Rating: 
Summary: Nice continuity with the Avengers of my adolescence...
Review: When I read that Ultron Unlimited reprinted an Avengers story from 1999, it gave me expectations of a story featuring characters and developments that I was unfamiliar with. You see, I haven't been read comics for 20 years, and have only recently been collecting graphic novels to share with my kids. What got me to buy this title was largely curiosity and the reliably stunning art of George Perez.When you're thinking about comparisons to the Golden Age of Comics (the late 70s and early 80s), the contrast between Avengers: Ultron Unlimited and the more recent vintage X-men titles, for example, is dramatic. With today's X-men, I often have no idea who some of the recent additions to the team are, and even some of those I knew (e.g. Wolverine) occasionally seem completely out of touch with the characters remember. With the Avengers, it's all about continuity. Ultron Unlimited features an old villain, and Kurt Busiek brings back a classic team of Avengers - Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Vision, The Wasp, Wonder Man and Black Panther. Sure, there were two newcomers - Justice and Firestar - but they both seemed appropriately green. The Scarlet Witch/Vision and Wasp/Yellowjacket marriages had broken up, but those seemed more like the result of the passage of time. The end result was that I didn't feel at all out of touch with what was going on, or what had happened to these characters since I'd stopped reading comics. In fact, because of Busiek's apparent reverence for Avengers past, I really felt like I could jump in without missing a beat. He really uses the history of the Avengers, right down to their origins, throughout the story. Was it the best Avengers tale of all time? I wouldn't presume to say that, but for me it really was a pleasant surprise and thoroughly enjoyable. By the way, did I mention that George Perez has really evolved since his glory days on the Teen Titans? He's really come into his own, to the point that I'd say he may be as influential a comic artist as John Byrne was in his heyday. Very impressive. All in all, I'd have to say that Avengers: Ultron Unlimited was good enough to get me to take a chance on another of Busiek/Perez's Avengers reprints.
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