The Conjuring of Wiccan
Billy Kaplan first appeared in 2005’s Young Avengers #1, written by Allan Heinberg and penciled by Jim Cheung. Like the other members of the Young Avengers — Iron Lad, Patriot, and Hulkling — Billy modeled himself on an older hero, taking the name Asgardian. And that’s intentional, as the Young Avengers were assembled by Iron Lad, who needed to create a team to resist an impending attack by time-traveller Kang the Conquerer. With the Avengers and Fantastic Four dead at the hands of the supervillain Onslaught (well, actually recreated in a bubble universe as part of Marvel’s disasterous attempt to reboot its flagship titles but that’s not important right now), Iron Lad needed to make new heroes.
Even after Iron Lad revealed himself to be in fact a younger version of Kang, who was absorbed into the time stream after standing up to his older self, the Young Avengers stayed together. But in the absence of Iron Lad, Billy rescinded his Norse stolen valor and embraced the magical nature of his powers, taking instead the name Wiccan. And if your head is hurting already, then take some aspirin, because things only get weirder from here.
The Young Avengers soon meet a teen hero called Speed. Given his power set, completely white hair, and general arrogance, Tommy Shepherd a.k.a. Speed is a clear analogue for Quicksilver. However, outside of his early-onset graying, Tommy is an identical twin to Billy. How can that be, given that both teens have different sets of biological parents?
The more that Billy investigates, the more he becomes certain that he and Tommy are reincarnations of Billy and Tommy Maximoff, the twin sons of the Scarlet Witch and Vision. Which is even more strange, since Billy and Tommy never really existed.
Wanda’s Kids in the Multiverse of Madness
In 1986’s Vision and the Scarlet Witch #12, written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Richard Howell, Wanda gives birth to twins William and Thomas. How, exactly, the android Vision managed to sire children is given a complicated answer that involves the original Human Torch, Wonder Man, and the villain Nekra, all of whom have their own bizarre backstories that we can’t get into here. In short, everyone thought they were regular, real kids.
All of that changed in 1989’s Avengers West Coast #52, written and drawn by John Byrne, one of the strangest comic issues of all time. The cover features Z-tier villain Master Pandemonium with the toddlers William and Thomas as his hands. No, that’s not a typo. The tots aren’t in his hands. They are his hands, like, at the end of his arms.
