Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Esad RibicThe stunning climax to Jonathon Hickman’s first arc in the bold new Ultimate Universe! The Ultimates are officially back, but can they stop a threat more powerful than the gods? With the world on the brink of destruction, how can Nick Fury stop this unimaginable threat?
This was my reaction when I read the first issue of Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic: “Gah! Wah! Awesome! This is, like, yeah! Like, I am totally enjoying this comic with the BANG! and the ZOOM! Fwasssshhhh and the oh man I can’t wait for more!” (For reference, when I’m not writing for this site, I apparently just speak like Michael Bay.)
Let’s see what my reaction was after reading the fourth, after the cut. Some mild spoilers are discussed, but they’re things that shouldn’t even be deemed spoilers if you’ve read any of the Ultimate books before this one.
This is the way the arc ends — not with a bang, but a whimper.
If there is one thing that I would often celebrate in Hickman’s work, it would be his ability to compartmentalize grandiose ideas into small bits and bursts. His arcs never run too long, his minis usually last four or so issues, and there is usually an abundance of content within any given issue that the man writes. Big ideas in small spaces, but always great results.
Well, ok. More like mostly great results. In looking at our recent Ultimate offerings, we’re given quite a bit to be desired. As our first arc comes to a conclusion, our heroes are essentially left decimated after being blind-sided by the appearance of the Children of Tomorrow and their City. Asgard and various cities around the globe are in ruins, SHIELD is in a permanent Condition Black, and the Ultimates are no longer any form of functioning unit. Perhaps I missed the memo, but apparently comics are no longer about the heroes triumphant any longer; now the Ultimates are brought to an extremely low point, and it is there they shall stay — and I mean that literally. When all is said and done, it appears the arc’s main purpose was simply to be a very long introduction, ending in a cease fire that allows Hickman to put these characters aside for a while now that he’s accomplished his initial ideas. These villains will be back, rest assured… but for now, we need to go look at this thing over here.
Ultimate Comics Hawkeye ended in a similar fashion, all things considered. The mini, which was designed to run parallel to the story of the Ultimates, saw the introduction of the Xorn brothers, as well as the reclassification of terms like “Celestial,” “Deviant” and “Eternal.” Of course, it also basically just ended — no grand conflict with impossible resolution, no last minute trick from the master marksman to help him save the day. Ultimate Comics Hawkeye was a $16 tease for stories that will see resolution in a year or two, existing essentially as a placeholder for readers so that when Hickman returns to this, we’ll already have gotten the “origin” bits out of the way and just make with the smashing.
Given these two books both ultimately ending on the same fizzled out note, we as a consumer begin to start questioning arbitrary values of the book. How worth it is it to you as a reader to invest in a story, only to find out that you’re not getting a succinct resolution for some time? In a world where we have media like LOST or Morning Glories, the idea of the longform mystery isn’t exactly an esoteric one, and I’d wager that most people reading books are fine waiting up to sixty issues for a proper resolution of a story (just look at a book like Y: The Last Man, Preacher, or any number of Vertigo books). However, the difference between the aforementioned books and this is that those books sought to tell their stories in complete arcs that told individual stories which would eventually reach an apex. The Ultimates just ends; we hit a figurative brick wall, put the book down and wait a month for the next issue, cold and confused.
Continued belowThe odd thing about it is that Hickman isn’t a stranger to these over-arcing stories. A reader of his work on Fantastic Four/FF and Secret Warriors will certainly be aware that one of Hickman’s greatest strengths is to lead the reader down a twisted pat throughout the course 25 or so issues before epically sideswiping the reader in the best of ways (Nick Fury’s final grand twist in SW; Johnny Storm’s death and rebirth recently in the pages of FF). The inherent intent of what Hickman is trying to accomplish by giving us the Hawkeye mini and this first arc of the Ultimates is clear, and its safe to say that Hickman certainly has plans for the team and the universe. However, unless you’re a Hickman fan already, it may seem a tad difficult to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
The final page of the issue is perhaps the most disappointing moment of all. To a certain extent, I can somewhat understand the thought process behind the execution — the new Ultimates by Hickman was intrinsically designed as a jumping on point; you shouldn’t theoretically have to know anything that came before, and things that came before are but briefly discussed/touched upon. At the same time, from a story perspective, the characters who have gone through this ordeal certainly aren’t up to date in the same way that the reader is — it’s dramatic irony incarnate. Still, it feels a tad bit insulting from the readers perspective to portray the big “revelation” of who designed the City as a moment of shock and awe. It’s a relatively small moment, all things considered, because anyone who read the Ultimate Enemy Trilogy and Ultimate Fallout is well aware who was behind it all. It hurts a bit more given that he reveals himself to Thor earlier in the issue, which would’ve been a perfectly great time to just get this idea off the table and instead leave the final moment of the arc for something with perhaps more brevity.
(As a note, I am not mentioning his name directly for those of you who didn’t know who he was from issue #1.)
It’s hard to be completely disappointed with the issue. From a visual standpoint, it’s quite grand. Esad Ribic’s art is on fire here, full of acute details that bring the world to life. His rendering of both the ethereal and the literal plane are a force to be reckoned with, and his artwork brings a grandiose shift in tone from the Ultimate stories that have come before this one. The slight hint of humor is gone, and Ribic infuses the pages with a stoic sense of realism that somehow feels more visceral than the comic of yesterday, which was literally stooped in culturally relevant remarks and commentary. Throw Dean White’s absolutely fantastic sense of illumination on colors, and you’re holding one powerful and beautiful looking book, all written elements aside. Ultimate Thor hasn’t looked this good since Hitch.
Still though, as the arc comes to a close, we’re very much left wanting. The solicit information asks, “how can Nick Fury stop this unimaginable threat?” The simple answer to this question is, he can’t — he doesn’t! There is just no form of resolution awaiting you in the pages of this issue. So instead we ask, “How can Jonathan Hickman make this work?” Let’s hope there’s an answer next month.
Final Verdict: 6.0 – Browse
