Breaking Ties: Vision #10 Review

Vision #10 is not an easy read. The majority of the issue comprises of the family mourning the loss of one of their own, and they all seem unsure as to what the proper response is.

Tom King once again captures the truth of humanity in this family of androids: We don’t know how to respond to loss, at least not at first. Do we cry, do we lash out, do we try and act like things are normal?

You'd think the repeating dialogue would lose its creepiness after a few issues. It doesn't.

Do we pray? Viv believes it is the appropriate response, even if there is no God. I’m firmly set in my personal beliefs, but I won’t deny that the prayer scene was beautifully done, and frankly, haunting.

Wow.

In the midst of it all, Vision asks a question. Why is Victor Mancha still alive, while Vin is not? And how is that a just scenario? It slowly builds up from question to action, as Vision breaks out of his house arrest, and makes his way to Victor’s prison, presumably with deadly intent. And this is the slightly problematic element of the story: it’s treatment of Victor Mancha.

In previous comics, Victor has always been a squeaky clean, goody two shoes type of character. Devoutly Catholic, and always doing the right thing. He was undoubtedly very careful, living in fear that one wrong move could lead to the rise of the supervillain Victorious.

Now, in his first appearance in this series, he was revealed to be betraying his family and spying on them for the Avengers. In the second, he was revealed to be a serious drug addict, and even ended up accidentally killing his nephew as a result. And in this issue, while he doesn’t appear, he is being set up for redemption by death, either to be killed by Vision, or sacrificing himself in some other way.

I truly, truly hope they don’t go down this path. Not only does it send a highly negative message about recovering drug addicts, the fact that Vision is essentially a white character, and Victor a Latino, makes it even more troublesome.

That bit aside, this issue is still brilliant. King’s writing is impeccable, and it makes you truly sad that he’ll be leaving Marvel after this series. Gabriel Walta’s art once again beautifully and hauntingly captures the atmosphere of the comic, which is reflected further in Jordie Bellaire’s colors.