This has been a rather complex event for Marvel to pull off. First we get the end of the world type stuff, then we pivot to an otherworlds tale, followed by normalcy, followed by the unexpected. That creates many layers and I dare say many observers did not fully understand the complexity of trying to write it.
Two of the criticisms that I have read about this event, and this issue in particular is that 1. nothing happens and 2. it is merely a vehicle for more events. I wholeheartedly disagree with the first assertion and to the second observation, my response is, "So what?" This is a Marvel comic. The Big Two (Marvel and DC) are all about the shared universe concept and the idea of perpetual storytelling. Individual plots may begin and end, but the universe goes on and on and on. I don't understand what some readers were expecting.
Thing do indeed happen. Lots of things. First of all Ultron wins (temporarily), lots of heroes die trying to stop him and at the end of the day a very valuable lesson (or two) is learned. The major lesson we learn is don't mess with space-time or you will break it. There needs to be an nuke-like arms treaty for time travel as we have seen that if someone breaks it everyone is affected by the results. The second important thing we learned from the event is that Hank Pym, founding Avenger, is way more important than he has been given credit for.
Yes, yes Hank Pym created Ultron and slapped his wife around in the lowest period of his history, but he also created the Vision and without him we see what would have happened, another Age of Ultron-like ruin. And, ultimately, he was the only guy who could have stopped Ultron, and he did. This is the start of a redemption story for Hank and it looks really exciting. It carries over into Avengers AI, which begins next week (after the transitional Age of Ultron #10 AI issue this week).
We also got glimpses of Galactus jumping into the Ultimate Universe (hopefully to devour it and end that universe altogether) beginning the 4-part Hunger mini-series. Also Angela from Spawn fame joined the Marvel Universe. It will be interesting to see how Marvel handles the character in the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy beginning with issue #5.
So, yes, things indeed do happen. Lots of exciting things. But, what about the technical merits of the issue itself? I think the art is extremely well done and I found no issues with the many artists employed within it. I thought the whole point of the disparate universes was to show the differences in them in the various art styles and I didn't think any of the transitions were so jarring to be turned off by any of them.
One brilliant part of the issue was the reuse of the scene in Avengers #12.1 from the pre-Marvel NOW! days. How great was it to see that same scene played back, but with the knowledge that Ultron was gonna be defeated before he knew what hit him? I thought it was extremely well done.
Despite what others may be saying, Age of Ultron ended very well. It added a lot of new exciting developments and did so in a very attractive package. I look forward to seeing the ideas that sprung forth from this issue develop further as the months go on.
