Issue(s): Avengers #113
Cover Date: Jul 73
Title: "Your young men shall slay Visions!"
Credits:
Steve Englehart - Writer
Bob Brown - Penciler
Frank W. Bolle - Inker

Review/plot:
The love affair between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch goes public. Most people seem to approve, but not everybody.

A group of racists put on some funny hats and try to assassinate them.

The hats let the group become suicide bombers; they push down on the big button on their head and they explode.

They nearly succeed in killing the Vision (In a Grant Morrison-ish line of dialogue, the Scarlet Witch shouts "She killed him! I can't hear the hum of his brain!").

The Vision survives and the rest of the bad guys are brought to justice, but the experience has rattled Wanda and put her on an anti-human kick again.

Broadly speaking, this issue hits the right beats, but in the details it's a little too melodramatic and cheesy. Heck's art doesn't help. As Dan notes below, this is actually the debut of Bob Brown's run on the Avengers; i had apparently gotten into the habit of blaming poor Don Heck.

The Mantis and the not-yet-revealed Swordsman get another cameo on their way to the Avengers.

Here is the scene Dan mentions below, with Tony Stark acknowledging Don Blake's secret ID.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 2

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place after Astonishing Tales #18 (see References).

References:

• This issue starts with the Avengers putting the Statue of Liberty back together. It was destroyed by Gog in a battle with Ka-zar in Astonishing Tales #18.
  

• Captain America says they haven't gotten so much fan mail since the announcement of the engagement of Wasp and Yellowjacket in Avengers #60.
  
• Donald Blake is able to operate on an injured Vision thanks to the exploration of his body done by Ant-man in Avengers #93.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

That's not Heck's art; as you note in the credits, this is Bob Brown's debut on the title. (Frankly, I blame a lot of the criticism of the art in these early Englehart Avengers stories on the inking. Frank Bolle is a slight improvement on Mike Esposito, but nowhere near enough of one.)

This issue also features Don Blake and Tony Stark "conveniently" stepping out of the Vision's operating theater while Iron Man and Thor deal with the attacking suicide bombers, and Tony finally giving Don a winking acknowledgement that he knows Don is Thor; it's not clearly established if Don had figured out that Tony was Iron Man before, or if he's being nice enough to let Don in on his secret in return.

I wonder if the "frend" wrote that letter was a young John Byrne. (Yup, still bitter about WCA 42-45. And 52. And pretty much the whole "the Vision is a machine, he doesn't count" nonsense. JMO.)

Thanks Dan. I've corrected myself on the artist and added the scan about the secret IDs.

Figuring out Tony Stark is Iron Man was never that hard - I'm glad they dropped that for the film and just had him tell the world. But to know Don Blake is Thor? That takes some real thinking or actually witnessing him transform.

Suicide bombers, hmm. An innovative way for normal humans to be a threat to superheroes. But the way they "plunge" themselves to death is pretty humorous.