Sunday, March 14, 2010

Ultimate Comics - New Ultimates #1 - Marvel

I told you I've been cutting back on the variant covers. Well . . that's still true. But . . sometimes when things pop up on e-bay I just can't help myself. That's what happened here. I was perfectly content just to pick up the the cover that came out on this issue. It's the one at the right here. It's a gate-fold cover, and unfolds about 8 times. So it's kind of like getting a poster with your book. I was fine with that. However, after looking around e-bay . . and about $8 later, it ends up that I have all 3 covers. Honest to god . . that wasn't my intention. But for anybody looking . . there's a ton of them listed on e-bay right now. They're pretty easy to find. Anyways, this story picks up 8 months after the Ultimatum. Tony Stark has decided to put the Ultimates back together again, and right now the team consists of Iron Man, Hawkeye, Valkyrie, Zarda and Captain America. Thor is still on the team, but he's stuck in Valhalla right now. Speaking of which . . Hela has decided that she'll let him go, if he provides her with a son. Talk about your cure being worse than the symptoms. Anyways, there's really not much going on other than your usual crime-fighting, until the team is attacked by the Defenders. They're on the side of good, but for some reason they attack the Ultimates so that they can take off with the hammer, Mjolnir. Now Valkyrie has no way of going after Thor. Anyways, the Defenders consist of Black Knight, Hellcat, Nighthawk, Son of Satan and Power Man. They're pictured on the cover to the left here. I'm not sure why they're after the hammer. Or why they had to attack them to get it. But the interesting part, to Tony, is that none of these people had any powers a few weeks ago. Yes they were essentially a team of powerless crime fighters. But then they disappeared off the radar a few weeks ago, and now . . this is how they come back. They've always been admirers of the Ultimates, so . . maybe they made some kind of deal to be like them. I don't know. That's a story for the future. And the Ultimates have some other things to worry about. Later, while T'Challa, Ka-Zar and Shanna are walking through Central Park, they witness the arrival of Loki and Amora with what looks like an army of trolls. So this team has gone from things being relatively quiet in the beginning of this issue, to having things attacking them from all sides in the course of a day. And of course the issue ends with Tony in bed with yet another woman. This time it's Colonel Carol Danvers. Talk about oil and vinegar. This is a relationship just waiting to blow up in their faces. Anyways, I thought this was a terrific opening chapter by Jeph Loeb and Frank Cho. I just hope they got a few issues ahead on Frank's work. You know how he can get behind schedule. I love his work. He's a great artist. But things usually fall behind pretty fast on his books. Here's hoping that they'll have a solution to the problem this time. As usual I have very high hopes for this book. The first 3, or was it 4? . . the first 3 times at this title have been fantastic. I'm hoping for more of the same.

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