Marvel's Ultimate Comics

[PsychoPere]

With the "relaunch" of Marvel's Ultimate Universe post-"Ultimatum" just far enough in the past that trades collecting the first twelve issues of the current three series are available, I've been giving some consideration to picking up those trades and getting back into the Ultimate Universe.

I've started looking at some reviews of early issues of both Ultimate Comics Ultimates and Ultimate Comics X-Men (and damn are those awkward titles). IGN's reviews, in particular, for those two series suggest that the first twelve issues can be rather uneven. In addition to the reviews that I've already been looking at, I'd really like to solicit opinions from posters here who've been reading the new volumes.

The last time I paid any real attention to this universe was still relatively early in its existence. I don't think I ever got beyond the first two trades of The Ultimates and the first three or four trades of Ultimate Spider-Man, for example. The death of Peter Parker and the introduction of Miles Morales as the new Spider-Man, however, has spurred renewed interest.

I've already decided to give Ultimate Comics Spider-Man a chance, and have purchased the first six issues through comiXology to read on my iPad. I haven't really had time to delve into those issues yet, though I believe Admiral_Young has expressed some appreciation for the series in either the ongoing Marvel Universe discussion thread or the Avengers vs. X-Men thread.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man and Ultimate Comics Ultimates are the only two books worth reading right now in the Ultimate'Verse. Ultimate Comics X-Men had potential when Nick Spencer was on the book, but they kind of were dragging out the story and I lost interest and dropped it.

 

[Starbreaker]

Are the new line of Ultimates written for teens like they were originally?

 

[Admiral_Young]

Probably the only book that is written for "teens" is Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. Ultimate Comics Ultimates is extremely mature and deals with meta concepts and high ideas. Typical Jonathan Hickman.

 

[Mr Light]

Ultimate X-Men is a huge waste of time and money. Nothing happens in a single issue. They take about two minutes to read. It's ridiculous.

Ultimates by Hickman is a little trippy but pretty interesting, I'd recommend it.

Ultimate Spider-Man, like the opening of the original Ult Spidey, is extremely decompressed with almost nothing happening in each issue. It's not bad, but it's not worth the money.

 

[A beaker full of death]

With the "relaunch" of Marvel's Ultimate Universe ...

Waitaminute.
They scrapped their new universe created so they wouldn't be beholden to continuity.... so they wouldn't be beholden to continuity?

Holy shit that's funny. I hope the ultimate fans were apoplectic.

 

[DAYoung]

I've been enjoying the Ultimates. I enjoy the grittiness and more adult tone, with violence and relationships. The most recent twelve-part series was actually quite gripping, even with its often ludicrous plotting. I'll keep reading it.

The Ultimate Avengers 1 was a jumble of violence and rape (often as a clumsy character backstory for the women), and some very poor plotting and characterisation. Ultimate Avengers 2 worked well at times, but seemed a little adolescent next to the 'death of Spiderman' story. The Punisher was poorly used.

I've not got into Ultimate Spiderman, but Ultimate Spider-men has been very good so far. Well paced, smart, funny.

 

[Guy Gardener]

You're fully aware that the first issues of Ultimate Spider-Man coincided approximately with the release of the first Sam Rami Spider-Man...

Most of us have had many, many children and ruined them since that dark day in history.

Allons-y.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man is about a little kid with super powers dealing with dark scum like rapists, murderers and drug dealers, some of who he is related to.

Ultimate Comics X-Men is an allegory for the Jews living in Nazi Germany if they had the tools to fight back. There are camps and there are militias rounding up suspects for execution. Kitty Pryde, the original Spider-Man's (almost nearly) widow has more than decided that Magneto is right and that it's time to start making human massgraves as they're Jack Kerrowaccing across a dystopian fractured UNunited states of America to level Sentinel factories and liberate concentration camps. Personally I loved the bit at the beginning where Quicksilver offers to the president to sell a few hundred million mutants into slavery to prop up the failing American infrastructure.

Ultimates. What do you do when Reed Richards turns evil, then spends a thousand (relative) years in a time dilation bubble thinking up ways to destroy you? You stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye. Out matched and out powered, the good guys had to do something... So Mr Fantastic nuked Washington DC. No time travel, no reset. The world is completely and utterly fucked.

So, no.

Not for children.

 

[PsychoPere]

They scrapped their new universe created so they wouldn't be beholden to continuity.... so they wouldn't be beholden to continuity?

That didn't happen. Everything that happened under the old Ultimate (So-and-so) banner still happened under the new Ultimate Comics banner. I used the term "relaunch," and specifically with the quotation marks, because that's the term that I've seen used in summaries and reviews. My understanding is that no continuity was wiped away. It was an imprint relaunch, not a universe / continuity relaunch.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Rebirth was a relaunch in the aftermath of Ultimatum the same way that Marvel Now is a relaunch in the aftermath of Avengers Vs X-Men. Both have been major events that featured consequences for both realities (in the Ultimate Universe severe ones). No continuity was lost.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Rebirth was a relaunch in the aftermath of Ultimatum the same way that Marvel Now is a relaunch in the aftermath of Avengers Vs X-Men. Both have been major events that featured consequences for both realities (in the Ultimate Universe severe ones). No continuity was lost.

I understood pretty much none of that. I don't need to. But I have to urge people who understood that to step back and take a good look at wtf has happened to comic books.
EOR.

 

[Admiral_Young]

 

[Guy Gardener]

Someone wants our money.

But they're pussies about getting it.

How are the people selling you eggs any different form the people selling you beer?

And we're not just talking about mom and pop store fronts.

There are factories and marketing and an industry with millions of drones ensuring that billions of quatloos are changing hands to make sure that you desire some beer battered French toast in the morning and nothing gets in the way of that desire.

But are they happy?

You should buy more eggs.

You need to buy more beer.

That might make them happy?

They are going to trick you into doing so, so that more money can roll around in circles.

We live in a machine.

Comics are no different, save only a minute economy of scale by comparison.

I'm just waiting for likable comics.

 

[JD]

Rebirth was a relaunch in the aftermath of Ultimatum the same way that Marvel Now is a relaunch in the aftermath of Avengers Vs X-Men. Both have been major events that featured consequences for both realities (in the Ultimate Universe severe ones). No continuity was lost.

I understood pretty much none of that. I don't need to. But I have to urge people who understood that to step back and take a good look at wtf has happened to comic books.
EOR.

I don't get what's so wrong with that.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Rebirth was a relaunch in the aftermath of Ultimatum the same way that Marvel Now is a relaunch in the aftermath of Avengers Vs X-Men. Both have been major events that featured consequences for both realities (in the Ultimate Universe severe ones). No continuity was lost.

I understood pretty much none of that. I don't need to. But I have to urge people who understood that to step back and take a good look at wtf has happened to comic books.
EOR.

I don't get what's so wrong with that.

Yup, seems straight forward to me as well. 2 events, and the two stories that come out of each.

 

[Guy Gardener]

But don't you find "events" manipulative and exploitative?

Or are you so snow blind from their machinations to empty your wallet that you save up and plan ahead financially for as yet unknown events because, it's impossible to resist what what they're selling?

Requiem for a dream.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Yup.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I was with Ultimate Spider-man during the entire original run of Bendis and Bagley, but then left when Bags left to rejoin Amazing Spider-man at the time (what a mistake that was for me). I jumped back on board with the recent relaunch with Miles and I've been enjoying it quite a lot, although the pacing is decompressed as Bendis' writing style is more befitting a TV show than a comic, with several issues making up an "hour-long episode," IMO. It's short on action, but big on character building and setting up things to come.

I was with Ultimate X-Men when it was originally launched, but then left after its initial arc. I rejoined it with the current relaunch alongside USM, but mainly because the regular artists is one of my favorites today. I think the initial run by Nick Spencer was a bit all over the place, but it reflected how deconstructed and essentially disbanded the X-Men had become. New writer Brian Wood seems to be in the position of "putting the band" back together.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I dropped Ultimate Comics X-Men due to the ongoing lagging Stryker arc. Just not interested at all. They're putting the team back together under Kitty's leadership right? That was what was starting to happen at least when I dropped it.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man is pure awesomeness right now. Bendis is like any other writer when they're excited and passionate about a character, it shows in spades. It is typical Bendis pacing and structure, but he is seriously knocking it out of the ball park with Miles Morales and his supporting cast. Sara Pichelli's art work is stellar. A worthy successor to Mark Bagley. I felt Stuart Immonen's style was too cartoonish for the book.

Ultimate Comics Ultimates is the serious stuff...Hickman left, but the current writer (who's name escapes me) is continuing his story. Ultimate Captain America just returned back from his self imposed exile and things are gonna pick up!

I'm kind of interested in Ultimate Iron Man Vs Mandarin...and Marvel has no plans for an Ultimate Comics Fantastic Four right now for obvious reasons.

 

[DAYoung]

Ultimate Comics Ultimates is the serious stuff...Hickman left, but the current writer (who's name escapes me) is continuing his story. Ultimate Captain America just returned back from his self imposed exile and things are gonna pick up!

Is this the storyline that ends with Captain America in the snow, at a small store?

That was a fantastic arc, if so.