Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates

By Mark Millar, Lenil Yu & various (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-497-3

Marvel’s Ultimates imprint launched in 2000 with major characters and concepts re-imagined to bring them into line with the presumed different tastes of modern readers.

Eventually the alternate, darkly nihilistic universe became as continuity-constricted as its predecessor and in 2008 the cleansing event â€œUltimatumâ€ culminated in a reign of terror which apparently (this is still comics, after all) killed dozens of super-humans and millions of lesser mortals.

The era-ending event was a colossal tsunami which scoured the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan and in the aftermath a new world order increasingly dictated by super spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Before the Deluge Nick Fury ran an American super-human Black Ops team codenamed the Avengers, but he was eventually toppled from his position for sundry rule-bending antics – and for being caught doing them.

Now he’s firmly re-established, running a new dirty jobs team doing stuff the officially sanctioned Ultimates wouldn’t dream ofâ€¦

His secret army consists ofÂ Hawkeye – the man who never misses, James Rhodes: fanatical soldier in devastating War Machine battle armour; demi-vampire Blade, and Gregory Stark: Iron Man’s smarter, utterly amoral older brotherâ€¦

By contrast the shiny, glory-grabbing public team consists of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Giant Man and ruthless super-spy Black Widow – all taking their cues from Fury’s replacement Carol Danvers.

This final post-tsunami collection, re-presenting Ultimate Comics: Avengers vs. The New Ultimates #1-6, brings to a head simmering tensions and a rather obvious master-plan percolating since the first days of the new team, as, across town and in another book (see Ultimate Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man) a superhero prodigy fights his final battle with repercussions that shape the conclusion of this earth-shattering epicâ€¦

At the end of Ultimate Avengers volume 3: Blade versus the Avengers the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. security citadel dubbed the Triskelion was unfortunately teleported to the Iranian desert outside Tehran, and as agent-in-charge Giant Man attempts to bring order from chaos, in New York Iron Man is on the brink of deathâ€¦

Meanwhile reports come in that show top-secret super-soldier discoveries and genetic enhancement weaponry are being stolen and sold to rogue statesâ€¦

Fury and his team, augmented by psycho-killer The Punisher, are already hot on the trail of the leak and logic increasingly dictates that there must be a highly-placed traitor within S.H.I.E.L.D. When his squad spectacularly confronts old ally Tyrone Cash – the first Hulk – the traitor is revealed as Carol Danversâ€¦ Meanwhile, behind enemy lines and tracking stolen superhuman tech, the other team have also discovered the turncoat and determine to capture the perfidious Nick Furyâ€¦

With the heroes all set up to destroy each other, New York becomes a catastrophic Ground Zero once more, intersecting with the aforementioned Spider-Man saga (so for best results read that too) whilst in Iran and North Korea super-soldier warfare directly resulting from the thefts look certain to catapult the planet into global conflagration and the true villain into a position of unassailable powerâ€¦

Wrapping up another Ultimate era preparatory to a further Brave New Re-launch, this blackly trenchant, rollercoaster ride by Mark Millar & Lenil Yu (ably assisted by inkers and finishers Stephen Segovia, Gerry Alanguilan, Jason Paz, Jeff Huet & colourist Sonny Gho) is violent and powerfully effective: a grim-and-gritty swan-song both compelling and avidly readable.

This tome also includes a superb and abundant gallery of variant covers by Yu, Gho, Frank Martin, Marte Gracia, Frank Cho, Brandon Peterson, Jason Keith, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary & Paul Mounts.

This spooky, cynical, sinister shocker is another breathtakingly effective yarn only possible outside the Marvel Universe; one which will resonate with older readers who love the darkest side of superheroes and casual readers who know the company’s movies better than the comic-books.

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