The Mighty Avengers #3

The thought balloon. What was Bendis thinking when he brought back this little gem. The thing is Bendis was almost accomplishing the exact same thing in other books before, using captions instead of thought balloons. Just look at Alias for a good example. You always knew what was going on in Jessica Jones' head, but it was done with captions instead. Did BMB think doing the same thing with an entire team would have been complicated using different captions for each character? Maybe that's the reasoning, I don't know. All I know is I don't mind it anymore, but I think some people are going to hate them until they go away.

With the topic of the thought balloon out of the way, I must say that this was my favorite issue of the series thus far. The flashbacks of how the team got together are gone, and the team is actually dealing with Ultron finally. This issue actually gives me what I was expecting from Mighty Avengers in the first place. The stand off with Ultron finally develops into an actual fight that escalates into complete chaos. You have the inexperienced Ms. Marvel trying to figure out what to do with her team when there is no obvious answer in sight for the situation they are in. Black Widow also has a chance to shine here, and it was well done. I'm happy Bendis used her this way, because it actually makes sense that she knows what to do in a particular situation... she was once the leader of the Avengers after all.

I have to admit that when I first saw the female Ultron I was less then excited. Now that I've read three issues of this story, not only do I not mind it... but I actually like it. First off Ultron is suppose to have the same brain wave pattern as Hank Pym. So the fact that he/she tells the Wasp that he took her form because he loves her (or something to that effect) actually makes sense, and it's creepy at the same time. Also during Ultron's fight with the Sentry she acts creepy as well. After scenes of violence we get to see her emotionless face which I thought was just perfect. After all Ultron is suppose to be the most advanced robot on the planet... having him walk around in a big clunky robot form doesn't really make much sense anymore.

I'm also a big fan of a good ending. And this book has a great cliffhanger. Now I'm not going to spoil it, but hopefully anyone who has read it will understand what I'm going to try and say here. On the last page of this book it is flat out said that a certain something has happened. When you read it, you'll know that "that certain something" probably didn't happen... but it doesn't matter because that's not what I find interesting about the cliffhanger. What I find interesting is that it seems in the next issue we're going to find out what a certain character had prepared in case this "event" ever actually happened... and THAT is what I find extremely interesting. The character in question has become one of my favorites in the Marvel Universe, and I can't wait to see what this particular character prepared in case of such an occasion.