AUA: MINOR CROSSOVER
They Broke It!
Is that Earth? (You bet it is!)
Left: After all that temporal back and forth in Age of Ultron, we broke time. Picture excerpt from Age of Ultron #10 (2013) .
A small crossover of issues, barely noticeable, occurred after one of Marvel's biggest super-villains took over the Earth. Somehow, it was quiet among the events of Marvel NOW! and took place after the end of The Age of Ultron. That's why we call it The Age of Ultron Aftermath, or AUA. It reads as a side-story, an epilogue, almost as if the results are barely significant. But in reality, it's the most major event of 2013.
And you think this is a joke? Heck no! Although a Reading Order is provided here, there's huge implications and leads also presented. This page will contain the artwork and detailed summaries provided at the end. It will also, however, explain how completely chaotic the next few years may be.
"By Odin's Beard!", Thor might say, because the true Age of Ultron Aftermath could be the final straw that broke the camel's back!
Before You Begin
Preliminary Reading and Knowledge
Most of what you need to know before you read this Crossover can be found in the Age of Ultron Event. It's a 10-issue arc that's easily self-contained, with some Tie-Ins and additions for a detailed experience. If that's too much, just read the panel above. Basically, to beat Ultron, the Avengers had to do some serious time-traveling.
As a result, the space-time continuum was broken.
Age of Ultron #10, specifically, shows us three aftereffects.
- Galactus Appears in the Marvel "Ultimate" Universe. (Earth-1610)
- "Angela", a character from Todd McFarlene's Spawn series, appears in our Universe (Earth-616)
- Hank Pym believes he's solved his AI corruption problem and begins working on the project again.
Marvel only gave us three previews from that issue, but far more occurred; the overreaching implications continued into many other titles. In respects to those stories, The Reading Order below will also contain those titles; their descriptions will be place in the detailed summaries.
To follow the Age of Ultron Event, Click Here.
For the Amazon AGE OF ULTRON Catalogue, Click Here.
AUA Reading Order
Final
001 Age of Ultron #10AI (Unofficially)
002 Indestructible Hulk #11
003 Indestructible Hulk #12
004 Indestructible Hulk #13
005 Indestructible Hulk #14
006 Indestructible Hulk #15
007 Hunger #1
008 Hunger #2
009 Hunger #3
010 Hunger #4
Update Notes
Disclaimer: The Reading Order is final for This Event.
11/20/2013 - One drop for this week. I'll check, but this may be the end of the event. ENDED
10/25/2013 - Added this week's release. Preparing to write an op-ed to link this this Reading Order to explain some time-traveling discrepancies.
10/22/2013 - Established this Reading Order and Summary Page for Age of Ultron Aftermath. It's important to note the following. I'm not sure there will be any Graphic Novel or TPB comprising these issues, so you may have to find them separately.
Detailed Summaries
Pym, Revamped
Hank Gets a Second Chance
Age of Ultron #10AI -
This is an official Age of Ultron issue, but unofficially falls in the Aftermath event. Centered on the perspective on Henry Pym, he reexamines his entire
life, showing us his origins and history from child to gifted scientist
to original Avenger. Throughout the issue, Pym keeps telling himself his
life wouldn't have make a difference, but after some thoughts, he
realizes he is very wrong: life would have been apocalypse had he not
existed. He now decides to continue his ways as a superhero, using his
science to aid his powers and create an inspiring career. In the final
pages of this issue, though, Henry recognizes that he is not done with
the advancement of artificial intelligence. From one of his lab's
holding cubes, he withdraws the functional head of a Doombot, preparing
to reprogram it. "This", states Pym, will show the world that he means
business.
Agent of T.I.M.E
Sometimes The Hulk Has To Fix Everything
Indestructible Hulk #11 -
Unofficially begins this chapter of the aftermath event. Officially, it starts in the next issue. Recognizing that something wrong is occurring in the timestream, Maria Hill enlists Banner to join a top-ultra-secret part of their organization known as TIME. This all occurs on the heels of Hulk's last mission where an airport simply "disappeared"; other random items have also vanished, causing SHIELD fear that a temporal problem is occurring. Banner is then introduced to his team and a prisoner named Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man. Zarrko has been informing SHIELD of the problems to come; most of his predictions have been wrong...until recently. The Tomorrow Man now explains "chronarchist" - time travelers bent on chaos - are changing time and that he can provide a suit to stop them. The caveat is that only The Hulk would be able to withstand the timestream in it. At first, Banner laughs at sending the Hulk into such a delicate matter, but then Zarrko asks what happened to Betty Ross. That's when Bruce realizes she might be one of the casualties of the disappearance. He agrees to go and SHIELD equips him with a Banner AI backup, allowing Hulk to travel with his intellectual counterpart. Now prepared, he jumps into the timestream and arrives in 1873 Arizona. Cowboy and Indians. And, oh yes, that Tyrannosaurus Rex running straight for him..
Indestructible Hulk #12 -
Officially starts this subevent. The "Cowboys" the Hulk meets are The Rawhide Kid, The Two-Gun Kid, and Kid Colt. While our green giant fights the T-Rex, the Banner-Bot asks them how the creature got here. They inform him that a new "sheriff" came into town and word has it that he's riding weird horses. Their destination is Silver Rock; heading there, the mission becomes a quest to take out Tok Baltisar, a 23rd Century Scientist, armed with tech and dinosaurs. The Hulk smashes, while the three gunmen attempt to lay down fire. The Banner-Bot realizes that the silver in the Silver Rock Mountain has actually been transformed into a chrono-metric metal and must be destroyed. He leads Hulk inside and has the gargantuan destroy the mountain, but not before the metal activates his armor, throwing them into the timestream again and landing them into the age of Lost Camelot. ...Eh...Lost Camelot? Oh Boy...
Indestructible Hulk #13 -
Continues from issue #12. Hulk and the Banner-Bot are now in Europe in the once-realm of Camelot. Unfortunately, it's not Camelot anymore. During Hulk's rampage, Merlin banishes him away and King Arthur explains that some being came, took over his castle and aged most of his knights. With the Black Knight and the remaining forces of King Arthur, Hulk and Banner-Bot fight their way through hordes of time-misplaced warriors and armaments, into the halls of the castle to face, Valdar Ahd of the Chronarchists. Valdar freezes Black Knight, but is unable to stop Hulk. Instead he uses his aging ray. In Hulk's charge, he begins to slowly die. Suddenly, Banner-Bot has Merlin teleport Black Knight's Ebony Blade into his green hands. It slices through time. Hulk attempts to hit Valdar, but the being causes him to drop the Blade. The Black Knight quickly regains his weapon and strikes Valdar down, causing all the time distortions in this area to vanish. Banner-Bot now decides it's time to go; he attempts to aggravate Hulk, but Hulk is now smarter. As Banner-Bot attempts to decide where to take them, the issue shows us a teaser of the last Chronarchist, devising a plan to destroy Hulk by changing the Gamma Bomb Test Site where he was created.
Indestructible Hulk #14 -
Continues from issue #13. Now
transforming into various incarnations throughout his history, Hulk is
going through chronal roadblocks, fighting opponents like Abomination,
Sandman, and Fin Fang Foom, as his ROB (Bot) unit attempts to locate the
last Chronarchist. Unrevealed until now, this one is tampering at the
point of Hulk's origin. Even worse, it turns out Zarrko, prisoner of
SHIELD, is secretly organizing the whole crime. It starts all over
again; Banner heads out to warn Rick Jones. But this time Hulk appears,
throwing him in the trench. The ROB unit, about to lose its conscious,
downloads itself into the Banner of this time. He then warns Rick,
turning to face a Hulk TWICE irradiated by the same bomb!
Indestructible Hulk #15 -
Continues from issue #14. This just got really messed up. The Hulk is now "Hulk-squared", a being now twice-irradiated. At the same time, this time's Banner has been downloaded with the future Banner's conscious. While the creature battles the army, Banner finds out that Zarrko betrayed and used him. His only recourse is to use his brain. He grabs Khotta and sends them both back in time a few minutes where the bomb goes off again. There's still a Hulk-Squared monster, but now Banner has his own Hulk options. Going green, he grabs a piece of the chrono-metal and strikes the viewscreen, literally yanking Zarrko through the timeline to him. As negatron emission attempt to reconcile the rift, Hulk rips the armor off Khotto and sends both of the Chrono-villains into it. Almost unable to save himself, he's grabbed by a red hand. Betty is back, pulling him to safety. Things are now safe as Banner goes over the events 24 hours later, but he can't help but think something wrong may have gone differently in the past.
Gah Lak Tus Means Hunger
Meet The New Devourer
Hunger #1 -
Starts the Galactus sub-event. Part of the Marvel Ultimate Universe; this is a distinctly different reality designated as Earth-1610. All the characters in this universe are referred to as "Ultimate" in their titles. Rick Jones has been chosen as this universes' ultimate protector, given his powers by a mysterious alien known as "The Watcher". Unfortunately, he just wants to eat a burger. The story starts off as Rick comes to Earth seeking nothing more than good fast food. But during his order, The Watcher appears saying he is needed immediately. Rick is then teleported right into the middle of a Chitauri-Kree space battle. The Watcher shows Rick what's happening on the main decks until suddenly, the Kree spot the "Gah Lak Tus" swarm. Communicating with The Chitauri leader, they offer immediate peace to halt the devouring creatures. The Chitauri officer will have none of it, though, and refuses to break off his attacks. The Watcher then shows Rick the true problem; as a result of (Age of Ultron) temporal breakdowns, the universe breaks and a portal is created.
From this space-opening, the Earth-616 Galactus appears. Everyone is now in turmoil; the Gah Lak Tus swarms make a beeline for the huge, cosmic being; instead of eating him, though, they merge with their alternate reality counterpart. Left behind is a newer, more powerful Galactus, and his hunger has increased a thousand-fold.
Hunger #2 -
Continues from issue #1. As Galactus has moved into this universe, it's version of The Silver Surfer becomes of aware of the deathly power and surfs toward it. Rick Jones, meanwhile, is on a Chitauri-occupied planet attempting to triage with Kree and Chitauri working together. Again, The Watcher appears, alerting him to trouble. On the planet's horizon, they see the huge, luminous figure of Galactus. Rick goes into battle, but is hit by swarming devourers until Silver Surfers shows up and makes a quick rescue. Together they use their powers and hold the attack off. Spotting a Kree Ship flying away, Rick teleports to its bridge, only to learn that the Commander isn't running, but preparing to blow up the nearby star systems in hopes to destroy Galactus. At the same time, Galactus recognizes this version of Silver Surfer and a small communion takes place; the Surfer senses his inevitable hunger, feeling fear. Shortly after the realization, the star systems explode. Rick and Surfer are now on Earth, having teleported before the destruction. Both of them sense that Galactus survived. And accidentally, part of the swarm teleported with them, dooming the planet.
Hunger #3 -
Continues immediately. As Rick Jones and Surfer are fighting the Earth-traveled swarm, Captain Marvel is alerted to the presence of the Gah Lak Tus swarm. He flies towards battle, joins them, and uses uses one of his weapons to destroy the creature. They all introduce themselves, but Rick has had enough; he decides to qut, leaving Surfer and Captain Marvel to head towards Galactus who is now near Hala. Once there, Marvel is stunned; this is nothing like the Gah Lak Tus he has studied all his life. He tries some of his weapons, but they do not work. Suddenly Rick Jones appears again; The Watcher, in the past few hours, has showed him that Peter Parker, Spider-Man, was killed, reminding Jones that he promised to do go things. Upon Rick's arrival, he unleashes a powerful attack on Galactus. It clearly causes some damage, surprising the entity. The swarm then heads towards Rick, but Marvel flies him out of the way, taking damage on himself. They teleport down to the surface of Hala; Marvel tells them he has another, incredibly powerful weapon that might work, but dies before he can use it. Rick Jones then dons Marvel's armor, preparing to use the weapon himself.
Hunger #4 -
Last issue of this story arc, continues from issue #3. Having the armor, Rick attacks Galactus, gaining his attention. He almost uses the killer weapon, but realizes it would create 32 million casualties. His first mission is to get the remaining Hala ark away. Using his teleportation powers, with distraction, he does so, saving the refugees. Landing on the devourer's hand, Rick realizes where he can take Galactus. He teleports them both and unleashes the killer weapon. The swarm is now dead and Hala is safe. Thought to be dead, Rick now learns he blew a hole between universes, outside reality. The Watcher tells him there is more to be done before he can return, but the being, Galactus, is still alive although wounded. He is heading towards Earth (Earth-1610), but that is no longer Rick's problem.
The next event after this one is: Cataclysm.
001 All-New X-Men #22.NOW
