What If? Age of Ultron

Age of Ultron (Collected Editions)

by Joe Keatinge, Raffaele Ienco (Illustrator), Bülent Tunç Serim (Translator)

WHAT IF? AGE OF ULTRON
Age of Ultron’da zaman yolculuğu yapan bir Wolverine, dünyayı fetheden android Ultron’u yaratmadan önce Hank Pym’i öldürmüştü. Peki ya onun yerine diğer kurucu Avengers üyeleri öldürülseydi? Beş alternatif macera ile bu sorunun cevabını öğrenin!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Adventure, Action, Science Fiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 2014

About the author

Likes Wu Tang Clan.

Reviews

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of variations on the Age of Ultron storyline - four universes with different Avengers prematurely taken out of the equation, wrapped up with a timeline where Ultron never emerged at all. Specifically:
- The first story is the darkest and best, a world with no Wasp where Ultron became more powerful than ever.
- The second removes Iron Man, leading to a world with (for some reason) a version of the New Fantastic Four... kind of random, with an interesting setup but kind of a flat ending.
- The third removes Captain America... who gets an unlikely replacement in Frank Castle. It goes better than you'd expect, though the story feels somehow insufficient.
- The fourth removes Thor, leaving other Marvel heroes to fight Ragnarok without him. Just as it gets really interesting, we skip to the ending, which is frustrating.
- The fifth story, a world without Ultron, winds up tied into the other stories in an unexpected way, and I'm not sure what to think of the finale (it's probably meant to be hopeful, but I'm not sure what difference the heroes can make at that point).

Overall the stories aim for something interesting and unexpected with each idea, but they also come off as short stories stretched to the size of full issues, somewhat underdeveloped. In some cases this still works well - that first story is especially memorable - but in others it leaves you feeling kind of unsatisfied. (B)

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

What If? stories run the gamut between being really interesting in terms of character development (weird shit that's non-canon breaking characters out of ruts) and becoming speculative dead-ends, where the twists run you into a narrative cul-de-sac and then the story's over and I guess we live here now. This collection manages to do both of those things - There's a Natasha Romanov Thor, a Frank Castle Captain America who inspires legions, and an FF team of Zen Hulk, Old Spidey, Popeye Wolverine and young Ghost Rider. These are all kind fun in their own way (and punctuated by a couple of chapters that are just dark to bring the dark) but right at the end, the GPS of the story craps out, and what's trying to be a down note comes off as incomplete.

Final analysis: read it, but don't get attached to it.

[Louis Skye · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might be the worst What If I’ve read. The universes are uninspiring. Some of them aren’t even connected to Ultron. The dead Thor story included a character Ames Microchip who was so obviously traced over actor Colm Meaney. Not to mention Black Widow-Thor’s ludicrously revealing costume.

And that ending. What a waste of time. All that set up and then in a few pages, everything’s getting destroyed and a tiny handful of Avengers are the answer to survival. Huh?

[Ron Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Rather hokey. Although I did rather enjoy seeing The Punisher get his turn as Captain America.

[Alec Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

No es la Era de Ultron que esperaba realmente. Pero me gusto cada una de las historias individuales que al final colapsan en una misma.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fast read; I actually picked up the five issues on a whim and finally got around to reading them. It was an okay story, overall. The artwork was decent (even if it was a different artist for each story); it held my interest from start to finish. I find myself wishing these issues were thicker (had more pages) so that the story could be fleshed out a bit better, two of them felt especially incomplete because we get a rough intro and then a jump to the end of the story with not much filler in the middle.

The first four issues consider what if a particular founding member of the Avengers had died. The final issue - I didn't know what to make of the final issue. Actually, it really reminded me of Marvel's What if? series on Disney+ and I would not be surprised if that issue helped inspire what occurred in the first season of that series (assuming they are still going to release a second series).

The first issue looked at what might have happened if Wasp had died prematurely; it had a "horrific" ending that I did not see coming. I did not expect to see Hank Pym was actually an Ultron robot made up to look like Hank Pym, nor that it held his memories from when he was fully human. It was a depressing and horrific ending to see this former hero being tortured and then "killed again" just so Ultron could revive him and punish him afresh and anew. This was the darkest issue/chapter of the story.

The second issue focused on Tony Stark having died and somehow Obadiah Stane creating a legion of robots based on Stark's design to control the world. Apparently there are only four super heroes left in the world (Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Ghost Rider)? This group was the "new team" that "replaced" the Fantastic Four for a couple of issues in the original FF run (when the FF went missing and were replaced by Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Ghost Rider). In any case, they band together to free the world from Obadiah Stane's machinations. I fully expected the bald guy who blew off his head in Iron Man #200; I did not expect the guy who had somehow augmented himself in one of the later runs of Iron Man (nor did I expect him to be using clones of children he created to control the Iron Man/Ultron "robots" or whatever they were supposed to be). Peter Parker sacrifices himself to free the world from Stane's control by destroying the last surviving piece of "Starktech", and the issue ends with the other three heroes walking down a street with the surviving female clone. The artwork was okay, and that issue/chapter was kind of a giant meh for me as a whole.

The third story involves the loss of Thor; apparently Thor dies during his battle with the Midgard Serpent from Thor 380-381. The story has three "jumps" in it in which we are told Thor dies, then it jumps to some time in the future when apparently the remains of humanity are trying to win Ragnorak (which has been ongoing for some time, now). The best part of the issue is Black Widow getting the hammer and gaining the power of Thor. Best part of the series, and the best part of this chapter. And then the story just dies at this point. She gets the hammer, and then we jump something like forty years into the future and humanity is saved. That's it?!? That's it?!?! I so wanted to see Natasha wielding Thor's hammer and reigning down fire, brimstone, and vengeance upon the enemies of Asgard and Midgard. They really blew it with this story; it should have been longer and told more of Natasha's fight against the forces of Ragnorak. This could have been an awesome story, as Natasha is willing to do whatever needs to be done to "end the mission" and make things right. She doesn't hold back and it would have been amazing to see what she could have accomplished with Thor's hammer and power. Not that the comic needed to be bloody or gory or ultra-violent, but at least something more than what it was. Great story idea, lousy telling.

The fourth story involves Frank Castle becoming Captain America. It was a fun story, in most respects, as it presents Castle in a different light and shows how he could have inspired people if he had chosen a different life (or if he had been helped along the way). Captain America's frozen dead body was found and it tore the country apart. Frank Castle is given the option to become "the new Captain America", which he agrees to do. As it is, the new super-soldier serum that Reed Richards creates for Frank allows other people to take up the mantle of "Captain America" as well, and soon there is a corps of Captain Americas of various races and genders operating in teams across the U.S. It is a bit of a sad story, though, as Frank comes to feel redundant, obsolete, and unneeded and fades into obscurity. We get glimpses of how some major events in Marvel's ("big event") history might have gone down differently if Castle had been Captain America during those events instead of Steve Rogers. What is really odd about this story is that the entire country has been hoping for an indeterminate number of years that Captain America would one day return after disappearing at the end of WWII and "save the country". Why would the country be longing for his return and hoping he would save the country? There is no explanation given as to why this is the case, why the country is supposedly pinning so much hope on this one man. That was probably the weakest part of the story for me as the writer seem to be taking what Cap became to the country after he was found and revived and trying to apply how he had changed in the future to somehow providing light and hope in the past when nobody really would have known at the time his dead body was found how he might have impacted the country. Yes, he provided hope during WWII before he passed, but the War was won without him, so the "hopes of the nation" that were ascribed to him did not make any sense to me. Ah, well.

The fifth story was kinda . . . I don't know. It involves a reality where there was no "Age of Ultron", where Ultron never existed because, for some reason, Hank's ideas concerning creating an artificial intelligence were ripped from his mind and he could no longer remember anything about this idea in this universe. We also learn that some elements of the multiverse are dying, that some worlds are ceasing to exist. Ultron decides to invade this reality that never knew him, and the Hank Pym robot aids him in this invasion. However, aspects of Ultron are seen as also attacking the realities of the characters from issues/chapters 2-4, so we get Wolverine, Natasha Romanov when she was Thor, and a young woman named Ava who is Captain America appearing on this "new world." I'm not sure why the other Avengers from this Hank's reality did not participate in the fight, but it was a super fast issue that jumped around too much and did not have that much of a coherent plot (especially as to why the different Ultrons showed up on three other worlds in addition to this fourth world that was specifically targeted for invasion by its forces). In the end, the Ultron-version of Hank Pym "saves the day" by condemning Ultron to a reality that is collapsing and about to be destroyed but still manages to save this disparate group from different realities. He (it) tells Jan to grab Hank and as many others as she can and escape to the world they just left as it does not have any Ultrons there, either - they have all come to invade "her" world. So she, Hank, "sailor" Wolverine, Natasha, and Ava flee to this nearly virgin world. I really expected some other people to be taken through that portal with them before the machine was destroyed on their end (the "Stargate" ;P ). As it was, you have a group of three women and two men to repopulate an entire planet and start over. Granted, we don't know if "ultimate Ultron" had been merely content in conquering the Earth of its reality or had attacked the rest of that reality's universe. The fifth story was a giant letdown, to be honest. It was choppy, it was rushed; it felt like it could have been and should have been flushed out more (especially as to why the portals opened on three other worlds and allowed three specific heroes from different time periods and realities to come through those portals to this fourth world).

What if? stories can be a mixed bag. They can be super amazing if told right and make the reader wish for more stories in that universe (like the one where Spider-Man joins the FF and then Susan Storm eventually marries the Sub-Mariner back in volume 1 issues #1 and 21). Other times, they can be real stinkers. In any case, it was a quick read and not a lot of mental work involved. I thought the stories were some interesting looks, overall, at how things might have been different and who might have stepped up to fill in various big shoes (or little shoes) if things had gone differently. The fifth story/chapter really failed to seal the deal for me, sadly, but I will still rate it three stars because there was enough that I did like about it to bump it up to 3 stars (I'd probably rate it 2.5-2.7 stars, something like that). In any case, I am glad I got around to reading this series.

[Tesutamento · Rating 3 out of 5]

What If? hikayelerindeki klasik haline gelmiş en küçük değişimde felakete sürüklenme furyası burada da mevcut. Biraz daha orijinal Age of Ultron hikayesinden bir şeyler görme ümidiyle okudum ve aradığımı bulamadım. Onun yerine öldürülen karaktere göre Armor Wars, Ragnarok gibi hikayelere yönelen bir senaryo vardı. Hikayelerin çoğu ortalamayı aşamasa da son hikayede hepsinin bir araya gelip sonlanmasını görmek güzeldi. Beklentiye girmeden, hızlıca okunabilecek bir çizgi roman.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, these mega-event what if books are awful. And what if books can be the most fun. Instead, we get exploitative crap. Sign of a bad comic: when you can skim and just look mostly at the art and understanding the whole story.

[mxd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this so much. There's a story here that features Black Widow which was my absolute favourite of the lot, and what happens in that, now that would be an awesome movie.

I also loved the 'what if' scenario where Frank Castle/Punisher is roped into taking the mantel of Captain America, step one in a plan by Tony Stark to introduce a Captain America into every state, regardless of gender or race (take note Sam Wilson haters who forget he's not the first black dude to carry the shield). There's a lot to like about this story, but I particularly liked the idea of the forgotten hero who still inspires and by doing so creates more heroes.

One of the things I love about any of these 'what if' scenarios is that they serve as a reminder that nothing about these stories is written in stone and that there are scenarios possible that we might think inconceivable (like Thor as a woman, or Hulk going all Zen). Thoroughly re-readable.

Oh, and the thing with Peter Parker - feelz.

[Luci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was pretty clever and I liked how the stories meshed at the end.

[Jorge Schumacher · Rating 2 out of 5]

É uma publicação fraca e se o leitor não acompanhou a trajetória da Marvel, sequer entenderá o contexto das histórias.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably fun, but to be honest I was mainly here for the Hank-turned-into-Ultron and Nat-as-Thor parts.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ultron the avengers foe with the most potential damage to humanity

[Cee · Rating 4 out of 5]

#3 is my fav obvi.
The storyline and drawings were amazing. Like the animated TV show, this What If is also really good.
Read if your favorite hero is Natasha🤭

[Marcos Kopschitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atualmente existe na literatura uma já bem desenvolvida vertente chamada “história alternativa”, em que se imagina como teriam sido as coisas se... por exemplo, a II Guerra Mundial tivesse sido vencida pelo Eixo.

Mas se não me engano, quem inventou essa brincadeira há muito mais tempo foram os roteiristas dos quadrinhos, que continuam a explorar possibilidades, como aqui. Haja alternativas: são cinco histórias aparentemente desconexas, com variações as mais diversas. É interessante ver as nada ortodoxas invenções de moda, como Hulk ter se tornado zen, e misturas complexas de universos e personagens.

Não é das maiores HQ de todos os tempos, mas é boa, em boa edição, com vários artistas diferentes, em capa dura e bem em conta. E ainda tem as capas das cinco partes da edição original.

Interessante para ler junto a outras publicações recentes com o mesmo tema, como Vingadores: A Ira de Ultron.


> Roteiro: Joe Keatinge
> Arte: Raffaele Ienco, Ramon Villalobos, Mico Suayan, Piotr Kowalsky,Neil Edwards, Ming Doyle

Outras edições de quadrinhos da Panini

Sem ligação especial, a não ser terem sido publicadas aproximadamente em um período recente e já terem sido resenhadas por mim.
Publicações no mesmo formato e qualidade gráfica, com temas próximos, também em preços atraentes.

Marvel
Novos Vingadores: tudo morre

Homem-Aranha Superior, Vol. 1: Meu Pior Inimigo

Vingadores: A Ira de Ultron

A Era de Ultron: Futuros Alternativos


DC
Legião: Origem Secreta

Superman e a Legião dos Super-heróis

Superman: Brainiac

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this happened. I really expected this to have a bit more to do with the Age of Ultron event, but though this was based on the tear in time that resulted from that event, and Ultron was the primary antagonist, this didn't give me what I had expected. Each issue was kind of its own thing until they crossed over in the last one. The art styles were all pretty different, and the worlds that were put together were a bit... odd. I liked that there were shout outs to other events and teams (Secret Invsaion, the Illuminati, a sort of ersatz New Fantastic Four reunion), and I thought the Hulk as a Shaolin monk was kind of amusing (though Wolverine as a sea captain was just weird). I'm not sure if this will show up in the big Secret Wars thing that is about to happen, but the ending would seem to indicate it might make sense to do so. Still, I'm not terribly eager to see this come up again. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't love it, either.

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If there's one thing worse than crossover events it's crossover event what-ifs.

[Zerah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too predictable, even the ending when everything comes together. The best thing by far is Natasha as Thor. I just love her.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Individual issues on marvel unlimited

[audry · Rating 3 out of 5]

- reading challenge 2015 : A GRAPHIC NOVEL -

[David Sanz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flojo, flojo. El final enlaza todo pero no podría importar menos. Muy prescindible.

[Anthony]

I liked the individual stories. The final mash-up issue was a bit of a mess. It should have just been an anthology series.