Nick Peron

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West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #7

Nick Peron

U, Robot!

Credits

Then

Annie Carruthers — a volunteer for the Red Cross — is sifting through the rubble following the war between Earth’s superheroes and the alien Dire Wraiths.[1] In the rubble she comes upon the severed head of Ultron and decides to bring it back to her home and add to the many souvenirs she has collected from similar scenes in the past.[2] She places Ultron’s head on top of her television. One night while Annie is watching TV, Ultron comes to life and wires himself into the television and uses it to put her into a hypnotic trance.

Now

In the other dimensional world called the Land Within, the Avengers West Coast and their allies Firebird and the Thing are part of a celebratory banquet with the Cat People.[3] They have agreed to help Tigra reconcile the conflicting souls within her body by removing the Cat Person soul from her body.[4] Hawkeye uses the down time to try and convince the Thing to join the West Coast Avengers. However, Ben Grimm has no interest in joining another group after he left the Fantastic Four. As Clint continues courting Ben, Firebird wishes that he would ask her to join the Avengers as she wants to become part of their team. By this time, Ben is explaining why he left the Fantastic Four and mentions how he brought Ultron’s severed head back from Battleworld following the Secret Wars.[5] This comes as a shock to Hawkeye and Mockingbird, who just recently fought the homicidal robot, and wonder how Ultron managed to rebuild himself so quickly.[6]

Speaking of Ultron, back on Earth, Hank Pym has agreed to meet with his creation. Ultron has claimed to have upgraded himself beyond his hatred of his creator and the human race. Hank isn’t sure if he can trust Ultron but has decided to give him a chance.[7] Meeting in the warehouse district of Los Angeles, Hank is surprised when Ultron hugs him lovingly. Ultron, happy to be making peace with his “father” then invited Pym back to his secret lab to see where he works.

Then

From New York City, Ultron mails his severed head to an electronics expert named David Menconi. Hypnotizing David, Ultron has the human drive him from Sunnyvale, California to an electronics manufacturer called Ultimatum, Inc.

Inside, Ultron has set up a robotics lab where he was building new upgrades for his body before he was kidnapped by the Beyonder and forced to fight in the Secret Wars. Once inside, Ultron has David reattach his head to one of the spare bodies that is laying about the lab.

Now

When Hank and Ultron arrive outside Ultimatum, Inc. Pym has begun to believe that the robot’s change in heart is actually genuine. Ultron even asks that Hank start calling him “Mark” after his being the 12th mark of the Ultron’s evolution. When Mark brings up Hank’s recent divorce, Pym tells his “son” that it is okay as he learned a lot from his past mistakes and is glad he has someone to talk to about it as he hasn’t been very open about his feelings since his marriage fell apart.[8]

When they go inside, Ultron goes into the dark lab to turn on some lights. When they come on, Pym is then attacked by Ultron. At first, Hank believes he fell for a trick but he is then saved by a second Ultron. As the two nearly identical robots fight it out, Hank learns that one of them, the Mark 11 Ultron was abducted by the Beyonder as he was creating the Mark 12 upgrade. Without the prime Ultron’s mind, the process completed itself, creating Mark. Seeing the Mark 12 as an abomination, Ultron-11 decides that it must be destroyed. After decapitating its successor, Ultron-11 drags Pym away to deal with him once and for all. However, Ultron-12 has not been destroyed and commands his decapitated body to get back up and reattach its head.

Later, Simon Williams — aka Wonder Man — has finished shooting the latest scene of his biggest film role yet, as the villain in the 4th Arkon film. As he and Christina Carson — the production assistant who got him the role — are talking about how this could be Simon’s big break, they are interrupted by the arrival of Ultron-12. Convincing Wonder Man that he is not a threat, he tells him that Hank Pym is in danger and needs to be rescued.

Wonder Man races to Ultimatum, Inc. and attacks Ultron before he can kill Hank Pym. Having overcome his fear of death, Simon is able to overpower Ultron-11 and crush him to death with his bare hands. With Ultron-11 deactivated, Mark enters the room and is happy that his “father” has survived. However, Ultron-12 has suffered severe damage and collapses to the ground and dies in Hank’s arms. Pym is surprised to discover that he is devastated by the loss as he genuinely cared for the robot. Hank is disappointed that he never got to tell Ultron about his new relationship with Tigra. Since he has had his own fling with Tigra, Simon decides to keep it to himself and not stand in the way of this budding romance, as Hank deserves some happiness.[9]

On the way back to Avengers Compound, Hank is happy that at least they don’t have to worry about Ultron anymore. Little does he know that David Menconi has another Ultron head and is currently working on designs for a new body.[10]

Recurring Characters

West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Tigra), Ultron, Hank Pym, Firebird, Thing, Balkatar,

Continuity Notes

  1. The Wraith War was chronicled in ROM #51-65 as well as Avengers #244-245, Fantastic Four #276-277, and Uncanny X-Men #184-188.

  2. How Ultron came to be a severed head is a long story. The homicidal robot was among the villains abducted by the Beyonder to battle many of Earth’s heroes in Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #1-12. Ultron’s body was destroyed but his severed head survived and terrorized Battleworld for some time after the war until he was stopped by the Thing. See Thing #21-22. The Thing brought Ultron’s head back to Earth on Fantastic Four #277, where it was discarded in the battle with the Dire Wraiths.

  3. The Thing compares this banquet to the one he had when he first met the Black Panther in Wakanda. This was way back in Fantastic Four #52-53.

  4. Tigra has been dealing with her conflicting personalities since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1. She petitioned the Cat People for help last issue, however she hasn’t told her teammates that she has to kill their foe, Master Pandemonium, in order get their assistance.

  5. Hawkeye has been trying trying to convince the Thing to join the West Coast Avengers since issue #4. He has refused so far due to his falling out with the Fantastic Four. The details:

    • In Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #1-12, Ben discovered that he could change between his human and Thing forms on Battleworld. He decided to remain on the alien world to enjoy this ability. He lived there from Thing #11-22. He had to sacrifice this power to return home.

    • It wasn’t a great homecoming as he discovered that the Human Torch was apparently dating Ben’s long time girlfriend Alicia Masters in Fantastic Four #277. He rage quit the FF in Thing #23 after he learned that Reed knew about Ben’s ability to change form and that it didn’t require him being on Battleworld. What nobody knows is that “Alicia” is actually a Skrull spy who took her place in Fantastic Four #265. The truth won’t be discovered until issue #358 this series. Ben will also be convinced to return to the Fantastic Four in issue #296.

    • Ben has been on the road ever since, hooking up with Sharon Ventura and joining the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation Thing #27-28.

  6. Ultron recently fought the WCA in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1-2 and Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1-2.

  7. Ultron had a sudden change of heart last issue as well.

  8. Hank Pym and Ultron go through a lot of their personal history here and their familial ties. The facts:

    • Ultron was created by Hank Pym in Avengers #58. The robot became self-aware and began upgrading itself over the years to become the perfect killing machine and frequently targeted his father and his teammates against the Avengers.

    • Ultron considers creating a “son”, saying he might make Hank a “grandfather”. Forgetting the fact that he already created the Vision to be his “son”. Ultimately the Vision betrayed Ultron and joined the Avengers. See Avengers #57-58, 134-135.

    • He also created a “bride” for himself, Jocasta, based on Hank Pym’s own wife Janet Van Dyne aka the Wasp. This happened in Avengers #162. Jocasta also betrayed her creator to the Avengers.

    • Also mentioned is Hank’s marriage ending in divorce. Pym married his long time girlfriend, Janet Van Dyne, in Avengers #60. A number of years later, Hank was struggling to make a name for himself and, in a moment of anger, struck Janet in Avengers #213. Jan divorced him shortly thereafter. This also led to Hank’s downward spiral until he quit costumed heroics all together in issue #230.

    • Lastly, mention is made of Ultron’s last battle with the Avengers. This happened in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1-2 and Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1-2.

  9. Because of the feline side of her personality, Tigra has been intimate with both Wonder Man and Hank Pym in every issue up until the last one.

  10. Ultron will return in Daredevil #275-276.

Topical References

  • Annie Carruthers is depicted as having a CRT television that picks up signals with an antenna. This should be considered topical as this technology is obsolete. She is also watching a TV show that stars Bill Cosby. Given the year this story was published this was probably the Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992. Unless you want to believe she’s watching a rerun, this should be considered a topical reference.

  • David Menconi is depicted wearing a t-shirt and button for Live Aid. In 1985, musician Bob Geldof held a charity concert to raise money for famine relief in Etheopia. This should be considered a topical reference since this concert happened almost 40 years ago at the time of this writing. Also, it’s really depressing to say that as of this writing (February, 2022) that Ethiopia is still suffering from a famine all these decades later.