Age of Ultron 1
Bendis (w) and Hitch and Neary (a) and Mounts (c)
We dive right into the Age of Ultron storyline by throwing us right into the action. We're in a dystopian world where Ultron has taken over and seemingly destroyed most of humanity or, at the very least, all of humanity's stuff. A handful of heroes live in a base apparently away from Ultron's gaze as they work on a plan to combat the artificial intelligence. We don't actually see Ultron in this first issue, though we see his army fleet as they attack a villain's hideout which is exactly how you'd imagine it would be; there are girls coming in and out for what appears to be their own safety, but in exchange for the horrible things you would likely assume, the villains are close to stabbing each other in the back at all times, and they're holding good guys captive waiting to be exchanged with Ultron for continued existence, essentially. This issue shows a now murderous Hawkeye charging the hideout and slaughtering many of those inside while he rescues Spider-Man from captivity. As the Ultron fleet suspects something and requires everyone evacuate the premises, Hawkeye creates a diversion by destroying one of the bots and they make their way back to the base, where we find a few heroes who are holed up and waiting to attack. It seems like they're broken and have no plan for attack, just a plan to keep living. Among their numbers are Iron Man, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Emma Frost, Beast, Wolverine, and a seemingly defeated Captain America. The group is mad at Hawkeye for jeopardizing their safety by possibly leading Ultron back to them, but Hawkeye argues that he saved Spider-Man and he's not going to watch as friends get tortured or die. The issue ends with a shot of a broken down Cap with his shield in pieces beside him.
Despite everything I just summarized, there wasn't much to go on as to how this series will proceed. That's not necessarily me decrying the book; Bendis wants to create the environment first and likely feed us the story bit by bit before turning us towards the present and future. The art is impressive and the colors create a real tone for the book. We'll have to hold out and wait a little longer before giving any sort of verdict (it's silly to write off any series after one issue, but particularly silly after one issue of an event. It's probably also silly to pledge lifelong loyalty to a series after one issue but that's a little more understandable, especially if we're talking about New Avengers. Look, all I'm saying is that it feels like a long time since a new New Avengers came out).
Avengers 7
Hickman (w) and Weaver (a) and Ponsor (c)
The most impressive thing I think I can say about this new iteration of Avengers is that I come out after just about every issue saying "wait, what happened?" That might not sound like a ringing endorsement, and frankly I'm not sure it is, but it's certainly worth noting. I really love the layout of this new book, as I think I've mentioned. It just makes more sense. Instead of a full team that all hang out together and might just split up to accomplish certain tasks, we have a full roster that activates members as they're needed. It's exactly how, if the Avengers existed in the real world (shut up), they would really function. Or at least, they really should. I kind of can't believe it's taken fifty years of Avengering before we got to this idea, honestly. But Hickman has big ideas, which feels like a real change for this series. The Avengers universe isn't tied to heroes and villains any more; it's tied to planetary and universal challenges, as a team like the Avengers really should be. The Avengers were founded to take on the problems the members alone couldn't. As we've upped the game for what an individual hero can take, we also have to up the game for what a team like the Avengers can take. So we're talking a pretty huge scale now, which all fits. However, it's also a little hard to comprehend, which I think makes this book more of a push than it's been in the past. It's still a good book, one that I think only benefits from the choices Hickman has made, and I'll still look forward to reading it whenever it comes out, but I wouldn't blame a reader for not looking towards this series when they're looking to figure out what to read per week. I think it's going to hit a niche that the Avengers hasn't always looked to hit. In my eyes, the Avengers book has always been kind of the "oh, check out this sweet team-up" book or the book that a newer reader can try to enter into. Now it's taking characters we don't know so well (along with some characters we know very well) and it's putting them at the forefront of crises that eclipse most other books.
If it feels like I'm avoiding summarizing this book at all, it's because I kind of am. The other thing that happens when I read this book is that I continually ask myself if the information being presented is stuff I'm supposed to know already or if it's stuff that will be slowly leaked to me. In the case of this issue, I think it's stuff that will be leaked to me, largely, tied with stuff that's come so far in this series. The newly renamed Nightmask, a herald of a planet's ascension on a universal scale (yes, this is what I mean by "complicated"), is looking for the other heralds that aid in the ascension of planet. The other heralds are called a Justice, a Cipher, a Starbrand, and a Spitfire. Nightmask looks for the other heralds and manages to track down a Starbrand, whose role is to defend the planet. Of course, Tony tells Steve and Bruce Banner, to protect the planet they have to have the power to destroy the planet. The Starbrand has changed from a college student (who has been ignored his whole life) into a seemingly all-powerful being. And that's where we leave off. There's a lot of interesting stuff happening (and if you're having trouble understanding what happened in it after reading it, feel free to write a blog post about it because it really helps collect your thoughts on it) and it already feels pretty exciting to see where this series is going to go.
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