Age of Ultron # 1 (Review) - Shooting Women with a Crossbow Aint Cool Bendis

Age of Ultron # 1 came out this week with (what I assume) is very lukewarm reception. I mean nobody's talking about it too much and certainly even news sites like CBR and Newsarama are absent in hyping this new event book from Marvel Comics. Regardless of that, I still liked it. Nothing over the top, a bit confusing in terms of story but it's still bearable. Thanks a bunch Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch.

Age of Ultron has been getting a mix and I can see why. It hasn't been long since AVX ended and we got all these relaunches. The Cyclops story/ saga hasn't even settled down, it's only three issues since the relaunch of Uncanny X-Men and here we are again looking at another threat and the Avengers once again badly beaten. Secondly, this arc/thread/plot/storyline has been branded as 'dated' especially since this was already teased way,way back in Avengers # 5 (with the Marvel Timeline and all that jazz).

The first issue looked gorgeous thanks in no small part to Bryan Hitch's line art. There's really no lack of eye candy here in Age of Ultron # 1 from fallen SHIELD hellicarriers to a headless Statue of Liberty, you'll get your fix.


What bothers me here in Age of Ultron # 1 is the murderous acts committed by long-time Avenger Hawkeye. In this issue, we see him shoot arrows from his crossbow with the intention of not maiming or wounding but to kill. I cound at least three headshots, one arrow goes through a perp's mouth. The most appalling thing however is the use of excessive force on a woman.

Yeah, so rather than just let it go, we have to stand by and watch something as unnecessary as Hawkeye driving away a girl who was clearly victimized a few panels earlier. I really don't see any real good reason why we had to dwell on this scene, let alone watch Hawkeye shoot an arrow at a woman. Yikes. Also why feminist groups are not up in arms over this scene also confounds me. Bad call on this one Bendis.

So what was Hawkeye doing in enemy turf? Apparently he was there to rescue Spider-Man (who is clearly the non-Otto Octavius version).

How this happened is really interesting. Will this played out in the upcoming issue of Superior Spider-Man (Superior Spider-Man #6AU).

One page that I totally loved here in Age of Ultron # 1 happens somewhere in the middle.

We have Hawkeye doing an action pose, The Owl trying to talk diplomacy to sentient killer robot looming above his pad and said killer robot squad laying waste to the Owl's New York apartment. It's not so strong an imagery but it's reflects how royally screwed this world is and how bleak it would seem for Hawkeye and Spidey. Gotta hand it to Bendis and Hitch for doing this. 

Some looming questions that I want to raise. What happened to Luke Cage's wife and daughter? Why is he growing his hair? What happened to She Hulk's hair? Why the sudden distrust among each other? Who or what caused this?

There's also a sad moment which really hammers the point that the Avengers and the X-Men are in a really bad spot when we meet them in this ish. It's towards the end where we finally see what Captain America has been doing in terms of planning for the war against Ultron.

While this isn't a bad issue, it's certainly far from perfect. It's only part 1 so I could overlook the inequities of the writing. 

Special thanks to Comicx Hub for the copy of Age of Ultron they provided this week.