Ultimates Avengers 3 #1, #2, #3 and #4 - Marvel

I love the Ultimate Universe . . I think there is a great cast of characters here. I also love the 'break from conformity' that we get with these stories. I just have to keep remembering that the Avengers here are the 'covert' team. And that the Ultimates are the 'main-attraction'. I guess I'm just not used to that paradigm, so I get surprised every time I start reading a new one of these mini-series. Anyways, in this story we find out that there's someone out there who is trying to consolidate all the various factions of the vampire underworld. Plus . . he has aspirations of adding the 'super-hero' element to his consolidated army. In the first few issues it's kind of inferred that the culprit is none other than Tony Stark. He's wearing an older Iron Man shell, and . . his name is Anthony. We also find out that he's only been recently bitten, and is already using his intellect to try to do what the various vampire leaders have been talking about doing for years. In the first few issues things start to look bad for the 'super-heroes' already. First we see a new 'hero' develop, Ray Connor. He's the new Daredevil, and he's already being trained by Stick. However, he's barely on the scene when he and Stick are taken out by a vampire attack. And specifically . . the Nerd Hulk. It appears that Bruce was also recently 'converted', and is eager to prove that he can be more of an asset to this team than he was to his previous one. It isn't long before Anthony uses the Hulk, and his internal tracking device, to lure Nick Fury and his hastily assembled Avengers into a trap. They're lured into the sewers of Manhattan where Cap, Steve Rogers, is the next one bitten. Anyways, while all of this is going on, Blade is also working himself into this story . . from the outside in. He's just going about his normal routine . . killing vampires, when he also gets propositioned by Anthony to join his new Vampire nation. That's when he learns about Anthony trying to 'recruit' some super-hero vampires. He gets involved with the Avengers when they take Cap back to the Triskellion, after he's bitten. I have a feeling that Cap's Super-Soldier-Serum, that's coursing through his veins, will be able to counteract the viral assault. But . . as of these issues we don't see that happening, yet. In fact Cap tries to take a bite out of Blade . . when Blade tries to 'Stake' him. But he's got to know that won't have any affect on him . . seeing as he's already half Vampire. But he uses the distraction to break free, and join up with the rest of the Vampires. That's when Tony, and Gregory Stark get involved. It turns out the Anthony that's running around in Tony's old armor is actually Anthony, 'the greatest Vampire hunter of all time'. He's the one that trained Blade, as well as Stick and Stone and Shaft, and personally recruited Matt Murdock as the original Daredevil. Apparently, about a month ago, one of the Vampires got the drop on him. Anyways, by the end of issue #4, Nerd Hulk decides that he wants to make a play for the leadership role. After antagonizing and challenging Anthony . . he swiftly takes him out. 'Gamma Radiation mixed with Vampire blood? I won this fight before I even showed up, dumbass.' So now the question is, how will this change in leadership alter the Vampire's plans? And . . when will Cap get back to being himself, and go postal on these creatures of the night? Mark Millar is doing a great job with this story. But . . I expected nothing less. I'm also thrilled with Steve Dillon's art. His art is so crisp and clean, it's the perfect antithesis for the dark nature of this story. Plus it looks really good. The covers are by Leinel Yu, Ed McGuinness, Olivier Coipel and Greg Land respectfully. They all look stunning. My only question is . . why are there Vampires everywhere nowadays? They're plaguing the X-Men right now, as well as the Avengers, the small and big screen, and a variety of other places. All of the sudden they've become the chic anti-hero? It's interesting, but . . it's all getting to be a bit to much for me. Vampire stories, for me, are ok every now and again. But right now . . everywhere you turn they're popping up. Kind of like the Marvel Zombies a year or so ago. Anyways, I like this title, as well as this group. I think the Ultimate Universe is putting out some great material. It's interesting, full of fresh ideas, and . . they aren't afraid to shake things up a bit. I've enjoyed every one of their titles.

Ultimate Spider-man #13, #14 and #15 - Marvel

I know . . I always go on and on about how good this series is . . and really, the entire Ultimate Universe line. But . . I really, really like these books. Spider-man is one of my favorite characters anyways. And the opportunity to see him in his teens, I think, creates some of the best Spider-man stories I've ever read. Add to that the fantastic writing of Brian Bendis, and David LaFuente's incredible interpretation of this character . . I've been hooked since the very beginning. Now . . there's even more good news on the horizon. The issue after #15, with normal numbering, would've been #150. So they're switching back. One, because of the milestone with this title. But also because it's the 10th anniversary of the Ultimate Universe. There's a variant J Scott Campbell cover. And also . . in future issues . . we're going to be seeing the Ultimate Universe version of . . the Black Cat. I can't wait. Anyways, with the current issues, we get parts 5 & 6 of Tainted Love. In issue #13 we see this Chameleon type character trying to slip into Peter's life. He'd already gone to live with Aunt May. And has things entirely f'd up with the whole love triangle of Peter / Gwen and MJ. But at the end of issue #12 he discovered that Peter was actually Spider-man. So with the help of some MGH (mutant growth hormone), he's out trying out Spider-man's powers . . and costume. It would actually be pretty funny, if Peter wasn't stuck in such dire circumstances, and . . the guy has decided to use Spider-man's powers to make him and his sister rich. Oh yeah . . there's 2 of these guys. Apparently brother and sister. While the brother is out mucking about with his new found abilities, the sister is holding Peter and JJ hostage. Their original plan was to make some money off of JJ's identity. You know, being rich, and a publisher and everything. But then they stumbled across Peter. Anyways, in the process of all this . . without to much of a leap of logic, JJ figures out that Peter is actually Spider-man. Not to mention that both of these creeps also know his identity. And once they decide that Spider-man can do so much more for them than JJ ever could . . they shoot him. But the problem with their plan is . . once the news hits of Spider-man's apparent crime-spree around town . . May gets upset, so she asks Bobby and Johnny to go out and find him. Which doesn't take them to long. Spider-man as a bank-robber isn't to hard to find. And even though this guy is getting more used to Peter's powers . . and he seems to have some kind of power of his own, he's still no match for these kids who have seen more action than him, and have actually been trained in the use of their powers. After Bobby and Johnny follow him back to where they've got Peter stashed . . they make pretty short work of him. But then the problem becomes . . what do they do with them? Not only do they know Peter's identity, but also Bobby and Johnny's. So it probably wouldn't be to much of a stretch for them to piece other things together. So they end up turning them over to Carol Danvers at SHIELD. What else could they do? Oh yeah . . JJ isn't dead. Apparently the bullet just grazed his head. He's in bad condition, but they save him when Johnny rushes him to the hospital. Anyways, both of these issues were brought to us by Brian and David. However, Sara Pichelli does the art for issue #15. This issue is kind of the aftermath of the previous storyline. Peter is trying to put his life back together, but he finds out that some people just aren't willing to forgive him . . Gwen. MJ is trying to be understanding . . she knows this wasn't really Peter's fault. But Gwen isn't so forgiving. By the end of the issue she ends up leaving. He also gets a lecture from Aunt May and Carol Danvers. Although May's was probably more upsetting to him . . Carol's is the one that's on his mind, and that he has to worry about. It isn't really so much about what she said, as how she ended the conversation. 'I can't order you to stop . . civil liberties and all that. But the next time something like this happens, you're going to force me to have to make a decision on your behalf. And I really don't think you'll like it. Go home, Peter Parker.' It sounded more like an ultimatum, than necessarily a threat. But the one shining point . . as Peter's trying to sort out this whole mess, is that JJ puts out a story telling the world exactly what has happened to them. But in it . . he does not reveal Peter's identity. It turns out, after everything he's been through . . JJ has become one of Peter's, and Spider-man's staunchest supporters. 'God gave me the power to help Spider-man. I know this now. I will fight this entire world for him.' Whodathunkit? Oh yeah . . and that girl . . the one from the mother and daughter crime team, the Bombshells . . she started going to Peter's school. That can't be good. So now that everything has been tossed into the hamper, and stirred about like a salad . . now that Peter's life is in complete shambles . . Brian can start putting together the pieces and figure out where this character goes from here in the 104 page 150th issue extravaganza. Of course, 52 of those pages are reprints, but . . it's still an oversized issue. And with Skottie Young and David doing the art . . it should be fantastic. I really can't overstate how good this book is . . and has been . . continually. If you're a Spider-man fan at all . . and the least bit interested in this book . . you should definitely pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #6 - Marvel

I enjoyed this issue, and this series. I thought Mark Millar did a great job with the story. They've got some great characters to work with here. We've got Tyrone Cash, the first Hulk, and we were introduced to the Ultimate Universe's version of the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and the Punisher. The setup for this story is pretty simple. There were some men who killed Johnny as a sacrifice to Satan. Their goal was to gain power. Which they did. Now, several years later, Johnny has been given the power of the Ghost Rider, by Satan, and has begun to exact his revenge against those that killed him. The problem is, one of the . . Blackthorne, is now the Vice President of the United States. So when Nick Fury is called up and asked to stop this Ghost Rider, he puts together a very powerful black-ops team which he calls the Avengers. And they take on the task of protecting the VP. Well . . they do that after they try miserably to stop the Ghost Rider on one of his other targets. When they put the list together, of how the victims are connected, Blackthorne is the only one left. Which is again when they run into another problem. By the time Johnny gets to Blackthorne, Satan has given the VP the same powers as the Ghost Rider. I guess it was just his way of making sure that he actually gets his soul when things are all said and done. That, or . . he just has one sick, twisted sense of humor. Anyways, there's a big fight, and for some reason Johnny and Blackthorne switch back to their human identities to carry it on. This is when Frank Castle comes along and shoots Blackthorne in the head. Like I said, I think the whole purpose of this story-line was to introduce us to this Universe's version of these two . . sorry, make that three characters . . Ghost Rider, Punisher and the first Hulk. At the end, Satan agrees to let Johnny keep his powers, and Roxanne her new life, as long as Johnny keeps sending him new souls. Meanwhile, Hawkeye helps Frank escape from the government program and he goes to Russia to hunt down mobsters there. He believes that he's been sent a message from somebody on the other side . . 'Keep up the good work.' And we'll obviously see another on of these mini-series as Black Widow and Red Wasp are hardly featured at all in this story-line. I thought Mark did a good job with the story, and I enjoyed Leinil Francis Yu's version of these characters. He does a great job with the action sequences. If you missed this one I'm sure it'll be out in TPB soon. You should check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Ultimate Mystery #1 - Marvel

So we don't know who the Ultimate Enemy is yet, but . . the events of that series carry over directly into this one. Nick Fury is worried about Project Pegasus. It's kind of like the Warehouse 13 of the Ultimate Universe. Anyways, he's worried that it may be a target so he's sent Captain Marvel there to help protect it. However, at the end of this issue, we see the recently transformed Rick Jones also show up. Marvel thinks he's a threat, and treats him as such, but Rick is pleading with him . .'Don't hit me. I was sent here. I was sent here! The . . the . . the Watchers of the Universe. They sent me here to stop what's going to come. The gave me powers and told me . . all they said was . . DESTRUCTION!!' That's how this issue ends . . with these 2 cosmic entities getting ready to face off. Isn't that what it always come down to? Anyways, we also see Spider-man talking to his female counterpart this issue. She's been trying to take down Roxxon ever since she was created. So she knew about the attack before it happened. She's convinced that it's centered around Roxxon. So she and Peter have decided to team-up and take them on together. Also, Sue, Johnny and Ben are now guests at the Triskellion. As we saw in the last issue of Ultimate Enemy that Ben has transformed. His rocks were gone and he was all glowey at the end of that issue. Well now . . now that he's been poked and prodded by the SHIELD doctors and scientists . . now he finds out that he's able to turn it on and off. 'I got all my power and none of the orange rocky discharge. The guys upstairs think the orange rock me was like a cocoon.' And as such, Nick Fury has decided to make them all agents of SHIELD. And that's where we stand after the first issue. All I really know ahead of time is that the 'Enemy' the 'Mystery' won't be revealed until the final issue of this series . . issue #4. So in the meantime, I'm sure, all we're going to get is hints and innuendo. As usual, I thought Brian Bendis did a great job writing this story. I especially liked the dialogue between Spider-man and Spider-girl (?), and Captain Marvel and Commander Vaughn. Brian does a great job with that, especially when it comes to Spider-man. Rafa Sandoval does the art. I'm probably wrong, but I think this all has something to do with Reed. I don't know for sure what, but . . somehow he's the center of all this. I guess we'll find out . . later.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #5 - Marvel

I can't believe that this mini-series only has 1 issue left. This one just flew by. The team is bracing at the White House for the attack by Johnny Blaze. They all think that he's a mutant. They don't have any conception that he's actually a hell-spawn. Anyways, they're trying to protect the Vice-President, whom, unbeknownst to them, is the last surviving member of the group that killed Johnny as an offering to the Devil. However, now the devil has come to collect his due. He offers to give the VP some power to fight Johnny, but . . in order to do so, he also wants his soul. He agrees and now there's 2 Ghost Rider type characters out there fighting on the streets of Washington. The Avengers try to get in there and shake it up a bit with them, but . . these guys are in a whole different league. Even Thor, Cash, appears to be no match for them. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out next issue, because right now it looks as if all the Avengers can do is stand back and watch these 2 go at it . . hoping that they, or any innocent bystanders, don't get caught in the cross-fire. Johnny's got 20 years of rage built up towards Blackthorne. I don't think he's going to slow down any until all of that is spent. As usual Mark Millar turns in a great story. I love the way he's put this Avengers team together as a black-ops unit. Of course, it's the Ultimate Universe, so . . he can pretty much do whatever he wants. How liberating must that be? Anyways, great story, and great art by Leinil Francis Yu. I can't wait to read the next issue. It should be a doozy.

Ultimate Comics - New Ultimates #3 - Marvel

This issue gives us a lot of the background on Barbara Morris . . Valkrie. If that's even her real name. She was wandering around kind of aimlessly in life until one day she came across an ad on the internet for the Defenders. They were looking for new team-mates. They were a super-team in the traditional sense, as they had no powers. Little did they know that this little girl from . . well, somewhere . . would change all that. Somehow, in her longing to have real powers, she garners the attention of Loki. Although, she doesn't knot that's who it is. Anyways, he turns her into a real Valkrie and Thor falls in love with her. But then Thor got banished to Death's realm . . from which he's been trying to get out ever since, and Valkrie has once again been kind of aimless. Mostly because she doesn't feel that the rest of the team respects, or trusts her. And . . she's probably right. They just didn't say anything when Thor was around. Anyways, so now Loki is trying to make a bid to take over New York City, and he and Amora have got Valkrie, Zarda and Carol Danvers under his spell. Although Carol's faking it, which is what helps to turn the tide. All through this book you know that Valkrie is under his spell, but the way she's talking and thinking . . it just seems that she's kind of given up hope, and also doesn't trust her team-mates. It isn't until Hawkeye shoots Amora, loosening her grip, that Valkrie realizes how far off the path she's gotten. She comes after Loki, but he uses her own sword to impale her. However, just as that happens . . Thor shows up. Having witnessed what Loki has done to Valkrie . . he is seriously pissed. Jeph Loeb does a great job with the interaction and dialogue of these characters. I liked the way he had Valkrie thinking about all of this throughout the story, and using her emotions to justify everything that she's doing. Like I said, without realizing how far off the path she had gotten. I thought it was a great issue, and, as always, I loved Frank Cho's art. I can't wait to see how the dynamic changes here, now that Thor is back. And . . what he's going to do to Loki. This is a great book. I love every issue of it.

Ultimate Spider-man #12 - Marvel

I'm not sure who this guy is, who's taken over for Peter, but . . he's really starting to make a mess of his life. Last issue MJ and Peter went to the Bugle to tell them about the story of Kitty . . you know, about the Feds showing up in school to kick her out. MJ had gotten video of it. Anyways, while there Peter sees JJ, but . . something's wrong. So he excuses himself and follows him . . to the basement. There, whomever was taking JJ's place knocks Peter out and takes his place instead. He doesn't know that he's Spider-man, but . . he does know that he's very powerful. So now, this issue, he's trying to backtrack and figure out just who Peter is, and what is his secret. He screws up the first time by kissing MJ. Then, when Gwen practically attacks him in the attic, he tells her about the encounter. Sending her off into a rage. He also almost beats up Flash. And then, the next day in school, kisses MJ again right in front of Gwen. This is when Gwen decides it's time for her to leave . . both school, and Aunt May's. That's when, while yelling at Peter, she makes a mention of the 'costumes'. The guy immediately runs to the attic and finds Spider-man's costume. 'Never doubt me again. Face it tiger . . we just hit the jackpot.' Peter's already run into Mysterio, so . . I don't think it's him. Maybe it's this reality's version of Chameleon. We don't really know yet. Anyways, this was another great issue. Brian Bendis has once again done a tremendous job with the story. I absolutely love all the interaction between these characters. Also, it was funny seeing this guy, who's taking Peter's place, have to deal with all the angst and trauma of High School life. He probably felt like he was walking into a nightmare. I also enjoyed David LaFuente's art. I think he's getting more and more comfortable with this series with every issue. I look forward to this book every month.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #4 - Marvel

The Avengers are hunting down the Ghost Rider? Only in the Ultimate Universe. And with all their combined might . . they don't really stack up very well against him. We find out this issue that all of these deaths . . the important people that the Ghost Rider has been knocking off, all go back to his origin. This one is a little bit different from the one we know. Johnny Blaze and Roxanne were out riding, about 20 years ago, when he came upon a biker bar. Everything appeared to be ok, but actually the gang that resided there ending up using Johnny as a sacrifice to Lucifer. Because of that sacrifice, they ended up becoming some of the most powerful and richest men in America. These are the men that the Ghost Rider has been killing. Which is because when Johnny ended up in hell, Satan offered Johnny a deal also. He wanted to double-cross his disciples and offer Johnny a chance for revenge. But Johnny wanted to make sure that Roxanne was ok, so . . he sold his soul to the devil, literally, for her safety. And the last 20 years have been spent by Satan preparing Johnny for this conflagration. 'Now he's back . . to do Satan's work . . and send his killers to hell.' And one of this gang . . the one who issued the executive order for the Avengers to go after the Ghost Rider . . 'Who do you think passed down that executive order? That memo came straight from the White House . . he's the Vice-President of the United States.' That could cause a bit of a problem. Even if Johnny is righteous in what he's doing. Which I'm not saying he is, but . . he certainly has cause. Anyways, another interesting development in this story is that all of this information is being given by . . the Spider. He's a Spider-man from the future that they're holding in the Triskelion, and apparently has come back with a warning for humanity. In the future he's the love-child of Spider-man and Charles Xavier. Hmmm! Very interesting. While Nick is back at the Triskelion talking to Carol, we also finally see Tony come face to face with his brother Gregory. 'At least now I know where all of my contracts have been going.' Nick tells him that Gregory has always handled black-ops. To which Gregory says, 'Just ignore him General. He's always been a whiny little bitch.' Oh yeah, and this guy that we've seen around that kind of looks like Remy . . apparently he's Satan. It's not enough that he's got Johnny up here doing his business. It appears that he has to muck about in things as well. It's probably just in his nature. Anyways, I thought it was a great issue. And I really love the way that Mark Millar is handling these characters. I also like the way that he's put a unique twist on things. I like this Tyrone Cash as the first Hulk. And Bruce's clone, the Nerd Hulk, is awesome. I can't wait to see how this mini-series wraps up. I like the way that they're doing these in installments . . like the Ultimates, rather than a continuing series. Also, Leinel Francis Yu contributes some fantastic art. I still maintain that these Ultimate books are one of the most exciting line of books in comics right now. They're all fantastic.

Ultimate X #3 - Marvel

In the first issue we discovered that Jimmy Hudson was Logan's son. He never met his father, but the man who raised him knew him, and spoke very highly of him. Anyways, in the second issue we find out that Jean Grey is still alive. She's living in Chicago, and is living under the assumed identity of Karen Grant. She died her hair black so, she doesn't look anything like her. This issue Jimmy and Karen discover another mutant. He's the one pictured on the cover here, Derek Morgan. He has powers kind of like Warren's. Except that he can retract his wings. It causes him a great amount of pain, but . . he can do it. Anyways, most of this issue is about his life. His father died, and he dropped out of school. So he's come to live with his brother . . Police Officer, Joe Morgan and his wife Lynn. Which isn't easy on any of them. Especially since Derek's trying to keep his powers a secret. Ever since Ultimatum there's been a hunt for mutants. Even in this case, where Derek is actually trying to keep the streets of his neighborhood clean, the cops have decided to shoot on sight. They don't want any stories making it to the paper that might actually make this guy out to be a hero. Anyways, it's getting harder and harder to hide. One night he stops a mugging, but his brother's partner, Officer Juarez, decides to have a look on the nearby rooftops, and comes face to face with Derek. Luckily it's raining, so she doesn't get a good look at him. But he's tired of lying to his brother so one night . . he snatches him up and takes him up into the night sky to talk to him. His brother feels for him, but . . he wants to do what's right. So he wants to arrest him. They struggle, there's a shot fired, and they both end up falling in the river. Joe's partner pulls him out, but Jean and Jimmy are close by to lend Derek a hand. They get him out of the water without anybody seeing him. Once they patch him up, they give him a choice. They can either wipe his brother's memory of him, or . . his memory of them. He decides he's tired of hiding so he asks them to fix his brother. Jean doesn't do anything to harsh. She leads him to believe that he's taken a job in Cincinnati, and to forget about their encounter. In the end everything works out the best for all of them. Except for this newly formed band of X-Men that still have to live as outlaws. At least their numbers are growing. Hopefully they'll pick up Kitty, since she seems to be into so much trouble over in Ultimate Spider-man. I think Jeph Loeb is doing a great job with this series. And I love Art Adam's art. This issue looked especially good. I also think this series is a great improvement over the previous Ultimate X-Men series. I liked it, but . . I don't think they went far enough away from the original. That's what this whole Ultimate Universe is all about . . artistic license. Use it or lose it, baby!

Ultimate Avengers 2 #3 - Marvel

This is another example of the great job that these creators are doing with the Ultimate line of books right now. We saw that Nick Fury has put together his little black-ops team that consists of Hawkeye, Black Widow, Red Wasp, War Machine, Nerd Hulk, Tyrone Cash . . the first Hulk . . and Frank Castle, the Punisher. That team alone is a good reason to buy this book. You just know that with this group of people things are going to escalate from bad to worse real fast. Making it an exciting and pulse-pounding story. Anyways, add to that Mark Millar's scripts, and Leinel Francis Yu's pencils, and we've got almost the perfect book her. And at the end of last issue they found out what their first mission was . . 'retrieve and neutralize the Ghost Rider'. Well, it appears that to date the Ghost Rider hasn't really been a very public figure in the Ultimate Universe, because . . nobody really knows who he is. And since they don't know who he is, they don't know what he's capable of. All they really know right now is that he's been killing some wealthy industrialists, who's only connection seems to be their health and the fact that they all belonged to the White House Biker Corps. 'An exclusive club where rich guys meet up once a year for a charity bike ride.' First of all . . what rich guy is gonna' belong to a club where that is it's only attribute. Secondly, how coincidental is it that these guys belong to a bike club . . gang? . . and Ghost Rider is also coming after them on his bike? Obviously there's more here than meets the eye, but . . since we're only on issue #3 of 6 . . we can't be given to much information . . yet. Mark did a great job with the interaction of these characters this issue. It appears that Clint and Frank may form a type of friendship. If Frank lets him in. Anyways, I just thought it was a very entertaining and exciting book. I think this is a great concept and I can't wait to see more.

Ultimate Spider-man #11 - Marvel

After what happened in Peter's school, Aunt May has asked that he, and the rest of his amazing friends, cool it on the 'super-hero' role playing for a little while. They don't like having their hands tied. They're probably kind of adrenaline junkies by now. But . . May just doesn't want the same thing to happen in their home as has happened in school. So Bobby gets a job at the food-court with Peter. It's hilarious. And MJ finally shows Peter and Gwen the footage that she took at the school, by accident, when this whole thing went down. They're not sure what to do with it, but . . Peter does know the perfect person to talk to . . Ben Urich. But while at the Bugle . . er, I'm sorry . . it's actually Dailybugle.com now . . anyways, Peter falls into another mess. When he sees JJ his spider-sense goes off. So he ends up following him to the basement. I'm not sure who this is, but . . it's somebody like the Chameleon, or Mysterio who can assume the look and identity of somebody else. Whomever it is, he was posing as JJ. Now that he's knocked Peter out, he decided to assume his identity. He's got some kind of electrical thing, or pulse that he uses to knock him out. And then he goes back up with MJ to sit in on her discussion with Ben about Kitty. I'm not really sure what this guy is up to. But, I still maintain that this is my favorite Spider-man book out there, right now. For the last 10 years or so I think Brian Bendis has done a terrific job with this title. He really captures Peter's character, as well as his friends and family. I actually caught myself laughing out load a couple of times during this issue. I loved it. And I think David Lafuente has done a great job of making this book his own. I don't always like his style, but . . for the overall book, I think he pulls it together quite nicely. I think his strongest point is his framing sequences and panel flow. The story moves along very nicely. Anyways, to be honest with you . . I'm thrilled with all of the Ultimate titles right now. I think they all have fantastic stories going. I don't know that it's necessarily because of the relaunch, but . . it feels like everybody involved is putting in a little extra effort right now. They're really putting some great stuff on the shelves.

Ultimate Enemy #4 - Marvel

Ok . . so who is the Ultimate enemy? Well . . that's a complicated story. We really got 2 stories going on now. Yes the enemy attacked, but . . they've got him/it contained now. Well, maybe not contained so much as . . they're holding it. Carol Danvers is interrogating it. And she makes a pretty good argument for cooperation, but . . she just doesn't have the lack of morals to follow through with the threats. So . . she calls in Nick Fury. Now Nick goes at him with extreme vigor. He's not afraid of getting his hands dirty, or causing a few bruises. But, again . . there's just a certain line that he's not going to cross. So then they call in . . Hawkeye. 'We'll be starting with your reproductive organs.' And almost immediately, he at least starts getting sounds out of this guy. They're guttural and express agony, but . . they're something. 'Now you know why god gave you 2 of almost everything. It's so you get a second chance to answer the question.' But when he starts talking, it's sounds like Catholic school-girl rhetoric. 'I am . . the creation of the creator. Your society does not work. Your morals are corrupted beyond repair. It is your choices that bring this punishment. And out of this destruction will come a new world. A clean world. A world of true promise.' And then . . he starts taking on the form of the massive bio-organism that attacked the Roxxon building. So the answer to the previous question is . . the Ultimate Enemy is . . an Ultimate Mystery. Which happens to be the name of the next mini-series. So, yes he talked, but . . we didn't really get any answers that can help us. Anyways, the other part of the story is about Ben. During the firefight last issue, outside of Peter's house, Ben started to have some kind of reaction. Pieces of his rocky hide started falling off. Well . . not so much falling off as shooting off like projectiles . . hard, rocky, not unlike shrapnel projectiles. Which made him an immediate threat to everyone around him. Plus, he seems to have some kind of energy coming out of all of these holes in his hide. So . . they take him to the Triskelion so he can be contained, watched and monitored. But there's nothing they can really do, but let whatever this is run it's course. Which it does . . in a big explosion of energy and light, which results in Ben finally coming out the other side. But . . now he looks like a big human flashlight. Or, actually, kind of like Mr Negative when he's powered up, from the Amazing Spider-man books. And, after the attack at his house, Peter has decided that he's put May, and everybody else, at risk. So he wants them to all go stay somewhere else, and he's leaving until he finds out who's behind all of this. As he takes off, we see that Spider-woman is trailing him.Even though we didn't really get any answers this issue, I still thought that Brian Bendis did a great job with this story. As with all of his books, I think his strength lies in his interaction and dialogue between characters. Plus it sets us up for the next part of this story, Ultimate Mystery. Which will be done by the same creative team as the book we've just read . . Brian and Rafa Sandoval. The previews don't really give anything away, but . . it looks like the results, at least partly, of this current series is to bring the FF . . well, at least the 3 of them, back together. So I'm guessing . . this Ultimate Enemy has something to do with Reed. I know he's been killed. Or so we've been led to believe. But . . if it's not him, then it's somehow connected to him. But we won't know until we read the next series. Very tricky! I like it!

Ultimate Avengers 2 #2 - Marvel

This is turning out to be a really good story. It's an example of what I like so much about the Ultimate Universe . . they can take chances. Things don't have to go the way they normally would. Like last issue when Fury recruited Frank Castle. He doesn't want the Punisher on his team, but . . he does want a super-soldier. So, with the outfit Frank's being fitted with . . he's going to fill those shoes. Now Fury wants Thor. Not the God of Thunder, but . . the European version of the super-soldier program. A few years ago in England, Bruce Banner went there to study with a Dr Leonard Williams. Or, as he calls himself now, Tyrone Cash and . . he's a gangster and a thug. Basically, he tried the formula on himself, and it worked. He had gone through so much of his life as an invalid, that he decided to make the most of it. So now he makes his way through third world countries, taking over their gangs and armies, and then sets up shop. At least until he wears out his welcome. At which time he just moves on to the next country. But Fury wants him for his team. He's sent Rhodey after him. Probably because, right now, he's the only one with the firepower to stand up to him. Anyways, Rhodey tells him . . 'Nobody wants to arrest you. As long as you stay away from American soil. Nobody's even messing with your livelihood. My employers don't mind turning a blind eye to foreign tyrants when they're tactically useful.' So now that Fury has his team put together he lets them he lets them know . . 'This isn't the Ultimates. It's a Death-Squad. Low-Key is the name of the game.' And they've gotten the name of their first target . . straight from the White House. It appears that they're going after . . Ghost Rider. Wow! But, I wouldn't expect anything any less shocking from Mark Millar. With Mark at the helm I knew it was going to be an exciting series, but . . Wow! This one has exceeded all of my expectations. And just like Mark's unusual and unique ideas, who'd expect the Avengers to be a Death-Squad. Crazy! But . . I love it. Also Leinel Francis Yu is doing a great job with the art. There's only 1 problem with this book . . I want more!

Ultimate Spider-man #10 - Marvel

I love this book. My only complaint about this issue is that David Lafuente's art seemed a little rushed in spots. There were a few panels that weren't exactly up to snuff. But other than that . . this was a great issue. We ended last issue with some government agents coming into Peter's classroom and trying to arrest Kitty. Out of all the people in that same class . . Peter, Johnny, Bobby, Gwen . . it's Kenny that ends up jumping up to Kitty's aid. Of course she goes intangible and gets away. And the boys all go in search of her. They feel terrible about what's happened. But when they finally catch up to her . . well, they go to her house looking for her, they find that mysterious character that's shown up a few times in the past. You know . . the one in the red cloak? The one that helped MJ when those guys were going to attack her. Well it turns out . . that's actually Kitty. She's now able to make herself super-strong, and super-dense. 'It's called training. I trained myself. I can make myself intangible. So I thought, what if I can focus it the other way? And I can.' And something else she can do is get really pissed at the boys for not jumping in to help her out. I think she knows that there was nothing that they could really do, but right now she's really pissed that she's been singled out. And I'm sure she's feeling betrayed. Even after she fights the, they still go looking for her. But right now . . she just wants to be left alone. The world has changed an awful lot for her in the last year. But there's even more bad news. MJ goes home and finds out that she accidentally taped the entire incident in the classroom. Now she just has to figure out what to do with the tape. If she goes public . . with it help Kitty, or hurt her? Like I said . . I thought it was a great issue. I think Brian Bendis does an incredible job with this series. And I actually do like David's art. It just seemed rushed in spots. But I still thought it was a great issue.

Ultimate Comics - New Ultimates #2 - Marvel

So, while the Ultimates are fighting a legion . . seemingly from Asgard, Loki is busy manipulating things from behind the scenes. Well, he and the Enchantress. At least that's who I think she is. Right now it seems like all the women on this team are being abused in some way or another. Captain America is giving the Valkyrie the third degree. He wants to know what she's up to, her relationship with these Defenders, and how she got her powers. But she's still mourning over the loss of Thor. So one more person yelling at her isn't helping her mood at all. And she bolts. Zarda is still feeling like she's not getting the appreciation that she deserves. Afterall, on her home world she's a Goddess. And Carol Danvers? Well it seems that Carol is just looking to get burnt. She's in an intimate relationship with Tony right now . . a discreet one, until Clint accidentally walks in on them. But we all know how Tony's relationships end. As I'm sure does Carol. So to be involved like this, she's either mucking about as much as he does, or . . she's looking for a reason to hate Tony even more. Anyways, the Enchantress catches them at these weakest moments and convinces them to turn on their teammates. Valkyrie is especially easy as it seems that Loki is whom actually provided her with powers. I'm sure she feels that if she doesn't do what he asks she'll have to go back to being an average teen-aged 'Barbie'. Anyways, the rest of the team is engaged in battle when these 3 'team-mates' show up and basically catch them with their pants down. Zarda takes out Iron Man, Valkyrie takes out Captain America, and Carol appears to shoot Clint right between the eyes. The issue ends with them standing upon a pile of their fallen 'team-mates' . . the hordes of Asgard behind them. Jeph Loeb did a fantastic job with the story. I thought the characterization and manipulation were perfect. I know Mark Millar is writing the Ultimate Avengers, but it's going to be hard for him to keep up with the level of intensity in this book. I've been a fan of this team ever since the first issue . . of the first series. Some what . . like 4 series ago? Anyways, I really like the approach that they've taken here. And it appears that this incarnation with definitely live up to the previous ones. Especially with Frank Cho on the art this time. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Ultimate Comics - Avengers 2 - #1 - Marvel

This issue starts out catching us up on Frank Castle's character in the Ultimate Universe. Right now he's at the point where he's just trying to make a huge dent into the infrastructure of the mob families in Manhattan. And he's wracking up quite the kill-list. Unfortunately, he's also attracted the attention of the US Government. He's going after one of Russia's biggest, Joseph Petrenko . . aka the Red Hammer, when he finds out that he's been targeted in an Ultimate sting. He thinks he's going to take out Petrenko, when actually he ends up getting a severe beat-down by Captain America. I guess in a case like Frank's, there's no such thing as excessive violence. They have to do whatever they can to take this guy down . . and fast. But the government doesn't hold him for long as he quickly ends up in Nick Fury's custody. 'I pissed some people off so now I run SHIELD's black-ops division. We get paid to do the dirty stuff. The kinda jobs Captain America and his friends would balk at . . hence the reason we're after a Captain America of our own.' Frank Castle? As Captain America . . or a suitable replacement thereof? Not something I would've thought of. But that's why I love Mark Millar's writing. So the issue ends with him all dressed up in a Captain America kind of looking suit. And they're on to the next Avenger . . the Hulk. 'Oh, this isn't Bruce Banner. Bruce is crazy, unpredictable and not nearly amoral enough. This is Banner's mentor . . the First Hulk.' Huh? We get a glimpse of him in a strip-club. He kind of looks like Luke Cage, but . . I don't know. I guess we'll find out more next issue. Mark always writes a thoroughly enjoyable story. And this was no exception. I wondered how they were going to handle having an Avengers team since they already have the Ultimates. But now we know. I can't wait to see these guys in action. This issue was also fantastically illustrated by Leinel Francis Yu. I know this series just started, but . . I want more!

Ultimate Avengers #6 - Marvel

This issue wraps up the first story-arc of the Ultimate Avengers. It appears that in the Ultimate Universe, the Avengers are one of SHIELD's black-ops teams. They're pulled back together in this story-arc out of necessity. They're being rallied to stop the Red Skull, and to apprehend one of their own who's gone AWOL . . Captain America. But the reason that Cap has gone AWOL is because he's found out that the Skull is actually his son. Anyways, last issue, the Skull broke in to where they were trying to recreate the Cosmic Cube. The Skull wanted to get his hands on it so that he could remake reality. And the Avengers come at him with everything they've got. The team consists of Nick Fury, Hawkeye, War Machine, Nerd-Hulk, Red Wasp and the Black Widow. And all of them have been upgraded for combat by Tony's older brother, Gregory Stark. Anyways, the battle is hard and well fought, but it takes Cap putting an airplane through his son's chest to bring a stop to all of this. He's not happy about it, but . . he had to put him down. On the final pages we learn just how much of a bastard this Nick Fury really is. The Red Skull lies in a hospital bed dying of his injuries. Nick lets him hang on long enough to say goodbye to his mother and father. He finds out the reasons for what he was trying to do, and then he has Red Wasp put a bullet in his head. In his defense, he probably just wanted to make sure that he didn't get out of this somehow. And on the final page, in a conversation between Nick and Gregory, we learn that is was Nick that manipulated all of these events. Nick wanted his job as the leader of the SIELD black-ops team back, so . . he lured the Red Skull out of retirement, and then he 'reopened wounds only he could close'. His rebuttal when Gregory accuses him of this? 'Kind of judgemental for the man who broke Jim Rhodes. I'm getting my old job back, Gregory. Whatever it takes.' And that leaves us open for Ultimate Avengers 2, which I believe will be out next week. I thought that this opening chapter was brilliantly scripted by Mark Millar. I love all the work he's done in the Ultimate Universe so far. And . . he'll be taking on the next chapter also. Carlos Pacheco does the art for this series. I thought he also did a good job. There were a lot of really cool, and original ideas presented in this first chapter. I'm glad Mark is on the second because . . it's going to be hard to top this one. But only he can do it.

Ultimate Spider-man #9 - Marvel

This title is moving back into my favorite books list. I just love the way that Brian Bendis writes these characters. He's got great interaction, and continual character and story development. To me the funniest part of the book was when Johnny tells Peter that he was making out with Jessica, Spider-girl. Johnny had a little impromptu team-up with Spider-girl, and then afterwards he just hounds her until she gives him some personal information and agrees to go out on a date with him. Apparently, he was making out with her after that, but . . we didn't see that part. Anyways, so he's telling Peter all about this and . . of course Peter knows that Jessica is actually a clone of him. But . . nobody else knows that. So while Peter is listening to Johnny, he's thinking that basically Johnny is making out with a version of him. He's pretty weirded out and has to take out. Anyways, the issue ends with some government types coming into Peter's classroom wanting to take Kitty away. They won't really say why they're taking her, or what she did. The Principal just says, 'You knew this was going to happen! The mutant situation is very bad. The laws are very . .', but then Peter interrupts him. He's amazed that they're doing this in the middle of the school day. He and the rest of their classmates are about to make a scene and cause a distraction so that Kitty can run away. But . . I don't know that this situation is going to end well for anyone. Like I said . . I love this book. Especially after reading that last issue of ASM. David Lafuente is back on the pencils this issue. I think he's really turning this book into his own style of story-telling. I wasn't' sure about his style at first, but . . it really fits this title well. I really do look forward to this book every month.

Ultimate Comics Enemy #3 - Marvel

First of all . . fantastic cover by Ed McGuinness. Spider-man, Nick Fury and Carol Danvers never looked more menacing. Speaking of which . . I really like Carol's role in the Ultimate Universe. She's just as much a hard-ass as Nick . . if not more. I love her personality and conviction. Anyways, Carol is still trying to piece together why all these attacks are happening . . and how Roxxon is connected to all of this. So to are the people that are being attacked . . Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, Nick Fury and Spider-man and company. Remember . . Ultimate Spider-man is a team book right now. With Sue's powers, they end up capturing the being that seems to be causing all the trouble. But not before he tries to attack Spider-man in his home in Queens. But they may have a more pressing problem within their own ranks. Ben was one of the first to try to jump on this guy, and in the process took the full force of one of his blasts. He seemed to be okay, but . . now something seems to be happening with his rocky hide. It's almost like the guy turned Ben into his own 'dirty-bomb'. There seems to be some kind of energy build-up, under the epidermis. And then everything blows off him at the same time. Ben's worried about the people around him, but . . I'm sure it's not any great joy for him either. This is another great story by Brian Bendis. I can't wait to see what it's all about, but . . I'd bet it's about getting the Fantastic Four back together. Right now they think that Reed's dead, but . . we'll see. Maybe it'll be the Fantastic Four with a different member. I don't know if that's the case . . I'm just guessing. And if it is about the FF, what do Roxxon and Nick Fury have to do with the whole thing? Hopefully we'll get the answers next issue. By the way . . great art by Rafa Sandoval. The whole issue was a great piece of work.

Ultimate X #2 - Marvel

We don't actually see Jimmy until the final page of this issue. But that's ok. This one fills us in on what's happened to a couple other of the mutants in the Ultimate Universe. On the cover we see Karen Grant. She's a girl who's trying to blend in and stay below the radar. The problem is, during the course of this, someone develops a crush on her . . one of her fellow Mall-workers. And, being ignorant of her desire for anonymity, he puts her picture on his face-book page. As it turns out . . this is actually Jean Grey. And the people that come looking for her are Mystique and Sabretooth. Although Mystique is posing as Rogue, and Sabretooth . . although having been 'cleaned up', looks more menacing than usual. Especially when he's standing in the middle of all the kids playing at the Mall. Kind of creepy actually. Anyways, they appear to be working for someone else, but we don't know who that is yet. Jean ends up holding her own against both of them. Which is actually pretty impressive. And she mind-wipes everybody on the scene to forget about her. It's after that, when she goes home to pack up her life and move on that Jimmy confronts her. 'I'm Jimmy Hudson. You knew my dad. He was Wolverine.' I really like the way that Jeph Loeb wrote this issue. It's a narrative being told from the guy's point of view who is crushing on her. Almost like a diary, or blog entry, kind of thing. Even to the point that after he dies he still wishes that she'll find the life and safety that she's looking for. Even with all the action going on, that part was kind of touching. And Art Adams' pencils? They were frickin' fantastic. Art is one of those guys that I really, really like his stuff. But I don't realize how much I miss it until some new stuff pops up. His stuff is so good that there's a lot of imitators out there. So you see influences of his stuff in a lot of places. But then when he pops back up, like he did with this book . . you realize just how good the guy really is. The beginning pages, with Jean at home cleaning up for work, were simply incredible. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this title, but . . this one may pull ahead as my favorite Ultimate Universe book. Sorry Spider-man.