Avengers Ultron Unbound

West Coast Avengers (1985-1994) #89-91, Annual #8

by Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, Bob Harras

Earth's mightiest heroes face their deadliest foe once again! More powerful than ever before, the mechanical menace has declared himself...the ultimate Ultron! And he's upgraded his elimination target from merely mankind - to all life on Earth. But Ultron doesn't intend to inherit the world alone. Which of the West Coast Avengers women will he take as the basis for his metallic mate, known as War Toy? As the Whackos regroup after a blistering assault, Ultron finds that the path of true love doesn't run smooth, even for ruthless robots. Brace yourself for a lovers' tiff for the ages!
AVENGERS WEST COAST 89-91, ANNUAL 8; VISION (1994) 1-4

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book

222 pages, Paperback

First published April 21, 2015

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly awful wannabe 90s comics.

A shame, Roy Thomas was a stalwart writer and even Bob Harras had his moments. But this lame Image comics style does not age well--and it's not even on the level of those Image comics but only the worst imitations trying to make Vision like 'kewl'. What was Marvel thinking?

And Ultron does not need to be super buff!

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. Well, I like the Avengers and I like Ultron and I like Roy Thomas, so this should be a slam dunk right? But what if...EVERYTHING WAS SUPER 90s? Because it was, and it sucked. I started just reading it as a historical comic (the same way you'd read golden age stuff and just accept the weirdness/style of the time) and managed to enjoy it a bit more. I can't say I'd ever recommend it to anyone though.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible compilation of Ultron stories. No cohesive substance. There is even a Vision limited series at the end that has Ultron in it that does not warrant as an edition let alone a stand alone mini-series. This whole thing was a waste of my time. Got it via Prime reads for free. No money lost, only time.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

All robot, all the time.

Good color artwork. Suitable for all ages. A lot of material about marvels synthetic beings. 4 issues of West Coast Avengers, followed by 4 issues of the Vision. The vision mini series was good and hard to collect. The lavish art style was interesting as well.

[Mark Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really dislike US Agent and his presence in any story diminishes it for me. So, that’s why the first half didn’t ring my chimes.

The boring 90s’ art did the otherwise interesting Vision story no favors. Did like the Epting covers

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Roy Thomas part is a fine throwback to a style of continuing comics that don’t really exist anymore. That said, it was a little light and the Vision miniseries barely had anything to do with the other story in the collection. The art also went dramatically downhill as the mini progressed.

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating only for the Vision 4-part mini-series

[Steve Royster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vision of a new Avenger

Compilation of mini series on Vision's reboot as the vessel for the digitized souls of Alex and Simon. And the band of wayward androids...

[Emerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

What in the ultron?

You’re telling me Ultron felt the need to create a female partner to destroy all organic life on the planet? How human of him. I don’t buy it.

[Joshua Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

the vision miniseries was unreadable.

[B.M.B. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since half of this collection was West Coast Avengers, and the writers were Roy and Dann Thomas, this book was a bit of a slog. I'm not sure it was the fault of the authors or the nineties comic style in general which relied on telling instead of showing (it's a visual medium for crap's sake), that I found so irritating -- but a lot of the dialogue was almost laughable.

However, when we got to the last four comics, a Vision 4-part limited series, is when this book started getting good.

What a treat. We get to see the Vision as a P.I. from the 4o's (ST:NG holodeck style), and Ultron getting drunk and getting giddy.

Fun stuff.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as as anything, this got docked points for the truly horrible 1990s artwork. The writing's not that great, either, mind you. Sub-par Ultron story from West Coast Avengers, and the rack-filler Vision miniseries by Bob Harras are shoved together in this volume. The latter is particularly awful, with Ultron reprogrammed as a Cajun drunk. Seriously.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating collection, dealing with Ultron stories, but MAINLY told from the perspective of... The Vision. Five stars for a bunch of books dealing with one of my favorite characters from new perspectives.

[Jo Cantu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to write this for my brother, he is a middle school Teacher, He's lovin your work ! Double thumbs up!

[Andy Baird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but the stories were a bit wacky, especially the Vision mini series.

[Gary Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 281