Champions #15
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Humberto Ramos
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Price: $3.99
Release Date: 12/20/17
Rating: T+
Plot: Both the Champions and Avengers are mourning the loss of Vivian Vision. Vision grieves for his daughter by reconstructing her synthezoid form. However Viv is still alive in an unknown location and the only person who can get her back is the one responsible, the High Evolutionary.
Story: Mark Waid always delivers great dialogue and this issue is no exception. Since the team’s grieving, the dialogue is very emotional. A good example is Nova about to quit the team. When you first see Nova about to leave you get the feeling this is an impulsive move. However, Nova reveals that he doesn’t feel smart enough like the others and Viv was the only teammate who didn’t make him feel bad about it. Fortunately, his teammates remind Nova how useful he was in their last mission. Nova is one of my favorite Champions so anytime he gets the spotlight is a thumbs up in my book.
Another great aspect of this issue was the conversation between Vision and the Wasp (Nadia). For the majority of the story, Vision reconstructs Viv’s original synthezoid form in his basement lab. Nadia is with Vision during the entire time trying to talk him out of it. There’s an interesting dynamic between these two characters. Like Nadia stated they are technically family since Hank Pym is Nadia’s father and Hank created Ultron who created Vision. Vision’s actions are also an interesting mix of emotional and logic. While Vision admits the Viv he constructed won’t be the same girl, he only did this so he could properly say goodbye to his daughter. Also Vision has a great line about purging his emotions again but refuses so his daughter won’t be a fact in his consciousness.
The ending of this issue is interesting. Vivan finds her way back home but returns just as Vision activates Viv 2.0. Now that there are two Vivians this is going to be a major adjustment for the Vision family and the Champions. Future covers did not include Viv which lead to fan speculation that she’d die. Foturnately, this issue disproves that speculation. The only downside to this is it would probably be explored as a b-plot in the Champions title since Vision no longer has his own title. Although if this is Mark Waid’s way of setting up a future Vision series, I would definitely buy it.
Art: This issue made great use of splash pages. The first page is the heroes surrounding Viv’s freshly filled grave. This just tells the reader that this will be a very somber issue. Also the shot doesn’t include any of the heroes faces so that the reader can focus on the missing character instead of how her teammates are reacting. Another good splash page was the appearance of the two Vivians. There’s a nice build up to this page where the reader may assume Viv will return and bond with her newly built synthezoid body but it goes in a completely different direction.
The only other artwork that stood out for me is how Nadia is still wasp-sized while talking to Vision. Basically Nadia acts as Vision’s conscience to talk him out of reconstructing Viv’s body. Seeing Nadia wasp-sized on Vision’s shoulder reminded me of Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio.
Verdict: This was an interesting issue. Mark Waid provides an excellent story with great dialogue. Plus Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado deliver some spectacular artwork. While it does set up an interesting arc for Vision and Viv, it doesn’t seem like it will be explored fully in this title.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars