Tag Archives: Ultron

MANTIS 20: ULTRON VS THE AVENGERS, THE FANTASTIC FOUR AND THE INHUMANS

FOR PART 1 OF BALLADEER’S BLOG’S EXAMINATION OF MARVEL’S SUPERHEROINE MANTIS CLICK HERE 

Fantastic Four 150

FANTASTIC FOUR Volume 1, Number 150 (September 1974)  Ultron-7: He’ll Rule The World

Just like during the Avengers/ Defenders War this crossover story alternated between the Avengers’ comic book and in this case the Fantastic Four’s comic book. In fact it was the 150th Anniversary Issue for the F.F, an appropriate setting for the momentous events in this story.

NOTE: This was back when Ultron was still numbering his iterations, hence him going by “Ultron-7” here. For instance, Ultron-6 was the first time the android villain used adamantium for his body and Ultron-5 was when he created the Vision to use against his archenemies the Avengers.

Ironically, though today Marvel’s fictional metal adamantium is mostly associated with Wolverine’s claws and skeleton it was actually introduced as a new discovery in the pages of The Avengers in the 1960s. In fact it was introduced in the very story in which Ultron stole some of the indestructible metal to make himself even more dangerous.

After this current Ultron-7 story, when Ultron returned for the long-running Bride of Ultron storyline he was no longer  numbering his versions.   

Ultron 7 againULTRON-7: HE’LL RULE THE WORLD

Synopsis: We pick up where we left off in our previous installment, in Atillan aka The Great Refuge, hidden home of the Inhumans. It’s the night before the former Avenger Quicksilver and the Inhuman named Crystal are to be married.

Crystal has been kidnapped by the gigantic robot called Omega, but after a battle with the Inhumans plus the wedding guests – the Avengers and Fantastic Four – the enormous figure pulled off its mask to reveal that it was really Ultron-7. (Nicely, this was early enough in Marvel’s history that Ultron had previously never fought the Fantastic Four OR the Inhumans, just the Avengers.)

Ultron-7 taunts the assembled heroes plus the thousands of terrified citizens of Atillan about how they gathered for a wedding but instead of that joyous occasion have found only horror, defeat and death.

Mantis againHe revives the heroes he had put into comas last time around – MANTIS, Iron Man, Medusa, Quicksilver and the Swordsman. Meanwhile the Thing rushes forward to attack Ultron-7 but is easily defeated as the villain reminds him that the Omega body now has all of HIS (Ultron’s) powers, not the lesser powers it used to have.

Before the Thing or any other heroes can renew the attack, Thor, Mister Fantastic and Triton remind everyone that only Ultron-7 knows where the kidnapped Crystal is being held. The villain has the edge until they can learn if she is even still alive.       Continue reading

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ULTRON AND THE BRIDE OF ULTRON

The August 1977 cover of the story The Bride of Ultron.

The August 1977 cover of the story The Bride of Ultron.

Reaction has been outstanding to the vintage Ultron covers I’ve been posting in honor of the release of the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron. Here’s another one – this one from the multi-part Bride of Ultron storyline when Ultron created his android bride Jocasta and was attempting to transfer the persona of Janet Van Dyne – the Wasp – into it.

And yes, that’s Jocasta as in Oedipus. Ultron was created by Hank Pym in the comic books NOT by Tony Stark, as they’re depicting in the movie. Ultron often sarcastically addressed Pym, his creator, as “father”. Hank Pym’s unstable personality (Hey, the guy was Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath and Yellow Jacket for crying out loud.) was the basis for Ultron’s programming and helped lead to Ultron going rogue.   Continue reading

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ULTRON VS THE AVENGERS, FANTASTIC FOUR AND THE INHUMANS

From September 1974 comes this cover featuring Ultron attacking the Avengers, Fantastic Four and the Inhumans.

From September 1974 comes this cover featuring Ultron attacking the Avengers, Fantastic Four and the Inhumans.

With Avengers: Age of Ultron out in theaters fans got a huge kick out of my previous look at a vintage Ultron cover. This new one was the concluding part of an Avengers/ Fantastic Four crossover from back in the days before such crossovers were a constant thing. 

Plus, since it’s no secret at this point that the Avenger Quicksilver gets killed in the movie it seemed appropriate to highlight Ultron crashing Quicksilver’s wedding to the Inhuman and former Fantastic Four member Crystal. All this plus Franklin Richards was used as a deus ex machina for the first time ever in this tale! Continue reading

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AVENGERS VS ULTRON

An August 1969 Avengers cover featuring one of the team's earliest battles with Ultron.

An August 1969 Avengers cover featuring one of the team’s earliest battles with Ultron.

With Avengers: Age of Ultron out in theaters it seemed a good time to take a break from a very ugly world with some escapism. Thor, Iron Man and the Vision are the only Avengers from this cover that will appear in the movie, but if you want to get technical the blonde giant is Hawkeye from the period in which he abandoned his bow and arrows and had replaced Hank Pym as Goliath.

This was waaaay back when Ultron was still numbering his iterations and this time he went by Ultron 6. It was the first time he used adamantium for his android body. Continue reading

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