The end of the first act of Age of Ultron is here, and it's a great set-up for remaining five issues. Two groups of heroes have set off in opposite directions on the timestream and either one could result in final victory or further defeat. With some great character moments and a last burst of quality from Bryan Hitch, this series is still well on its way to being the best crossover event Marvel have published in years. Read Full Review

A story that has finally come together and seems to have real ramifications for the greater Marvel Universe (not too late to reboot, kids!), Age of Ultron is now living up to the potential that these type of events promise, and Bendis craft is shining through as a result. Very eager to get the next issue next week. Read Full Review

We've reached the half-way point of this mega event and now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, things will no doubt get very interesting. Read Full Review

As mentioned, this is Hitch's final issue, and his work continues to show the same strengths and flaws as before. At the very least, issue #5 offers more diversity and allows Hitch to zoom in on a few key characters rather than tackle group shots of the Avengers. The detail in his figure work bumps up considerably in the flashback pages and any other page where the camera is zoomed in. But in general, this is still a familiar example of how Hitch's landscapes and environments outstrip his character designs. And as has often been the case with Hitch's Marvel work, there are certain objects and shapes he seems to struggle in rendering properly, most notably Iron Man's helmet. At this point, a visual refresh might not be such a bad thing. Read Full Review

Age of Ultron #5 still takes it time with the storytelling, but now that the world has been set up, Brian Michael Bendis is off to the races with his narrative. Act 3 of the story jumps forward in time for Age of Ultron #6. Read Full Review

Fancy that. When something actually happens in Age of Ultron, it makes for a pretty good issue. The series isn't completely saved by this one issue, but it's a change in the right direction. Read Full Review

The story is continuing to unfold. It is fun to see the heroes getting together, ready to face the unknown dangers that await them. It would be nice to have the action pick up a bit. We're bound to see it amp up in the coming issues but that doesn't negate the fact that it has been five issues already. With what is being set up here, we should be in for some great action in the next issue. It'll be interesting to see how the next portion of this story plays out and how the repercussions of their decision will affect the overall story. Read Full Review

Overall, another solid issue in the AGE OF ULTRON event. It's not action heavy and once again the title robot does not appear, which may put off some people. I found it to be quite an engaging read however. There's a certain desperateness with the heroes, you can see and feel it. With the plan to get Ultron in motion, I am however expecting these next five issues to be filled with excitementand Ultron action. The ball is in Marvel's court, we've had five issues building up to this point, it's time todeliver. Read Full Review

Civilization has lost. Heroes have fallen. Ultron terrorizes the present from the future using a former Avenger as a beacon. Who ya gonna call? NICK FURY!! Read Full Review

This issue marks the end of the line for Bryan Hitch as artist. I gotta say that he'll be missed quite a bit. Brandon Peterson is nothing to sneeze at, but, even in this issue, Hitch managed to make a mostly conversational issue still feel epic. Again, I point to the gratuitous Ultrons blasting Austin thing, but Hitch pretty much goes for the gusto in that two page spread. Even the last page with Wolverine is foreboding and bigger than life – and it's a pose we see from Wolverine all the time in comics and sketches. What Hitch did with these first five issues is probably something no one else could have done. He simply carried us through the first half when the pace was deliberate and slower. Hitch built this rich world that looked like it belonged on a movie screen. Now, let's see what Peterson can do with the action! Read Full Review

Age of Ultron seems to have slowed its pace between this chapter and the last, but at least now we know where Bendis is going with this. Chapter 5 features little action; with a brief double-splash page of Ultron clones blasting away Austin, Texas. Sure, the artwork here is pretty cool, but it feels as if the scene was forced in the book just for a quick dramatic effect. Read Full Review

This was a decent issue considering all the heroes did was sit in a bunker and discuss time travel. But we're at the halfway mark now. The pace of the series should start picking up. Read Full Review

I love a good time travel story. 'Back to the Future' and 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' are some of my favorite movies. So far, the groundwork has been laid here in 'Age of Ultron' for us to get a pretty good time travel story by the time everything is said and done. I just hope that's the way things work out because we're already halfway through the event and we haven't gotten to the meat of the story yet. What I'm really hoping is that we've been given enough time to really get a satisfying taste. I believe in Brian Michael Bendis and I know that he can give us that, so we just have to wait and see if he does it with this series. Read Full Review

Overall, this issue of Age of Ultronis another filler issue to get us where we want to go. While there isn't much notable to the issue, it is a necessity to better edify the events we are about to see and Bendis leaves us with a nice little cliffhanger that honestly plays true to the character he was writing it for. The stakes and objectives are all laid out there, we're just waiting for issue #6 to take us there. Read Full Review

I'd like some of that art if Bryan Hitch's art was up to his usual quality. Something is off, so off. Overall, I'm pretty sure five issues in and this major event has been phoned in art and story. At this point, I'm just waiting to see how they fit Angela into this mess. Read Full Review

This series is yet to actually kick off. It's showing promise, and we, readers, would be terribly disappointed if it doesn't live up to our expectations, especially considering the slow pace. We're about to say good-bye to Hitch's art after this issue. Let's hope the art continues to be as good as it has been. Read Full Review

You can't always say a comic should be at Point A by a certain issue count, and you can't judge a specific issue by the mistakes of its predecessors. The stakes have been raised this week " thank goodness " and Bendis has put an intriguing new spin in the Avengers' desperate plan to stop Ultron. But that all said, it's clear this series won't be picking up the pace anytime soon, so if you're looking for high-octane action with all your favorite characters... you might want to look elsewhere. Read Full Review

Although better than the last issue, this issue still wasn't to the level of quality I hoped the series would be at. The series finally appears to be getting better, but it's done that before, and I won't hold my breath, only believing it when it happens. I would consider recommending this issue, just for the fact that it features the return of Nick Fury, but besides that I'd still recommend waiting until the end of the series, and if it's overall good getting it in trade. Read Full Review

Eh.  This series is rapidly losing me...  It really doesn't feel like an event, it feels like one of Bendis's many lackluster Avengers tales.  I don't feel the same sense of importance or dread that something like, say, Fear Itself, gave me.  Fear Itself seemed more important.  This?  With the heroes parading through time to undo mistakes?  It feels like a forgone conclusion that Ultron is going to lose(we STILL haven't seen Ultron Prime yet!), and the heroes will simply retcon everything at the end of this series.  I know Marvel keeps promising a huge shock at the end of this event, but I'm not even psyched for that.  The wheels sure fell off of this one quicker than I anticipated. Read Full Review

Age Of Ultron #5 is a decent issue made better by the emotions Bendis writes into an otherwise uneventful script. Read Full Review

Age of Ultron is a very tough sell. I'm not sure whom this is geared towards. I can't see a casual reading getting jazzed up for this kind of a book and the seasoned reader is going to poke a lot of holes in it. I suppose this book is for the die-hard Bendis fan. We'll see how this all shapes up but this is a completely average comic book. Read Full Review

Back in February, I named Bendis the best writer of the month, and I stand by it — for that month. With “Age of Ultron,” though, we see him slipping back into some of his bad habits. On its own, this issue is dull, and Hitch's art doesn't help it go down any easier. As part of a whole, it's unfortunate. The “event” is finally gaining some momentum, but only at the halfway point. Some readers may view this issue as a step in the right direction — personally, I think it's too little, too late. Read Full Review

"Age of Ultron" #5 is a display of the collection of heroes jumping through Tuckman's stages of team development in alarmingly quick fashion. Yes, many of these characters know one another and have fought alongside each other before, but there's an awful lot of space dedicated to talking and game-planning. This issue does sport twenty-five pages of story, but the series continues to tease exciting developments without much delivery. Maybe future-Ultron can send us some action-packed pages. Read Full Review

There are instances where comics read better when collected, but I don't think this will be one of them. I'm more than certain these first five issues could be read within 20 minutes given how light on dialogue and plot they are. It doesn't help you can skip over so many pointless rubble shots. Luckily this issue doesn't have so much filler imagery, but much of the dialogue reads as if it's filler. It doesn't do much more than explain the anxiety of the heroes we already knew they had. Read Full Review