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A review by tbr_the_unconquered
Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman
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.