Age of Ultron #4 – Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Bryan Hitch (Penciler), Paul Neary (Inkers), Paul Mounts (Colorist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer)

The Review: It seems like patience may play a large part in how taken you are with Age of Ultron. Despite a pretty relentless release schedule the decompressed storytelling that Bendis has employed for the event is a sore point for some. Even though in this – the fourth issue – we’re still only inching towards a resolution, at least all the disparate plot-threads are finally tying together. With that in mind, and with the next issue signalling the end of Bryan Hitch’s stint on the book, I think we’re heading towards a satisfying end to AoU’s first act.

Also working in this issue’s favour is the fact that it starts with a series of dramatic blows, both physical and emotional. Picking up from last week’s shock reveal of Vision’s role within Ultron’s takeover, Luke Cage questions the former Avenger as to his role in the disaster – the answer comes that Ultron’s still behind it, but is somehow masterminding the whole enterprise from some point in the future. It’s a neat trick to pull as it confirms that, for the time being at least, this is very much a problem that the Avengers can’t simply punch into submission. Not that this stops She-Hulk from trying; after gathering this important piece of Intel she quits feigning unconsciousness and throws Luke away from Vision’s HQ, telling him  to get the info back to Tony Stark at any cost. From that point she goes down swinging, a spirited sacrifice that sees another hero meet a thoroughly undignified – yet somehow still poignant – end. Cage escapes, but only just, after being tested to the limits of what that his famously unbreakable skin can withstand.

Elsewhere the remaining heroes in Chicago, San Francisco and New York all independently begin their journey to the Savage Land where it’s revealed that Nick Fury’s ‘End of the World Bunker’ offers their last shot at victory. They all meet up at pretty much the same time, with the final page offering yet another cliffhanger promising the beginning of the end for Ultron: as described by Hulk, Moon Knight and Black Widow, the plan is to “Wipe even the idea of him out of existence…Entirely…And God bless Nick Fury, because we know just how to do it.”

It’d be churlish to state that ‘not much happens’ though. This issue features the death of three prominent characters, and they’re deaths that run the gamut from heroism cut short, heroism corrupted and heroism so ingrained in the soul that it leaves one character delaying death as long as possible in order to get the job done. The first two deaths are short and sharp, the last one anything but, and even though all are undoubtedly going to be short-lived they still feel like they matter.  There’s gallows humour, guilt and – once the devastation of mainland America is swapped for the relative peace of the Savage Land – a chance for the language of grit and determination to re-enter the heroes’ lexicons. I know I’ve been unwaveringly supportive of Age of Ultron up to this point but that’s because as an event comic it always proves never anything less than solidly written, occasionally making confident overtures of being great.

The same could be said for Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary who continue to render the death and destruction in every luxuriously macabre detail, while Paul Mounts washes everything in cold blues and acrid greens to create a tone of sickly despair; even when the action switches to the Savage Land the otherwise vivid jungle looks pestilent. I did find that the aerial action scenes (particularly that involving Luke Cage) lost something in their visual translation, but other than that it’s another engagingly cinematic treatment from Hitch and co. Peterson and Pacheco have huge shoes to fill.

Conclusion: It may end on yet another cliffhanger moment but this one feels extra cliffhanger-ry: the stray Avengers have all rallied together and the transition into Act 2 of Age of Ultron feels imminent. Whatever your thoughts on the series’ pacing up to this point, its constituent parts have remained distinctly impressive. This latest issue is another sure-footed entry, the product of high-grade components. It reads great, looks even better and is confidently adding the finishing touches to its grand set-up; let’s hope the pay-off manages to do it proud.

Grade: B+