One problem with big crossover events is that they often take forever to come out. But with ‘Age of Ultron’, we don’t really have that problem. After getting the premiere issue last week, here we are already with the next one at rapid-fire speed. Though we have to wait until the 27th to get the next edition, it is quite nice that the whole thing is moving faster than any event in the past.
In the first issue of ‘Age of Ultron’, we discovered that the malicious android created by Hank Pym that has caused the Avengers much trouble in the past has returned and has won. The world is under the control of Ultron and everyone is living in state of chaos and destruction. However, a small contingent of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes remains active and they’re fighting for survival. Unwilling to let anyone perish at the hands of Ultron’s drones, Hawkeye ventured of on a mission against the orders of Luke Cage to rescue Spider-Man from The Owl and Hammerhead, who were looking to trade the hero to Ultron in exchange for letting them live. The pair get out alive and meet up with the rest of the survivors, but Peter Parker finds out that this Ultron situation has taken it’s toll on everyone, but some more than others.
While all that happened on the East Coast, issue two catches up with a few Avengers that were out west when things went sour. In San Francisco, Black Widow and Moon Knight stick together to try to figure out a way to put an end to this. Meanwhile, back in New York, Peter Parker tells the rest of the team how he got captured and what the B-list villains were hoping to do with him after they got him.
As a juxtaposition to how fast we’re getting each new issue, we’re slowly learning more and more about how these things came to be. Like the first issue, we don’t get too much action in this book, but we’re get just enough for sustenance. For example, I think what really carried this issue is seeing who the survivors are. Characters from all walks of the Marvel Universe are involved in this event, so I think that readers are happy enough to see some players come off the bench like Moon Knight and Monica Rambeau. It’s been ages since we’ve seen either one, so it’s cool to see them back in the mix and it sort of makes up for the lack of action. Also, did anyone else notice that Marc Spector looks a lot like Jon Hamm? The resemblance is uncanny. After a friend pointed that out, I could not unsee that.
Jon Hamm & Moon Knight: Totally the same guy.
Just like I mentioned in my last review, it’s blatantly obvious that this was supposed to come out before Marvel NOW!. The more Peter Parker talks, the more that it shows that it’s supposed to be Peter Parker and not Otto Octavius. Also, Captain America’s uniform is another obvious sign of how old that this story has been sitting on the shelf. If they’re going to advertise ‘Age of Ultron’ as taking place right now in current continuity, then I wish that they had asked Bryan Hitch to make some changes to a few panels here and there. Sure, it probably would have pushed the story back even more, but at least it would fit properly into the current continuity rather than having these bothersome errors. I mean, let me know if I’m thinking about this too much, but continuity errors stick out like sore thumbs to me and I’m bothered by them once I pick them up, even if I like the story.
So far, things are definitely on a slow burn, but the next issue should at least start to take us from Act I into Act II so that we get to the meat of this story. That’s what I hope for anyway. It helps that issue two expanded our scope a little bit and that a call to arms is coming after the last page of this issue, but I’d really like to get an idea of the bigger picture sooner rather than later. You’ve still got me, Bendis. Let’s see if you can keep me with the next issue.
Final Score:
AGE OF ULTRON #2
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary, & Paul Mounts
