Ultron Retrospective Part 5: The Bride of Ultron
by Robert Clough

I'm pretty excited about this portion of the Ultron saga, since 161 and
162 are two of my favorite comic books ever.  Here we go....

Avengers #161 (July, 1977)
"Beware the Ant-Man!"
Writer: James Shooter
Artist: George Perez
Inker: Pablo Marcos
Letterer: Denise Wohl
Colorist: James Shooter
Editor: Archie Goodwin

   The Avengers are chatting in a meeting room when they suddenly hear a
voice over the intercom.  It's Yellowjacket, but when Iron Man calls him
by that name, Hank Pym beligerently replies that it's Ant-Man, and that
Iron Man should have recognized the voice of his new partner.  Hank for
some reason thinks he's Ant-Man again, and that he's there for the first
meeting of the Avengers.  He demands answers, and getting none from the
stunned team, he directs his ants to attack.
   A bunch of ants zip into Iron Man's face plate, taking him out of the
battle.  Ant-Man zips around, punching Cap, tripping up Wonder Man, and
utterly debilitating the Scarlet Witch with his insect attack.  The Black
Panther and the Beast investigate the fight, and get punched out by
Hank's quick-grow-punch trick.  Ant-Man really has them on the ropes,
until the Wasp arrives and zaps Hank, ending the fight.
  The Wasp explains that Hank's mind finally snapped, after years of
stress, insecurity, and discomfort in the role of a superhero.  And when
even Hank's research ended in failure after failure, causing him to
destroy his lab, she knew he needed help.  She thought he had started to
reach him, when he flew off earlier in the morning in a fit.  When she
got to their house, the place was wrecked and he was gone.  The Avengers
all agree that Hank needs help, so they set about trying to hook him up
to the "subliminal recall-inducer", and the Beast and Jan go back to her
house to get some of his things.  Once there, Jan sees someone who causes
her to scream.
  In the meantime, the Avengers have no luck in getting Hank to remember
anything, and calls to some of his old friends (Hawkeye, Thor and
Quicksilver) go unanswered.  Suddenly, the Beast limps in, barely
conscious, who warns them that HE'S coming.  Of course, it's Ultron, and
he proceeds to wipe out the charging Vision.  The Avengers attack, but
Ultron pulls his converting-into-energy-for-a-second trick, and stuns the
team.  (Great quote: Ultron: "Interesting! Though you were the hardest
struck by my force, you recover first, Iron Man!" Iron Man: "This suit
wasn't built for show, ugly!")  Iron Man grapples with him, but Ultron
quickly drains him of his power, and adds it to his own.  Ultron then
sends an energy beam of some kind ("encephalo-ray") right through the
skulls of Beast and Wonder Man, with Ultron claiming their deaths. 
Things look grim when the Scarlet Witch steps up, and zaps him with a
hex-bolt that causes all of his circuits to briefly short-out.  She then
brings a wall down on top of him, and he starts to panic, since his
computer can't cope with Wanda's random factor.  She's got him on the
ropes, but Cap revives and gets in the way of her hex!  Ultron then takes
out Cap and Wanda, and captures Hank Pym.  He then leaves the Mansion. 
Jarvis walks in and is shocked by the carnage...

  Comments: A truly fantastic issue that ties together some very loose
threads from previous issues.  While it's never stated, Kurt Busiek
figured that Ultron was the force behind the Ghost of Stone, the animated
statue of the Black Knight that busted into the Mansion.  He was also the
one who provided the Grim Reaper with technology and access to the
Mansion, softening up the team for his own assault.  The supreme irony of
the issue is that Hank Pym almost single-handedly beat the whole team by
himself, as his breakdown was triggered in part by his feelings of
inadequacy.  The art is gorgeous, with Ultron never being more
threatening.  I really hope that Kurt has something in mind for Ultie,
just so I can see George draw him again.


Avengers 162 (August 1977)
"The Bride of Ultron"
Writer: James Shooter
Artist: George Perez
Inker: Pablo Marcos
Letters: Denise Wohl
Colors: Don Warfield
Editor: Archie Goodwin

  A number of the Avengers are being carted off in ambulances, with
someone noting that several Avengers had been killed.  Thor arrives out
of the blue, with the remaining Avengers: Iron Man, Wonder Man, and the
Black Panther.  Cap, the Beast, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision were
apparently all killed.  (Classic Panther line: "Wonder Man, Iron Man and
I live! Three Ultron might have killed, live to seek vengeance!") 
  Ant-Man revives in Ultron's laboratory, with Ultie claiming that he's
an ally, who rescued him from the Avengers.  Ultron says that the team
turned Janet against him, and then tried to kill her.  Only by
transferring her consciousness into a "metalloid" body that he had
created could they save Jan's life, until they fixed her real body. 
Ultron tells him he needs his help to complete the process, because of
Hank's skills as a biophysicist.  Hank shakily agrees, as Ultron thinks
that there's no way Hank could resist him, since he erased all of his
memories since his Ant-Man days.  And the metal woman that Ultron created
was designed to completely drain Jan's life force, a process that Ultron
called irreversible!  Hank is on the verge of killing his own wife!
  The Avengers are trying to find Hawkeye, but with no luck.  Wonder Man
asks, "Is he worth all this grief?"  Thor replies (in one of the greatest
Avengers quotes ever), "When thou hast proven thyself a THOUSANDFOLD
thou mayest question the "worth" of Hawkeye, my friend!  I will disregard
thy careless remark--THIS time!"  Go Thor!
  The Avengers are trying to find Ultron, with no luck.  The Panther is
confused by Ultron's latest scheme.  Why kidnap Jan?  While remembering
that Ultron is a sort of mechanized version of the Oedipus Complex, a
chilling thought comes over him.  Trying to kill Hank, his "father" is
only the first step.  The next is trying to marry his "mother"...Jan!
  Ultron confirms as much in the lab, reveling in that he will soon have
a mate.  The process continues, as Jan wakes up, and starts pleading to
Hank to stop, that it feels like her life is slipping away.  Hank is
torn, "knowing" that he's saving her life, but feeling otherwise.
  The Avengers get a much-needed hand, as a set of ants spell out "STARK
LI", which Iron Man immediately recognizes as a long-abandoned plant of
his on Long Island.
  Jan is almost out of time, when suddenly the Panther sneaks into
Ultron's lab.  ("Turn, Ultron! FACE ME!"  "Who?" "A harbingerof a storm
of vengeance, evil one!")  Ultron is impressed that the Panther could
sneak in, but thinks him stupid to come alone.  Just then, Thor busts
through a wall with Mjolnir!  Iron Man bursts through another wall,
repulsors blazing!  Wonder Man smashes through the roof!  Ultron is
surprised to see Wonder Man there, since he expected him to be in a coma
from his encephalo-ray.  The team realizes that the other Avengers aren't
dead, only in a coma.  Ultron laughs because they'll be dead soon, unless
the effects are reversed.   Ultron aims a killing-force ray at Thor, but
Iron Man jumps in front of it.  Both Thor and Ultron think him dead, but
Shellhead jumps back up and gives him a dose of repulsors.  Of course, it
doesn't hurt Ultron, made of adamantium and all, but it does set up a
clash between Ultie and Thor & Wonder Man (who is battling his fear of
death). 
    The Black Panther realizes he's useless in a direct conflict, so
he turns to Hank Pym, who to his surprise, is still working with Ultron. 
(He had figured that Hank had sent the ants to the Avengers for help) 
T'Challa knocks out Hank, but he and Iron Man realize that the controls
are locked and that Jan is running out of time.  As Thor and Wondy
grapple with Ultron, Iron Man grabs Ultron's robot bride and threatens to
destroy it, unless Ultie gives them the release code.  Ultron stands tall
for a minute, then immediately caves in when he sees her in danger. ("Do
not harm...my woman!")  Ultron gives them the codes and then leaves,
EXTREMELY angry, but Iron Man saves the Wasp.  T'Challa is disturbed that
they had to win in such a sneaky way, by threatening the (robot) girl,
but Iron Man tells him to "stow it".  Still, Iron Man is disturbed by
what he had to do.
   After they revive Jan, she tells them that she didn't summon the ants,
either.  So it's a mystery as to who did it, but T'Challa wonders out
loud if it wasn't Ultron's own bride, with "sophisticated cybernetic
circuitry" and control over insects, who did it, proving her more human
than even Ultron thought....

  Comments: Shooter's masterpiece.  Bold, powerful artwork from Perez. 
Great dialogue, very dramatic in the best sense of the word.  Deals with
all sorts of interesting psychological issues, and has a morally murky
ending to boot.  Of course, Ultron's bride is better known to us as
Jocasta, and she will play a major role in his next few appearances....

--Rob Clough
  Hindsight Undying