Monday, April 1, 2013

Age of Ultron #3


I’m impressed. Bendis really picks up the pace in this third issue, revealing a ton of the backstory and history behind Ultron’s rise to power in the Marvel U. Bendis keeps the focus on a few characters so that the story remains emotionally resonant.

He does expand the scope of the story to Chicago where we see a post-apocalyptic team-up of Red Hulk, Black Panther, and Taskmaster. It’s great seeing these three working together, and each character gets a moment to shine as they take on Ultron robots in a clearly defined mission.

When the story flips back to New York, Luke Cage and She-Hulk come up with a brilliant plan to gain access to Ultron’s headquarters. It’s worth checking in on the Central Park resistance because the surviving heroes accomplish quite a bit while planning to take down the robotic conqueror.

Once again, Bendis absolutely nails it with Hawkeye. Hawkeye and Hank Pym have been teammates for years, on the Avengers, West Coast Avengers, and the Avengers Academy faculty. But while discussing Ultron, Hawkeye expresses a ton of rage at Pym, since Pym created Ultron. The lack of understanding between characters long-shown to be friends is a dynamite job of characterization.

Bryan Hitch clearly spent the same amount of time on this issue as he did on the previous two. It is fun seeing him draw this many characters, I sort of wish a few of them were sticking around a bit longer.

This book is well worth the $3.99!

Excellent

APRIL FOOL’S!!!!

This comic doesn’t move the plot forward at all and instead spends its time on random characterization and treading water.

Average

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