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A review by manwithanagenda
Ultimate Annuals, Volume 2 by Mike Deodato, Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, Ryan Sook, Charlie Huston, Mike Carey, Frazier Irving, Robert Kirkman
adventurous
dark
fast-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
Collecting the four annuals of the main Ultimate line-ups, we've got 2 good, 1 OK and a snoozer.
The big surprise here is that the snoozer ain't the Fantastic Four, it's Spider-man!
Spider-man's was just a lead-in into the over(under?)thought "Ultimate Knights" arc, where Spidey teamed up with Daredevil, Moon Knight and some kung-fu guys to bring down the Kingpin. Someone else said it somewhere, and someone else was right, that Ultimate crossovers really never seem to work out. No one knows how to write, or draw, these people together.
The X-Men has some neat resolution concerning Dazzler and the coma she'd been in for awhile, as well as some more resolutions concerning some unhealthy obsession. After the climax, though, things came off a little forced as if the writers just wanted to make room for new mutants.
Now for the good: The Ultimates' annual directly follows up on 'Ultimates 2' and focused on the slow, often thankless, work involved in cleaning up after such a serious international incident. Falcon also got some much needed time to develop that wasn't overshadowed with nonsense.
And now, the biggie: "The Fantastic Four Annual #2". It focuses on a second think tank that had been developed after the Fantastic Four had taken over the Baxter Building. Four young geniuses work on projects for the government until the Mole Man shows up with plans of his own for them. I cheated a little here and looked up the character of Strange Josie to see if she comes back. She does, but its limited, which is a shame. She's got a lot of potential.
Ultimate Marvel
Next: 'Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 6'
Previous: 'Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 5'
The big surprise here is that the snoozer ain't the Fantastic Four, it's Spider-man!
Spider-man's was just a lead-in into the over(under?)thought "Ultimate Knights" arc, where Spidey teamed up with Daredevil, Moon Knight and some kung-fu guys to bring down the Kingpin. Someone else said it somewhere, and someone else was right, that Ultimate crossovers really never seem to work out. No one knows how to write, or draw, these people together.
The X-Men has some neat resolution concerning Dazzler and the coma she'd been in for awhile, as well as some more resolutions concerning some unhealthy obsession. After the climax, though, things came off a little forced as if the writers just wanted to make room for new mutants.
Now for the good: The Ultimates' annual directly follows up on 'Ultimates 2' and focused on the slow, often thankless, work involved in cleaning up after such a serious international incident. Falcon also got some much needed time to develop that wasn't overshadowed with nonsense.
And now, the biggie: "The Fantastic Four Annual #2". It focuses on a second think tank that had been developed after the Fantastic Four had taken over the Baxter Building. Four young geniuses work on projects for the government until the Mole Man shows up with plans of his own for them. I cheated a little here and looked up the character of Strange Josie to see if she comes back. She does, but its limited, which is a shame. She's got a lot of potential.
Ultimate Marvel
Next: 'Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 6'
Previous: 'Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 5'