A Review of "Age of Ultron"
Last Time in the Age of Ultron: We saw Black Widow & Moon Knight hanging out in San Francisco with way more dead bodies then what we saw in NYC. We got the first time the series tag line was said in the series. We had story time with Spider-Man where he told where he was during the Ultron's attack on New York, the only person to give such account. What does it tell us? Not much. We did get Cap standing up & saying something heroic on the last page.
Now on to Issue 3…
On the cover we have Luke Cage striking an often used pose for comic book covers: Holding someone who is (most likely) dead sideways in your arms as there arms & legs lay limb on either side. One of most famous examples of this pose are the Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. Who is Luke holding? She-Hulk. A number of times this cover image is used it's a man holding a woman. A few it's it's been a Man holding a child. I doubt I've ever seen as woman holding a child or a Man in her arms.
Also on the cover, a pack of Ultron Bots play ring around the Luke Cage & for some reason their eyes all look to be shaped like the eyes on Spider-Man's mask.
Let's look at the "recap" text on the first page:
Years ago, founding Avenger Henry Pym invented the artificial intelligence known as Ultron.
Once Ultron became self-aware he dedicated his life to purifying the earth of the human condition. Although The Avengers always found a way to defeat Ultron, there were those who warned that his continuous evolution, he would eventually find a way to destroy us.
That day has come.
Many were killed, the heroes who survived have moved underground to avoid Ultron's patrols. While on a patrol mission, Hawkeye rescued Spider-Man, who revealed that criminals Hammerhead and The Owl had planned to sell him to Ultron.
The first 3 paragraphs were similar to those from issue 2. The only one that was changed was the second paragraph it has more text in it while still conveying the same information. The third paragraph I think is the first time that the villains from issue 1 have been named. I don't remember them being named in that issue. I just knew who they were.
The phrase "many were killed" is a bit of an understatement. They mention there was 7,000 heroes in New York before Ultron attacked & so far we have seen under 30 heroes in the comic so yeah: Many have been killed. Like over 3/4th's of the heroes! That doesn't account for the the various villains that New York had running around (almost all of them are now dead).
Also, the heroes have not gone "underground" they are in the SHEILD Hellicarrier which has crashed in Central Park. Now if a part of it is submerged, I guess that's now "underground" but a large part of it is still above ground. Also, if they are trying to hide from Ultron it might help to not hide out with a easily spotted item from the sky!
We turn the page to see a splash page with two people, the same two people from the cover! They are about to set in motion some sort of plan that involves Luke punching She-Hulk in the face. The expression on his face when he does it looks a bit odd. We turn the page to see what looks to be an earthquake going on (is that because of Cage's punch? Is it a aftershock?). He then picks up She-Hulk over his shoulder & walks off.
We then flashback an hour to as the caption tells us "underground". Spider-Man brings up getting up off their butts & back into the fight. Emma Frost brings up that it's not that easy with everyone they have lost (as we have seen in other parts of the country with small groups of heroes: yes it is). In the next panel we see I think for the first time Wolverine's new costume. He is one of the few people who got a different costume for the series. Everyone else is basically wearing their same costume from the "normal" line of Marvel Comics but he got a brand new costume. He also get a confirmation that Thor is dead. We also find out that Luke Cage's wife & kid are dead.
We flashback to a panel of Luke carrying She-Hulk as he sheds a tear (Is the flashback him thinking back to an hour ago?). We then go back to the flashback & return to the discussion from Issue 2 on what to do now. We then get five pages of them talking over what to do. Talking about why Spider-Man was being bartered by the Owl & Hammerhead to Ultron (for what? they don't know. It's never said). They continue to wonder why he's doing that, how Ultron was able to take over the world (something the series never gives a firm answer to).
Hawkeye blames Hank Pym from screwing them all over because he was the one who created Ultron. This is the first time Pym's name has been mentioned in the series it's self & not just on the recap pages. Captain America brings up a plan: If Ultron is buying Super Heroes then they bring him one & once they get inside use them to get information on what Ultron is exactly doing (That's not exactly how it goes down as we see in the next issue).
They bring up that they'll need "somebody who can take punishment. Sturdy. Indestructible." Luke Cage & She-Hulk both volunteer. They argue a bit on who should go. Iron Man doesn't think it's worth another life since right now they only have half a plan. It's then brought up that She-Hulk will be the bait & Luke with be the seller.
Wolverine says he wants to be the seller. Captain America says that's a bad idea since Wolverine's bones are laced with the same thing that Ultron's frame is made of: Adamantium! So, the plan would fail since Ultron would most likely just kill him for his bones (maybe burn the flesh off like how the Sentinels did in Days of Future's Past?). They also mention that Wolverine has regrown a leg (that would have been cool to see how he lost it and/or why).
So…. after five pages of talking they have come to a plan: Luke Cage takes She-Hulk to Ultron & they see whatever they can find out about what Ultron is up to. They'll then meet up with the rest of the heroes in The Savage Land. Question: How is Luke & She-Hulk going to get from New York City to Antarctica (where the Savage Land is located)? How is Cap & the rest of the heroes going to get there? I think the Ultron Bots that are patrolling the area would notice a plane, boat, flying car or two leaving the city!
Also, we see Cap still carrying around the broken piece of his shield. Why is he still carrying it around? It is of no use to him at this point unless he wants to stab someone with it! He has left the other pieces behind, why keep this piece? We clearly see each time that the piece he has left has a strap attached so wear the shield fragment & have two free hands?
We then go to the "present" & have a full page panel of Luke Cage walking tall with She-Hulk slung over his shoulder. This was truly a needed page since we had not fully establish this fact & it's not like we have seen it a few times already. We flip the page to a 2 page spread where Luke meets up with a few Ultron Bots & tells them that he's got a Hulk he wants to trade. For what? I doubt he knows.
Speaking of Hulk's we turn the page & are taken to Chicago. Not sure if we see a dried up lake in the establishing panel for the windy city or it's just a massive crater. Again the destruction is nicely detailed & drawn.
We see The Red Hulk, Taskmaster & The Black Panther on a roof top. I'm not counting Taskmaster as a villain like Hammerhead of The Owl since for the last few years Taskmaster has been an Anti-Hero at best so the villain count is still at 2. The Heroes are on a stake out, Taskmaster is looking through some binoculars. They are looking for Ultron Bots. He sees one as they kill someone much like they had killed a group of people in Issue 2. Taskmaster (who I think is wearing a different mask then his normal one) tells the Red Hulk (who he's calling Dave) where to find it. We get a panel that take up half the page of the Dave jumping towards us & apparently the Ultron Bot.
Dave lands on the bot & rips off it's head. He then jumps back to the group (which is stated as being over a mile and a half which Taskmaster has seen). When Dave gets back, they are surrounded by a small pack of Ultron Bots. Taskmaster & Black Panther run off, Dave throws Panther the head just before he blasted by the Bots. A fight insures. Dave fights off the bots as Taskmaster & Black Panther attempt to get away. Black Panther gets hurts & dies (That is the last time we see him in the series). Taskmaster gets the head & continues on without him.
We then head back to New York & Times Square. Luke Cage is lead to structure of some kind (it's 2 blue balls & some support beams that are connected to the main Techno-Dome over the city). He is then lead inside. It's all blue, green, clean, futuristic & minimal. Nothing like it's outside.
Luke Cage is lead to where he can make his trade. When he gets there he says "Oh, No… It's -- It's not Ultron."
you turn the page to see….. The top half of The Vision floating there. He looks to be ripped in half. He asks what Luke has to trade.
OMG everybody! What will come of this?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
NOTHING! WE GET NOTHING!
Except for opening bit at the beginning of the next issue, The Vision is never seen again & his appearance here is never fully explained (like so many things in this series). One would think that his appearance in the "spin off" series Avengers AI would help provide some issues but with only have one issue out & what they say he's been doing before that series happens is hanging out near the sun literally recharging his batteries. That & gaining new abilities.
That's where the issue leaves us: On one of the better cliffhangers for the whole series which they never resolve.
But what have we learned from this issue: It's almost a retread/continuation of Issue 2. There now 3 different pockets of heroes around the U.S. (San Francisco, Chicago & New York), that the Heroes from New York have spent most of their time trying to figure out what the heck to do now while the other groups at least attempt to do something. That's it. Not much.
It only gets worse from here as we go to the Savage Land where the focus of the series changes.
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