Their first event, at any rate. Today’s conference call was with Brian Michael Bendis, who will be writing a 10-issue event story for Marvel Now in March 2013. Age of Ultron will be split in half, with the first five issues drawn by Bryan Hitch, and the back five by Carlos Pacheco and Brandon Peterson.

A story about Ultron finally winning and taking over the world/killing everybody, the book will see a small resistance of unlikely survivors (including Hawkeye, Spider-Man and Moon Knight) trying to win back the Earth from the robotic menace. Issue #1 is going to leap straight into the takeover, with Ultron already victorious in his ambitions and the superheroes attempting to stay alive, more than anything else. This will be a book which features the entire Marvel Universe, and not – as previously thought – just the Avengers.

To emphasise that point, it was announced that several Marvel books will tie in to the event, including Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Weirdly though, these tie-ins will exist outside their own numbering. So Superior Spider-Man’s tie-in issue will be issue 6AU – but there will also apparently still be a regular issue 6. It’ll operate like the point one books did, more or less, from what I could tell. The story will start in March and end in June.

On the art side of things, Bryan Hitch has already completed his five issues, meaning there’ll be no worries about late shipping. At the halfway point will come some kind of ‘shift’ which will allow the book to bring in Carlos Pacheco and Brandon Peterson as artists. Bendis is trying to keep things secretive – allegedly only 6 people at Marvel currently know how this book will end. He invited people in the call to try and guess, with iFanboy’s Ron Richards wondering if this might provide an entryway for Marvelman.

All went silent. A tumble-weed gently rolled past.

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24 COMMENTS

  4. Here’s how it went down at the Marvel offices. “So hey, we’ve got this five issue Ultron storyline Hitch wrapped up. What should we do with it?” “Oh, wow. I know. Let’s extend it out by five MORE issues, tell everyone that was the PLAN – we all know Bendis can pad the crap out of a storyline, you know! – and slap some other artists on those issues, turn it into our next big event, and hype the crap out of it!” “AND, AND, we’ll ship the first five issues in ONE MONTH! At $3.99 a piece! Plus, plus there will of course be pointless tie-ins! At $3.99! It’s our next AVX money-maker!” “Awesome!”

  8. well then,it would seem that this entire story (tie-ins and all) is gonna be outside the regular issues of any given book, one could just wait until these stories are collected in hardcover to read. i think i’m gonna go in that direction. as much as i enjoy these “events” , it really seems like there’s no time to breath between them. one “event” ends and within a few months the next one is already bearing down on us. as for how this story will end? well, if ultron kills everybody, by the end of the story someway, somehow, someone will figure out a way to bring everybody back. unless marvel is gonna cancel cap’s book, wolverine’s book, hulk’s book, etc.

  9. I agree with Nathan, this is ridiculous. I mean Marvel is really not accepting the fact that DC is now in their rear view mirror this past year in market share and Image and the other smaller publishers are nipping away at the Big twos domination. We just got out of Fear itself to dive into AvX and now Ultron, again? I mean this what? Ultrons 15th attempt at world domination? I am surprised its not Thanos and his Infitiny Glove…..Marvel, cant you even wait 1 year before another Mega Event? Shesh……hope its better than AvX.

  12. Doesn’t seem bad. It seems to have few tie–ins like AVX and with this alternative numbering I think one can avoid the event altogether without problem. A good solution for both event lovers and haters.

  13. Marvelman shows up, defeats Ultron right after the last superhero buys the farm, then creates Utopia, which slots nicely into the Eclipse storyline. New readers are guided into the Miracleman Silver Age and Dark Age arc, which will be written and finished by Neil Gaiman.

    Disney’s lawyers will somehow not only untangle the rights issue, but manage to get the film negatives from Todd McFarlane, finally releasing the Miracleman omnibus everyone has been hoping for.

    Then Marvel will follow up the Gaiman arcs with some craptacular storylines, probably centered around the dimension where Michael Moran’s body is held in stasis. The property will then be quietly retired. until twenty years later, when someone will fondly recall the storyline, and launch a new version. (See: New Universe, Clone Saga)

  15. Coming out in March puts it well ahead of DC’s Trinity War event so that gives Marvel several months of the Top Publisher spot, but what happens after that? With Marvel Now and AvsX they’ve essentially pulled all the easy triggers.

    My guess is we are going to see an Infinity Something sort of event with Thanos.

  16. I honestly don’t have a problem with the Age of Ultron story. I think it’ll be great! (Well, wait, it’s Bendis. I think the ART will be great! ;) What grates on my nerves is how Marvel suddenly makes it ten issues, throws additional artists on the event, AND thinks it’s a great idea to release the first five issues in ONE MONTH. WTF. That’s insane. THAT’S what really pisses me off…

  17. I love Ultron stories but hate Bendis’ writing, so I’m on the fence w this one.

    If I do bother to read it, I’ll only read the main story and NONE of the tie-in books, thats for sure…

  18. I think one can avoid the event altogether without problem.

    The biggest problem I see with storylines like this is plot bottlenecks. Obviously the heroes aren’t going to stay dead, so the only interest, from the plot standpoint, is how they’re brought back to life. Compare to a villain threatening to take over or destroy the universe. Neither thing is going to happen, so how is he going to be defeated? Make a mistake, or do himself in? INFINITY GAUNTLET, SIEGE, AvX–examples of storylines with plot bottlenecks. SF has universe-spanning storylines, but in that genre, a writer tries to make the threatened takeover or change as convincing as he can by going into detail.

    How many people remember that Peter David’s LAST AVENGERS STORY had Ultron in it? The robot might be the most iconic Avengers villain, but it, or Kang, might also be the most overused one.

    SRS

  19. It will all turn out to be a simulation running in Ultron’s head. We will find out that it’s the 1 billionth simulation ran where he is ultimately defeated. After calculating his percentage of winning, Ultron determines he will never win, sees the errors of his ways and joins the Avengers or decides to explore the universe.

  20. I might be more inclined to care if A) Ultron actually LOOKED LIKE ULTRON on that cover, and B) I had forgotten the George Perez-illustrated Ultron maxi-series of recent memory, which also had a massive body count and a desperate “survival of the human race on the line” plot and oh, can’t they do anything ORIGINAL? Will Ultron remove his helmet and reveal himself as Norman Osborn? Maybe Gwen Stacy?

  21. One must remember that these stories are written for those whose knowledge of the written Marvel universe is 5 years or begins when Bendis took over Avengers. Anyone who has been reading Marvel longer than this duration should know the drill. Marvel history is always repeating or cyclic by nature.

  22. “So Superior Spider-Man’s tie-in issue will be issue 6AU – but there will also apparently still be a regular issue 6.”

    …they’re just doing this to fuck with anal retentive collectors like me, aren’t they?

    Swampy: “It will all turn out to be a simulation running in Ultron’s head. We will find out that it’s the 1 billionth simulation ran where he is ultimately defeated. After calculating his percentage of winning, Ultron determines he will never win, sees the errors of his ways and joins the Avengers or decides to explore the universe.”

    If that were true, it’d…actually be pretty brilliant. It’d be like the superhero event version of that “Family Guy” 2-parter where Stewie finally “killed” Lois.

  23. Between this, his 2 X-Men debuts and his new Guardians of the Galaxy… feels like ‘Age of Bendis’. Too much Bendis for me, so that’s enough for me to steer clear of this.

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