Spotlight: Age of Ultron #10

(w) Brian Michael Bendis
(a) Alex Maleev; Bryan Hitch & Paul Neary; Butch Guice; Brandon Peterson, Carlos Pacheco & Roger Bonet with Tom Palmer; David Marquez, Joe Quesada

This is what disappointment truly feels like.

I defended Age of Ultron in nearly every review I wrote about the series. And while it has indeed been a fun and generally enjoyable ride, Age of Ultron #10 simply fizzles out where it should have been explosive. And one vague, surreal explosion doesn't count after nine issues of build-up.


** SPOILERS AHEAD. THOUGH, YOU PROBABLY READ A LOT OF THIS ONLINE ALREADY. **


Why do I not like Age of Ultron #10? Let me count the ways. One: there are far too many artists on this issue. Two: introducing Angela in the final pages is such an obvious grab for money that I nearly slammed by laptop's screen shut in frustration. Three: this issue is the epitome of anticlimactic.

There are ten different artists credited to Age of Ultron #10 with no guide as to who has drawn what. Sure, I've got some idea based on what I've seen in other books, but overall, it's extremely jarring to see one issue go through so many different styles. Now, Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson, and Carlos Pacheco were featured throughout issues one through nine, but that was for a reason. Hitch drew the original timeline, Peterson drew the 'Age of Iron Man' segments, and Carlos Pacheco tackled the sequences set in the past of the Marvel universe. There were three distinct styles for three distinct parts of the story, and generally, it worked well. The only reason that I can imagine Marvel had for employing so many artists was the nature of the story's conclusion. And even if they did -- which is highly unlikely -- the experiment was not worth it because it looks bad.

Angela, Angela, Angela. Everyone is so excited about Angela, and it turns out her presence in the issue amounts to little more than a cameo. Now it makes sense how Bendis was able to "write" a special new part for the character. I phrased it like that not because I believe Bendis can't write, but because it's not a real sequence. Angela's appearance is just her inner monologue with a two-page spread by Joe Quesada as the backdrop. That's not enough. That's just pandering. And I'm sure there are those out there who loved seeing Angela on those final pages. But if you're unfamiliar with the character, this 'epic conclusion' is just confusing.

Which brings us to the fact that Age of Ultron #10 is the most anticlimactic ending to an event Marvel has produced since...well at least before House of M. The biggest revelation we get is that the multiverse is now bleeding into itself, meaning various universes will cross over with relative ease. While this is a big change in status quo, there's only one single splash page that's interesting. The rest is panning images of space and bright lights. It might be menacing and mysterious, yes, but these are the final pages of Age of Ultron. 

The big battle we get is basically a reprint of Avengers #12.1 from two years ago, and though it ends differently here than it did before, it's just a big letdown. Alright, sure; the Avengers defeated Ultron before he ever started his apocalyptic invasion of Earth. But we knew that was going to happen. What we needed here was something bigger to keep the momentum going now that the event is over. Unfortunately, Marvel thought giving us one glimpse of Galactus and a spread of Angela would do the trick. And even though the crossover nerd in me did summersaults when I saw Miles Morales facing down Galactus 616, it was a fleeting emotion because the only real reason it was included was for that specific reaction, not because it had anything to do with Age of Ultron.

Age of Ultron wasn't a huge failure. Bryan Hitch's artwork for the first five issues was fantastic, Carlos Pacheco's style fit the 1960s sequences perfectly, and the goal of the entire narrative was achieved by the end of Age of Ultron #10. Brian Michael Bendis set out to create an grand story about the dangers of abusing technology we don't understand. Unfortunately, this sentiment becomes hollow when the lesson isn't learned. Wolverine isn't punished for basically unraveling all of time and space, while Hank Pym believes he can correct the errors in Ultron's programming instead of understanding that creating and manipulating consciousness -- biological or artificial -- isn't right. So what was the point? 

Bendis threw the biggest players in the Marvel universe through the ringer for no reason. The characters don't truly grow because they haven't learned from their mistakes, which makes it all the more obvious that the true endgame of Age of Ultron was to allow Marvel to dig into it's plethora of fan-favorite characters with far more ease. This might sound harmless at first, but it means the characters were simply props throughout this event. All the tie-ins, all the deaths; none of it technically matters. And that's a problem. As an event, Age of Ultron was mediocre. As the final issue Age of Ultron #10 was completely lackluster.

GRADE

5/10

Review: All-New X-Men #7

(w) Brian Michael Bendis  (a) David Marquez

Alongside Jonathan Hickman's Avengers, Brian Michael Bendis' All-New X-Men is leading the 'Marvel NOW!' initiative in terms of sales figures and overall quality. Brian Bendis has led Earth's Mightiest Heroes for the past eight years, so now it's time for him to tackle the Children of the Atom. At first, the concept of bringing the original five X-Men into the present day sounded extremely limiting -- the idea seemed better suited for a limited series or part of a Marvel event of some sort. This status quo makes perfect sense for Bendis, a writer who specializes in long-form decompression (for example, his ten years on Ultimate Spider-Man covered roughly one year of in-comic time). Seven issues in, and this fact has been reinforced by the sheer amount of ethical, emotional, and logistical storytelling delivered. So far, it seems like only a few days have passed, and the O.G.5 (Original Gangsta' Five) are still mostly getting used to being 40 years in their future.

All-New X-Men #7 is a curious chapter in this second arc because, as much as Bendis is hitting a majority of the right notes with all the other characters, he's having a hard time pinning down Young Cyclops. As far as Marvel continuity goes, Scott Summers has been talking about being the teenaged leader of the X-Men for longer than he was the teenaged leader of the X-Men. In fact, that very concept of a young, naive Cyclops has been at arms-length from the character's ongoing narrative for so long, it's almost as if Bendis has to reconstruct what it meant to be an adolescent in the 1960s with mutant powers. Beast, Iceman, and Angel have their varying degrees of adjustment and acclimation, but Scott and Jean Grey are the two variables in this equation: Jean knows everything, and Scott knows nothing. Young Scott has a million conflicting thoughts zipping through his mind, and no one seems to be able to make any sense of them.

Mystique is one of the most interesting characters in Marvel's pantheon because she's just so damn good at what she does. Usually, a villain acts villainous, and evil begets more evil. Raven Darkholme is a whole helluva lot more clever than most super villains -- she truly understands the art of deception and uses those skills to manipulate almost any situation to her favor. Being a shapeshifter helps, but it's less to do with her appearance and more to do with hew attitude and how she carries herself. In All-New X-Men #7, Mystique shows up to explain that not everything is as it seems in this present day, that the O.G.5. are in more danger than Wolverine or any of the X-Men are letting on, and that no one will want to hear what Young Scott has to say because they've all got preconceived notions due to Elder Scott's horrifying past actions.

The element that makes All-New X-Men #7 most interesting is how Bendis characterizes Young Scott's feelings that he has no control over his life. Most teenagers (and adults, for that matter) have his same exact feeling at some point or another. This feeling can come from a number of different places -- heartache, bad grades, overbearing parents, lack of friends, sickness, depression, work, etc. -- but for Young Scott, it comes from his older self committing genocide then murdering his father figure who also happened to be the most respected man in the mutant community. And just like any normal teenager, Young Scott doesn't know what to think. All he knows is that the rest of the planet has made up their mind about him already, and he's got to figure out where he fits into this new world.

All-New X-Men #7 is another fantastic chapter in this fantastic series. Brian Bendis is bringing his unique brand of interpersonal relationships to the X-Men franchise, and it feels like such a natural fit that it's a wonder Marvel didn't do this sooner. In many ways, this sentiment is how I feel about 'Marvel NOW!' as a whole -- most of the creative team/title pairings now feel far more organic than in the past.

GRADE

9/10