911

This book was simply amazing, and I will definitely be looking up the rest of this series now. Only thing, if it can be an issue, is that Marvel is making the setting contemporary. On the one hand, it is a strength as it allows them to make certain commentaries on current events, but in the other, I could do without little things throwing it off like an appearance by George W. (who even in the comic looks foolish). That aside, this is an excellent storyline. The art is very good as well, and for me it was something I enjoyed a lot. Overall, I highly recommend this. Great start to what looks like a great series. And I also think casual readers will enjoy it. It is very accessible if you are not a fan of Marvel comics. If you are, you will enjoy this as well. ( )

"The Ultimates: Super-Human” is issue 4 (volume 28) in Marvel’s Ultimate Graphic Novels Collection. The book brings together the first six issues of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s “The Ultimates” limited series, which originally began publication in March 2002. The story begins with a World War Two introduction, with Captain America apparently killed. Fast forward to the present where we find Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. seeking to establish a strike force of government-sponsored metahumans to ally public fears about the rise of mutant beings with incredible powers. Based at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Triskelion facility in Manhattan Bay, we follow the team being put together.

Mark Millar’s writing on the book is highly entertaining, playing clever riffs on well-established characters and continuity, while at the same time making the book accessible to newcomers. The book is an updating of The Avengers and this modernising is nowhere more apparent than in Millar’s take on classic characters: Tony Stark (Iron Man) is an alcoholic playboy industrialist with a brain-tumour; Bruce Banner (the Hulk) is a tormented geneticist; Thor is a socialist hippy and the husband and wife team of Hank (Giant Man) and Janet Pym (the Wasp) are hiding dark secrets. This is all very clever and entertaining, but it strips back any nobility in the characters, fore-fronting their petty jealousies and making then little more the weapons for the manipulation of a cynical Government. The book sports some incredible artwork from Bryan Hitch, which is perhaps the last word in cinematic photo-realism. Hitch describes his Ultimates work as "widescreen, cinematic compositions" and it is simply visually magnificent. The hardcover also comes with a set of nice extras: the histories of both the writer and the artist, the original Bryan Hitch covers for the first six issues and a comparison of the Ultimate versions of the heroes and the regular Marvel Universe versions. This is an excellent book, which provides an excellent updating (if very dark) updating of the classic Marvel team and has some of the most incredible art from the last ten years. ( )

The Avengers assemble in post-9/11 America.

1.5/4 (Meh)

It features severe domestic abuse from Antman, a threat of rape from The Incredible Hulk, and no story for 5 of the 6 issues. ( )

They’re all jerks, and what’s even more impressive is that each of the --Ultimates-- are jerks in a unique and individual way. Maybe I’m sympathizing with Banner too much (one too many school dances being the nerd that doesn’t get teased because no one even notices I exist). But everyone from Betty Ross (quite the bitch in this TPB) to the Pyms, to Thor and Tony, and even the supposed perfect Captain America just seem to never let up on Banner.

The thing is, while I can barely stand most of the characters, I really liked the plot. They find Captain America in the ice and General Fury puts together the Ultimates, a team that’s basically the Avengers in the Ultimates universe.

So, it’s onto the second volume and maybe the characters get less douchey? ( )