A Few Things About Avengers: Age of Ultron

SPOILERS SPOILERS ::Okay, I'm a little too tired this week to write a full on review for Avengers: Age of Ultron, but I will say overall that I really enjoyed the movie as a whole. I thought it was "on par with" but not better than the first one which, in fairness, had a LOT less of a balancing act to pull off on many levels. For the interest of brevity, I'll just do a simple break down of what I liked and what I didn't like. :: SPOILERS SPOILERS

Likes:

More Hawkeye: Granted, we'll NEVER see a Hawkeye/Mockingbird romance thanks to Agents of SHIELD (where Bobbi Morse is a godsend), it was nice to get some more depth to Barton's character while still getting the smartass Avengers mainstay we all know and love. Not everyone liked the visit to Hawkeye's family, but I think it showed depth and agency in a character that we didn't get to know at all in the first movie because of Loki and The Shittiest Mind Control Of All Time. It also goes to show that we're at a point in the genre where people have to learn to let go and consider these movies as much of an alternative as Ultimate Marvel or Marvel Noir or Marvel Mangaverse and that's okay. Many readers like knowing that comic movies are all hitting the right story beats because it's a way for fans to evaluate what they're watching, but changing things in the narrative like Barton's family is also necessary and keeps readers on their toes so they're getting something fresh.

Anyone who didn't feel like a kid again at this
moment is lying to themselves.

Vision: Paul Bettany has always been a good fit as Jarvis, but the Vision is a great fit for him. Honestly, I never even thought a character like him would end up making it to the big screen, but Whedon really pulled it off visually.

Ultron: Anyone whose ever watched The Blacklist knows James Spader was the perfect voice for an evil robot who is, at times, a little too human for his own good. I know not everyone liked the quirkiness, but honestly, I was reading the latest original graphic novel, Rage of Ultron (amazing one shot, by the way) and the titular villain is a much more traditional version that longtime fans are used to. Even though Rick Remender did a masterful job of encompassing that classic voice for Ultron, the first thing I thought was "Thank God for James Spader." The Ultron that a lot of people were expecting, this dry yet self aware technological Frankenstein monster of sorts wouldn't have translated well. First of all, it's a hard sell that Tony Stark would create an artificial intelligence that didn't have any sense of humor. Second of all, yes, it wouldn't be hard to a more cerebral version of Ultron, but that "What am I? Why did you create me?" brand of existentialism just doesn't gel well with...let's face it...a popcorn movie. Just ask I, Robot.

Joss Whedon: You can tell there are certain points in the movie and the script where Whedon has a little more flexibility in making the film he wanted to make (You can also tell that there are points where he couldn't get the studio's foot off of his neck to save his life, but that's a whole other post). It's no secret that with these franchise blockbusters, the car is already built and the director just makes sure the thing doesn't run itself off the freeway into the river. But in this case, Whedon seems to have enough geek cred that Kevin Feige managed to climb out of his ass long enough to let him direct. This movie seemed to have more of his trademark snark and self aware characters. I think the importance of this Whedon's role in this movie is that

Dislikes:

Not enough Vision: He was pretty key to the story and the time we spent with him was worthwhile, but the downside to Whedon's balancing act of giving all the Avengers proper screentime was that we only spent a solid ten minutes with a brand new Avenger who was directly tied to the primary villain.

Widow/Banner Romance: Okay, I realize that, in attempting to humanize relatively static characters, the default way to go is usually to get them laid. But this....was a little weird. Don't get me wrong. Whedon gave them more than enough of that usual Whedon charm so that it wasn't unwatchable, but it was awkward. Bruce Banner is possibly the most self aware of all the Avengers in the same way someone with a terminal illness would be. There's really no need to keep hammering that point home by throwing a pretty lady at him. Making the Black Widow a big softie is the equivalent of making Wolverine a softie who weeps over Jean Grey's body. And don't even get me started on the problematic gender politics of that little Red Room speech where not being able to give birth somehow makes her a monster. I applaud them for trying to give Widow some layers that we're not used to because the mainstay things we as readers love about Widow could be dicey over time with a mainstream audience. But it was just odd.

The Week In Geek 1/21/15

So, this week Marvel broke the internet by announcing that the "end of the Marvel Universe as we know it." It turns out the end of Jonathan Hickman's run is the prologue to Secret War, which will put the 616 Marvel U and the Ultimate Universe in "Battleworld." The outcome will be "All New Marvel." People should really calm down. It's highly doubtful Marvel will do a full reboot and risk sucking like DC's New 52 did for the first year or two. At best, this is just going to fold a few Ultimate characters into the 616 and by "a few Ultimate characters," I'm really talking about Miles Morales Spider-Man. After all, the Ultimate line spent so much time killing their characters, there's not a whole lot of them left to throw into 616 continuity. Marvel's gotten pretty good at "soft" reboots, so I say it's not going to be that big a deal.

My reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. As always, feel free to like, share, comment and share again at your leisure. This week, I took a look at...

Batman Eternal: As much as I LOVE this book, this week's "thing" is The Whole Thing with this series. The writing has mainly been consistently good and running according to Scott Snyder's master plan. Now, it's great that DC is letting some different talent get their feet wet on a medium to high profile series and all, but getting experimental with the artwork is always going to be the thing that makes or breaks this book. Putting three different people with prevailing weaknesses in their styles on the same issue just turned out to be a profoundly bad idea.

All New X-Men: It's nice that Bendis' story arc has picked up speed again, but I can't help but feel like Marvel kinda took the wind out of this plot's sails by announcing that they're about to phase out the Ultimate line completely (I mean, let's face it....Ultimate Spider Man's the only book that isn't absolute trash anyway, so...). The crossovers aren't as exciting when you know they're going to meet again soon anyhow. And Young Jean's transformation from "a hair's breath away from losing her shit, going Phoenix and ending mankind" to "Damn, I have to do absolutely everything around here" is a little bizarre. I do like that Bendis has taken this opportunity to give agency to a character that, historically speaking, hasn't had a whole lot in the past. On the other hand, it's kinda diminished some really strong characters that have to stand next to her (Professor Kitty, for one).

Stuff I Read This Week 5/7/14

Iron Fist The Living Weapon #2: I'll be honest with you. I don't know if Marvel is going to really invest in keeping an Iron Fist title alive. Historically, despite decent sales, they haven't kept the series around for very long. I CAN tell you that if they do plan to really keep this series happening, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon stands a pretty good chance.

Issue #2 picks up almost directly after the first one in the immediate aftermath of the (I shit you not) robo-ninja attack on Danny Rand's apartment. As I mentioned in the last review for this title, readers who are used to a slightly more jovial Iron Fist might feel a little disoriented by this battle-worn, disengaged take on the character. A lot of the issue is centered around giving us a look at the magical city of K'un Lun where Danny Rand had to kill a dragon barehanded to acquire his kung-fu powers and become the Iron Fist (Did you hear me? I want to take a second and harp on that fact that HE HAD TO KILL A DRAGON to become a superhero!!!!). Sadly, Kung Fu Heaven's festivities are about to be interrupted by uninvited guests. We also get to see an equal amount of spotlight lent to the moments in Danny's childhood that inevitably lead to him becoming the Iron Fist. Kaare Andrews is clearly influenced by old martial arts films and brings several of those elements to the script with shrieking women, strong familial bonds and grand speeches driving the narrative. Visually, the book has yet to lose a step. There are certain panels that look like they could be stories from an old scroll. Andrews makes Danny's abilities really seem like something you'd have to kill an ancient dragon to obtain.

Bottom Line: Another strong offering from Kaare Andrews that'll keep new readers sated for next month. 8.5 out of 10

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #1-With all the Amazing Spider-Man 2 in theaters, Peter Parker returned to former glory in his own relaunched title, a Spider-Man 2099 title on the horizon....it's only appropriate that Miles Morales get a fresh coat of paint. Also, Marvel's Ultimate Universe is a lot like a 90's boy band. There's mostly B and C students talentwise and then there's one breakout star that makes it all profitable. So far, New Ultimates is the Joey Fatone (the "who the fuck is that" guy), Ultimate FF is JC Chasez (the "close but not really" one) and Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man is Justin Timberlake, the profitable one.

Despite the new title, there's not much particularly new about this book, really. However, that's not actually a bad thing. This has been the standout property of the Ultimate line for as long as its been around, so if there's nothing broken, there's no need to fix it. And Brian Michael Bendis sticks closely to this old adage. Things pretty much pick up where Ultimate Spider-Man #200 left off. Miles is still coping in the aftermath of Galactus' attack on Earth as well as his father's disappearance. Bendis handles this with his usual perfect blend of humor and real pathos. While most of the dialogue is as good as you would expect from a Bendis book, the interactions with his best friend, Ganke, are easily the strongest in this issue with a Mary Jane Watson run-in at a close second. The book really goes out of its way to hammer home that just because Ultimate Peter Parker is dead, that doesn't mean the problems and villains he left behind are all taken care of. Miles really struggles with the "What Would Peter Do?" predicament and it makes for a layered plot that doesn't chase away Parker fans, but still attracts new readers. And it's always nice that Marvel can manage to write a person of color without constantly hitting you over the head with the fact that he's a person of color (I'm looking at You, EveryoneAtDCWhoEverWroteCyborg).

Keeping David Marquez drawing this book is probably the best decision Marvel's made this year. This issue is probably some of the tightest work I've seen from him on this franchise. There's a clear sense of what's happening in every panel and you're never confused during action beats. And the way he conveys emotion is second to none.

Bottom Line: This is still the best Ultimate book without question. 9 out of 10

Stuff I Read This Week 4/2/14

Aquaman and The Others #1: Well, Geoff Johns kicked off the New 52 by doing what once seemed impossible on two fronts: keeping Green Lantern awesome, making Justice League silly and unreadable while making Aquaman, of all characters, fun and engaging AT THE SAME DAMN TIME. Right out the gate, Johns made a hero who'd been a well documented running joke in pop culture matter again. More than that, Aquaman has kept a title consistently now for two years which is better treatment than he's gotten in some time. Well, it seems that this has given rise to a comic equivalent to the Curse of the Bambino. Johns left Green Lantern and in his place is Robert Venditti who is....well, trying his damnedest.

And now, This Week In Things We Didn't Ask For, DC has seen fit to bless us with another Aquaman title with questionable results. It's appropriate that this book is titled "Aquaman and The Others" because that's precisely how treated Arthur Curry's supporting cast. His comrades, despite some a couple of enjoyable action here and there, feel terribly vanilla, uninteresting and their introductions do almost nothing to deviate from conventional "assemble the team" opening cliches. By the way, Prisoner of War might be the WORST codename of all time. I understand that this title picks up where Geoff Johns' second arc left off, so some degree of a refresher course is, of course, necessary, but the fact that we KNOW these "Others" know Aquaman as well as the events of past stories make his explanation feel awkward and shoehorned. It's sort of farfetched that there's a part of America that's so "middle of nowhere" that someone wouldn't know Atlanteans tried to flood the country. Meanwhile, the book comes across with a nasty case of multiple personality disorder. It meanders, not knowing whether it wants to be a superhero team-up or some globetrotting Johnny Quest-esque action/adventure. There's potential here, but first there must be an identity. 

Lan Medina pencils certainly work in the book's favor, however. The action is engaging and fun thanks to his unique sense of perspective and moments of urgency. During the fights, you can easily tell when some attacks are loosed more fiercely than others and at no point are you confused about where characters are in the fight.

Bottom Line: It'll be an interesting book to read once it figures out what type of book it's going to be. Kinda like Kanye West. Until then...meh. 6.5 out of 10

Ultimate Spider-Man #200: The Ultimate Universe has carried on for just about 15 years now. There have been some particularly high points, many of which have greatly influenced the Marvel Cineverse. There have also been a substantial number of low points (I'm mainly looking at you, Ultimates 3) from a black, drug lord version of the Hulk to Ultimate Mister Sinister basically being a pokemon that levels up to Ultimate Apocalypse. The line has manage to go through several overhaul, limping on while one book in particular has consistently stood out and maintained a pretty high standard sometimes outdoing it's 616 continuity counterpart: Ultimate Spider Man.

Three years later, Bendis writes a fitting goodbye to Peter Parker, who sacrificed himself valiantly defending his family against a last ditch effort from Norman Osborn. This issue sees Aunt May inviting Peter's closest friends over to celebrate their fallen friend. This brings about a hefty cast of characters in a single book which would usually end up being problematic, but Bendis handles it as well as could possibly be expected. This, after all, is where he should excel if nowhere else. The man raised this book like a baby so it makes sense that he would have such a masterful handle on these characters. Bobby Drake, Johnny Storm and Kitty Pryde, for example have all been principal characters in other Ultimate books, but it's alongside Spider-Man as his amazing friends (see what I did there?) where they've truly shined with some of their best moments in this universe. There have been superhero books where he would have a lot to exposition, conversation and character development without much action which, admittedly, is not always what someone reading a superhero book expects when they pick up an issue of the Avengers or something of that nature. However, this book pulled off being a meaningful page turner full of superheroes without a single fight....and with a hilarious Tony Stark moment. With such a Who's Who of artists as Mark Bagley, Sara Pichelli, David Lafluente, Mark Brooks and Andrew Hennessey working on this book, it almost goes without saying that the visuals were stunning.

Bottom Line: A gorgeous, heartwarming remembrance of Ultimate Marvel's flagship character. 9 out of 10

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 20 or If Only Troy Davis Had A Friend Like Captain America....

Hunger #1: It's unanimous (more or less) that Marvel's Age of Ultron story arc ended in surprisingly (though it shouldn't be) unforgivable manner. Seriously, reading that miniseries was the equivalent of getting halfway through Blade Runner only to have someone come in and put on Transformers 3. Anyway, what's done is done and the best we're left to hope for is that we can get some decent titles from the smoldering wreckage. One interesting thing we were left with was the introduction of 616-Galactus into the Ultimate Universe. This book is a jumpstart to exactly the kind of shake up I've been waiting for in the Ultimate books since, with the exception of Ultimate Spider-Man, the existing books have fallen sort of flat. Joshua Hale Fialkov sees you continuity fiends ready to pounce and wants you to know he hasn't forgotten about Warren Ellis' Ultimate Galactus trilogy from a while back.

In the first issue, we are reintroduced to the Rick Jones (Ultimate Nova), who has been away exploring space to get comfortable with his powers. His back-and-forth with the Watcher serves as a well written vehicle to keep us going through the story not unlike Richard Rider Nova's relationship with the Worldmind computer. Jones comes across every bit as relateable as his current 616 counterpart, Sam Alexander, reluctant at all the wrong moments and impulsive at all the right ones. Leonard Kirk's artwork is the icing on the cake here, laying out an amazing space battle seems to never get boring to look at. I'm convinced that if any other team were working on this, it would suck. That's probably the main reason this is a win in my book. That and the WTF ending. That's all I'm going to say.

Bottom Line: A well done starting point to springboard into the upcoming Cataclysm event. 8.5 out of 10.




Superior Spider Man Team-Up #1: As we trudge on closer to the end of "Superior Spider Sucks Month," Marvel shut a door and opened a window. We had to say goodbye to Christopher Yost's brilliantly written Avenging Spider Man to...well, I'm not going to lie to you, actually. We didn't have to say goodbye to anything. This is essentially the same book. They basically dropped "Avenging" from the title and replaced it with "Superior."

The main difference is that, instead of existing slightly outside of current Spider canon, this issue is up to date with the events of the most recent issue of Superior Spider Man where Doctor Spiderpus is enjoying quite a few victories in winning over the city's hearts. However, the Avengers still aren't terribly happy with the contents of papa's brand new bag and are back for another intervention. Opening up with Webhead's run-ins with the street level status quo in New York was awesome and sort of hilarious to read. Yost knows how to build tension while still keeping it light for a fun read. The fundamental problem with this particular story is that it uses Captain America's bottomless well of clemency. There's no way the Avengers could possibly so stupid as to seriously believe that there's NOTHING amiss about this hard charging, less jovial, know-it-all Sheldon Cooper version of Spider-Man. I mean, for fuck's sake....

"Sure, he's being uncharacteristically dick-ish, but he's probably just going through a rough patch, so leave him be. I mean, Wolverine's a stone cold killer and Spider-Man hasn't done anything nearly that...wait...he DID kill someone? Oh, I'm sure it's fine."

 Also, David Lopez's artwork wasn't really bad, but it was sort of a hit or miss scenario. The first half of the book is beautiful, but it's the second half that's a little off-putting because his style is a little too plain and straightforward and the Avengers should be more exciting to look at. This isn't a perfect way to transition from Avenging, but I was entertained enough to pick up another copy.

Bottom Line: If you liked Avenging Spider Man, you might not be as impressed. If you didn't like Avenging Spider Man, you might find something to like here. Either way, it's the little things that make and/or break this book. 7.5 out of 10.


Justice League Dark #22: DC is has officially entered the halfway point of their obligatory "Holy Shit Something's Happening That We Should All Do Something About" event, Trinity War. Geoff Johns has handed the baton off to Jeff Lemire in a fairly seamless fashion which might not be the biggest plus for this story. Why, you ask? Because it's halftime and I still have no earthly idea what's actually happening.

The best thing I can tell you is that Pandora's Box is out in the open and some people seem to be worried about it....for some reason. It's starting to suffer from one of the primary problems that Avengers vs. X-Men did except there are actually characters here that seems to know what this is all building to and just don't seem to feel like talking about it. It's one thing to build suspense and keep the readers in the dark, but you would think one of these mysterious good guys would make a better effort to try to get all of the other good guys on the same page. Instead, they seem to be completely fine with the various Justice Leagues beating the shit out of each other. The standout moment to look out for here is the awesome exchange between Wonder Woman and John Constantine which helps to showcase Lemire's characterization skills. Mikel Janin's pencils certainly deserve a round of applause as well. All of the action looks clean and deliberate, facial expressions look distinctive on purpose and, with such an enormous cast of characters, it's amazing that there was never a feeling claustrophobia in this issue. This isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'd just like it a lot more if someone could explain it to me.

Bottom Line: This issue makes all three Justice League entertaining enough to watch fighting. I just wish I knew why they were fighting. So far it's less of a superhero comic and more of an old Kaiju monster movie. 7 out of 10.