Probably would have enjoyed it more if I was familiar with the character of Hank Pym. Guess I just have to keep reading :)

First off, I really liked the art for this original graphic novel from Marvel. I also enjoyed getting to see such a large ensemble of Avengers characters, both old and new. The story was well-done as well, and I liked the focus on 'family' in terms of the relationship between the Avengers and between Ultron and Hank Pym.

This was pretty disappointing.

While the title and villain may serve to attract the movie crowd, Marvel's original graphic novel (OGN) "Avengers: Rage of Ultron" does a fine job of playing to hardcore Marvel fans and newbies alike. Rather than going for a rehash of classic Ultron storylines, writer Rick Remender deftly weaves in the psychological and familial drama that lies at the core of Ultron's appeal while offering something new. I have always been a fan of Jerome Opena's hyper-realistic artwork, but it was obvious that he was on a deadline (perhaps for an upcoming film?) and some of the pages see rushed and blurred. While not all of the pages display Opena in full form, the integration of Pepe Laraz as a fill-in artist in later pages does little to detract from the story as his style does not differ too greatly from that of Opena. In the closing battle and subsequent epilogue, Opena returns to form with some bombastic action shots that bring the OGN to a strong close. Remender's dialogue is strong throughout, though I find he has some difficulty with some humorous characters. However, the dramatic intensity brought on by Hank Pym's decision early in the graphic novel is only heightened by some realistic dialogue exchanged between Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
The graphic novel does suffer from some silly concepts that would have been more believable with an expanded page count (for those who have read, I'm talking about the "Planet"). What does work well is the clever use of the Avengers of the past (familiar to movie-goers) in contrast to the modern Avengers (which includes a female Thor and the Falcon as Captain America). By juxtaposing the past and present, Remender is able to tie in the theme of family as the Avengers of today must pay for the mistakes of their predecessors. As for the twist, my lips are sealed. Suffice to say that Remender has brought a chapter of Ultron's story to a close while opening an entirely new dynamic for future writers to pick up on. Again, I must say that an expanded page count could have allowed for more of the story elements to breathe, but that it still manages to cover a lot of ground with limited real estate. This was definitely a fun read and I would recommend it to anyone following Marvel's current output as well as any Avengers' film fans looking for an introduction to why Ultron is a worthy foe for the silver screen heroes.

Short and to the point with a grand evolution of Ultron, two Avengers teams, lavish art, and great throwbacks to past Avengers adventures. Two minor issues: suffers from a Fifth Element-style reveal towards the end, and might actually have been better as a four issue limited, with more space in which to expand, particularly with the takeover and presumed aftermath of what happens on Titan. A little loose-endy there.

Artwork was great. Story was eh. I am not a fan of Pym so it was just ok reading a story that was heavily based on him. I much prefer the movie version of Ultron.

5/10