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manwithanagenda's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
My two main quibbles with 'Ultimate Comics Avengers: Next Generation' were 1. the new team was made up of, essentially, knock-offs of the originals, and 2. they weren't allowed to develop a group dynamic the way the Ultimates were. I enjoyed the story anyway and noted how Millar had laid the groundwork for group feeling.
The Avengers start out with only Hawkeye (finally relieved of his awful 'Ultimates 3' uniform, the new Black Widow and a barely present War Machine (literally, he opens his mouth, like, once). The others? Fuh'get about 'em.* Instead of building up a team that we can believe (even a tiny bit) that cares about itself we just get shiny new characters. We're introduced to Tyrone Cash, the 'first hulk', who is the kind of ridiculously inserted super duper important past character we've never heard of before this issue character that the Ultimate Universe was supposed to eliminate.
We also get the Punisher. I've said before that the Punisher was a victim of the great Marvel Team-Up Disaster where a slew of characters were reintroduced with only the most marginal of changes (the Punisher is a vengeful cop rather than a Vietnam vet). He's still badass, duh, but nothing particularly enlightening.
I did like Ghost Rider as the villain though, even if his villainy lead us all the way to the White House. Vice President Blackthorne (not Joe Biden, no sir) is a demon-worshiping fiend who's the next target of the rider. Cue ridiculous confrontation. Oh well, comics are supposed to be a little silly.
It was a fun read, but I can't shake holding Millar to a higher standard, especially with a project so close to the Ultimates, his best creation. The book gets an extra star for excellent use of 'the Spider', a creepy Spider-Man look-a-like who acts like Hannibal Lecter and whose manipulations allows a big leap in understanding the new Black Widow. That the revelation involves even more awful-human-being-status-points granting to Major Fury is par for the course. Him and Reed Richards seem set on getting more people killed than all the Ultimate Universe villains combined.
*Sorry, watched parts of 'Goodfellas' and other bits of AMC's Mob Week last night.
Ultimate Marvel
Next: 'Ultimate Comics Spider-man: Chameleons'
Previous: 'Ultimate Comics Avengers: Next Generation'
The Avengers start out with only Hawkeye (finally relieved of his awful 'Ultimates 3' uniform, the new Black Widow and a barely present War Machine (literally, he opens his mouth, like, once). The others? Fuh'get about 'em.* Instead of building up a team that we can believe (even a tiny bit) that cares about itself we just get shiny new characters. We're introduced to Tyrone Cash, the 'first hulk', who is the kind of ridiculously inserted super duper important past character we've never heard of before this issue character that the Ultimate Universe was supposed to eliminate.
We also get the Punisher. I've said before that the Punisher was a victim of the great Marvel Team-Up Disaster where a slew of characters were reintroduced with only the most marginal of changes (the Punisher is a vengeful cop rather than a Vietnam vet). He's still badass, duh, but nothing particularly enlightening.
I did like Ghost Rider as the villain though, even if his villainy lead us all the way to the White House. Vice President Blackthorne (not Joe Biden, no sir) is a demon-worshiping fiend who's the next target of the rider. Cue ridiculous confrontation. Oh well, comics are supposed to be a little silly.
It was a fun read, but I can't shake holding Millar to a higher standard, especially with a project so close to the Ultimates, his best creation. The book gets an extra star for excellent use of 'the Spider', a creepy Spider-Man look-a-like who acts like Hannibal Lecter and whose manipulations allows a big leap in understanding the new Black Widow. That the revelation involves even more awful-human-being-status-points granting to Major Fury is par for the course. Him and Reed Richards seem set on getting more people killed than all the Ultimate Universe villains combined.
*Sorry, watched parts of 'Goodfellas' and other bits of AMC's Mob Week last night.
Ultimate Marvel
Next: 'Ultimate Comics Spider-man: Chameleons'
Previous: 'Ultimate Comics Avengers: Next Generation'
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