Volume 29: The Ultimates: Homeland Security

The Ultimates: Homeland Security

Author: Mark Millar  |  Illustrator: Bryan Hitch

"Why would she put up with that?"
"I don't know. Why would anyone?"

By the end of Volume 1 Millar had taken steps in setting up a real opportunity to tackle a subject that needed to come out from behind closed doors. He could've did it in a powerful and sensitive way, but for some reason he pushed it aside too soon and instead exploded the main story into a boring three and a half issue battle with some pretend Nazis. I was bored out of my mind by the end.

I'd be interested to know why he ignored such a prime opportunity. Was it his idea to neglect it? Or maybe his editor's? Was there a more satisfying draft that got rejected? Or did he just get bored and decide to blow shit up because it's the easy way out? So many questions.

Conversely, if lengthy combat scenes like the one at the end of The Avengers (2012) movie is something you enjoy, then maybe you’ll get even more jollies from Volume 2 than you did from Volume 1.

Prior to the mind-numbing events, Hawkeye gets an action scene and proves how problematic a character he is to write for; there's not much you can do with a guy whose superpower is the ability to magically not run out of arrows. He's teamed with Black Widow, a lady with a similarly limiting condition. It played out fine, regardless, but it felt like it was forced into the narrative just to give the pair something meaningful to do. Hawkeye has his own current title but I've not read it; I wonder how he fares in it.

The addition of two guests from another title seemed superfluous, unless Millar was setting up something that he'd develop further in Ultimates 2. But, because I don't have the subsequent books, I don't know if that was the case. I'd hate to think it was pointless fan-service or in place simply to undermine the main team dynamic.

At almost every turn Homeland Security left me wondering about things that were outside of the story; but it wasn't in a pleasing 'food for thought' kind of way, it was the less enjoyable 'I wonder would something else be better than this?' kind of way.

The book collects together The Ultimates #7-13.

Verdict:

Volume 28: The Ultimates: Super-Human

The Ultimates: Super-Human

Author: Mark Millar  |  Illustrator: Bryan Hitch

"Listen, I'm really sorry about breaking your nose back there, General Fury."
"Take it easy... This nose has been smashed more times than Robert Downey Jr."

The team with the modest name are like an Ultimate Universe version of the Avengers. (See Spider-Man post if you need Ultimate Universe info.) It's not a typical origin story; it's more of a recruitment story.

General Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (who was comic book Sam Jackson years before real life Sam Jackson was movie Nick Fury) puts together a team of the best and brightest superheroes he can find because he fears an attack on the U.S. by some as yet unknown super villain(s); he's the ultimate paranoid Boy Scout. There's only one problem with that strategy: they've got no one to fight.

When that many egos are gathered together in one place some members of the team begin to get anxious.

Millar's heroes are part warrior, part pawn and part celebrity in a world not unlike our own. I was a little annoyed by the many references to the real world he kept throwing in. Some of it was blackly humorous (I think he was mocking the kind of sad individual that believes name-checking celebrities will grant them some kind of enviable social status) but mostly it was just irritating, and is the thing that will cause the book to feel most dated the further we're removed from the pop culture events mentioned.

It's a good thing Millar was able to balance it out with some excellent pacing elsewhere, and some fast but deep character developments.

His style is as cinematic as they come. In fact, both the first Captain America and Avengers films stole large chucks of his story for their scripts, and all they gave him was a thank you in the screen credits.

Bryan Hitch's artwork is great, and some clever use of thick shadows by colourist Paul Mounts means it isn't ruined by the digital colouring techniques.

The book collects together The Ultimates #1-6.

Verdict:

Volume 20: Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility

Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility

Author: Brian Michael Bendis | Illustrator: Mark Bagley

'I was selfish. So selfish — and you paid the price.'

Marvel were in financial difficulty back in the late 90's. The ULTIMATE line was a make or break concept that saw them reboot some of their most popular franchises for a potential new audience. It was a complete wiping clean of the slate, resetting characters back to day one. They didn't abandon the existing books; the new ones ran concurrently with a separate continuity that kept the core values but left behind all the baggage.
In the case of Spider-Man they made him 15 again; he's an adolescent in an adult world, on the verge of learning real responsibility for his actions. It was the most daring, freshest thing to happen to the character in many, many years. And luckily for Marvel it was instrumental in saving their ass financially.
More titles followed, including Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and an Avengers style team-up called The Ultimates.

Click the drop-down box above for some brief information about the Ultimate line of superheroes and how they fit into the existing Marvel world. It's not essential to what follows, so you can ignore it if you’re not interested or if you already know.

There's no flaffing around in Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man. It introduces the teenage Peter Parker, his friends and family, sets up the relationship he has with each of them and gives a glimpse of the world in which they all exist, then BANG! The spider bite, the transformation, and the crux of the story takes hold.

Comics are often filled with narrative boxes that document what a character is feeling; it gives a reader an insight into the head-space of the hero, but an over-reliance on them can be a crutch. Bendis makes use of them, it's difficult not to, but he keeps them at a minimum in the early stages. What he does instead is revert to a 'show don’t tell' attitude that gives the story a real vibrancy and immediacy; it filled me with a desire to get to the next page as hurriedly as possible, which is the opposite of what I normally do because I like to take in all aspects of the work (construction, style, art, etc).

Artist Mark Bagley understood the approach and fills his panels with everything necessary to communicate the unspoken parts. In just a few pages writer and artist show Peter's isolation, Mary Jane's compassion, Harry Osborn's arrogance, Uncle Ben's paternal longing, and Aunt May's stern but sensitive role-play.

I know Bendis has his haters, but I would argue that when he didn't dilute himself across multiple titles he was damn good at what he did.

If you want a Spider-Man origin story that closely resembles the Sam Raimi film version, and you want a great comic that starts strong and keeps on giving, then Ultimate Spidey is highly recommended.

The book collects together Ultimate Spider-Man #1–7.

Verdict:

Volume 02: Uncanny X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Uncanny X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Author: Chris Claremont  |  Illustrator: John Byrne

"I can pick your mind clean in the blink of an eye — "

I like the X-Men, but not to the extent that I'm unable to acknowledge the collective's many flaws. Scott Summers is a bore. Jean Grey is overpowered. Wolverine overshadows all the others. (Actually, that last point is also a strength; they'd be less interesting without him.)

It's only my second post and already I'm going against popular opinion because, as you've probably guessed, Volume 02 is mostly about Jean and while it's much-loved by fans of Jean it bores the shit out of me.

John Byrne's art is excellent and there's a potentially great storyline smothered beneath the rigid text, but it's a victim of the Marvel need to make the team seem more mature by having them be super-serious even during times of outright stupidity. That approach coupled with the usual complex-nearing-convoluted events that have come to define the X-Men series over the years make it difficult to connect to the characters. Or maybe that applies only to me? I don't know. I read the book twice to try and overcome any kind of unfair dislike that I may have unconsciously created. It didn't help. It mostly served to make me cringe even more at the overuse of self-commentary.

Some positives to end with: Prior to the book's central arc, Jean had died but hadn't, the team were killed but weren't, and the world was saved. Because together they're so powerful, a pattern develops where over time the enemies have to get bigger and stronger in order to seem threatening. For a while the primary villain in the Dark Phoenix saga instead goes smaller, attacking from afar, quietly and unnoticed. It was absolutely the correct approach to take in order to achieve the specific goal that the author was hoping to address.
I thought the design of the Black Queen was fantastic.
Wolverine is seen reading Penthouse; that's good characterisation.

The book collects together Uncanny X-Men #129-137.

Verdict: