Avengers: The Ultron Imperative

    (Marvel, 2001)
™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc.

The Avengers philosophize about what constitutes life, while fighting Alkhema and her robotic civilization in Avengers: The Ultron Imperative.

This is a “jam” comic book, meaning writers and artists take turns handling each part of the story. In this case, former Avengers writers Roy Thomas, Roger Stern, and Steve Englehart join current series writer Kurt Busiek to craft an outstanding tale. Alkhema, an evil robot created by Avengers arch-foe Ultron, has created an entire city of robots under her command and plans world domination. The Avengers try to take her down but run into trouble, because Alkhema’s brain patterns are based on those of Hawkeye’s dead wife, Mockingbird. It’s a sequel to “Ultron Unlimited,” a fan-favorite story arc that ran in Avengers (Vol. 3) #19-22 (now available in a trade paperback).

The art is handled by several capable teams, but, unlike the writers, none of the pencillers and inkers has ever drawn The Avengers before on a regular basis. It’s great to see how different artistic teams handle the characters, although the shift between art every few pages can jar readers out of the story.

$5.99 for a comic book seems like a lot of money, but this one’s 80 pages with only eight pages of ads. It’s well worth picking up.

— Steve Horton
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Oct 2001
    Cover: $5.99
    W: Kurt Busiek, Roy Thomas, Roger Stern, Steve Englehart  ·  A: John Paul Leon, Paul Smith, Tom Grummett, Karl Kesel, John McCrea, James Hodgkins, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Pat Olliffe, John Livesay, Jorge Lucas, Mike Royer, Klaus Janson
    1st appearance Antigone; Versus Alkema; Versus Ultron
    9 copies from $5.50