing a bunch of people.

Grim Reaper's response is funny because he's like well they weren't exactly saints but like I didn't really take that into account either. Just had to slurp some delicious life.

Wonder Man: "That means -- you're even more murderous than you used to be -- which makes stopping you my business!"

He's not wrong.

New zombie Grim Reaper will kill a minimum of 365 people a year if left alone. That's ridonk.

Grim Reaper is all jacked up on life energy so he's able to take Wonder Man punches like a boss. Getting punched hard enough that he cracks the concrete wall and shakes the whole place like an earthquake. And then bouncing right back to knock Wonder Man across the room.

The cops pull their guns and start blasting Grim Reaper. Blasting through him too. I guess being super jacked up on life energy doesn't change that his body is all squishy.

Grim Reaper knocks the cops aside and declares that even though he's eaten enough life for the day, he's going to kill Wonder Man just cause.

Wonder Man presses X to doubt because Grim Reaper is obsessed with him. All his dumb schemes were to either get revenge for him or turn Vision or Wonder Man back into the brother he used to know.

So Wonder Man just rolls the dice on letting Grim Reaper hit him with his scythe.

And he's sorta right. The scythe just FTHKs off his rock hard pecs. It's not clear whether it wasn't an earnest attempt to kill Wonder Man or whether the scythe just isn't up to cutting an ionic energy man.

But something weird happens. A weird sibling interaction.

The life energy flows out of Grim Reaper through the scythe and goes into Wonder Man. And neither of them like it.

It drains and weakens Grim Reaper. And the energy is so foul that it incapacitates Wonder Man with nausea and disgust.

Grim Reaper is so drained that he needs to eat another person to get through the night. Annnnnnnnd Wanda and the two cops just happen to be available...

Wanda tries to do a hex but gets nothing. Her powers are still gone after that Immortus thing.

But she's resourceful. So she kicks over a lantern, the only light source, and casts the bunker into darkness.

Grim Reaper can't see in the dark so decides to just fuck off.

Wonder Man: "Eric -- if you really are Eric -- wait! If something's wrong with you, maybe we can help!" Grim Reaper: "What I need, little brother, you clearly can't give -- and you sure won't stand by and let me take it for myself! I may be dead -- but I need life, like a living man needs food -- and no one is going to stop me from getting all I need! NO ONE!"

And then he fucks off.

Wonder Man laments that he was too disoriented by getting scythed to give chase.

Wonder Man: "I've got to find him -- or else every life he takes -- every drop of blood he spills -- will be on my hands!"

Mmm, that's good drama.

And now for subplots.

As mentioned earlier, Hank and Jan are off trying out being a couple. Including having a married couple argument.

So I can sigh once again about how Wasp is being portrayed since Byrne's run started.

Dr Pym: "Hank and Jan couldn't fly in a Rover, oh no. Or even just take a plane. They had to rent a car and drive, just like folks. Results: one flat tire, equidistant between closed service stations, in a car missing a jack."

I'm so glad that Jan organized the travel arrangements entirely so she could make all the wrong decisions. It has nothing to do with anything but she's just got to be wrong so Hank can be right =_=

Luckily, Hank and Jan got their flat in front of a farmhouse. Which Hank notes is odd because a lot of pesticide spraying has been doing in this area.

The old farmer couple that answers when Hank knocks says they don't have a jack. But also luckily, Hank completely ignored Jan when she asked him not to bring a Rover, his ant-brained aircar that loves him. So when she laments that she was wrong not to let him bring it, he can bring it out, secure in his rightness.

Also, when he uses his Pym Particles to expand Rover, the farming couple explodes.

THEY WERE ROBOTS ALL ALONG.

BECAUSE ULTRON-13 WAS BEHIND THIS!

WHATEVER THIS IS!

Like, seriously, what are you up to, Ultron? Why did you put fake farmer robots in the middle of nowhere? Just to ruin Hank and Jan's stupid couples trip?

I miss Mark the Ultron...

ANOTHER SUBPLOT.

Remember how Ann Raymond came to find the truth of what happened to her husband Toro and she just kept hanging around?

Well, in this back-up story "Toro, Toro, Toro...", Jim Hammond Human Torch and Mrs Raymond have put out an ad and ran it in papers around the world asking for information on what happened to Toro. They only received one response, an anonymous letter asking to meet them at the Channel Islands.

And when they get there, the letter writer turns out to be the Mad Thinker! And he brought a Giganto! A robot Giganto!

Mad Thinker: "And who more fitting, than he who not only caused Toro's death southwest of Lisianski Island -- but who also first resurrect you from suspended animation, years ago? I thought it past time I disposed of the surviving half of the Torch-Toro team!"

Human Torch do what Human Torch do and throws fireballs at the Giganto, melting its skin and revealing that it's a robot.

But in the meantime, the Mad Thinker has fucked off.

Hammond and Mrs Raymond decide to go investigate Lisianski Island, which Mad Thinker really emphasized it. So they miss Mad Think coming out of the water and ripping off his face to reveal...

NAMOR MCKENZIE!

Who disguised himself as the Mad Thinker to help the two of them get closure and couldn't just tell them because he's busy faking his death at the moment.

As one does.

I'll just be happy if we get this subplot wrapped up.

Anyway, back to the Larry Hama Avengers run next week. And the week after that, Ultron stuff.

Follow @essential-avengers. Like, reblog, and comment. Or don't. I can't make you. Until I get the Mind Stone.

[doctorstrangereview]

0143: Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #8

Cover Date: June 1975 On-Sale Date: March 11, 1975

Finally, back to the solo series. With Doc's book being bi-monthly, the Defenders monthly, the Giant-Size Defenders series (mercifully coming to an end soon) and the occasional guest spot, the solo reviews feel few and far in-between. This is the penultimate installment of the Dormammu reborn story. All sorts of mystical things are about to happen!

And we Doc and his main squeeze, Clea, about to be magically pummeled by Orini and a horde of funky looking Dark Dimension demons. Doc is powerless. Clea refuses to lift a hand against daddy. Speaking of daddy, Orini looks mighty fine with his bald head, silver beard and bare chest. (Paul Smith manages to slip in a few more of these glimpses when Orini shows up again in the more conservative 80s.) A light bulb suddenly lights up over Doc's head. He might not have any power, but Clea isn't so encumbered. He has Clea use the Cloak of Levitation and fly them away.

Clea finds a spot that she used to hide as a kid. We have no idea how old Clea actually is as there's never been anything that states how long residents of the Dark Dimension live. Someone once theorized Clea could be thousands of years old, but that's not canonical. Clea informs Doc that Umar attacked him to draw him away from Earth and hid Dormie's basking in Mother Nature's goodness. Then Clea finds a creepy doll she used to play with.

She then gets nostalgic about "how things used to be." Dormie was the master and everyone else were slaves. Clea's daddy, Orini, was basically the head slave making her a kind of princess. Orini was shirtless a lot, even back then.

Clea gave up a lot to bolt and hang out with Doc. She's pretty much been disowned by her daddy. Doc thinks they can try and obtain power from Orini to use against the trouble twins, but Clea says it ain't gonna happen. Then Mother Nature sends Clea a telepathic telegram. She's not looking too good.

We then look in on Dormie, Umar and the captive Mother Nature. Dormie is blowing off steam after being thrown out of The Vision and Scarlet Witch's wedding. He orders Umar to off our buddy Horse the Junkie because Clea sent him packing last issue.

Umar shows up at Horse's place in a green dress that's loose yet manages to look tight in all the right places. Horse must be using Michael Jackson's skin lightener because he's now caucasian.

After being flirty, Umar turns to her true purpose. She's gonna kill Horse, and she's gonna do it slowly.

Back in the Dark Dimension Orini is strolling around pondering dimension politics. Clea suddenly shows up and asks daddy for help. Daddy says no.

Doc believes that the Orini allowing Clea to leave without obliterating her means something. However, it doesn't mean he's gonna let Doc get his mojo back either. Doc has another idea. They're gonna call on Mother Nature to help them out of this mess and get back home. She's Dormie's prisoner but can still act when called on by others.

The little girl recognizes Doc and Clea as the bad people and she runs away to tell on them. Now our magical couple have a quick deadline before the mobs with torches and pitchforks show up. We get to see Clea's childhood room. Like what many parents do, her room has been frozen in time. That bed is adorable!

Clea gathers the goods just as Orini and the little girl show up. Fortunately she isn't caught. Doc and Clea perform the pagan ritual and it works! Doc heads through the barrier holding back our buddies the Mindless Ones while Clea leads daddy and the demons away from him.

Clea makes it to the G'uranthic Guardian and it does what it's supposed to do and hits her with it's beam. Back behind the barrier, Doc does something to cause all the Mindless Ones to look up and shoot off their beams. (Yup, Doc is THAT sexy!) Back at the Guardian, it's own death ray becomes something else. Then the captions say this.

Lots of firing beams and then draining. I think Mr. Englehart may have double dosed his horny goat weed while writing this. We then shift rapidly to other the other places. Weather is going crazy. Mother Nature is appealing to Umar as a fellow woman. Appeal denied! And Horse the Junkie is still in the throes of his overdose.

Doc checks on Clea. She survived and we find out that whatever the pair of them did, transferred all of Doc's power out of the Guardian and into Clea. She defends them against daddy and the demons.

Daddy retaliates. Clea shields them and is PISSED and is about to go postal on him. Fortunately, Doc intervenes.

Doc then realizes it's time to take his power back.

Doc and Clea return to Earth just as Dormie starts to emerge from the Grand Canyon.

I haven't read this arc in a bunch of years and forgot how much I enjoyed it. This was actually the first issue of the story I read about four decades ago. Yeah, I started in the middle and boy was I confused. Imagine my surprise when I finally got the first two issues and saw that Horse was definitely not white. Not to mention all the other bizarre stuff that just got weirder as things progressed.

Mr. Englehart has a some really odd battles and rituals that aren't explained and don't really make sense, but the story generally holds up. And it's also loads of fun. Englehart gets Dormie out of his promises never to invade the Earth in a way that makes sense and a giant Dormammu crawling up from the Grand Canyon is such a great image.

We explore Clea's background and meet her father. We'll meet her mother next issue, but no spoilers yet. Englehart does a neat little trick with Clea commenting on Doc's power to show how powerful he really is. Doc is shown to be capable and confident even without his power. He can reason out situations through logical deduction and come to a viable conclusion. I imagine he had to do things like this when prepping for complicated neurosurgery and needed to determine the outcome of every move he could make.

Yeah, I like this one.