Synopsis / Summary / Plot
A metal hand tunes in to a rebooted TV series about superheroes called The All-New It's Amazing hosted by Mac Sanders and Diane Cummings, who appeared in *all* of the various Star Kings TV series. And the 1st episode of the new run is about the current Avengers.
It starts with some recent history. The previous Avengers team mostly seemed to perish at the end of the Onslaught event, and the rest disbanded (ie Black Widow was unable to form a new team as seen in our 1999 Annual). But they returned (Heroes Reborn: the Return mini-series) and the rebuilt team have made their mark since then. The show mentions them fighting a mind-controlled Squadron Supreme (#5-6), Grim Reaper (#10-11) and Pagan (#14-15).
They describe the current lineup:- big name original members Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, longtime members Scarlet Witch and Vision and newbies Firestar and Justice both ex-New Warriors. (We also see Wonder Man in the action above.) They mention that Firestar is very popular especially among teenage boys but Justice has had some bad press. Vance Astrovik was convicted of manslaughter of his father (NW#20), he tries too hard and recently he's off active duty due to injuries. Vance is watching the program with his girlfriend Firestar. Angelica Jones reassures him that his head injury was Black Knight's fault (#16) and his leg was broken when he saved the day against Doomsday Man (#17). But it all plays into Vance's insecurity.
Mac and Diane turn to discussing the Vision/Scarlet Witch/Wonder Man love-triangle. Wanda Maximoff used to be married to Vision but the union was dissolved (as a result of Vizh losing his memories and emotions in West Coast Av #45). WM died (Force Works #1) but during this run began manifesting at ScW's command. Then Simon Williams was fully resurrected (at the end of #11) and began a relationship with Wanda. But what excites gossip is that Vision's original mind was based on a recording of Simon's brain. We see the couple visiting a psychiatric hospital where Simon's brother Eric Williams is being treated. Eric was Grim Reaper and was also dead at the time of #10-11, but he got brought back to life as well. But they discover Eric gone, kidnapped by robots.
The TV program discusses controversial aspects of the Avengers. In the past it was things like the Hulk being originally a member or them frequently resisting Government control. Recently (#15) when they tracked villain Pagan to the HQ of the Triune Understanding Iron Man hinted that there might be a connection between the 2. Now we see Triune leader Jonathan Tremont and their resident supehero Triathlon also watching the show. Tremont says he'll deal with this without publicly denying it.
Now Diane gets news that the Avengers are going into action again, and this time the show is allowed to record them. Firebrand and the Flaming Sword terrorist group have kidnapped a vice-president of Osborn Chemical Corp for supposed ecological reasons. But Iron Man has fought them before (in his #4-5) and says they are eco-phonies who will actually be stealing stuff. The bad guys shoot down their quinjet so the Golden Avenger airlifts Cap into battle alongside Firestar and Thor. Meanwhile Vision ghosts into the room where the VP is being held and rescues him with eye-blasts and his hand-through-chest manoeuvre. Thor takes on Firebrand but isn't winning until Wonder Man flies in carrying Scarlet Witch who uses a Chaos Magic hex to disrupt his energy flow. Thor then uses his hammer to create a dimensional rift and he and WM double-punch Firebrand through it. Then the rest of the gang surrender.
After the battle the Avengers talk to the press. They tell them that the gang were stealing radioactive isotopes, and that Firebrand will be rescued when a suitable prison cell is found for him. But they get hostile questions. Is their hostility towards the Triunes religious bigotry? Do Iron Man's comments about Flaming Sword mean he is anti-environmentalism? The team has 3 mutant members (Wanda, Firestar and Justice) - does the team support the mutant conspiracy?
The metal hand at the beginning of the issue is revealed to belong to Ultron who has a cunning plan. But then we see someone else with a metal hand is watching *him* and plotting against him.
There's an appendix with a potted history of Ultron.
Henry Pym created a robot Ultron-1 with his own brain patterns which immediately gained sentience and rebelled against its 'father' but used a ray to make Pym forget about his creation (as revealed in #58 of the original run).
Ultron upgraded himself several times and reappeared as Ultron-5. His Oedipal hatred of Pym caused him to recruit a new Masters Of Evil to kill the Avengers (#54-55).
He created the android Vision as a 'son' and sent *him* against the team, but Vizh rebelled and joined the Avengers (#57-58).
Ultron-5 was destroyed then but a secret programme in Vision's brain made him recreate his 'father' as Ultron-6 with a body made out of adamantium (#66-68).
After more upgrades Ultron-8 created a 'wife' robot Jocasta with the brain patterns of Henry's wife Jan, the Wasp (#160). But Jocasta too rebelled and sided with the Avengers (#161).
After Secret Wars I Ultron-11 and Ultron-12 both existed at the same time. U-12 eventually reformed and befriended his father Henry Pym. But unrepentant U-11 killed U-12 and Wonder Man killed U-11. (This happened in issues leading up to West Coast Avengers #7.)
During the Acts Of Vengeance event Dr Doom created Ultron-13 with an amalgam of the minds of all the previous Ultrons. But U-13 rebuilt himself as Ultron-14 in WCA#89 and created another 'wife' Alkhema with the brain patterns of Mockingbird. But she too turned against him mainly because he wanted to destroy humanity in 1 fell swoop while she wanted to toy with their prey for a long time (WCA#89-91).
(The Ultron in this new story arc is considered to be U-16.)