That crazy Reed! What will he do next? Hickman continues to destroy everything in the Ultimate Universe that isn’t related to the other two Ultimate ongoings, and appealing to everyone who always wanted to see Reed go off the deep end – and don’t claim that you weren’t one of them. The question is if that’s enough to carry a series on.
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Esad Ribic– S.H.I.E.L.D. Has Been Taken Over But Where Does That Leave The Ultimates?
– As Nations Tumble, Could The U.S. Be Next To Fall?
When Mark Millar first wrote “The Ultimates” with artist Brian Hitch, the result was one of the best examples of what we call “widescreen comics” since Hitch coined the term while working with Warren Ellis on “The Authority.” It is a part of the title’s legacy, a legacy which Jonathan Hickman has not lost sight of. Even more so than his massive-in-scale run on “Fantastic Four,” “Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates” captures the feel of a high-budget action film, without sacrificing the qualities that set comics apart from film. The splash pages and larger panels are placed in all the right places, making them the effective moments of action that they’re supposed to be, rather than the crutch that many writers are guilty of putting into their scripts in order to shift some of the work off of their shoulders onto those of the artist. While the majority of the credit for this being a beautiful looking book, of course, goes to artist Esad Ribic – who will get to in a bit – it is important to give a tip of the hat to Hickman for giving Ribic a strong bone structure to build their comic on.
Of course, while there are some similarities in overall tone, Hickman is a vastly different writer from Millar, and he brings something uniqute to “The Ultimates” – namely, his penchant for science fiction. All the nuclear weapons of America being fired at a single location? Hickman – and, consequently, Ultimate Reed – knows how to handle that with ease. Additionally, and more in line with the original run by Millar, Hickman has been developing a stronger sense of individual voices than he has in some other comics. While his Reed gets most of the attention from fans, every character’s unique personality comes through his or her respective dialogue; Hawkeye and Fury get a particularly good moment of interaction in the beginning of this issue. We know that Hickman can bring the sci-fi goodness – and you better believe he does – but this issue and the ones before it show that he can give a large-cast book like this the nuanced characterization it needs.
Esad Ribic is an artist whose name almost always amounts to quality, and one who is the ideal partner for Hickman on this title. Like Hitch before him, Ribic really knows how to sell action – the page of the People and the Children slaying each other is just gorgeous – and his unique, painterly style fits the otherworldly quality of everything the team has encountered in this book. It is worth noting, though, that this is the longest run Ribic has done so far, and even though he has had help from artist Brandon Peterson, it is beginning to show. The razor sharp precision that is typically indicative of his talent is becoming less and less present, and while there are many panels where you can’t help but gape at his talent, there are an equal amount of panels with faces that just look… well, silly. This is, however, a superficial detail; the true hallmark of a comics artist is their ability to make a page readable, and Ribic is not at all slipping in that regard. Despite some steps backward, the art is still beautiful in ways that only a comic can be.
The main problem with this otherwise immensely enjoyable series is essentially the same thing that has been catching everyone’s attention: things seem to only get worse. So far, the moments of hope and promise have been wholly outnumbered by those of crushing despair, and while the evil genius that is Ultimate Reed Richards is a major factor of this run’s appeal, it reaches a point where the idea seems like it is being rammed down our throat. We get it – Reed is the most intelligent person in the Ultimate Universe, and a mastermind on a scale that has almost never been seen. After eight issues of everything going from bad, to worse, to even worse, though, it just seems like too much. Even the bleakest long-form stories have their moments where things appear to be looking up, which makes the moments where everything falls back apart all the more crushing. Last issue did have a brief moment of hope, balanced out by more terrible decisions and plans gone awry, but this issue is just another instance of all hell breaking loose. It could just be a matter of personal preference, but the reader needs a bit more to hang onto in a story like this, or else there seems to be little point to reading. The best stories center on tragedy and conflict, but they still need their moments of triumph so the reader doesn’t feel completely hopeless (note: this is coming from a big fan of Bendis’s “Daredevil,” which isn’t exactly one of the sunniest books around).
“Ultimate Comics: Ultimates” manages to both be a change of pace and stay on the same foundation that it was built on. This is one of Marvel’s best comics that are currently ongoing, and it will be interesting to see if it manages to say that way once Sam Humphries steps up to bat. My only request? Let’s see Reed fail, please?
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy it!
