COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Avengers A.I. #3

In Marvel‘s Avengers A.I. #3, Vision is brought by Dimitrios to a virtual realm, a surreal world of artificial intelligence known as The Diamond. Here he discovers a community of A.I. that have spawned as a result of the events of Age of Ultron. On the other hand, Dimitrios’ fiasco with digital accounts has turned humanity against robots, even against our A.I. heroes.

There’s nothing new with the dilemma presented in this issue actually. Readers and non-readers of comics would be very familiar with the concept of special beings trying to be accepted by the populace. Just change “sentient artificial intelligence” to “mutants” and what we have here’s an X-men story already. Even the troubles of choosing which side to join, hearing out the reasons and stories and bearing the responsibiity’s all too common. The debate on the rights of hyperevolved A.I., Hank Pym arguments with Monica Chang, they’ve become repetitive and seem like they were being hammered down all through out the issue.

Even the sides and characters where somewhat dumbed down as I see it. We have the S.H.I.E.L.D. as your usual government agency that would consider no compromise and go straight to attack position. At the other side there’s the rebelling muta…errr I mean robots who had enough of their human masters and would like to cherish the same rights as humanity. There’s Hank Pym and his team of A.I. heroes who stand in the middle and end up conflicted and I’m guessing they’d be burdened with some heavy decision and responsibility later on in the story. And finally there’s the angry mob who would take arms and tear apart the nearest robot even if it’s an Avenger, or whether there’s S.H.I.E.L.D. officers around or not, or even if the Marvel universe has proven so many times that these scenarios always end up with the mob being mistaken and being saved by the very same people they oppress.

Well it’s not all frowns on this issue though. I enjoyed the pace a lot more than the previous issues. In the first two, it seemed to me like concepts are just being thrown around just to lay down the premise and concepts. However, in this issue, Sam Humphries has managed to take advantage of them. The idea and even the backstory of The Diamond, and its various resident artificial persons and programs, has amazed me. From the virus that Pym used against Ultron spawned an entire evolving community of hyperevolving artificial intelligence with their own set of rules and lifestyle and even perception of the human world. They have come to consider themselves as children of Pym, setting Vision, the first spawn, right at the center of this conflict between humanity and A.I.
And of course I wouldn’t be able to compliment the concept without the materialization done by Andre Lima Araujo‘s art and Frank D’Armata‘s colors. In the last issue, I commended the art and colors that set apart the digital and tech-work with what’s real and human. This has become more apparent here as the artist has brought to life the virtual realm of The Diamond, which looked matrix-y and clad in neon. The colors were vibrant and definitely psychedelic. There’s a sense of chaos with the colors, the vividness and brightness, yet there’s order with how the lines run and how everything’s superimposed on a background of darkness. The A.I. residents looked like they were robots, with minimalist or pretty solid yet simple design but still they were able to sport human expressions and emotions. The concept of this A.I. world distinct from, yet part of the world as ordinarily conceived wouldn’t really work without the art and colors to materialize them in each page.

This issue’s definitely better than the previous ones. The theme’s not really new and there are some issue with the characters but I was able to read past that. It’s just like having the same viand you had yesterday, but this time done by a different chef, with different garnishings and taste. The Diamond and Dimitrios’ cause has become more interesting and perhaps there are some other ideas Humphries could play with in the next issues. Araujo and D’Armata’s works here are nothing but great and I’d say seeing how The Diamond’s brought to life is reason enough to check out this issue.

Oh and by the way, Doombot’s still adorable as ever. He could be the center of jokes here but I’m also guessing he’d be integral in the conflict later on. Or so I wish. But here’s a wish I’d definitely ask for the next issue: MORE DOOMBOT!

Review Score:

7.8/10

Thanks and kudos to Comic Odyssey! Visit the nearest branch and get your copy of Avengers A.I. #3 now!