Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils by Bryan Hitch
Inks by Paul Neary
Colors by Paul Mounts
The Age of Ultron continues here in issue #2, and if I’m being honest, now I am starting to question a bit where this headed. Issue #1 was a slam-bang issue full of great action, but was light on plot and story. I forgave that because we were treated to some Hawkeye awesomeness, but with issue #2, we are still not getting much story either.
We have Black Widow and Moon Knight wondering San Francisco and discovering one of Nick Fury’s many secret hideouts. We have Spider-Man recounting what he’s been through since Ultron took over. That was about it though. I know we are dealing with a twelve-book event here, so there’s plenty of time to deliver story, but when? As much as I love great action, which we didn’t really get here, I am also driven by plot. I hate The Expendables because, even with all its action, I can’t understand a damn word anybody is saying, and that means I couldn’t follow what very little plot there was. Marvel’s last big event, Avengers vs. X-Men did a lot of the same thing, loads of action (though sometimes not), but a very thin storyline. I became a fan of Bendis after I read Spider-Men last year, but the emotional story of Peter discovering he was dead in the Ultimate Universe really drove that book. Here Bendis seems to be giving us the opposite, huge action, but not much story.
That’s not to say I am completely down on the book, I actually enjoyed it. The scenes with the surviving heroes questioning Peter Parker was interesting. The Black Widow and Moon Knight story though, where is that headed exactly? I would’ve liked to see some hint as to what their next move was. I do think that given Black Widow’s condition, that we may get treated to a really awesome flashback later on down the line.
I have no complaints about the art. It was quite stellar, and frankly had to be since it pretty much was telling the story so to speak for the first 3-4 pages of the book. We did get some beautiful splash pages, including the very last one with Captain America, and most panels were on point. There were a few that were a bit lacking, but I can forgive that since the art shined nicely for most of the book.
Overall, though it was a pretty good book, I would like to see more direction, so far it is all hanging by a thread. The end did fill me with promise that the next issue is really going to go somewhere though, so I will hold on to that hope. Though this issue did feel like a bit of a letdown after last issue, I have a strong feeling that we may be in for some awesomeness to come.
3 out of 5 nerds
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