Attack to the Future
Written by: Mark WaidArt by: Adam Kubert, Sonia Oback and Cory Petit
Cover Price: $3.99Release Date: August 10, 2016
I kind of lucked out jumping into this book a couple of issues ago as Mark Waid was just starting his Waid work his magic and turn my frown upside down? Let's find out...
mini Negative Zone arc. I eased my way into it all and before I knew it, was enjoying the hell out of the story and especially the team. I'll admit that some of the characters in this book were never favorites of mine and I'm not just talking about the usual suspects like Nova. Nope, I will admit it right here and now...I hate Vision. I know that some of you are thinking that if I only give Tom King's current Vision book a read, that would all change, but that hasn't happened as of yet so I am stuck here swimming in my hate. Actually, hate is probably too strong a word...I'd probably go with indifference. I just don't care for or about the character. Why am I going to such lengths to tell you about my non love affair with Vision? Because this issue of All-New, All-Different Avengers is all about Vision. Does Mark
The issue opens with a little catch-up concerning the Vision's recent alteration to his operating system. It seems the old boy had accumulated too many of those pesky human emotions and had to off-load them. It was a nice little reminder of the "curse" that Vision has to deal with and leads directly to what this issue is all about. What is that, you ask? Without spoiling too much, Vision has to make a decision where human emotions would certainly get in the way.
The history lesson continues by showing Vision's recent fight with the Avengers before going off into Civil War II territory. Yep, that means Ulysses is in the house! I have to say, this is one of the better scenes with Marvel's big event pusher, not because Vision goes to him because of his precog abilities, but why he goes there. Vision is more interested in the philosophical issues involved in "predictive justice" which all leads back to his decision I alluded to earlier.
What follows is a series of time traveling events with Vision trying to change the future, past and present for the better. As he travels through time, he wrestles with moral questions as well as worry about time travel paradoxes. It's all very well done and even if there isn't a huge amount of tension, it's still one of those things that make you think.
Throughout time, he is followed (hunted?) by a dark shadow that may or may not be friendly and Mark Waid turns the whole thing into a pretty cool time traveling detective story. It all comes to a head and while it's not a huge "holy shit" moment, it leads to where Vision wanted to get to in the first place.
This is where Mark Waid turns things on it's head and shows the reader that Vision had it wrong all along. While I was a bit upset that we only get veiled hints at what's going on and how it will affect the future of the Marvel Universe, it was still pretty cool and certainly seems very, very important.
If you grabbed this issue thinking it's the usual team book you've been getting, you may be very pissed off. This is a Vision story, plain and simple. I've already told you that I am not a Vision fan, but Mark Waid's mysterious, time traveling tale told in a sort of nursery rhyme style did win me over a bit. However, when the smoke clears, this is really nothing but mysterious setup for some future event. Well done, but still 100% setup.
Andy Kubert and the art team kick ass in this issue. Everything looks fantastic and while there isn't much in the way of action to wow our peepers with, I still found myself flipping through the issue one more time for the visuals alone.
Bits and Pieces:
If you go into this book expecting the usual team book, you will be very disappointed. Instead, Mark Waid uses this Civil War II tie-in to explore the philosophical questions of "predictive justice" all wrapped up in a Vision story. It looks great and feels important enough, but at the end of the day, it is a big setup issue and I have to rate it accordingly. Vision fans will probably enjoy it the most, but even a hater like me didn't mind my time with it.
7.0/10
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