Avengers: Ultron Forever

[Marvel Boy]

This past Weds saw the release of #1 of this new 3-issue mini featuring a time-tossed team of Avengers, written by Al Ewing with art by Alan Davis.

The story is set in the Planet Ultron future first seen in Hickman's Avengers during the storyline where Cap is being shot through the future by the shattered Time Gem. To refresh your memory, here, Ultron has finally succeeded in conquering the Earth, decimating most forms of resistance, enslaving a large portion of humanity, and even has his own slave Avengers team. (Oh, and he's also the All-Father of Asgard).

The Doom of this time, whose been helping the human refugees of this onslaught, gathers six Avengers from throughout time to help overthrow Ultron's rule. They are:

Lady Thor - the only 'current' Avenger present

Black Widow, along with Vision who is accidentally taken as well when Natasha is kidnapped - judging by their dialogue with Lady Thor, this pair is from the most recent past, possibly as long as from a year ago.

Thor - in his armor, when he was suffering from Hela's curse.

Jim Rhodes' Iron Man

Hulk, from before the Avengers were even formed.

and finally, Danielle Cage, the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, from a future where she's adopted the identity of Captain America.

Ewing does a nice job with the characterizations and the plot moves along at a brisk pace (the team separates, launching various attacks on Ultron's empire with some dire results that made for some good cliffhangers for next issue). I've always enjoyed Davis' art and here, he delivers some excellent work (his early Hulk does look rather brutish) but there was something I found off about his Danielle, maybe it's that her lips or mouth are too big, I'm not sure but overall I liked the art.

Yes, this may be another tie-in grab at the upcoming Ultron craze, but with this first issue, seeing these pairings together and how they interact, this story is off to a good start.

[Marvel Boy]

#2 has been released though oddly it's entitled New Avengers: Ultron Forever.

The action picks up from the cliffhangers last issue as the Doom of this future keeps track of the various teams of Avengers' assault on Ultron's empire. Ewing does another good job here with characterization and dialogue, keeping the pace and surprises flowing well. Doom's reasoning for picking these specific time-tossed Avengers comes to light (a Thor whose immune to death, Jim Rhodes wearing primitive-tech armor, a Hulk that's not quite settled into his transformation yet). Our team(s) manage to triumph though to some, it seems too easy.  Of course, things are not as they seem as the team realizes that Doom has schemes of his own for Ultron's empire which sets up for another good cliffhanger for the last issue (entitled oddly enough Uncanny Avengers: Ultron Forever)

I do have a question though about the early Hulk. Editorial does a nice job with footnotes (you remember those?) with informing readers of the past issues dealing with the certain situations these characters face (such as Thor under Hela's curse and Rhodes' physical problems wearing the Iron Man armor). One footnote goes all the way back to Hulk #6, in which Banner uses a gamma ray machine in trying to stabilize his transformations into the Hulk because of some unusual mutations that have occurred. (One flashback scene shows the Hulk's body with Banner's head as Rick Jones looks on aghast). This helps to inform a very unusual mutation that Hulk endures as this story progresses. So I was wondering how severe some of these mutations became until the transformation became more 'normal'. Was this an ongoing situation for awhile or did he only suffer this for a few issues or so? Frankly, this is the first time I've heard of this but it does seem rather interesting.

[humanbelly]

May 3, 2015 19:20:12 GMT -5 Marvel Boy said:

#2 has been released though oddly it's entitled New Avengers: Ultron Forever.


One footnote goes all the way back to Hulk #6, in which Banner uses a gamma ray machine in trying to stabilize his transformations into the Hulk because of some unusual mutations that have occurred. (One flashback scene shows the Hulk's body with Banner's head as Rick Jones looks on aghast). This helps to inform a very unusual mutation that Hulk endures as this story progresses. So I was wondering how severe some of these mutations became until the transformation became more 'normal'. Was this an ongoing situation for awhile or did he only suffer this for a few issues or so? Frankly, this is the first time I've heard of this but it does seem rather interesting.

Oh-- no, no, that whole botched-mutation gimmick wasn't an ongoing thing at all. In fact, I think it existed as little more than a page's worth of (basically) filler to pad out a story in that last issue of the Hulk's short first run. And I'd never seen it referenced again at all until, gosh, sometime after World War Hulks. . . in one of the many Hulk-centric books that came out around then. It was an early blip of uncomfortable absurdity, is all, 'cause it was really hard to figure out if it was supposed to be comic or (within context) very distressing. . .


HB

[Marvel Boy]

Really? Wow, then kudos to Ewing for doing his homework then.

I can see where it might be viewed as comic, but the sense I got was that it was rather distressing. For the mutation that he suffers in this issue is rather...shocking.

[Marvel Boy]

#3, Uncanny Avengers, has been released...

...and finds our heroes on the run from the future Doom, who has assumed control over the remnants of Ultron's empire. They seek refuge in Asgardia but knowing this is the only real refuge left for them, Doom sends his forces after them.

Seeking help, our heroes learn that the majority of the Asgardians have been imprisoned within a magical mirror/dimension constructed by Loki. They also begin to question the Vision's initial validation of Doom, considering what has happened. They are unsure if Vision made the choice himself or was somehow corrupted by this century's tech to do so. Issues of trust are raised as Doom's armada arrives at the gates of Asgardia.

What follows is a very satisfying conclusion to this story. Jim Rhodes ends up providing the simple but elegant solution to freeing the Asgardians who join our heroes in repelling Doom's forces while the Vision proves his sincerity and honesty to the others (especially in a moving scene with Natasha, if you can't accept my word, then accept my word as a fellow Avenger). Vision reveals the true identity of this future Doom (and thus why he initially vouched for him), a surprising twist that ties back into the more recent Avengers A.I. series. A change of heart follows and so does the course of the future.

This was a solid, fun story and Davis' art was great throughout. I particularly liked the double-page splash of the Asgardians fighting alongside our time-tossed Avengers.