I've always liked these red-faced automatons and would love to see them return to prominence in their respective universes. For me, The Vision has never quite recovered from the end of his relationship with The Scarlet Witch and being rebuilt in the pages of West Coast Avengers. I have to admit that I haven't checked in on him since he got a new "teenage" synthezoid form so I don't know what his status is these days. Red Tornado might not even have a status currently because I haven't seen a hint of him in the new DCU yet. I have enjoyed solo adventures with these heroes, but I think they both worok the best in a team setting, so hopefully soon they will become active members of the Justice League and The Avengers.
15 comments:
I remember when The Vision was THE marvel character everyone wanted to be in the schoolyard, before Wolverine took over the marvel multimedia empire ;o). Ha, ha, this was the early '80s. i always had a suspicion that Red Tornado was DC's answer to The Vision. The both had stoic personalities. The Martian Manhunter sort of took Tornado's place in the JLA, i felt, by the late 1990's.
...both are androids with red faces and high collared capes. nahhh...so similarities here.
Like the Doom Patrol/X-Men and Swamp Thing/Man-Thing parallels, the Red Tornado and Vision appeared so close together (in 1968) that a few months difference is ultimately irrelevant since their stories both had to be planned months in advance. What really makes the case of Red Tornado and Vision particularly strange is that they are both android reworkings of 1940's characters, both created by villains to destroy super teams and both turn on their creators.
But you know what really makes these characters great? Doom Patrol and X-men were both created to replicate the feet-of-clay appeal of the Fantastic Four. Swamp Thing and Man-Thing were both part of a larger return to horror after the loosening of the Comics Code. What the hell prompted either of these characters, let alone two so similar at the same time? Aside from Julius Schwartz (through Gardner Fox) and Roy Thomas perpetually wanting to relive the Golden Age, I can't see them being prompted by overt market forces. Was there a big android craze in the 1960's I'm not aware of? Beatles, yes. Secret agents, yes. Pop art, yes. Space travel, yes. Androids, not so much. But for forty years they've each been a favorite in teams without ever being able to translate that following to anything beyond an occasional mini-series. What other characters have so specific a function in the comics world for so long? Maybe Alfred and Jarvis as sounding boards and/or 'hidden aces'. Has anybody suggested that team-up?
well, you pretty much answered your question, pblfsda. The same writers and artists bouncing back in forth between both companies were bound to re-create ideas and try to catch fire twice. A Roy Thomas story is a Roy Thomas story, and can be spotted a mile away, whether its Marvel or DC comic!
I think "android" was simply a sexy idea in the Sixties and Seventies, with genre shows like Lost in Space, Star Trek and Logan's Run featuring android characters. I think the appeal is the cracks in the cold veneer : compare with TNG's
rather saccharine Data and his mimicry of human behaviour.
The Vision is back in the Avengers at long last. I'm afraid that, although I like his spectral redesign, Byrne did Vizh a lot of damage.
Reddy had plenty of exposure in the Brad Meltzer League. I don't think he should be revived for a few years yet.
I was actually just working on a Jarvis/Alfred cover so you can count on seeing it eventually.
Dave sez,
I liked The Vision more. maybe it was because of The Avengers line-up that he was part of; and he did start to develop a personality.
Red Tornado was always a flat machine, even through the Young Justice and Meltzer JLA years. The Tornado's mini-series, drawn by Carmine Infantino was not my favorite. The story wasn't very interesting and Infantino's art made everybody look bloated.
Both were pretty cutting edge and ahead of their time, considering the '70's was all about The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman!
I thought these two met in the JLA/Avengers crossover? Still, nice cover!
Like to see something featuring some of the cowboy characters. Jonah Hex and Red Wolf comes to mind...
Love this.....hey,what about some villain team-ups ?....would like to see Brainiac and Ultron and - hang on - Flash Rogues vs the Sinister Six!
Definitely plenty of Villain/Hero and Villain/Villain match ups coming up!
Yes Diana, they met in the JLA/Avengers crossover but that was just a tease!
I do like Jonah Hex and western heroes so I'll try to use them sometime.
The Vision, the Red Tornado, and I all got into comics about the same time, so these androids have always been sort of special to me.
Reddy never seem to get any respect, always the ultimate loser hero, but Vision caught on. In later years his dismantling was regrettable, though interesting. As you say, and I agree, he never seemed to recover.
Both androids have the most tortured origin stories, but both are visually strong still.
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One of my favorite covers. Beautiful work! I would buy the HECK out of a one-shot with the Vizh and Reddy!
This Vision is back in Avengers as of November 2011.
I especially love this one! So awesome! Thank you for your creativity!!!!
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