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library_jones's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
texaswolfman's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. A threat so powerful they make the ultimates look like chumps. One of my comic book guys recommended this series when it first came out. I read the 1st issue and was not in impressed. Later was reading the trade in B&N and quickly realized it was awesome. Great art and pacing. And the Hulk doesn't even show until the next trade. I am hooked.
tbr_the_unconquered's review
2.0
The approach Joss Whedon or the Russo brothers took with their Avengers movies is certainly not how the comic book writers saw their characters. After having been through a couple of the comic story lines around the superhero team, I did understand what a lot of comic readers have commented earlier : The Avengers aren’t that great comic book material. Jonathan Hickman’s run which started with The Ultimates Vol. 1 while being quite average is still galaxies better than Mark Millar’s Vol. 1.
So far as I have seen, when there is this bunch of superheroes coming together there can only be one of the two generic storylines :
1. They fight a/ a group of hyper powered super villain(s) or an intergalactic threat or
2. They fight among themselves.
This story line falls into the first camp when a seemingly invincible group calling themselves ‘The Children of Tomorrow’ arrive on Earth and begin their process of cleansing ( yawn !). S.H.I.E.L.D jumps into the fray with Nick Fury taking command and the boots on the ground first are Iron Man, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Even as they mount their fight, Asgard falls to the invaders and the only survivor of the onslaught is Thor. The rest of the book is about Iron Man and Thor along with Fury trying to fight back against the invasion. Being the first in the series the book is very open ended : the invaders have the upper hand here, they are led by a formidable intellect and all factors seem to be against our favorite heroes. Captain America and Black Widow have cameos and while his name is mentioned here, there is no Hulk in sight. This leaves the entire department of action and pyrotechnics in the hands of two gentlemen : Iron Man and Thor which they handle with their trademark finesse.
Hickman’s characters are likable and that is a huge leap from the brutes in Mark Millar’s version. There are far too many untied threads for me to recommend this first volume and give a solid review. More when I complete the series.
So far as I have seen, when there is this bunch of superheroes coming together there can only be one of the two generic storylines :
1. They fight a/ a group of hyper powered super villain(s) or an intergalactic threat or
2. They fight among themselves.
This story line falls into the first camp when a seemingly invincible group calling themselves ‘The Children of Tomorrow’ arrive on Earth and begin their process of cleansing ( yawn !). S.H.I.E.L.D jumps into the fray with Nick Fury taking command and the boots on the ground first are Iron Man, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Even as they mount their fight, Asgard falls to the invaders and the only survivor of the onslaught is Thor. The rest of the book is about Iron Man and Thor along with Fury trying to fight back against the invasion. Being the first in the series the book is very open ended : the invaders have the upper hand here, they are led by a formidable intellect and all factors seem to be against our favorite heroes. Captain America and Black Widow have cameos and while his name is mentioned here, there is no Hulk in sight. This leaves the entire department of action and pyrotechnics in the hands of two gentlemen : Iron Man and Thor which they handle with their trademark finesse.
Hickman’s characters are likable and that is a huge leap from the brutes in Mark Millar’s version. There are far too many untied threads for me to recommend this first volume and give a solid review. More when I complete the series.
theartolater's review
4.0
I got off of the Ultimates train kind of early. With the Ultimate Comics restart, I'm diving back in a bit finally, and I ended up liking Ultimates for a few reasons:
1) Jonathan Hickman gets large-scale stuff, both in his indies and in every Marvel thing I've seen of his. This is no different, because there is a lot of big stuff coming in this arc.
2) Danger is ever-present, in a way it largely hasn't been prior to Ultimatum, and even in general in a universe where death is permanent. There's a final frame in one of the chapters where you see a total look of shock and fear on Nick Fury's face, and it may be the most perfect comic frame I've ever seen.
3) Superheroes are both heroic and limited. The impressive thing about this arc is that you get the feeling that the Ultimates have met their overall match. That doesn't happen often.
It's got me excited for the next volume, for sure. It's got me excited about the Ultimates again.
1) Jonathan Hickman gets large-scale stuff, both in his indies and in every Marvel thing I've seen of his. This is no different, because there is a lot of big stuff coming in this arc.
2) Danger is ever-present, in a way it largely hasn't been prior to Ultimatum, and even in general in a universe where death is permanent. There's a final frame in one of the chapters where you see a total look of shock and fear on Nick Fury's face, and it may be the most perfect comic frame I've ever seen.
3) Superheroes are both heroic and limited. The impressive thing about this arc is that you get the feeling that the Ultimates have met their overall match. That doesn't happen often.
It's got me excited for the next volume, for sure. It's got me excited about the Ultimates again.
mittland's review
3.0
im a big hickman fan but sometimes he does not treat me well. this series started out great but i should have known...if only id seen the signs...
the_graylien's review
5.0
Over the years, the superhero comics that have really blown me away have had a sort of element of shock. You know the feeling. When you're reading and there's this sensation of panic. You flip pages compulsively, you get totally lost in the action, and you're thinking, "Oh shit! These are out modern gods! The epitome of being the best we can be!"
And while you're reading, the heroes may be getting beaten and things aren't going quite the way that humanity might hope they would but there's this feeling... When you're in that moment, it really makes for a good story.
That's how this book felt.
A city of radically evolved humans have decided that Earth needs to the taken over. The Ultimates (the Ultimate Marvel Universe version of the Avengers) are the only thing that stand between us and total domination... and they're getting their butts handed to them.
And when you see when the villain of the story is, your eyes are gonna bug out of your head...
Writer Jonathan Hickman had never really swayed me this much with the few things of his I'd read before. This one changed all that.
The art, most of the interior work being done by the talented hands Esad Ribic and Dean White, was stellar, not to mention the beautiful covers of Kaare Andrews.
This may be the best Ultimates story I've read yet. Definitely great.
*- I read this book as digitally downloaded issues of Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #s 1-6.
And while you're reading, the heroes may be getting beaten and things aren't going quite the way that humanity might hope they would but there's this feeling... When you're in that moment, it really makes for a good story.
That's how this book felt.
A city of radically evolved humans have decided that Earth needs to the taken over. The Ultimates (the Ultimate Marvel Universe version of the Avengers) are the only thing that stand between us and total domination... and they're getting their butts handed to them.
And when you see when the villain of the story is, your eyes are gonna bug out of your head...
Writer Jonathan Hickman had never really swayed me this much with the few things of his I'd read before. This one changed all that.
The art, most of the interior work being done by the talented hands Esad Ribic and Dean White, was stellar, not to mention the beautiful covers of Kaare Andrews.
This may be the best Ultimates story I've read yet. Definitely great.
*- I read this book as digitally downloaded issues of Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #s 1-6.