Enter the Age of Ultron. You will love it.
Ultron has won. The greatest Avengers villain has defeated almost all of Earth’s heroes. A massive cityship hovers over the ruins of Manhattan. Heroes are missing. Sadistic gangs own the streets. Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch thrust us into this brutal new reality in Age of Ultron Book One.
The star of this book is Clint Barton. Hawkeye fans will love this issue as the battered Avenger fights his way through this horrific new world on a very personal mission. Imagine Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead, Wolverine and the Punisher rolled into one absolute badass.
I like how Bendis used Hawkeye as an everyman against extraordinary odds. Instead of a powerhouse like Thor or Iron Man we see in Clint the determination of everyday mortal men and women defiantly fighting for hope. This isn’t about how the villain won. This is about how the heroes will fight back and how they hell are they going to do it.
The other star is Bryan Hitch. The artist creates a gritty, horrific new landscape with desperate ruined streets and the eternal threat of sinister, soulless machines above ready to strike out any glimpse of humanity. Hitch creates powerful faces of battered and beaten heroes. Bendis and Hitch have turned the Marvel Universe into a war zone.
Age of Ultron Book One is big action with a final page that will deliver a big punch in the gut. After cheering for Hawkeye’s relentless mission to keep hope alive the last image you see will show you just how down the mighties heroes have fallen.
By Editor