This collection and its predecessor comprise a complete, independent story about The Vision and his (its?) attempt to create a nuclear family and move to suburbia. The story is a metaphor for the immigrant experience, the assimilation experience, perhaps even the nonwhite experience in America. For as much as The Vision and his (its?) family may want to be just like their neighbors, their neighbors vary in their willingness to allow this to happen.

So far so good, right? Here’s the problem: at no point did I feel the characters in this story were anything more than a metaphor. At no point did I suspend my disbelief and get lost in the tale being told. And this is coming from a guy who listed both “Howard the Duck” and “Peter Porker: The Amazing Spider-Ham” among his favorite comix of last year! Additionally, I found the artwork to be pedestrian. Nothing in either volume made my eyes pop.

Tragedy is hard, and this story is very much a tragedy. But for tragedy to land, one must invest in the characters. I never did invest in the Vision Family, so this comic never did much for me. A friend whose opinion I value lists this as his all-time favorite, however; your mileage may vary.