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Like a lot of young boys in the late 1980’s, I picked up the habit of reading comic books.

Unlike a lot of those young boys, I never stopped reading them. I’d call it a peccadillo of mine, except that over the past two decades, nerd culture has gained such cultural cachet that comic books are now. . . cool?! (Of all the societal swings I didn’t see coming, the ascendant supremacy of nerd culture is at the very top of my list.)

(Seriously. I spent so much energy in those awkward teenage years trying to downplay my nerdiness only to discover that adolescent nerds today get as many dates as non-nerds! It’s time to put me out to pasture.)

When it comes to Marvel nowadays, the success of the MCU means that the Avengers rule the entertainment world, thus constituting yet another unforeseen-by-me turn of events. All through my growing up, it was the X-Men (and women) that had all the hot dates. The Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, et. al.) were totally uncool.

I was always an Avengers guy. No dates for this dude.

One of my all time favorite Avengers arcs is writer Kurt Busiek and artist George Pérez’s “Ultron Unlimited” storyline from a couple decades ago. Most casual fans will know Ultron from the second Avengers movie in 2015 (Age of Ultron), although it was unfortunately perhaps the weakest installment from the MCU to date. Most puzzlingly, if the robotic Ultron in the comics is a truly terrifying villain, the Marvel cinematic honchos decided to voice their CGI-generated baddie with Robert California at his schmaltziest and turn him into some kind of Larry David with mad and sadistic internet skills. No one asked for a quippy Ultron!

[Big nerd voice]: Well, in the comics. . . Ultron is an absolute destroyer. He’s an evil artificial intelligence that combines a complete disregard for carbon-based life with the greatest level of technological know-how in the universe. In “Ultron Unlimited,” WILL THE AVENGERS FINALLY MEET THEIR MATCH?!

Nerds will acknowledge that IP always lives to fight another day, so the Avengers survive Ultron’s onslaught, but only barely.

My favorite scene occurs a couple issues into the tale. Our heroes have been pushed to their limits against the most powerful version of Ultron yet, and at the end of a certain installment, at great sacrifice they prevail against their foe. But wait! Just as it seems that the day is won, a trap door opens only to reveal a whole horde of Ultrons bearing down upon them. The Avengers were almost killed by a single Ultron robot, and immediately afterwards they’re facing hundreds of them. Cliffhanger!

Wonderful art from George Pérez, including the end-of-issue reveal (above) and the splash page opening the next (below).

All that is to say: “Ultron Unlimited” gives us a classic, out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire scenario. Which makes me think of where we are with COVID right now.

Here’s a window into many of the conversations currently taking place among leaders at Liberti Collingswood. We’re grateful and hopeful that after these two-plus years of our COVID hiatus, we’ll at last begin this spring and summer to return to some semblance of normality. Even if coronavirus may linger on, it seems to be waning in its virulence and impact.

Out of the frying pan.

Nevertheless, here’s what others and I are sensing. If on one hand our health-and-safety threat levels are thankfully diminishing, many of us are discovering that after the strangest 26 months of any of our lives, maybe we’re not doing that great. Our post-COVID breathing room is giving oxygen to the belated recognition that we’ve been struggling more than we’ve had the bandwidth to realize.

What if we’ve only conquered one Ultron to find scores more pressing down upon us? My worry and concern are shifting from physical health to mental/spiritual/emotional health.

Into the fire.

Gracious Father, would these fears of mine be proven to be unfounded. But if not, give us your Spirit. We need you, and we need each other.

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