Review: Age of Ultron #2

Usually we have to wait until closer to the end to declare an event book underwhelming. This one underwhelms right up front.

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Bryan Hitch

For years the heroes of the Marvel Universe have lived in fear that the artificial intelligence known as Ultron would one day evolve to fulfill its desire to wipe out all organic life and take over the Earth — that day has arrived.

Start your comic with 2 pages of the burning shambles of New York City. Again. For your next several pages, run a shrouded, brooding version of a regular Marvel character through the wreckage, scrambling as chaos reigns. Again. Show a couple of violent deaths of some nameless citizens and emphasize how helpless the heroes feel so that we’re assured that this is all the most serious business we’ve ever seen in a comic. Have them grit overwrought dialogue through their teeth about how damnable the villains are for doing such villainous things.

This is starting to feel like a trick.

This is, one assumes, the 2nd issue in the latest Marvel super event that will change everything known as “Age of Ultron.” I say “one assumes”, because 2nd issues usually pick up where the 1st issue left off and advance the plot from there. Or maybe sometimes they flash back and enrich the story that we’re about to see unfold. But in this case, it seems, they just give you a bunch of stuff that you’ve basically seen before and then assure you, right at literally the last possible second, that next time we’re really going to take the story somewhere. Come on back next week, ya’ hear?

Starting a story in the middle of a crisis is fine. Hell, it can be a terrific storytelling device. Having to learn how things could get so utterly terrible for the world and its protectors should be very compelling stuff. But don’t you want the story to hit the ground running, if it’s going to start like this? Instead, “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, “the Strangest Super-Heroes of All”, and “the Amazing Spider-Man”, as well as whoever is left from the entire Marvel catalogue of random heroes, cosmic defenders, the Fantastic Four (and the list goes on) – are all standing around talking. Despite this great collection of super humans – no one has left the city, or got their ass to Mars, or attempted to circumvent the problem. But some of them are sitting in the corner sobbing. It’s obviously supposed to convince us that things are worse than ever, but over a half a century’s worth of stories, these heroes have fought and succeeded against some of the most unfathomable and mind-bending circumstances one could imagine. And now they’re just sitting around in Iron Man’s basement or something.

Brian Michael Bendis has a terrific writer in him. He’s proven it time and again over a long career, up until and including titles like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and both of his X-Men titles. His Marvel NOW! work as been fresh and forward-facing. “Age of Ultron” is not Marvel NOW!, but that couldn’t be the problem. And the problem is not, as some critics of the book have said, that we cannot place this event on a timeline. That doesn’t matter either. This is just plotting and character work that leaves so much to be desired, regardless of when it takes place. There isn’t even the implied novelty of “alternate” universe characters shaped by the events of the Ultron takeover. So far, all that this “alternate future” amounts to is that all of our Marvel heroes are seemingly more willing to commit murder and are either 5 times more grim or 5 times more tormented.

Another reason why this is all a major problem is because we are already two full issues into the story. Two issues in and “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” show no signs of being the least bit active. Marvel Comics has always been about taking action, and go-getting, and throwing everything at the wall. Isn’t this what we read event comics for? This is none of that. This issue is 70% redundant information, with vague and circular dialogue, and opening sequences that pad the pages with elongated pacing. The idea that two full issues is a lot is somewhat betrayed by the fact that there’s 10 issues in the main title of this event, but that’s actually a symptom of the greater problem. By writing 2 opening issues where not much ground is covered at all, you generate the need for a 10 issue miniseries. At least the heroes aren’t fighting each other again.

That’s not to say that Bryan Hitch’s artwork doesn’t look terrific. The man can do mass destruction and burning rubble like none other in the comic business. He’s your man for that kind of stuff, absolutely. But what does it mean to look at a New York City skyline that has been torn to shreds so many times before, with much more context having been given for it? This feels like “Ultimatum” all over again, to be honest, because it’s nothing but people dying bloody deaths, heroes moaning about how helpless they are, and New York City getting rent asunder in pretty pencils. If you like the sort of blockbuster, widescreen cityscape carnage that he’s known for, you’ll get plenty of it here. More than you might even want. But think about something like Hickman’s “Fantastic Four” & “FF” run. Wouldn’t Bryan Hitch be great in an event like that? One that spans the Earth, under the sea, alternate dimensions, the Negative Zone, and includes all sorts of rampant destruction along the way?

Shouldn’t an event like “Age of Ultron” dream bigger than this? Again, maybe it will sometime during its 10 issue span, but that doesn’t make up for a 2 issue false start. We want event comics to be good. This cynicism that the comic fan collective seems to have when events roll around is not born out of thin air. But we buy them, because we want to like them. But when the far better stories are being written in regular ongoings like “Hawkeye”, “Daredevil”, “FF”, “Thor”, you name it – then what makes the event special? Are they special because they are designed to gouge you and overstay their welcome? That’s obviously not the intention, but “Age of Ultron” #2 feels like it’s doing just that.

Final Verdict: 3.8 – Pass. Hitch’s artwork astounds, but this doesn’t feel like a modern Marvel Comic. Unless you liked “Ultimatum.”