Last week, “Ultimate Comics X-Men #1” hit shelves. Which means that all of the titles from the relaunch of Marvel’s Ultimate universe are out. Since I talked about the relaunch on the podcast, I decided that I should let you guys know what I think about the titles one by one.
(more after the jump. Warning: spoilers)
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1
The first issue of the “Ultimates” showed me two things: one is that S.H.I.E.L.D. has now stretched itself across the world, and second is that shit has hit the fan everywhere, so maybe that was a bad idea. I really enjoyed “Ultimates #1”; it seems like the comic is back on the right track after Jeph Loeb did his usual “fucking up what was once a great” thing.
One of the reasons I love “Ultimates” so much is the character,s and they were handled really well by being both funny and kick-ass. Tony Stark was the billionaire playboy we all know and love. His scene introduced the new Jarvis and it was one of my favorites. This is because the new Jarvis’ names is apparently William and when he informed Tony of this, Tony’s response was that if he wanted to hire a William he would have hired a William, so now he is Jarvis. Another thing that was cool was that Tony apparently doesn’t need to be in the Iron Man suit anymore since he uplinked and controlled it when he was in Tokyo and the suit was in South America. Thor was drinking and partying in Asgard and then got into a brawl with a very annoyed Captain Britain. And the third member that was shown, Hawkeye, only had a cameo but serve as a cool tie-in to his own comic that I’ll talk about further down.
As I said, shit is going down around the world. The primary places I’m talking about being Germany, Uruguay and China. The threat in Germany seems like it is going to be the prime threat for this arc. All in all, this was a solid start to the new series and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.
“Ultimate Comics Hawkeye #1”
The “Ultimate” version of Hawkeye has always been a bad-ass, and that hasn’t changed. I mentioned the problem in China in the “Ultimates” review and he was the person sent to fix it.
Apparently China created its own mutants to help them in the superhuman arms race against America. It’s a really interesting idea that in a world full of people with superhuman powers that each country wants to make sure they are the one with the most. However, the test subjects have rebelled and now are attempting to take over the government. Hawkeye, like I said, is a bona fide bad-ass, especially in one scene with him and shards of broken glass. ‘Nuff said.
This was not only a great companion comic with “The Ultimates” but a very good comic in its own right.
“Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1”
This comic had to do something the other comics didn’t, which was introduce us to a brand-new character: Miles Morales, aka the new Spider-Man. Which means this was basically an origin story, and that’s not a bad thing. However, I can’t really tell you much about Miles except he is just a nice kid who thinks of others first.
The comic began with Norman Osborn making the same speech about Athena and Arachne as he made in the first comic in “Ultimate Spider-Man”, which was a nice touch. He was making another genetically altered spider which of course escaped and found its way to Miles Morales where, of course, the spider bit him. The first power to manifest in Miles was some sort invisibility. Can spiders become invisible, though? Because if they can, my arachnophobia is going to grow stronger. But in any case, I think it’s cool that the new Spider-Man gets some new powers, and it’s going to be interesting to see what other powers he will develop.
The biggest problem with the comic is the length. It is short — really short. It was only about 20 pages and it really left me wanting more and wondering if it was missing pages. I am interested in seeing where the comic is going, but I don’t think it is worth the $4.
“Ultimate Comics X-Men #1”
This was the most exposition heavy of the comics and for good reason. A lot is happening in the world for mutants. They are now being forced into concentration camps — which aren’t great places, as it turns out — or they’re being shot on sight. It also has to introduce, to new readers, Wolverine’s son Jimmy Hudson, his small group consisting of Firestar and an Ultimate-only character named Derek Morgan, and their leader Jean Grey, going by the alias Karen Grant. It also shows what some of the former X-men are doing, in particular Kitty Pride, who is hiding in the Morlock tunnels with Iceman and Johnny Storm.
Interestingly it seems like Kitty is going to have a major character progression in this arc and I am really looking forward to seeing where it is going. The cliffhanger at the end showed potential for an awesome story.
I think that it was a very good start to the “Ultimate Universe” relaunch. All the comics entertained me and I see the potential for there to be great stories, some more than others. “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” had the weakest start because of how short it was and that is surprising because I usually love Brian Michael Bendis, in particular his run on “Ultimate Spider-Man.” “Ultimate Comics Hawkeye #2” came out last week. “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” and “Ultimate Comics Ultimates” are out this week. I will be reviewing them next week so lookout for that.