AVENGERS #362

"A VISION REVEALED!"
Writer: Bob Harras | Guest Penciler: Gordon Purcell
Guest Inkers: Steve Alexandrov & Fred Fredericks
Colors: Gina Going | Letterer: Bill Oakley
Guest Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Plot: Black Widow monitors a low-level Gatherer energy signature within Avengers Mansion. Just then, Vision shows up for monitor duty. Meanwhile, Black Knight, Sersi, and Hercules fight a battle droid in the Avengers' workout room -- but after they defeat it, it reactivates and attacks anew, forcing the Knight to destroy it. He comments that Vision ran diagnostics on the droid earlier in the day. In the monitor room, Swordsman arrives and asks Vision to help figure out his fractured memories. Vision agrees, but quickly attacks and seemingly kills Swordsman. At the same time, Black Knight notices that the Gatherer readings Black Widow had detected are now gone from the Avengers' systems.

Vision sneaks into Crystal's room, but she awakens and he attacks her. Black Knight and Marilla find Swordsman's body, then run to Crystal's room at the sound of battle. But Hercules arrives first, getting the droip on Vision. Captain America and Black Widow show up next, but Vision holds his own against all the Avengers, then takes Crystal hostage. Black Knight tries to save her, but Vision goes intangible. Sersi arrives next, and transmutes Vision to stone. Black Knight declars that the faux Vision is now the Avengers' prisoner -- and their clue to find the Gatherers.

Continuity Notes: Crytal remarks that the kiss she shared with Black Knight was "last night". You'll recall that last issue, Vision had been Proctor's prisoner for thirty-six hours, meaning issues 360 through 362 all take place in a span of around two days -- and it looks like the next installment will pick up not long after this one ends, as well.

The battle droids are said to have been recently upgraded by Black Knight.

Vision says that he killed Captain America in his home reality, for being too sanctimonious. He then sarcastically laments that he will be forced to do the same in this universe.

Perhaps in overcompensation for her recent actions, Sersi is very quick to inform the Avengers that she can transmute Vision back to normal "upon request."

It's neither here nor there, but something about Crystal fighting Vision in a negligee just feels very "nineties" to me.

Assemble: As usual, no. ("Avengers Assemble!" count: 4 in 29 issues to date.)

My Thoughts: You'll recall that when I looked at issue 351, I talked about how Bob Harras's artistic collaborator seemed to bring down the quality of his scripting. There, Kevin West penciled while Steve Epting took the issue off. I'm happy to report that for this fill-in, Harras does not suffer the same fate as he did working with West. Now don't get me wrong; Gordon Purcell is still a step down from Epting (and Purcell's two inkers this issue, Steve Alexandrov and Fred Fredericks, are definitely not in the same league as Tom Palmer), but he's not all that bad. At the very least, his figures look decent and he handles the action fairly well -- something West didn't quite grasp yet.

But I come here not to bury Kevin West nor to praise Gordon Purcell! Rather, I'm here to say that, despite the lack of Steve Epting, this is a pretty good issue. It's not dripping with as much melodrama as the recent Epting-illustrated installments, but I don't know that it was ever intended to. This is a straight plot issue, as the false Vision's brief time among the Avengers comes to and end. He carries out his mission, apparently killing the Swordsman, and then turns his lust on Crystal. One big fight later, and the Avengers finally have the clue they believe will lead them to the mysterious Proctor.

It's hard to read this story and not see sort of a "dry run" for a plotline that would hit the X-Men a few years later, under Harras's editorship -- specifically the lead-up to "Onslaught", where Beast is kidnapped and replaced by his "Age of Apocalypse" counterpart. The only differences are that here, the fake Vision has a purpose within the Avengers and nearly immediately gets to it, spending only one issue inflitrating them before he strikes -- while in X-MEN, Dark Beast intended to remain among the X-Men for as long as he could, "hiding" from Mister Sinister in their midst, and letting his sub-plot meander purposelessly for several months.

And again I say, it's fascinating to watch Harras the Writer set up his story points and then hit on them quickly, knocking them out, moving his story along at a tight pace, and not letting any particular element overstay its welcome. The never-ending plots that Harras the Editor allowed his writers run with on X-MEN are nowhere to be seen in AVENGERS. The "Gathering" saga remains a brilliantly plotted, wonderfully paced read, and not even a guest penciler can bring it down.