Let me just start by saying I hate Brian Michael Bendis. To me, he is the ipetime of a hack writer. His “thing” is killing characters in his major event books and regular titles as well. (Ultimate Spider-Man, Wasp in Secret Invasion, Hawkeye in Avengers Dis-Assembled, Sentry in Fear Itself) We can go on…Hack writing is not my forte. So I was very reluctant to pick up “Age Of Ultron” Bendis’s new “Event Book” for Marvel Comics. Being an avid Avenger fan for the past blah, blah years (I don’t want to date myself…ha) Ultron has always been that ultimate villain for the Avengers. Some quick back ground…Ultron was created by Hank Pym (aka: Ant Man, Giant Man, Yellow Jacket, etc) as an artificial intelligent robot. What makes Ultron so “bad Ass” is the fact that Pym kind of infected him with his own multiple personality brain waves…ergo making him kind of like a crazy automation. Not to mention Pym used Adamantium for the construct of Ultron’s body, practically making him indestructible (Pym covered his bases) Ultron suffers from a “Daddy Complex” where he needs to impress or do away with daddy. A sort of Oedipus Complex…A hatred for his “father” and an affinity for his father’s lover Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp.

So, enough with Marvel history as they (Marvel) might get upset with us divulging so much old Marvel lore…they frown upon that by the way. So back to the story. We see a Dystopian NYC and Hawkeye skulking around. Seems he’s looking to save a “friend” from some not so friendly Bad Guys. Individuals who were considered Super Villains not so long ago. Not wanting to spoil the story, I won’t divulge any more. But will say it’s classic Bendis Soap Opera drama. One paragraph of story stretched to a 32 page comic. What he has done to a major Avenger character in this issue is offensive and pathetic. I will be interested in seeing how this is going to turn out. Seems that Age Of Ultron is supposed to be “real time” in the Marvel Universe and not the future, but obviously some time travel will be part of this story line, as Immortus has been hinted to and Kang will surely be not far behind. Also, a major Marvel character is rumored to die at the end of this series, don’t want to spoil it but, well his name starts with a “W” and ends with an “E”, again, classic BENDIS! Brian Hitch’s art is up to par, as his pencil reminds me a lot of Ultimates, the ground breaking Ultimate title that established the Ultimate line. Bendis will drag us along on the Ultron ride for the next 10 weeks or so, but I must say, aren’t we a bit tired of these “Event Series”? Well, seeing that Marvel is still doing it, I guess not. Ultron is an amazing Marvel/Avenger villain, does he deserve to have an “Age Of Ultron” mini all to himself? Maybe…but Brian Michael Bendis seems to think so, and we all know that What Ever Brian Wants…Brian Gets!