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Posted August 11, 2013 by Alvin Minon in Comics
 
 

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Avengers A.I. #2

Given the copious amount of humor and action plus the beautiful art that adapts with the different kind of Avengers ambiance, Marvel‘s Avengers A.I. #2 is a fun read that continues the story and atmosphere we’ve witnessed in #1, following the aftermath of Age of Ultron.

Here, we see a lot more of Hank Pym and his team plus a ton of robots and androids as the they deal with a rampaging Sentinel while another evil is looming behind the scenes. Sam Humphries sure made me laugh quite a bit with how he wrote the characters, especially Doombot as his head flies off and threatens the innocent Jefferson Memorial. We see that there’s a lot more depth going on during Hank and Victor’s conversation and Vision empathizing with the rampaging Sentinel too has brought me so much emotion even though the idea of robots earning self-consciousness only to meet a tragic end seems cliche. Also, we get to see more of Alexis then somebody that goes by the name of Dimitrios appears, an AI that would lead a revolution of AIs against the human masters. Perhaps this is where we get to see the problem with Hank Pym’s plan of using an A.I. team to contain an aggressively spreading A.I. he came up with to battle Ultron.

However, I was a bit disappointed with how the concepts and scenes are put together in this book. For a second issue, there’s a lot going on and for me it seems that Humphries had trouble putting them all together and make the transition seem coherent. The first few pages we see the villain headquarters then we jump to the team members talking, a giant robot attacks and so on. There are happenings that ought to have something more behind them, example of which is what we’ve seen in Victor’s conversation with Pym regarding his doubts. There could’ve been a heavier tone or build up but nada, we just see a few panels of dialogue and off we go to the next scene.

Also there’s this problem with the new character, Alexis seems to be there but at the same time she isn’t. We’re supposed to learn more about her but here we just see the character do something then poof, we’re done. In case she has a pivotal role, then I’d say the flow’s really slow for her and I just hope we could actually learn more in the next chapter. Good thing that’s not the case for Dimitrios though. While the idea of a robot revolution and having all the world’s techs hijacked sound cliche, the character had his solid introduction and his speech that was broadcast on all channels made him very menacing. I thought it’ll just be another villain pretending to be Iron Man since he dons an old suit, but well, he just takes off the mask and puts on a different threat that highlights his role, motives and personality.

The combo of Andre Araujo and Frank D’Armata on the art and colors really deliver too as they nail the common ground between hi-tech action and light humor. I just have to commend how the Sentinel looks like a big trouble with its huge size compared to other elements. There might be some panels where the pencil’s a bit off but the perspective and Araujo’s grasp of space work wonders in this issue as we get to see scenes from the giant Sentinel towering over Washington, to the AI team who look like flying bugs compared to the robot, to the nano-tech rising up from Vision’s fingers. D’Armata’s colors really pop up as we get to see the contrast between tech and organic plus the difference between the actual scene versus the quantum effects that Vision points out.

Well I think Humphries’ team is working. In a world where people live with computers and data, where superpowered heroes and villains are battled with gadgets and weaponry, how would a team of A.I. rise up against a villain that operates on and hijacks all kinds of technology? It’s a team of robots and androids but Avenger’s A.I. sure has shown that such a team can still be full of conflict and comedy and human emotions. Avengers A.I. #2 might’ve suffered from problematic transitioning and pacing, but I do hope it’ll all get better in the next release.

Review Score:

7/10

Thanks once again to Comic Odyssey! Visit the nearest branch and get your copy of Avengers A.I. #2 now!


Alvin Minon