Chelsea Cain’s second Marvel series has been canceled before it had a chance to even begin. Newsarama reports that The Vision, by Cain, her husband Marc Mohan and artists Aud Koch and Jordie Bellaire, will no longer arrive in November, the month for which it was previously solicited.
The new miniseries, which was announced this past summer in San Diego, would have followed in the same vein as Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s critically praised run on the character, which introduced his family, including Viv Vision, who currently appears in The Champions. This decision comes a month before retailers’ orders for the first issue were due.
Cain addressed the cancellation on Twitter:
I’m incredibly proud of the 4 issues we’ve turned in so far. It’s been 2 years of work. And reflects tremendous effort by an incredibly talented team. It kills me that we won’t get to share them…Forgive me, Viv. https://t.co/wGj65AFDZv
— Chelsea Cain (@ChelseaCain) September 13, 2018
Yeah. I feel really horrible. Just having so many issues banked. @audkoch – the artist – is amazing. So gifted. HIRE @audkoch WORLD. She is a FEMALE COMIC BOOK ARTIST. This was her big break.
— Chelsea Cain (@ChelseaCain) September 13, 2018
.@Marvel asked me to keep this "clean and quiet" because apparently they've never met me. HI, GUYS, I'M THE ONE WHO'S THE PAIN IN THE ASS. REMEMBER ME NOW?
— Chelsea Cain (@ChelseaCain) September 13, 2018
Thanks, Kurt. Aud's work was amazing. A revelation. She nailed the POV of a teenage girl. Why not just release the six issues & bury them? Release them as a volume? I don't know. It puzzles the hell out of me. This was a good comic. & more than that, it was an important one.
— Chelsea Cain (@ChelseaCain) September 14, 2018
Lest we confuse the individual w/ the institution – I would take a bullet for my Vision editor, @Wil_Moss. https://t.co/SamJw3mBbe
— Chelsea Cain (@ChelseaCain) September 14, 2018
I want you to know that I am being truthful and transparent because most comic book freelancers can’t be. I am loud, for all of them.
— Chelsea Cain (@ChelseaCain) September 14, 2018
Two notes re: Vision:
1. All of the Marvel editors I've had direct experience with have been lovely, kind human beings, and I am grateful for all of them.
2. Marvel paid me fair & square for all of the work that I did for this project, so I have no hard feelings. https://t.co/bJn9AZ6hGI— Aud Koch (@audkoch) September 14, 2018
As for why it was canceled, Marvel hasn’t officially given a reason, but according to The Hollywood Reporter:
Sources told THR that the decision to cancel the project was not made lightly, but came down to a shift in long-term publishing plans for both the superhero Vision and his daughter, Viv, who was slated to be one of the primary characters in the new series.
Cain is the author of several novels, including The Night Season, Evil at Heart and One Kick. She previously wrote Mockingbird for Marvel, and the team she worked with on that comic has reunited for Man-Eaters from Image Comics.