5 Comics to Read After Watching Age of Ultron

So you saw Age of Ultron and you want to check out some Marvel comics. We’ve got you covered!

1) The origins of Ultron and The Vision. Ultron’s first appearance is in The Avengers issue 54 with Vision showing up soon after in issue 57. Ultron was created by Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man. He’s initially a child asking to play with his “da-da,” but matures quickly and almost immediately begins to resent his father. He runs off and creates Vision to destroy the Avengers, but Vizh has a mind of his own and decides to revolt against his creator. Vision joins the team against Ultron again in issues 66-68 (and many times after that).

2) Vision & The Scarlet Witch. Even if you aren’t familiar with the comics, you could probably feel some sparks flying between these two in the movie – it was definitely intentional! After getting married, Vizh and Wanda quit the team to try to start a family, and wacky hijinks ensue. The first volume ends with the reveal that Magneto is the father of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, but Volume 2 is a better comic. The art and storyline are much more engaging, focused heavily on domestic character drama but without losing the action sequences. It’s a great showcase for both of Age of Ultron’s breakout characters.

3) The Infinity Gauntlet. This miniseries will introduce you to the Infinity Gems, which weren’t explained too clearly in the movie It’s also a good intro to enigmatic Thanos and the cosmic side of Marvel that will be expanded in Guardians of the Galaxy sequels. If you like this one, you can read follow-up series The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade.

4) Ant-Man. Get it before the movie comes out in July! This series only started recently, and focuses on Scott Lang, star of the upcoming film. It’s written to bring in new readers, so it’ll explain everything you need to know. Nick Spencer’s sense of humour really sells it, and we’d like to see the movie maintain some of that levity.

5) Civil War. Given that this storyline was working with a huge cast of characters, the next Captain America will probably play out very differently with its smaller cast. Still, reading it now will give you some idea of what to expect from the Superhuman Registration Act, the cause of the conflict. Besides, since they jammed as many characters in as they could, you might find other characters here that you’ll want to explore!