Age of Ultron 7, Thanos Rising 2

Age of Ultron 7
Bendis (w) and Peterson, Pacheco, and Martinez (a) and Mounts and Villarrubia (c)

Guys, if you go back to the past and kill someone, the future changes! That seems to be the lesson of this story and, in particular, these few issues. What a twist that no one saw coming! Except that it's so prevalent in science fiction that there's already a term for when this very thing happens and it is used commonly, despite the fact no one in our lifetime has ever gone back in time and killed someone.
So yes, I continue to be a bit bitter about Age of Ultron. It might even come off sounding a little hypocritical, considering how much I'm enjoying Dark Avengers and preparing to enjoy Red She-Hulk. Those are different. We're looking into alternate dimensions there, where something has happened in the real history of the place that changed it. It's a nice hypothetical situation asking things like "what if Hank Pym had died early into his research?" and then giving us some sort of answer in a universe where that's the way things are. Here, in the main Marvel Universe, we all know that things are going to be reset and a couple things might be a little different, but by and large this hypothetical situation isn't fully realized, just a slight diversion from the main path. Then we end up back on the main path. Woo. Thanks for the ten issue "major event."
So yes, Wolverine and Sue return to the present to find that EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. It's a lot of "gee, what's all this? This wasn't here before..." for a bit of time, then they get attacked by the Defenders, a team of heroes comprised of Cap with a Nick Fury eyepatch, Doc Strange, Thing, a smarter Hulk, Janet Van Dyne in a costume that's a cross between Captain Marvel and the Wasp, Wolverine in old-school costume/Daken costume, Starlord, and Cyclops/Cable (dying to hear how that happened). Wolverine and Sue are eventually taken down and Doc Strange says they have to go to "him," which Colonel America (for real) doesn't want to do. However, "he" shows up anyway, a version of Tony Stark controlling tons of Iron Man armors and looking more cybernetic than human. Where will this lead next time? When will this all eventually go away and be restored? Only time can tell (issue 10).

Thanos Rising 2
Aaron (w) and Bianchi (a) and Svorcina (c)

Thanos left the last issue slaughtering a heap of lizards and now we find him no long averse to the idea of killing. However, he does it for science, not for joy. He's certainly intelligent, learning faster than he can be taught. However, the existential questions of life bother him and he has no idea where to start looking for those. So he looks inside a lot of different creatures, than finally inside the people of his planet. As he tries to find something that can tell him what he is and what his purpose is, the mysterious girl from the last issue, the one who nudged him in the direction of killing the lizards, continues to watch him work. He twice tries to express love for her and twice he's rejected. She's happy he's letting his inner nature out (though he initially denies a joy in killing) but she wants nothing to do with him by way of love. We learn a little about Titan too, as narration tells us that no one had ever been murdered there before Thanos was born. He reveals later that he's killed 17 people. Mostly children but a few professors on occasion. This issue ends with his admission that he finds joy in killing, if only because killing lets him feel close to someone, lets him stop feeling alone for a moment. So he's determined that maybe the issue is in love and in his makeup and need for love. The only place he can find love and answer questions about his makeup? His mother, who he has strapped to his dissection table now.
The tale of Thanos is getting darker quickly. It's well paced so far; it's a four issue mini and definitely feels like, if we keep ramping up the creepiness exponentially, it could lead to the Thanos we know today. The biggest drama and intrigue in the continuation of this series will be in seeing how this boy, who wants answers about why he has to be this way and what purpose he serves, will become the all-powerful and pretty murder-hungry Thanos. Hopefully it goes a different way than saying "he just wants to be loved" and I think it will. It could go in the existential route, with Thanos deciding that no one really has a purpose and he's just the sociopath to prove it. However, the best option seems to be to let Jason Aaron tell the story and allow him to guide us through the history of the cosmic supervillain who is rapidly re-emerging on the scene after his surprise cameo in The Avengers. With Guardians of the Galaxy on the table as a new book and a new upcoming movie, we're moving Marvel back into the cosmic realm and who better to usher us there than Thanos, who will also headline the next major Marvel event, Infinity. It's interesting to get to dive a little deeper into his history to see why he is what he is, if we indeed will see that.