Die ruhmreichen Rächer #56
Die ruhmreichen Rächer #56 is the German-language first appearance of the Vision (Der Vision) — one of Marvel's most philosophically resonant characters — bringing this landmark debut to West German readers for the first time. The Silver Age Vision, an android synthezoid built by Ultron to destroy the Avengers who instead turns on his creator and joins the team, posed sophisticated questions about artificial consciousness, identity, and what it means to be 'alive' at a moment when such themes were culturally electric. The story's final image — the newly accepted android stepping away to weep in private — became one of the most emotionally striking panels of the Bronze Age, titled 'Even an Android Can Cry.' As a foreign-language reprint, this issue also stands as evidence of how Marvel's Silver Age output was simultaneously reshaping superhero storytelling across Europe during the 1970s.
In "Sehet .... Vision!", Iron Man faces a formidable new threat in the form of a Soviet agent clad in high-tech armor, sent to the U.S. with a deadly mission. When the agent kidnaps Pepper and injures Happy to lure Iron Man into a trap, the hero must confront a perilous showdown at Stark's own factory—where the stakes are raised when the enemy threatens to destroy it unless Iron Man surrenders. Written by Stan Lee and Hartmut Huff, with dynamic art by Don Heck, and a striking cover by John Buscema and George Klein, this 1977 issue delivers a tense, action-packed chapter in Iron Man’s saga.
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The source material is Avengers #57 (cover-dated October 1968), written by Roy Thomas and pencilled by John Buscema with inks by George Klein — a creative team that had substantially elevated the series' quality in the preceding months. Thomas originally intended to revive the Golden Age Vision (Aarkus, the alien from Timely Comics' Marvel Mystery Comics #13), but editor Stan Lee insisted the new character be an android rather than an otherworldly visitor; Thomas compromised by creating a new synthetic being who shared only the name. The German publisher BSV-Williams — which had undergone several name and location changes since its founding as Bildschriftenverlag in Aachen — reprinted Marvel's Avengers run sequentially throughout the series' 1974–1978 run, translating and editing the material for a German-speaking audience.
Trivia · 8 facts
- German-language first appearance of the Vision (Der Vision), reprinting the story originally published in Avengers #57 (Marvel, October 1968).
- The Vision was created by writer Roy Thomas and penciller John Buscema, with inks by George Klein and editing by Stan Lee.
- The story, titled 'Behold… The Vision!' in the original, introduces the character as a synthezoid — a term coined by Roy Thomas — built by the villain Ultron-5 using the body of the original android Human Torch.
- The narrative core: Ultron sends the Vision to destroy the Avengers, but the android rebels against his programming, leads the team to Ultron's lair, defeats his creator, and is welcomed into the Avengers' ranks.
- The Wasp (Die Wespe / Janet van Dyne) is the first character to encounter the synthezoid and spontaneously coins his name, describing the intruder as an 'unearthly, inhuman vision.'
- The cover of the American source issue, by John Buscema, is a deliberate visual homage to the Golden Age Vision's first appearance splash page in Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (1940).
- Die ruhmreichen Rächer ran for 100 issues from 1974 to 1978 under the BSV-Williams imprint, reprinting the American Avengers series sequentially in full color at 32 pages per issue.
- The issue also features the Avengers roster of the era — Goliath, Hawkeye (Falkenauge), Black Panther (Der Schwarze Panther), Wasp, and Black Widow (Die Schwarze Witwe) — making it a snapshot of the mid-Ultron-saga team lineup.
Cast · 15 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
A Soviet agent with high-tech armor comes to the US to capture Iron Man. He kidnaps Pepper and injures Happy to draw Iron Man out, and then threatens to blow up Stark's factory unless Iron Man comes with him. Iron Man boards Unicorn's plane, but then destroys it, though the Unicorn escapes.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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