Previously in Uncanny Avengers: Marvel remembered they had the potential for a great sequel to a great original graphic novel and decided to give it to the B-team of the Avengers for some reason. So, because of this, we got what's supposed to be the bonding between a robotic Hank Pym and Rogue, bad Deadpool jokes, a once-in-your-lifetime reference to the Fantastic Four, and now Vision's here to fight Pymtron because this is where things should've gone the whole time. And now, the Hulkbuster has arrived. Can they mess this up?
I'll keep this one quick due to it being so late and we have to move onto another comic book review in just a few days. Plus, while there is some stuff that goes on, it once again mostly involved Vision and Pymtron as they banter back and forth.
Sadly, while it is visually appealing in terms of colors, once again thanks to David Curiel, the execution for the story/ wrap-up is quite off. It's not rushed or anything, it just feels a bit strange. Mostly because of bad dialogue, off-beat characterization, and just some moments that feel out of place or just random. Not to mention how some characters are suddenly relevant after being in the background for this entire arc.
So, let's just go ahead and jump right in with the cover!
The cover's alright if only because of the idea of Ultron punching the Hulkbuster through what appears to be something of a mountain. My problem with it is Ultron's appearance. Yeah his aesthetic is overall the same, but he looks like he has goo all over him rather than a hardened metal. He looks like the T-1000 from Terminator 2. Which is cool, but, it's not Ultron.
We begin where we left off, with the Hulkbuster pounding Pymtron straight into the dirt and causing massive amounts of collateral damage. Also: bad dialogue. Get ready for a lot of this.
Unless he's drunk and therefore slurring his words (which, hey, it's Tony Stark, let's not completely rule that out), I don't see Mr. Stark saying "'splainin'" like he just got done watching The Dukes of Hazzard. Like is he wearing cowboy boots underneath all that armor or something, too?
Pymtron starts to repel him until the suit, which does not have Tony in it, guides Ultron in and tries to contain him. It's all part of the plan, you see, as Cable helps push Ultron inside the Hulkbuster. With the help of Rogue, Voodoo, and Vision, they take Ultron up to a ship so that they can send him into an unknown part of space.
That's right. Ultron--the one who just last year was assimilating humans into robots--has been placed, as a method of containment, inside another robot. Granted, it's compromised shortly, but because he punches through it. But, again, Ultron...inside the Hulkbuster.
Where do I even...
There are two things that are ridiculous here. One is that you put a killer robot with the greatest AI the universe, possibly even the multiverse given how Doom tried to shut Ultron away from Battleworld in Secret Wars, in one of the strongest suits of armor that has already assimilated one of the "most brilliant" minds in the universe. The entire point of this story is how Ultron has consumed Hank Pym, who is flesh and blood. What the frickity-frack is going to stop him from conuming the Hulkbuster suit?
And two: Ultron doesn't do it! Come ON! If you're gonna go dumb, go all the way. Make the Hulkbuster suddenly get overriden and get turned into a giant hulk-buster-Ultron! How badass would that look? Plus, it defiitely a threat the entire Unity Squad, and possibly more Avengers, have to take on. While the brutes of the team hold off the Hulkbuster, Stark and Cable work on separating him and possibly separating Pym and Ultron, but find their connection too tight.
Instead, Ultron just busts out of the thing and the Human Torch starts absorbing the heat of the sun while Voodoo messes with Pymtron's mind. Which also makes no sense considering he's a robot, but, he's half so whatever.
And it's here we get to see one of the more interesting bits of the book, as we see what Pymtron was up to during his hiatus in space!
Well, I suppose hiatus is a bit inappropriate, considering how he was just going around wiping out billions of people. And all in the name and guise of the Avengers!
Say what you will, but that is an awesome idea! It sets up loads of story ideas...that haven't been explored because some people at Marvel thought Civil War II was a good storytelling idea?
Sadly after this little aside we get back to the fighting and the bad dialogue as Wasp rushes to get everything under control, but gets tossed aside. Ultron and Vision start to go at it while Vision ushers every to escape pods that are promptly broken.
The fight is pretty boring until it really does just come down to Pym and Vision. Everyone else just feels like filler, honestly. They are inconsequential to the overall story and we feel no pathos for them as they relate to Pymtron's fall from grace. Ultron, as the one who merged the two, has the greatest connection, and his conversation with Pymtron during the fight is pretty neat. He tries to gather why, just why, Ultron is so vehement about targeting the Avengers besides them being his greatest threat. Ultimately, as I pointed out last time, it's because Ultron is a child that just wants to be accepted and acknowledged.
Of course, this gets broken up by Pymtron constantly babbling about how evil he is now and how he convince all those aliens he spared to go fight Earth, and the art really does him no favors. There are some cool visuals of Pymtron where it's evenly divided down the face between classic Ultron and Hank Pym, but some of his evil expressions are too goofy.
Pymtrom claims that he does want to be on an Avengers squad so that when those aliens come to Earth seeking their revenge, Pymtron could just sit back and watch. Of course, the major flaw in that is that when they arrive and he's not there and there are several unfamiliar faces that tell them the truth, they'll just look stupid. So, genocide: interesting from Ultron's perspective. Letting your enemies get you close to a star: not so interesting.
Vision decies he's had just about enoug of these Monday to Friday robots on this Monday to Friday ship and goes all-out on Pymtron.
It's probably the best part of this issue, as Vision just pounds him into submission and finally gets the answer he's been looking for all along: Hank Pym is dead.
Janet gives Vision the go-ahead and he and the Human Torch fuse Ultron to the ship headed for the sun as Ultron uses Pym's voice to cry out in pain.
Captain Marvel arrives to fulfill her random appearance from last issue and lets them aboard her ship, trying to crack jokes right after they witnessed the ultimate death and betrayal of one of their old allies. Smooth, Captain Marvel. I bet the next thing you'll do is, like, lead and army of superheroes against an army of people just trying to keep a scared, lonely boy safe!
But that would be stupid. (seriously, Captain Marvel's character assassination this year has been that of, like, comic sin)
And thus, the somber United Squad returns home...
While, in the Microverse, a defeated being sits and ponders his humanity. Are his flaws due to the imperfect mind of his son, or his insatiable human desire for revenge? Is there now a father and a son that has become one? Like how life comes from the stars, so too does this new breed of lifeform. Perhaps it is the ultimate form of humanity, a path we've been set upon. And yet, as we see, a path still full of the coldest and darkest of human reminders. I do wonder...will they dream the dreams of their youth?
...
I don't know! Because this comic only has like four legitimately good moments while the rest is just a compilation of all the stuff that was boring about the last few issues in the arc. The dialogue wasn't funny at the times it was trying to be, characters suddenly tried to become relevant, the whole idea of Rogue and Pym bonding just resulted in a couple panels of her punching him, and Wasp's character was literally swatted to the side in this issue save for one bottom-of-the-page panel.
The stuff where Pymtron and then Ultron confronted Vision about his life and his connection to the Avengers was just fine and him completing a mass genocide of entire civilizations felt very fitting for the character and just highlighted the depths to which Ultron had dragged Hank Pym.
So, I can't say that this arc was entirely wasted. Like I've been saying all month long, I do think this could've been much better than it wound up being had it been in the hands of both a better writer and on a different book. I'm not sure how soon or late we'll see Pymtron return, or if it'll even be within the confines of this book, but I do hope Marvel lets this one rest for a bit. It deserves a break from itself, much as it pains me to say.
Next time, we'll conclude 2016 with the same way I tried to keep it rolling: one final review of a Valiant comic. Only this time, rather than look to the past as we've done all year...we'll look into the future. Where Father is supreme, and our faith must fall into the hands of Earth's greatest defender...his son: RAI.
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Review of: Issue 9/Part One
Review of: Issue 10/Part Two
Review of: Issue 11/Part Three
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