by Randy Lander

AVENGERS: THE ULTRON IMPERATIVE #1 Recommended (7/10) Marvel Comics Writers: Kurt Busiek, Roy Thomas, Roger Stern & Steve Englehart Pencils: John Paul Leon, Paul Smith, Tom Grummett, John McCrea, Jim Starlin, Pat Olliffe, Jorge Lucas & Klaus Janson Inks: John Paul Leon, Paul Smith, Karl Kesel, James Hodgkins, Al Milgrom, Livesay, Mike Royer & Klaus Janson Colors: Hi-Fi Design Letters: Comicraft Editor: Tom Brevoort Price: $5.99 US/$8.99 CAN This is an odd project, the kind of thing I'd expect to see in an annual if the Avengers hadn't already had their annual this year. It's a celebration of some of the best writers to grace the pages of the Avengers and a whole bunch of artists, most of whom haven't done the Avengers in the past. It's also the follow-up to one of Busiek's most successful Avengers storyline, "Ultron Unlimited." It honestly feels like a bit of a throwback to the old days of the Avengers, not as much like the squad-based concepts that Busiek has introduced in the modern incarnation, and to be honest I thought that the plot could have used some more focusing and perhaps editing down. It's probably not something that casual fans of the Avengers will enjoy as much as they might enjoy the regular title. But if you're a big fan of these villains, or a long-time Avengers fan, you'll probably get a kick out of this. There are a lot of interesting concepts in this book, and they all tie into the central villains of Ultron and Alkhema. Honestly, I was most intrigued early on, by the concept of robotic Avengers trying and failing to live up to their programmed brainwaves, but I also thought the ethical questions raised about destroying a new form of robot life just because of an evil progenitor were quite interesting. It's unfortunate that these more interesting ethical questions faded away into the fairly typical scenario of the Avengers fighting Ultron and Alkhema, and that the Robos really didn't get much screen time to develop. In addition, continuity seems to have played a little havoc with Busiek's line-up of characters in this issue. Hawkeye's role in this story undercuts his story in Thunderbolts a little bit, implying that the Avengers could get him out of his situation but choose not to, and Iron Man's armor situation is a painful reminder of the ugliness that has become that character's status quo. The book generally feels a little crowded, as the story really has ramifications mostly for guest-starring players Wonder Man, Grim Reaper and Hawkeye, with the Vision having a reasonable place in the story as well. In making this an Avengers book instead of a more tightly-focused character mini-series or one-shot, the creators may have weakened the story a bit. The artwork is a mixed bag, and though breaking it up by chapters helps, there are still some jarring moments when the art jumps from one style to another. John Paul Leon's spooky art style on the opening is perfect, probably the best in the book, and fits well with the robotic Avengers making their first appearance. To my surprise, my second-favorite artwork was that of Jim Starlin, who does some terrific action shots of the Avengers versus an army of robots. On the other hand, McCrea's work continues to disappoint with Hodgkins's inks, just as it did on Tangled Web, and I was disappointed that Jorge Lucas went with a straight Kirby homage style rather than his more impressive style that he used on Inhumans. The rest of the art ranges in quality, but most of it is not the best work of these talented artists. Email Randy Lander comments about this review.