Issue(s): Marvel Super Heroes #10 (Vision & Scarlet Witch story only)
Cover Date: Jul 92 / Summer 92
Title: "The terror! / The inquisition!"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
Mike Mignola - Penciler
Armando Gil - Inker
Dan Cuddy - Assistant Editor
Rob Tokar - Editor

Review/plot:
I suspect that this story was originally intended for Marvel Fanfare but didn't get completed before that series was cancelled. It's a continuation of a Vision & Scarlet Witch back-up story from issue #58, and it's broken down into two chapters which would have made it easy to work as additional back-ups. Instead the story is published in Marvel Super Heroes, which has taken over the remit from Marvel Fanfare to publish inventory pieces.

Scarlet Witch had gone to a town meeting to defend her and her husband's right to stay in the town of Leonia, even after the recent demonic unpleasantness.

A "Why don't you go back to where you came from?" insult prompts a mini historical montage, in case you ever wanted to see Mike Mignola and Armando Gil draw a bunch of classic Marvel characters.

The debate at the town meeting gets pretty heated.

And then the madness starts up again.

They then discover a "pillar of power" which frankly looks nothing like anything we saw in Fanfare #58 but we'll go with it.

Vision points out that Scarlet Witch's powers only simulate magic, so the pillar shouldn't really be attracted to her.

That's not 100% true but it was the direction that Marvel was leaning in at the time this story was intended to take place, so we'll go with that, too.

The townspeople, however, don't go with it and they start attacking the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. And it eventually comes out that the pillar is attracted to the townspeople's hate.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch are then able to fight it off, but it leaves Wanda wondering where her home truly is.

I like the idea of having some more stories inserted into Vision & Scarlet Witch's continuity showing them dealing with prejudice while living in Leonia. We'll see more of that in Roger Stern's Avengers but having a story focusing on the couple would be good. This story, unfortunately, is way too heavy handed, with a literal evil presence attracted to hate and prejudice. There's also some discrepancies between the first part of the story and these two parts, like the pillar. And what about that alien ship from the beginning of the Fanfare part? But this part does have some nice Mignola/Gil art going for it.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Begins soon after the Vision & Scarlet Witch story from Marvel Fanfare #58. A note at the beginning of this issue says that the story takes place "prior to events in Vision and Scarlet Witch LS, volume 2". That's not very specific; if it's going to take place prior to that series, it must in fact take place prior to Avengers #252 when the Vision & Scarlet Witch's house was burned down. Vision & Scarlet Witch do get a second house in their second limited series, but at that point Wanda is pregnant and that's probably what the footnote was trying to reference. I will note that the MCP places this story after the second Vision and Scarlet Witch series, and nowhere near Marvel Fanfare #58, but i think that must be a mistake.

The Ms. Marvel and Namor stories from this issue are in separate entries.

References:

• The strange happenings in Leonia started in Marvel Fanfare #58.
  
• There's nothing specific in Wanda's montage, except maybe Magneto rescuing her and Quicksilver from the mob from the flashback in Uncanny X-Men #4 and learning that Magneto was her father in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? Y (inventory story)

My Reprint: N/A

I don't think that this was written for Marvel Fanfare and not finished before it was cancelled. For starters, it would have to be written before Mantlo left Marvel in mid-1988- Marvel Fanfare wasn't cancelled until 1991. That's a long time to finish a relatively short story.
My theory is that this is from the Vision and Scarlet Witch/ Sandman splitbook that was proposed but never saw print. If these are the stories Mantlo turned in, no wonder Shooter rejected it.

Well, sure. Almost nothing was *intended* for Marvel Fanfare. What i meant was that they had the unrealized plots for the V&SW series and they intended to use them for Fanfare, since the first issue was published there. I'm sure Milgrom would have liked to use these stories in Fanfare #59-60. But i suspect they didn't get finished in time and the pencils didn't come in until after #60, which was the final issue. I suppose it's possible they never got started and Milgrom and Gil didn't work on this at all until 92. But it seems odd for Milgrom to run only the first part.

In any event, i had no idea about a V&SW/Sandman splitbook. That's weird!