Hello everyone, and welcome to another character spotlight in Marvel Snapshot! This week, we’ll look at one of my favorite female characters in the Scarlet Witch! Yes, Wanda Maximoff will be in the spotlight this week, so get ready to be hexed!
Alright, so, everybody hopefully knows that Wanda and her brother Pietro are the children of Magneto and his long dead wife Magda. If not, pick up the Avengers Tpb – Nights of Wundagore. It’s awesome and explains all of this. The Scarlet Witch has been a staple of one Avengers team or another since forever, and I love the character development that has gone on with her. Marvel has made her fall in love with a robot (Vision), but also fool around with Hawkeye and Wonder Man, as well. Yeah, she can be trampy, but hey, most girls are these days, right (just kidding!)? Wanda has always been one of Marvel’s leading ladies, because of her powers and origin.
OK, let’s take a look at some of my favorite moments, shall we? First off has to be the marriage of Vision and Scarlet Witch at the end of the Celestial Madonna Tpb (Avengers Annual #4). That’s one of my favorite Avengers stories (if not my favorite) that culminates with a double wedding. Vision and Wanda, and Mantis and Swordsman. Hey, who doesn’t love weddings? Next would have to be the aforementioned Nights of Wundagore story line. This revealed the origins of Wanda and Pietro, and also let us see the crazy world of the High Evolutionary. We also saw the Scarlet Witch go one on one with Mordred the Mystic, and subsequently get possessed by Ch’thon, too!
I guess ultimately, though, Wanda will be forever remembered for uttering the phrase “No More Mutants,” and sending the mutant world into a tailspin. With those three simple words, she reduced the mutie population to around two hundred from possibly millions. I really thought Bendis did a fantastic job from beginning to end with House of M, and it will always be one of my favorite stories. The fact that it still reads well now, knowing what is going to happen, is what blows me away. I still get goosebumps reading those three words from Wanda even now!
You can currently see Wanda in the pages of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade. It has been revealed that she has been duped by Dr. Doom into marrying him, and also has no recollection of her former life as an Avenger. Really great stuff in that book, and I encourage everybody to pick it up! Check below for my recommended reading list and for some of Wanda’s best cover shots! See you next week!
Recommended Reading
Uncanny X-Men #4 (1963-first appearance)
Avengers: Kree/Skrull War – Tpb
Avengers/Defenders War – HC
Avengers: Nights of Wundagore – Tpb
Avengers: Operation Galactic Storm – Tpb’s vol. 1 & 2
Avengers West Coast: Darker than Scarlet – Tpb
Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties – Tpb
Avengers Disassembled – Tpb
House of M – HC
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade – ongoing (2010-present)
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
Wanda was just one of those characters that I never really got into. I also don’t see what the huge fuss about her coming back is either and why “everyone demanded it” lol Like many other characters Marvel made her wayyyyy too powerful and didn’t have anywhere to go with her which is why I think she had to “die” in the first place.
I’m am picking up Children’s Crusade in trade because I already started the series but with it’s long gap between issues I figured it’ll be a better read when collected.
@Speech- I’ll definitely agree with the too powerful statement, but the ties to Magneto, Wundagore, and the Evolutionary are pretty good for an origin. I also think you have to give Marvel and Bendis props for the House of M. That was a pretty ballys move depowering that many characters.
I love me some Scarlet Witch ever since i read West Coast Avengers. My favorite SW story is porbably Darker than Scarlet which is were Bendis got the idea for Avengers Disassembled and House of M. She has way too much power, but I like that her power is unpredictable at times.