When breaking it down to brass tacks, Age of Ultron existed for two reasons. The first, the pumping up of the Hank Pym mythos, has been happening for the last few issues. The second, Marvel’s introduction to a multiverse, comes through only in the last few pages of Age of Ultron #10. As a set up story, Age of Ultron has succeeded, but as a well-written, enjoyable story, it’s fallen short of the mark. Realistically, based on advertising placement, I’m thinking Marvel’s whole reason for AU was to jump start other stories by introducing the multiverse.
The meat and potatoes of AU #10 is exactly what you’d think it would be. Writer Brian Michael Bendis has Hank Pym record himself in the past and use it to remind his future self what he must do to rewrite Ultron’s rebirth. I give Bendis full credit for reaching way, way, back into the Intelligencia storyline to make it all work. Once Ultron has fallen, the world then reverts back to what it was. Save for one small wrinkle. The multiverse.
Apparently, Wolverine’s constant shucking and jiving with the space time continuum, has uncovered multiple worlds existing just below the fabric of time. That fabric now threatens to rip apart, and the bleed through could be disastrous. AU ends on that note. Story done. No fleshing out of the original storyline or the one where Tony Stark ruled all. Those were just stones used to bounce from point A to point B.
I started out as a huge fan of this series, something that soured once Bendis turned it into “Hank Pym Rules” and abandoned a great storyline for an inferior one. Reading issue #10, I’m left just rolling my eyes at Marvel’s love of shilling future product over telling great stories. Think I’m kidding? Here’s what I meant regarding advertising placement. When the multiverse cracks at the end, Ultimate Spider-Man is suddenly faced with the shadow of Galactus. Right behind that page is an advertisement for Hunger #1, the first issue of Galactus taking on the Ultimate Universe.
The next page is Tony Stark and Hank Pym talking about the whole Ultron adventure. Pym says out loud, “I know what I did wrong.” Flip the page, an advertisement for Avengers A.I. #1, the team book about Pym and his new A.I. team. The final page shows Angela, from Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, having been dragged into the Marvel Universe. Next page? An advertisement for Guardians of the Galaxy #5, featuring Angela. By the last page, AU #10 came off more like a Diamonds catalog than a comic book. If you think about it, Bendis mostly rewrote a battle we’d already seen, a few end notes and then all these ads. Kind of a disappointing way to end something that could have been great.
A large consortium of artists handles Art for issue #10. Alex Maleev, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary, Butch Guice, Brandon Peterson, Carlos Pacheco, Roger Bonet, Tom Palmer, David Marquez and Joe Quesada. Who does what on which page is hard to assess, but across the board the art is quite good. Multiple artists also help you to forget how little is actually happening in this final issue.
Much like Avengers vs. X-Men, Age of Ultron wasn’t so much a story, as it was a ten issue catalyst for more Marvel product. Smart business. Not much artistic integrity to it.
Issue #10:
(1 Story, 4 Art)
Series Overall:
(3 Story, 4 Art)
