Issue(s): Wonder Man #9
Cover Date: May 92
Title: "Big decisions"
Credits:
Gerard Jones - Writer
Jeff Johnson & Stephen B. Jones - Penciler
Dan Panosian & Bud DeLaRosa - Inker
Evan Skolnick - Assistant Editor
Fabian Nicieza - Editor

Review/plot:
If i ignore Captain America #400 as being merely skippable, this is the worst issue of Galactic Storm. On the one hand, in order to further the plot of the event, it has to suppress everything about the Wonder Man series that made it a quirky interesting book. On the other hand i don't buy at all what's going on in this issue with the Vision, so just from a pure plot perspective i think it's a fail.

As i noted last issue, the Vision has been arguing that since Lilandra is "rational" and she ordered the Nega-Bomb to be detonated, then detonating the bomb must be a good thing. As we've seen, Lilandra has come to regret that decision, so we already know that the Vision's logic is faulty. He's not aware of Lilandra's change of heart, of course, but he does know that the bomb has been hijacked by Skrulls. You'd think that would at least cause him to doubt his logic. If Skrulls want to do something, it's probably wrong. He's got enough experiences logged in his database to know that. Even without the Skrulls i think it's incredible that the Vision would think that genocide is ok because the Shi'ar think it will end the war. And not just think it and allow it to happen by inaction, but to actually fight for it to happen.

I am hoping the idea there is that the Vision is in denial, basically regretting the loss of his human side and overcompensating by playing up his logic to the point of absurdity. If that's the case, i think it's a good idea but i suggest a) it be done in an Avengers story, not in Wonder Man, and b) it be done when the stakes are not quite so high.

After basically an entire issue of fighting, Vision relents when they actually get to the center of the bomb and see the portal to the Negative Zone.

At that point, however, it's too late. Vision and Wonder Man are further delayed by Skrulls...

...and then the bomb explodes (sooner than the Skrulls, who intended to get to safety, expected).

Some of the Avengers, fighting Skrulls in space, are also nearby when the explosion happens.

I was hoping that there's a reckoning coming for the Vision in an upcoming issue that i'm not aware of, but that doesn't seem to be the case. If he's just meant to be a robot, someone needed to program "Genocide is bad" into his logic.

To be clear i think that the Nega-Bomb, and especially the revelation in this issue which shows exactly how it works, is a cool idea, and i think this development, as part of a plot outline, makes a lot of sense and works as a dramatic climax to Galactic Storm. What i object to is an issue being devoted to Wonder Man and the Vision having a fight over what seems to me to be just a ridiculous conclusion on the Vision's part. I said in last issue's entry that i can't really object to the Vision being treated like an emotionless robot even though the way he was being written 'feels' wrong to me. But this issue goes beyond that. Even taking him as just a robot, his logic seems too faulty to be believable.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This is part eighteen of Operation: Galactic Storm. It continues in Avengers #347.

References:

• There are so many references to Quasar #34 the footnotes eventually tell us that we should have the issue memorized by now.
  
• The Avengers learned about the Negabomb from Deathbird in Iron Man #279, although the footnote points to Captain America #400.
  
• When he gets briefly knocked out by Vision, Wonder Man flashes back to his death from Avengers #9.

Crossover: Operation Galactic Storm

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Fnord, I think the idea is that Vision sees the Kree as a threat to Earth, so "logically" the solution is to let them all die. Which is fine, except that the Avengers definitely wouldn't want a member that dealt with threats without regard for civilian casualties. And no, there's never a reckoning for the Vision, although the point eventually becomes moot when Vision gets his emotions back.
Fnord, you've criticized Vision's portrayal this arc but keep in mind Lilandra also agrees to use the bomb against the Kree, although she eventually has second thoughts. Do you think this was out of character for her? I thought it was justified considering that she seemed willing to destroy the Earth to stop Dark Phoenix in X-Men 137 and she tried to kill Maddie without knowing what her connection to Jean was in X-Men 173.

There's something about Jeff Johnson's Scarlet Witch that I really like. I like his comic book style art as it is, but he seems to put a little extra something into her.

This issue is pretty much the start of a darker turn that the Wonder Man series takes.

@Michel: i judge Lilandra by a different standard than the Vision. She's a head of state, he's a super-hero. I agree that if the other Avengers understood that the Vision's current programming allowed him to make these kinds of decisions, they'd never have had him on the team.

I think it's also fair to say that Lilandra was being manipulated. At a minimum by the fake Araki, and possibly directly by the Supreme Intelligence who, per Avengers #347 "reached[ed] across the stars" to plant the idea of the bomb and "intensif[ied] long suppressed suspicions and hatred that lay dormant in the minds of our individual empires". But even if that weren't the case, i agree that she's shown a kind of realpolitik outlook where her actions in this storyline could be considered in character.

If Skrulls want to do something, it's probably wrong.

Well, hi, John Byrne! Didn't realize you'd taken time off from editing Racism for Canadians to do some reviewing here, too!

Honestly, I think we can get as far as "galaxy-wide genocide sucks" without dragging "and the green guys are just EVOLLLL!" into it, as well. Since, as noted, it was originally our sweet and wonderful feathered friend, Lilandra (never liked her, tbh), who gave the original "go forth and slaughter" order in the first place. I see no evidence that the Skrulls are more likely to do "wrong" than the Kree, the Shi'ar, or humanity, for that matter.

I´m with Dan.

Jeez, give fnord a break. He’s writing entertaining copy every week, for free. Besides, I’m a Skrull and I can tell you, we really are evil...