CC2K’s COMIC OF THE WEEK: Avengers A.I.
Written by: Gary M. Kenny, CC2K Comics Editor
The Age of Ultron, Marvel’s big summer event came and went. It wasn’t the event many of us expected Marvel to fail with, however from the ashes of this lack luster event comes Avengers A.I. and surprisingly Marvel might hit this series out of the park.
Avengers A.I.
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: André Lima Araújo
Marvel’s Age of Ultron in a nut shell: Hank Pym (ant-man, giant-man, yellow jacket,etc) creates Ultron: an artificial intelligent robot who turns against humanity. Ultron kills the 616 Marvel Universe. In a last chance effort, Wolverine and Sue Storm travel back in time and assassinate Hank Pym, which in turn creates an alternative time line. Wolverine unhappy with the new (Hank Pym free world) travels back through time and stops the assassination. Tells Pym that his creation of Ultron will doom them all. Hank Pym creates a computer virus that Ultron can’t contain. Avengers Win. Is there more? Of course, but it’s not worth your time.
Avengers A.I. starts off with Hank Pym reestablishing himself. No longer will be in the shadow of Tony Stark or Reed Richards. He’s far to imaginative and charming for that. This issue is basically a meet and greet with all the top players. The team is made of up of Hank Pym (the star), the Vision (new and improved), his brother and former runaway Victor Mancha (Ultron and his Mom got freaky), a reformed Doombot (we’ll see how long that stays), a mysterious woman in blue (another robot), and my favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. divisions chief Monica Chang. Their mission is seek and capture DIMITRIOS: an artificial intelligence created from the virus Hank Pym used to defeat Ultron.
Sam Humphries did a bang up job. The book quickly establishes itself as an Avengers book (plenty of action) right from the start. Only a handful of pages for the reader to establish the backstory and cast, then Humphries jumps right into the action. Humphries wit and charm flows through every character. Each character has their own voice (and you can feel that each character is hiding something) and they play off each other nicely. Of all the fun characters in the Avengers A.I. line up, the one that shines for this reader is Monica Chang.
Who is Monica Chang? Well, in Marve’s Ultimate Universe she is the ex wife of Nick Fury and the current Black Widow. She’s brutal and one of the Ultimate Universes strongest woman. For her first major comic role in the 616 Universe writer Sam Humphries nails it; we meet her cleaning up a broken coffee cup in beginning (her face carries so much unsureness ) to watching her out smart Hank Pym and verbally bitch slap Captain America. For me Monica Chang was the highlight character of Avengers A.I.
Artist Andre Lima Araujo had some task (pick this comic up and you’ll see what I mean), he has a steady flow and really played off of Humphries script. From scenes where the Vision is upgrading in space to the fight scenes staring the Doombot. His style works really well for this comic and after a few more issues, i’m betting he’s a star for Marvel. I’m Really impressed.
Avengers A.I. is a quirky new title and one I plan to stick with. Marvel cancelled a few fan favorite books recently, and Avengers A.I. hopefully will gain a strong following for people looking for a new alternative team book.