Across generations and genres, comics have imagined different views of the future, from unattainable utopias to worrisome dystopias. These presaging narratives can be read as reflections of their authors' (and readers') hopes, fears and beliefs about the present. This collection of new essays explores the creative processes in comics production that bring plausible futures to the page. The contributors investigate portrayals in different stylistic traditions--manga, bande desinees--from a variety of theoretical perspectives. The picture that emerges documents the elaborate storylines and complex universes comics creators have been crafting for decades.

Collects Vision (2015) #7-12. The epic conclusion of the story that everyone is talking about! Once upon a time, a robot and a witch fell in love. But the story of Scarlet Witch and Vision was just the start. Vision has built a new life for himself — a new family. Yet while every family has its share of skeletons in the closet, for the Visions those skeletons are real. And now the family’s facade is crumbling. The Avengers know the truth. That Vision’s wife has killed. That the synthezoid lied to protect her. And that lie will follow lie, death will pile upon death. The Avengers know they need to act. Tragedy is coming, and it will send the Android Avenger into a devastating confrontation with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Nobody is safe.

Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn brings his epic two-volume series The Hand of Thrawn to an explosive conclusion with a discovery that rocks the New Republic to its foundations--and threatens to resurrect the Empire. The Empire's master plan is under way. The New Republic is on the verge of civil war and the rumor that the legendary Admiral Thrawn has returned from the dead is rallying the Imperial forces. Now Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and their allies face the challenge of their lives. They must infiltrate a hidden fortress filled with Imperial fanatics, rendezvous with a double-dealing Imperial commander, and journey into enemy territory to learn the identity of those responsible for an act of unthinkable genocide. But most important of all is the truth about Thrawn. In his hands--alive or dead--rests the fate of the New Republic. © 1998 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

A super hero story like no other. He was created to kill the Avengers - but he turned against his "father." He found a home among Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and love in the arms of the Scarlet Witch. It didn't end well. Now, the Vision just wants an ordinary life - with a wife and two children, a home in the suburbs, perhaps even a dog. But it won't end any better. Everything is nice and normal - until the deaths begin. Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta confound expectations in their heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, breathtaking magnum opus - collected in all its Eisner Award-winning glory. COLLECTING: VISION 1-12

Collects Giant-Size Avengers (1974) #4, Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #1-4, Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #1-12, West Coast Avengers (1985) #2. The unlikely romance between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch is one of the most famous Avengers storylines of all! Now, witness what happens when the two heroes finally get married and settle down in the suburbs! If you think they’re going to live the quiet life, think again! Wanda embraces her sorcerous heritage — but can a revelation about her family tree be believed? The Vision’s past threatens their future, as Ultron and the Grim Reaper strike! And things get even stranger when Wanda’s magic spells lead to the couple becoming…a family! That’s right, despite all odds the Scarlet Witch is pregnant — and now Wanda and Vision must prepare for the biggest responsibility of their lives!

Jamie Delano's tour de force follows the lives of a disjointed family, struggling to survive in the morally and socially decadent United States of 2020. From symbiotic venereal diseases to exclusive human breeding facilities, the future never looked so bleak, or so hopeful.

Collects Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #1-5. Who is Darth Vader? He has been many things: enforcer, commander, destroyer. He is, to many throughout the Galactic Empire, the ultimate symbol of power and fear. But there are those who have seen the Dark Lord in a different light. Some corners of the galaxy are so desperate that even Vader can be a knight in shining armor - while for certain Imperial Commanders, Vader's anger is the price of failure. But what is it like to lose your heart to a Sith Lord - and what fate awaits the star-crossed lover who has fallen for a man so unattainable? Plus, learn how it feels to be an X-wing pilot going head-to-head with Vader's TIE Fighter - and discover more of the many sides of the galaxy's greatest villain!