Age of Ultron #5 Review - Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch
Despite the action packed cover, issue #5 in the Age of Ultron Event has very little action. Which isnt to say its bad at all, but this is definitely a transition issue that sets up the sure-to-be action packed final half of this series. The heroes are all gathered in the Savage Land (which has been somehow overlooked by Ultron) and head off to a hidden Nick Fury stronghold where they find - Nick Fury (the non-Sam Jackson kind)! Together they devise a plan of action for defeating Ultron once and for all. But as one group of heroes heads off on their mission leaving behind the rest should they fail, another hero has a very different idea of how to deal with everything thats happened - and hes not gonna be stopped, bub. Strangely, this is another issue where this group of heroes stand/sit around and talk. They were gathered under Central Park for 3 issues talking about what to do and, now theyve made it to the Savage Land, theyre still talking together in a room! Thats 4 issues out of 5 where weve had brief glimpses of action and some plot development while ostensibly half of the Event is done and the most Earths Mightiest Heroes have done is point fingers and talk. Its expected, Ill give Bendis that - my biggest complaint of the last Marvel Event, Avengers Vs. X-Men, was that it was mindless non-stop action so its interesting to see this event go in the opposite direction, using action sparingly, and though there is a lot of dialogue, the talking isnt dull. I like it when a writer takes the time to develop the characters motivations and feelings before throwing all kinds of action their way, so I enjoyed the issue, but I can definitely see other readers viewpoints who might be expecting more from the characters after this length of time. Bryan Hitchs artwork continues to be as gorgeous as ever. His Savage Land scenes are great, I like his worn-down depiction of Cap which makes him look like an insane hobo, and I really liked seeing the classic Iron Man armour coming into play again after all these years. Theres also an amazing splash page showing the Ultrons branching out across America to destroy another major city. Its very cinematic and feels kind of like a scene from a classic 50s sci-fi movie. Ive been reading some of the reviews for this series and quite a number of people seem jaded with the high rate of superheroes dying with each issue with the implication of course that because of their enormous popularity theyll be back before you know it thus rendering this series meaningless. My position on Events like this and comics characters dying in general has always been that so long as its entertaining, who cares that they die for this arc and then somehow come back in a different one. Was it a good story? Thats enough for me. But listening to Bendis in the AR in this issue made me appreciate this series more. One of my favourite Marvel books is The Infinity Gauntlet which was a massive, insane Event that came out of nowhere and killed off scores of heroes only to bring them back at the end - and then later refer to the Event in continuity! Bendis loved that Event too and thought why not do something like that now? and so we have Age of Ultron. While this Event isnt as brilliantly bizarre (Jim Starlin is a unique crazy genius), it is really enjoyable and I appreciate that Marvel are doing something nuts like this despite only recently relaunching all of their titles. The issue does set up two exciting storylines, both involving time-travel, so heres hoping Bendis doesnt get too wrapped up in the usual time travel tropes. Theres a worrying comment from Spider-man who mentions the butterfly effect - lets try and avoid that kind of crap, Bendis, please. Age of Ultron #5 isnt the best issue weve had so far but has enough snappy back and forths to be entertaining while we wait for the fight back were all waiting to see to happen and we all know is coming. Luckily with Marvels incredibly fast release schedule well only have to wait until this Wednesday for the next instalment of - the Age of Ultron! Age of Ultron #5 by Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch is out now at your local comics shop and online at Comixology and Marvel Unlimited