Review by Ian Keogh
Ultron is one of the Avengers’ two primary villains, yet more intimately connected to them than Kang via having been created by Hank Pym and having in turn created the Vision. Kurt Busiek’s introduction points out further connections, and Rick Remender’s opening chapter, set in the past, kicks open a door only previously hinted at. What if beneath all the violence and posturing there is a genuinely reciprocal father/son love between Pym and Ultron? It’s exploited by Pym to destroy Ultron in the past.
Real world science has progressed immeasurably since the 1960s when Ultron and the Vision first appeared, but they’ve adapted, especially to the advancing possibilities of computing. By 2015, though, Remender could factor the impending future of AI into the mix, broadening the discussion of what might represent the concept of life. It’s a discussion the Avengers of the present day must have.
While there have been schisms within the Avengers before, notably when Civil War manifested, it’s never been about such an existential topic. The Vision is appalled at Pym’s solution of just deactivating intelligent robots, and the Avengers are divided when Ultron attacks. Unfortunately, at that point any debate is thrown out of the window and Rage of Ultron just becomes another Avengers vs Ultron battle.
The qualifier is that in Jerome Opeña there’s an amazing artist on board, and he supplies powerful and heroic looking Avengers, frightening designs for a variety of Ultrons and amazing battle sequences. A continuing sense of devastation applies, whether it’s Opeña or some of the pages produced by Pepe Larraz.
Remender works with an eccentric selection of Avengers, with the presence of Sabretooth indicating an alternate universe, and involves the long unseen Starfox, although looking human, so nothing like his brother Thanos. For those familiar with the character it rather telegraphs the ultimate solution a good way before it happens.
It feeds into the idea of a missed opportunity. Given what happens, an alternate universe is definitively announced before the end, and it further diminishes what begins strongly but doesn’t follow through.
