Age of Ultron #10
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Brandon Peterson
Marvel Comics
Here’s the end of the limited series that is one of the current Marvel cross title, universe destroying, end of all things books. The series started with the Marvel heroes at their wits end as Ultron, the malevolent AI created by Hank Pym, is close to destroying all life on earth. Fortunately, Wolverine finds a time machine and goes back to kill Pym before he created the Ultron program. And things go downhill from there. Timelines cross. Different evils destroy different universes. Different Wolverines battle each other, both being the best at what they do. All in all, an action packed ride.
But I didn’t really get into this book. I liked the start. The post-apocalyptic, battle for your life, nothing of civilization is left vibe was cool. I liked when Luke Cage and She Hulk, being the strongest, go into Ultrons layer to parlay with him. I enjoyed when Taskmaster and Black Widow are on the west coast tracking down Nick Fury’s safe houses. But once the time traveling began, I lost interest. And with it concluded, it was the usual “let’s just go back in time and tell us how bad things get so we don’t do that” kind of ending. And the big reveal at the end is that the Neil Gaiman character that has been in copyright limbo for the past 20 years, Angela, makes her appearance in the Marvel Universe.
As an individual issue culminating a 10 issue series, I thought it was ok. But instead of a satisfying conclusion, we get dragged into a new cross-title cluster of books that deal with the fallout of the time travel from this story. Sigh. I will not be picking them up for myself.
So is this series library worthy? I would certainly consider it optional. The story is ok but the art is better than average. Kids will pick it up and read it in the library as they hang out after school. But I would not consider it classic and certainly it isn’t a stand-alone story.
