Mark Miller leads with Ultimates volumes 1 and 2, which were fantastic re-imaginings of classic characters with strong and intriguing story lines. I mean, Thor as a potential mental patient; Hawkeye ripping off his own fingernails to use as projectile discs of death; Quicksilver running someone so fast they disintegrate....this world really had me hooked, maybe even more so than the "616" titles, as I was fairly new to comics and it provided me a fresh start free from decades of back story and character development.
And then came Jeph Loeb.
Great writer, great story-teller who apparently never forgave his parents for lying to him about Santa and now uses his talents to ruin the innocence in the rest of us. Ultimates 3 was really not that bad. I mean, it did introduce the relatively fantastic Clint Barton ass-cape, though I attribute that more to the brilliant Joe Madureira, who did a beautiful job in that series. Thor reverting to traditional Norse vernacular was disappointing, but I could cope. Big twists that led us through issue after issue with disappointing and predictable resolutions (such as Cap being in the Black Panther costume) served more to distract from the uninteresting story lines than anything else.
So, what to do when your run on a great and successful series starts circling the drain?
You blow that shit to hell, that's what you do.
Ultimatium made me completely throw in the towel--it was the last straw, and Ultimates no longer held any interest to me. It can basically be summed up by "Everybody Dies" with the caption "Goddammit, Loeb...". Since that disaster, I have stuck to the mainstream comics which tend to take less drastic gambles and are less of a risk for me.
But for some reason, I am optimistic about this Jonathan Hickman run in Ultimates volume 5. There is something I can't quite put my finger on, but there is just something I like about Hickman.....
Hmmm....
So, after losing all faith in Marvel's Ultimate universe, let's see how this comic goes over for me! =)
Cover is okay--artwork is all right, not my favorite but far from bad. I am intrigued because it brings the big three back together: Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America. No idea who Ribic or White are, though.
I don't know who that guy in Northern Germany is on the first page is, but that helmet is freaking ridiculous. He looks like a leader of a cult, a bunch of people in white and black jumpers that harken to modern 616 FF costumes, but that is no excuse for the cyclops/cone-head look this guy is sporting. You've got to wonder what he's got going on under there.
What is the Triskelion??? And what is this condition business? Green, yellow...very odd.
I got excited when I first saw Nick Fury walk out because that means that he was not subjected to the purging of Loeb, but that kind of dimmed when we fell into the very uninteresting (to me) debriefing of current political climates. Let's be honest--this is probably exactly what Fury would be talking about first thing in the morning. He is the director of SHIELD (is he not?) and has much business to attend to...but I can't help but think "blah blah blah condition red blah blah social climate in Bangkok blah blah can't we move on to some action?!".
The artwork is a little odd. Not bad--far from bad. It's just...it's got such clean lines, and then it is distractingly dark, and....granulated, maybe? I want to turn up the brightness of my laptop, but I sincerely doubt that is the problem--I think the colorist just used a very somber palette for whatever personal reason. Not my favorite; I wish they would brighten it up a bit.
Tony Stark: Fuddy-duddy. That ankle jab was funny; lighten up.
Ha! He does have a sense of humor--refusing to call William (his new butler?) by his name, insisting upon Jarvis...awesome. I miss him too, Tony.
Odin looks odd--I am just not sold on this artist. Asgardians rabble-rousing is always fun to see though.
Who's pregnant? Why am I not following this story at all? Hickman is doing a great job of writing, so I must assume it is the artwork that is throwing me off track. Either that or Emerald's constant chatter right next to me about Christmas plans.
The final picture of wide-eyed Nick Fury is unsettling all the way to my soul. His one eye can get awfully big.
As far as I can tell, this is what happened: everything is going to shit and Nick Fury is ignorant and impotent to stop it. Thor is getting drunk in Asgard but got knocked down to Germany by Excalibur who were attacking him for drunk and disorderly behavior (though that hardly seems their business) where a cult lead by a completely absurd looking leader have set up a giant dome center of worship/home. Tony suited up and was attacked by Stark Technology, possibly relating to nuclear radiation, since I seem to remember them referencing that to some extent. He did vomit all over himself. Steve Rogers is nowhere to be found, possibly because he gave up the mantle after the death of Spider-man and his feelings of remorse and guilt and sense of responsibility revolving around that event. Clint is Fury's go-to fella, but I can't figure out what he was doing or what he was supposed to be doing, but I noticed that he seemed to have failed at it.
So, all in all, little confused. Not so lost that I don't feel I couldn't find my way again. I did notice--suspicious lack of all female characters. All of these revolved around very masculine figures. Not a bad thing, just a note.
Hmmm. I am keeping an open mind. I will give it a few more issues, see how it goes.
--Andie!--
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