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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice continuity with the Avengers of my adolescence..., June 20, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED (Paperback)
When I read that Ultron Unlimited reprinted an Avengers story from 1999, it gave me expectations of a story featuring characters and developments that I was unfamiliar with. You see, I haven't been read comics for 20 years, and have only recently been collecting graphic novels to share with my kids. What got me to buy this title was largely curiosity and the reliably stunning art of George Perez. When you're thinking about comparisons to the Golden Age of Comics (the late 70s and early 80s), the contrast between Avengers: Ultron Unlimited and the more recent vintage X-men titles, for example, is dramatic. With today's X-men, I often have no idea who some of the recent additions to the team are, and even some of those I knew (e.g. Wolverine) occasionally seem completely out of touch with the characters remember. With the Avengers, it's all about continuity. Ultron Unlimited features an old villain, and Kurt Busiek brings back a classic team of Avengers - Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Vision, The Wasp, Wonder Man and Black Panther. Sure, there were two newcomers - Justice and Firestar - but they both seemed appropriately green. The Scarlet Witch/Vision and Wasp/Yellowjacket marriages had broken up, but those seemed more like the result of the passage of time. The end result was that I didn't feel at all out of touch with what was going on, or what had happened to these characters since I'd stopped reading comics. In fact, because of Busiek's apparent reverence for Avengers past, I really felt like I could jump in without missing a beat. He really uses the history of the Avengers, right down to their origins, throughout the story. Was it the best Avengers tale of all time? I wouldn't presume to say that, but for me it really was a pleasant surprise and thoroughly enjoyable. By the way, did I mention that George Perez has really evolved since his glory days on the Teen Titans? He's really come into his own, to the point that I'd say he may be as influential a comic artist as John Byrne was in his heyday. Very impressive. All in all, I'd have to say that Avengers: Ultron Unlimited was good enough to get me to take a chance on another of Busiek/Perez's Avengers reprints.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Damn, how can anyone not like this?!, February 24, 2003
This review is from: AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED (Paperback)
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this is the best Avengers story ever written! What is wrong with Busiek's writing? Nothing! His plot and script are not simplistic at all. Some other writers have handled Thor, Cap, Iron Man, et. al. in a simplistic way, but this shows them at their most complex: With an ever-changing force of evil in the world, they must find an unconventional way to tackle it. Add Justice's hero-worship problems, the Scarlet Witch leaving the Vision for Wonder Man, and, of course, Dr. Pym. This is the best he's ever been written! This trade paperback could easily be all you need to read about this character, the man who was and was not Ultron. I haven't even gotten to Ultron yet! He is at his most evil and most powerful here, doing something that many readers thought him incapable of doing: wiping out a country. No, it was not "rushed and glossed over". You could clearly see the shock, horror, and anguish on everyone's face, thanks to Mr. Perez, the glue that holds this together. I have always been a fan of George's artwork, which tells a story unto itself, and he is sorely missed on the book now. I hope he is doing better. Busiek and Perez never failed during their run on Avengers, and if you want the best example, this is it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth the read, but not the best Avengers story, January 8, 2005
This review is from: AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED (Paperback)
Ultron unlimited is actually quite an interesting story. For a reader who hated Ultron since his inception (mainly due to the fact that the Avengers comics at that time made little to no sense), I can't help but say that this storyline ranks as one of my favorite.
While it doesn't have the incredible, (in my view) legendary quality of Avengers Forever, or the explosive and addictive action of "Avengers under seige", the story still proved to be very interesting, if not addicting. What I liked most about this story is how it so deftly develops the triangle relationship between the Scarlet Witch, the Vision and Wonderman, while simultaneously giving a concise, yet detailed overview of Ultron's history and the relationship between Hank Pym and Janet Van Dam. The fighting scenes were also incredible, escpecially the battle raged between the army of Ultroids and Wonderman, the Vision, the Scarlet witch and the Wasp. The battle against Alkehma 2 was also very impressive.
I have two main problems with this storyline, however. Firstly, the story ended FAR too abruptly, killing off Ultron (who was previously unbeatable and unharmed) in just 2-3 pages. The second was the low realism (in terms of comic realism). It took Thor, Cap, Firestar, the Black Panther and Iron Man several pages to take out ONE Ultron made of secondary Admantium. Yet, they managed to fend off hundreds of Ultrons (mostly made of Titanium with some made of Secondary Admantium) and still balst a way into Ultron's chamber.
Despite this, the story is still well worth the read, especially as it deals marvelously with both the Vision/Scarlet witch/wonderman mess and the Hank Pym psychological history mess.
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