So, Brian Michael Bendis finally left The Avengers to take on the daunting task of making a good X-Men book, something that hasn’t happened in years, even with Matt Fraction’s best efforts. We all knew that wasn’t all he’s up to right? Well with the announcement of Age of Ultron we now have a better idea of why he had to leave all of those Avengers books. The Age of Ultron appears to be another of his Marvel Universe sweeping epic story arcs. It all starts in March with a little help from Bryan Hitch (Ultimates, Fantastic Four), Carlos Pacheco (Uncanny X-Men), and Brandon Peterson (AvX: VS).
In this 10-issue story, Ultron, a powerful robot created by Hank Pym, has devastated the world and taken control of nearly all of Earth’s heroes. An eclectic group of “resistance fighters” is all that’s left to try and defeat Ultron and save the day including Invisible Woman, Taskmaster, Beast, Emma Frost, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Moon Knight. Marvel of course promises that “the reverberations will be felt in every corner of the Marvel Universe, leaving no hero or villain unscathed.”
“From the very first page, readers will see the unthinkable – Ultron has won,” said Axel Alonso, Editor In Chief, Marvel Entertainment. “In a world where we’ve learned to depend on technology to sustain us, what would happen if one villain found a way to turn it against us? In order to survive, the world’s greatest super heroes will have to make drastic choices whose ramifications will be felt throughout the Marvel Universe. This is a story so huge that we’re shipping the entire ten issue series from March through June so fans don’t have to wait more than a few weeks between issues.”
“In the vein of Infinity Gauntlet, Secret Invasion and Civil War, Age of Ultron is a massive Marvel Universe-spanning Event,” explained Bendis. “One of our most famous villains, Ultron, the super artificial intelligence, has fulfilled his destiny and taken the Earth. This story touches every corner of the Marvel Universe and will have an amazing effect on things going forward. We have taken the time to do this right- everything is gorgeous, every page matters, and most of all- something I’m very proud of- is that it will be shipping at a furious pace. Every day for the last year and a half people have been asking me when this story will come and I’m thrilled to announce that it is here.”
Marvel’s next big thing starts in comic book shops and digitally in March. The big question is, do you care?
No, I don’t.
Every time Marvel or DC does something that will “shake up/impact/rebuild/blah blah the marvel/dc universe” they hit the undo button and go back to to the same old same old. Kind of like when Marvel told us that one of the Fantastic Four would die and never return. The character is really dead, ha! Tell us another one.
Comment by Tony Miller — December 8, 2012 @ 11:15 am
Safe bet says Moon Knight dies *again. =shakes head= To be honest, I haven’t given a damn about these so-called “massive Marvel Universe-spanning Event”s since Secret Wars II. I might read it when it comes out in graphic novel format, but I wouldn’t bet on it…
Comment by Wiredwizard — December 8, 2012 @ 5:10 pm
Milking a “Universe-Shaking Event” concept until the phrase “Universe-Shaking Event” elicits groans of angry boredom.
Comment by Private_Eyescream — December 8, 2012 @ 6:30 pm
“Marvel of course promises that “the reverberations will be felt in every corner of the Marvel Universe, leaving no hero or villain unscathed.â€
This seems oddly familiar, almost like they trot this out for EVERY SINGLE EVENT CROSSOVER THEY DO YEAR AFTER YEAR!
I wish they would just back off these stupid gigantic crossovers for a little bit and let some freakin characters develop or something! I mean christ, they’ve been pushing these massive yearly crossovers for like what, the last decade, and its just getting boring!
This is why books like The Walking Dead are so great, cause you can just buy one title and its an amazing story with amazing characters that do incredible things that dont involve picking up a billion other books just to know what the fuck is going on!
I love comics, but I’m sick to death of these stupid ass crossover events that force people to buy every book Marvel publishes to be able to understand anything.
That’s Marvels strategy, keep trotting out these damned crossovers and sell books that otherwise nobody would care about cause they are crappy retreads and keep sales up that way.
BORING. REDUNDANT. TRIPE. DONT CARE.
Comment by GeekVariety — December 9, 2012 @ 12:45 pm
“to take on the daunting task of making a good X-Men book, something that hasn’t happened in years, even with Matt Fraction’s best efforts.”
Um, Fraction’s efforts on the X-books were hardly his best. Carey, Gillen, Remender and Aaron all had far more enjoyable and superior runs.
Comment by Patrick — December 10, 2012 @ 3:36 am
I really wish Bendis would read this …what about Madison Jeffries, Danger and Fantomax, Sage, Machineman, Jocasta. and Vision. Not to mention Dr. Doom, High Evolutionary, the Eternals, and the list goes on a story like this would assume that all of these different people were asleep?
Comment by Franklin Gonzalez — March 5, 2013 @ 6:37 am