The Vision and the Scarlet Witch #12

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch launched as a four-issue limited series in November 1982, created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Rick Leonardi. Following its success, Marvel commissioned a twelve-issue ongoing series that began in October 1985, written by Steve Englehart with art by Richard Howell. This second volume represented a unique experiment in superhero comics: a domestic drama focusing on a married superhero couple attempting to build a normal suburban life. The android Vision and mutant witch Wanda Maximoff had married in Giant-Size Avengers #4 (1974), but this series marked their first headlining title. The first issue of volume 2 sold approximately 125,000 copies, strong numbers for a non-action-oriented superhero book featuring B-list Avengers.

Englehart's series boldly centered on the couple's desire to have children despite Vision's artificial nature, a storyline that pushed boundaries for Comics Code-approved books. The series established their residence in Leonia, New Jersey, exploring suburban life through a superhero lens. Major storylines included Wanda's mystical pregnancy, facilitated by magic rather than biology, leading to the birth of twins Thomas and William in issue #12. The series featured strong supporting characters including their neighbors, the demonic Samhain, and frequent appearances by Magneto, whose relationship to Wanda as her father was explored in depth during this period. Richard Howell's art style, more cartoony than typical Marvel house style, emphasized emotion and domestic settings over action sequences.

The series tackled themes unusual for 1980s superhero comics, including fertility, parenthood, prejudice against mixed marriages (with Vision's artificial nature serving as metaphor), and suburban integration. Issues #6-7 featured a Thanksgiving gathering that brought together Magneto, Quicksilver, Crystal, and the Inhumans, creating a complex family dynamic rarely seen in superhero comics. The book explored how superhuman beings might navigate ordinary life challenges: dealing with suspicious neighbors, hosting dinner parties, and maintaining relationships while responding to superhero emergencies. This approach influenced subsequent Marvel titles to incorporate more civilian life elements into superhero narratives.

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch served as a crucial bridge between major Marvel events. The series directly tied into Secret Wars II and established plot elements that would become central to later stories. Most significantly, the children born in this series would later be revealed as fragments of the demon Mephisto's soul in "Avengers West Coast," leading to their erasure and Wanda's mental breakdown. This retroactive tragedy transformed what had been a hopeful series into a foundational trauma for Scarlet Witch's character development. The pregnancy storyline also explored Vision's humanity, as his desire for family and emotional growth contradicted his artificial origins.

Sales remained steady throughout the twelve-issue run, averaging 100,000 copies despite minimal action sequences and crossover tie-ins. The letter columns revealed an engaged readership that appreciated the series' mature themes and character focus. Critical reception praised Englehart's willingness to explore superhero domesticity, though some fans found the pace slow compared to typical Marvel titles. The series ended with issue #12 (September 1986) as planned, with the birth of the twins serving as a natural conclusion. However, the optimistic ending would be undermined by later continuity, as John Byrne's "Avengers West Coast" run (1989-1990) destroyed the family unit established here.

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch volume 2's legacy extends beyond its sales performance. It demonstrated market viability for superhero comics focusing on relationships and domestic life over action, influencing titles like "Superman" under John Byrne and various X-Men spinoffs that emphasized character dynamics. The series' exploration of unconventional family structures presaged similar themes in 1990s comics. The tragic retroactive fate of Wanda's children became one of Marvel's most controversial storylines, fueling decades of stories including "Avengers Disassembled" (2004) and "House of M" (2005). The Disney+ series "WandaVision" (2021) drew heavily on concepts introduced in this 1985-1986 series, particularly the suburban setting, the mystical pregnancy, and Tommy and Billy's existence, introducing these elements to mainstream audiences while acknowledging their comic book origins. The original series has been collected in trade paperback, gaining renewed interest from viewers seeking the source material for the acclaimed television adaptation.