Age of Ultron #9 Uses Dialogue and Characterization to Begin to Wrap Up the Series

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencilers: Carlos Pacheco and Brandon Peterson
Colorists: Jose Villarubia and Paul Mounts
Cover: Carlos Pacheco
Publisher: Marvel

Brian Michael Bendis deftly handles the multiple timelines that he has set up in the previous issues and resolves some plot threads in a logical fashion while setting up a big finale that could go either way for the heroes of the Marvel universe. He uses well-written dialogue and callbacks to earlier events of the series to move the plot forward even though fisticuffs are kept at a minimum in this issue. Carlos Pacheco and Jose Villarubia continue to making interesting contrasts between the Bronze and Modern Age comics through little details in their art. They also give Bendis room to cram loads and loads of dialogue.

One thing that this issue did well was stripping down the cast to Wolverine, Yellow Suit Wolverine (who has traveled back in time to warn Wolverine to not kill Hank Pym because of a bad future timeline), Hank Pym, and Invisible Woman which gives Bendis a chance to develop these characters. There is a contrast between Wolverine who thinks he can fix the timeline through violence, and Yellow Suit Wolverine, who has spent days healing from a Doombot attack and knows that it’s not that simple. However, both characters are willing to make sacrifices and do what’s necessary to fix the timeline and save humanity. Hank Pym is the epitome of a Space Age science whose good intentions and desire to make the world a better place through science will end up leading to negative consequences. The fate of the Marvel Universe hinges on his decision of what to do with Ultron as the series finally leads up to its name. Invisible Woman also loses most of her idealism about morality after crossing several timelines and even gets to help solve the timeline. Bendis has turned her into a great example of an idealistic hero who isn’t afraid to cross certain moral lines after traumatic events in her life.

A smaller cast also allows for a tighter plot as Bendis fuses disparate elements like the Savage Land,  the costumes in Nick Fury’s secret

bunker, Tony Stark’s time virus idea, and Wolverine’s speech about scientists thinking they’re invincible into a coherent plot that occasionally makes sense and begins to wrap up the miniseries. There are some out of character moments, like Yellow Suit Wolverine spouting out technobabble that sounds like David Tennant on Doctor Who, but Bendis seems to be just trying to fix the timelines while keeping deus ex machinas at a minimum. An informative dialogue or a little splatter of action that actually attempts to do this goes a long way in contrast with the explosions and ruined cities that have a peppered this series.

The art on this issue isn’t spectacular, but its panel structure allows the dialogue driven story to breathe. Pacheco and Villarubia also use subtle things to develop the themes of Age of Ultron visually. For example, Wolverine and Invisible Woman’s costumes have muted colors and minimalist design in contrast with Yellow Suit Wolverine and Hank Pym, who have colorful costumes and a variety of lines on them. This shows that the Silver and Bronze Age were a more innocent age of comics where crazy super science done by good people had little or no consequences, and heroes rarely killed. In the tradition of Greek tragedies, much of the violent action is off-screen so Pacheco can focus on the character’s emotions and reactions instead of just blood and gore. He and Villarubia are a great fit for the “past” portions of Age of Ultron.

Bendis lets his dialogue do the heavy lifting in the penultimate issue of Age of Ultron. The biggest mystery hasn’t been solved yet, but Bendis wraps up a few threads of history and moves along the plot by focusing on the big players. He also fleshes out the story’s themes more, like the consequences of time travel and unfettered science as well as the impact of violence on characters.