The Avengers Forever: Illuminations

	Illuminations Page 10 of 14

Professor Stone has discovered a technology so mind-blowing one wonders why it is not more widely used. The ability to replicate people by using androids that are identical to their subjects—right down to their short hairs—must be of use to somebody. While there is modern debate about the possibilities of cloning and its moral implications, no one else out there has unveiled robots that perfectly match Michael Jackson or Fidel Castro. Steed and Mrs. Peel have witnessed a science thirty-four years ahead of its time and counting.

Where did this vast expert knowledge go? Perhaps it resurfaced in Stepford, Connecticut. Wherever it is, the Ministry didn't make use of it. Imagine ten identical Steeds going about their business—the vast majority of them merely decoys. Of course, a secret agent could make much more sophisticated use of a mechanical replica; my ideas are from the funny papers.

Professor Frank N. Stone, like Robert J. Oppenheimer, sets into motion a grandly articulated machinery that he will later oppose. This machinery is led by Stone's duplicate, himself a chilling reflection of the advancing marvels of technology that charm us while slowly replacing us. However old this jaded sentiment may be, it never ceases to arise amidst concerns about the information age and the breakdown of the nuclear family. Do you know anyone who loves his car more than his girlfriend?

Played by the Great Christopher Lee, Stone and his monster are charismatic figures that rise above the heavy-handed similarities to Mary Shelley's creation.