Ultimate Marvel – Page 2

March 1, 2013February 28, 2013

Ultimate Comics the Ultimates: Divided We Fall, United We Stand

By Sam Humphries, Billy Tan, Timothy Green II, Luke Ross & Terry Pallot (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-524-6

The Ultimate Comics imprint launched in 2000, upgrading and reformatting hallowed Marvel characters and concepts for a presumed-more sophisticated modern audience: one that mostly comprised older readers rather than the youngsters who had participated in the company’s 1960s rise to glory.

Eventually the alternate, darkly nihilistic new universe became as continuity-constricted as its predecessor, and in 2008 the â€œUltimatumâ€ story-arc culminated in a reign of terror which wiped out dozens of the new super-humans and millions of lesser mortals.

The era-ending event was a colossal tsunami triggered by mutant terrorist/messiah Magneto which inundated the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan and utterly devastated the world’s mutant population. Ever since The Deluge, the world has been stumbling from crisis to catastropheâ€¦

This volume, collecting Ultimate Comics: the Ultimates issues #13-18 (September 2012 – January 2013) is part of an imprint-wide crossover which saw America fall into urban chaos and civil war, with the saga affecting and seen from the points of view of a newly blooded Spider-Man, a revitalised team of Ultimates and the last remaining X-Menâ€¦

How We Got Here: In the wake of the global inundation, ongoing internecine strife amongst the covert ops community, and deadly brushfire wars all over the planet, ousted spymaster Nick Fury regained control of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s army of secret agents and officially-sanctioned super-squad The Ultimates as well as clandestine task-force The Avengers, just as civilisation was coming apart at the seamsâ€¦

Metahumans had become the preferred â€œWeapons of Mass Destructionâ€ and personal superpowers were the focus of a terrifying global arms race. In Asia, emergent nation SEAR (SouthEastAsianRepublic) dissolved into bloody conflict soon after developing a serum which randomly sparked fantastic abilities in ordinary humans. Their plan had been to win the organic arms race but events quickly overtook the leadership when they tried to stack the deck by simultaneously releasing a virus that neutralised genes which triggered natural mutations.

With random metahumans roaming the streets, SEAR collapsed from internal dissent and open warfareâ€¦

From the conflict, dual metahuman nations were established and both Celestials and Eternals began offering super-powers to anybody brave or greedy enough to want themâ€¦

Meanwhile American hero Spider-Man was murdered, resurrected WWII super soldier Captain America went AWOL and the gods of Asgard, who had been dragged from their heavenly halls and marooned on Earth, were slaughtered by a new fantastic race called the Children of Tomorrow.

The Children were the results of a fantastic experiment by the Maker – disgraced, deranged former superhero Reed Richards – who created a high-tech Dome where enhanced time and ruthless scientific augmentation enabled the inhabitants to hyper-evolve thousands of years in the space of a few days.

The Dome inexorably expanded into a voracious semi-sentient super-city and absorbed much of Western Europe, despite every effort of the region’s superhumans, until vengeful Thor broke into the marauding metropolis and, with the aid of boffin Sam Wilson (AKA the Falcon), Iron Man Tony Stark (and his sentient brain-tumour side-kick), Captain Britain, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the elevated Celestials of Xorn and Eternals of Zorn stopped the incursion by excessive violence and by turning the dome dwellers against their increasingly doctrinaire and draconian leader.

At the same time, corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Flumm forced Fury out and blackmailed Bruce Banner into attacking the Dome. The Hulk‘s enforced assault went tragically wrong, however, once The Maker convinced the man-monster to switch allegiances and the American President, distracted by one too many crises, allowed anti-mutant activists to turn the southwest into their own hunting preserveâ€¦

With Sentinels and militias controlling Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Oklahoma, and other states threatening secession, the President launched the nation’s entire nuclear arsenal at the ever-evolving Dome. To ensure no interference, the Commander-in-Chief also invoked â€œthe Winter Protocolsâ€ and ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to capture or kill all Ultimates and Avengersâ€¦

The nuclear fusillade and the metahuman attack could not obliterate the Dome but the component intelligence of the living City was badly damaged. In retaliation Richards unleashed the Hulk and a very special Child of Tomorrow he had cultured without the knowledge of the Dome hive-mind. The child detonated with nuclear force in the Capitol, utterly eradicating WashingtonDC and the entire governmentâ€¦

Stunned by the loss of the entire ruling structure of America, self-promoted Director Flumm was further incensed when Fury, Falcon, Hawkeye and the Widow all escaped captureâ€¦

Although the Dome was no longer a credible or urgent threat, President Howard – who only a day previously was the earnest but under-qualified Secretary of Energy – was in over his head. With a nuclear-armed Texas quitting the Union and declaring itself an independent nation, mutant-hunting Sentinels rampaging through the southwest states and militant local militias sparking rebellions all over the country, the last thing he needed to hear was that the Ultimates and Avengers are all free.

Forced to overreact, the President declared martial law as the nation splintered around him. Flumm too was rapidly losing control and could not cope with more bad newsâ€¦

And then word arrived that Captain America had returned from his self-imposed exileâ€¦

(For fuller comprehension the reader is strongly advised to consult companion series Ultimate Comics: X-Men 1 & 2 and previous volumes of this series. These will greatly enhance understanding of the parlous state of this alternate universe in its darkest hoursâ€¦)

With the Land of the Free ripped apart by numerous small rebellions and full state secessions, this twinned publishing event – designed to create a jumping-on point for new readers – opens with the 2-part ‘Divided We Fall’ (by Sam Humphries, Billy Tan, Timothy Green II & Terry Pallot) as Director Flumm is compelled by President Howard to deploy the hated and unruly Ultimates, overruling the S.H.I.E.L.D. boss’s warning that they cannot be controlledâ€¦

Even as the harried leader appoints veteran administrator spy and former White House administrator Carol Danvers his Chief of Staff, news pictures come in of Captain America battling in New Mexico, whilst in New York, Iron Man Stark is galvanised into action again and calls Thor away from the massive graveyard that holds the remains of his entire race. It’s time to put the old band back togetherâ€¦

Cap is on a rampage of indignant patriotic fury: destroying Sentinels and thrashing murderous mutant hunters. When he’s finally joined by his former comrades the revolution of hate swiftly collapses as the heroes forcibly drag the abandoned states back into the Union.

None of them are aware of the long-term role played by an enigmatic rabble-rouser and power-broker named Morez, who slips away to one of the other areas where he’s successfully fomented dissent, even as the Sentinel-held territories fall to resurgent American Forces â€¦

Forced out of the shadows, Morez reappears in Texas, convincing the businessmen and corporate heads that run the New Republic to fire their prized solitary nuke at New York City. Instantly apprised, Iron Man, Thor and the Sentinel of Liberty join the other Ultimates in invading the Lone Star Nation, with less than fifteen minutes to find the missile’s abort code and avert another bloodbathâ€¦

Meanwhile Morez has contacted the head of the Senate Emergency Powers Committee and convinced ambitious Senator Underwood to have the government look the other way whilst the manipulator facilitates Wyoming becoming an independent militia-run nationâ€¦

As the heroes rip Dallas apart in their successful attempt to stop the missile, Thor notices an odd symbol on the gold used by the Republic’s ex-movers and shakers and begins to suspect that another Asgardian escaped the exterminationâ€¦ the Evil Oneâ€¦

Howard too feels the rug ripped out from under him when Underwood finds a dubious legal precedent and claims the new President has no official mandate to rule. In the middle of the Civil War there’s going to be an emergency Recall Electionâ€¦

And on the West Coast, the constantly moving Morez offers deadly weaponised WASP security drone technology to the radical hippies, free thinkers and Silicon Valley entrepre-nerds who have assumed control of Washington State, Oregon and California: decent dudes whose freedom loving new country is currently being swamped by American refugees and Internally Displaced Persons from the embattled USAâ€¦

The hard-fought war of reunification occurs in the 4-part ‘United We Stand’ (illustrated by Luke Ross) and sees the well-meaning free thinkers of the West Coast Nation become accidental mass-murderers when Morez assumes control of the WASPs and lets them loose upon the refuges flooding across the new border. With the election and the genocide both filling the media airwaves, Howard orders Captain America not to intervene in California, but the Star-Spangled legend decides to listen to the higher authority of his conscienceâ€¦

Following a surprise meeting with Fury, Captain America goes west, linking up with Hawkeye and Black Widow to spectacularly save victims live on TV. As Morez switches his attention to Wyoming, all over the country voters begin exercising their mandate with a surprise â€œWrite-in candidateâ€â€¦

When Thor and Iron Man destroy the automated system unleashed by Morez, the grateful West Coasters are happy to rejoin the nation just as the Sentinel of Liberty receives a call and is informed that he’s the new Presidentâ€¦

Rapidly sworn in, Steven Rogers remains in costume and appoints Carol Danvers his political operative as he stays in the field dragging his America out of Civil War. As she navigates the stormy waters stirred up by the infuriated Senator Underwood, the Ultimates are ending the bloody feud between North and South Carolina and forcing them both back into the United States. Thor, suspecting Asgardian influence, heads to top secret Project Pegasus in Wyoming as Cap ends weeks ofÂ urban anarchy and territorial tumult by the Great Lakes Liberation Front in Michigan by sheer presence and charismaâ€¦

With their influence impossibly slipping away, Flumm and Underwood finally go too far when they try to assassinate their Red, White and Blue Commander-in-Chief, leaving the assembled Ultimates free to concentrate on their true foe at last.

In Wyoming, Morez’s true identity is finally revealed and the evil Asgardian makes his play at last using the secret of Pegasus to enslave the state and turn terrified citizens into willing warriors in his army of rebellion: a Hydra of hate aimed at America’s heartâ€¦

Moreover there will be no help from Thor: guilt and the villain’s new weapon have made the Thunderer a helpless slave of the malign manipulatorâ€¦

In Wyoming, as the ensorcelled Hydra forces clash with S.H.I.E.L.D. and a small force of loyal metahumans including the new Spider-Man, Giant-Woman Cassie Lang and Invisible Woman Sue Richards – last survivor of the legendary Fantastic Four – the real battle for Liberty is only won when Iron Man, Thor and President America defeat the Evil One in the skies above the embattled, sundered nationâ€¦

This bombastic battle for life, liberty and honour is designed to be read independently of the other strands (in Ultimate Comics X-Men and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man) if desired, so I’m not going to spoil the manner in which new President of the forcibly re-United States moves forward after the victory, but of course such a dictatorial beginning isn’t to everyone’s taste and naturally there’s more trouble brewing in the wingsâ€¦

The darkly trenchant, nihilistically cynical Ultimate fare, with its signature post-modernity and bleakly brutal action, still delivers the grim ‘n’ gritty punch fans crave, but successfully surmounts those limits here by offering a powerfully uplifting message of hope for the determinedly worthy that is both satisfying and keenly tantalising. However for maximum impact you really should read those other two collections in this triptych of comics delightsâ€¦

As usual the volume also contains a gallery of covers and variants – by Michael Komarck and Adi Granov – and this so-contemporary saga also incorporates a 21^st century extra for all those tech-savvy consumers with added value in mind, as many chapters contain an AR icon (Marvel Augmented Reality App) which gives access to all sorts of story bonuses once you download the little dickens – for free – from marvel.com onto your iPhone or Android-enabled device.

Don’t touch that dial yet, fans, there’s still more to comeâ€¦
â„¢ & Â© 2013 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. A British Edition published by Panini Publishing, a division of Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved.

February 27, 2013February 26, 2013

Ultimate Comics X-Men: Divided We Fall, United We Stand

By Brian Wood, Paco Medina, Reilly Brown, Carlo Barberi, Agustin Padilla, Juan Vlasco & Terry Pallot (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-525-3

Marvel’s Ultimates imprint launched in 2000 with major characters and concepts re-imagined to bring them into line with the presumed-more sophisticated tastes of modern readers and free from decades of extraneous story baggage.

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 triggered by mutant terrorist messiah Magneto which inundated the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan and utterly devastated the world’s mutant population. The X-Men – and many other superhumans, good and bad – died, and in the aftermath anybody classed as â€œHomo Superiorâ€ had to surrender to the authorities or be shot on sight. Understandably most survivors as well any newly emergent X-people kept themselves well hiddenâ€¦

Mutants had always been feared and despised. As the indisputable inheritors of Earth, the often lethally-empowered and wildly uncontrollable creatures were generally believed to be an intrinsically hostile species: the new race destined to take the world from humanity as we took it from the Neanderthalsâ€¦

This volume, collecting Ultimate Comics: X-Men issues #13-18 (August – December 2012), is part of an imprint-wide crossover which saw America fall into chaos and civil war, with the events affecting and seen from the points of view of a new Spider-Man, a restored team of Ultimates and the current crop of X-Menâ€¦

The world had been stumbling from crisis to catastrophe ever since the Deluge (for fuller comprehension the reader is also advised that a thorough reading of companion series Ultimate Comics: the Ultimates volumes 1 & 2 will greatly enhance understanding of the parlous state of this alternate universe in its darkest hours) when word was leaked that all the mutants proliferating around the globe were the result of a 50-year old covert program of genetic manipulation which had slipped from American control, rather than a process of inexorable evolution and natural selection.

Humanity went crazy and a wave of violent prejudice quickly threatened the existence of the feared and despised metahuman lab-rats. In the political furore following the disclosure, bloodshed grew to global panic and a genetic arms-race in Asia (see Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye and The Ultimates: The Republic is Burning), and the President unexpectedly sidelined S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury in favour of co-operation with Magneto’s son Pietro Lensherr – who had inherited control of the terrorist group known as the Brotherhood of Mutants.

The super-swift manipulator had a Faustian Bargain for the severely embattled Leader of the Free World, but their plans were subverted by fundamentalist preacher Reverend William Stryker who seized control of the government’s Sentinel technology and used it to attack mutants all over America as part of his genocidal crusade to purify humanityâ€¦

Quicksilver planned to co-opt the latest Nimrod Sentinels to his own purposes but Stryker had outwitted him by taking personal control of the entire program.

The hate-filled preacher then unleashed every killer robot in America’s arsenal to hunt down all remaining mutants wherever they might be hiding, turning a large part of the southwest USA into a killing zone where the freaks were held in experimental facilities, just waiting to dieâ€¦

However in Mutant Internment Camp Angel, the humans guards and slaughtering Sentinels were overthrown by former X-Men Colossus and Storm, and once the younger prisoners discovered what atrocities the normals had been secretly perpetrating against the captives they erupted into open rebellion.

Tragically, before the situation could escalate further, the sky filled with unstoppable Nimrods who began their program of total eradication by indiscriminately targeting human and aberration alikeâ€¦

â€¦And after the camps, the Nimrods turned their attention on those human cities which foolishly allowed mutants to live amongst them, before beginning to construct their own robotic god and master – a Supreme Sentinel which somehow gained the personality of the recently killed Reverend Strykerâ€¦

Simultaneously in Washington DC, the President and the entire Cabinet were wiped out in a nuclear attack from Reed Richards‘ future men of the Dome (that’s all in the Ultimates volumes) whilst Texas seceded from the Union, provoking a series of similar rebellions by militias and libertarian hate-groups throughout the nation. Hopelessly out of his depth, Acting President Howard declared martial law and the second American Civil War beganâ€¦

Former X-Man Karen Grant (nee Jean Grey) had been secretly continuing Charles Xavier‘s dream of fostering Human/Mutant co-existence and had gathered a few young mutants together for safety. After vanishing during the burgeoning Asian conflict her role had been taken up by â€œMutant Terroristâ€ and public enemy Kitty Prydeâ€¦

Now Jimmy Hudson (whose dead father Wolverine had been revealed as the Military’s ‘Mutant Zero’), languished in hiding with Pryde as well as Iceman Bobby Drake, Marian â€œRogueâ€ Carlisle and Human Torch Johnny Storm, all on the run ever since their friend and fellow teen prodigy Peter Parker was murdered in his Spider-Man identityâ€¦

The kids had been laying low after Stryker was killed trying to eradicate all of New York’s mutants in a televised ambush. The kids had all survived and subsequently become accidental guardians to a group of mutant children found in tunnels beneath the cityâ€¦

Written in entirety by Brian Wood, the unRealpolitik begins with ‘Born Free’ (art by Paco Medina, Reilly Brown, Juan Vlasco & Terry Pallot) as Kitty and her band reel in shock as President Howard officially cedes control of the Sentinel-held southwest states to human anti-mutant militias and mechanical murderers; legitimising the mass murder of their rare breedâ€¦

Unable to abide any more, Pryde decides to make a stand and invites any who feel the same to join her as she travels across her hostile homeland to Camp Angel. Only Johnny declines: as a mere enhanced human, he believes he’ll be safely left alone to look after their young mutant charges. He’s tragically mistaken and has sorely misjudged how much mankind can hate the differentâ€¦

The twinned event begins with ‘Divided We Fall‘ and the 2-part ‘Road Worn’ as the freedom fighters escape from New York and slowly make their way across the broken country to Sentinel-subdued Arizona/New Mexico/Utah/Oklahoma, encountering and defeating vile prejudice and murderous men, but only by surrendering to those worst aspects of behaviour that they apparently share with savage unforgiving humanityâ€¦

At their lowest point the teen rebels link up with the long-undercover Nick Fury and a young mutant Paige Guthrie. The disgraced and disavowed superspy has been secretly saving the hunted Homo Superior and hiding them from the hordes of would-be genetic purifiersâ€¦

Now with inspirational and gutsy fighters to inspire his demoralised charges, Fury takes a back seat and schools Kitty in the role of Mutant Messiah for the upbeat fight back of ‘United We Stand:’ (illustrated by Barberi, Medina, Vlasco & Agustin Padilla)â€¦

The desperate campaign begins with an assault on a newly constructed death-camp and the visible destruction of a brace of the not-so-invulnerable Nimrods, but these robot killers have hidden advantages the freedom fighters are painfully unaware of.

Soon the colossal Super Sentinel that thinks it is William Stryker is on the move with his entire artificial army assembled to wipe out the stain of mutants foreverâ€¦

As other sectors of the sundered country begin their own climactic last battles, in the southwest states the tiny mutant force faces its greatest martial threat and emerges as an independent Mutant Nation, but victory only brings new problemsâ€¦

This bombastic battle for life, liberty and honour is deliberately tangential to the other story arcs comprising the full saga (and can thus be read independently if desired), so I’m not going to spoil the manner in which Kitty’s magnificent triumph is soured, except to say that the new President of the forcibly re-United States extends the hand of friendship and cooperation whilst simultaneously offering the rebel leader the most punishing of choicesâ€¦

The darkly trenchant, nihilistically cynical Ultimate fare, with its trademark post-modernity and bleakly brutal action, still delivers the grim ‘n’ gritty punch fans crave, but sweetens the deal here by offering a powerfully uplifting message of hope for the determinedly worthy that is both satisfying and keenly tantalising. However for maximum impact you really should read the other two collections in this triptych of comics delightsâ€¦

As usual the volume also contains a gallery of covers and variants by Kaare Andrews, Dave Johnson & Phil Noto, Jorge Molina & Adi Granov, and this up-to-the-minute epic also incorporates 21^st century extras for all those tech-savvy consumers with added value in mind.

Many chapters contain an AR icon (Marvel Augmented Reality App) which gives access to all sorts of story extras once you download the little dickens – for free – from marvel.com onto your iPhone or Android-enabled device.

Stay tuned, fans, there’s much more to comeâ€¦
â„¢ & Â© 2012 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. A British Edition published by Panini Publishing, a division of Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved.

November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

Spider-Men

By Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli (Marvel/PaniniUK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-520-8

After Marvel’s financial and creative problems in the later 1990s, the company came back swinging. A key new concept involved remodelling and modernising much of their core pantheon for the new youth culture and the Ultimate imprint abandoned the monumental and slavish continuity which had always been Marvel’s greatest asset, giving its new players a separate universe to play in, with varying degrees of radical makeover to appeal to a contemporary 21^st century audience.

Peter Parker was once again reduced to a callow, nerdy high-school geek, brilliant but perpetually bullied by his physical superiors and there was a fresh, fashionable, more scientifically feasible rationale for the fore-destined spider bite which imparted those patented, impossible arachnoid abilities.

His Uncle Ben still died because of the lad’s lack of responsibility. The Daily Bugle was still there, as was the bombastically outrageous J. Jonah Jameson, but now in a more cynical, litigious world, well-used to cover-ups and conspiracy theories, arch-foe Norman Osborn – a corrupt, ruthless billionaire businessman – was behind everything.

Any gesture towards the faux-realism of traditional superhero fare was surrendered to the tried-and-tested soap-opera melodrama which inevitably links all characters together in invisible threads of karmic coincidence and familial consanguinity but, to be honest, it seldom hurt the narrative. After all, as long as internal logic isn’t contravened, subplots don’t have to make sense to be entertaining.

After a short and spectacularly impressive career, the originally outcast Peter finally gained a measure of acceptance and was hailed a hero when the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man valiantly and very publicly met his end at Osborn’s hands during a catastrophic super-villain showdownâ€¦

Soon after he died a new champion cast in his image arose to carry on the fightâ€¦

In the aftermath child prodigy Miles Morales accidentally gained similar powers and as a freshly empowered 13-year old soon learned to cope with his astounding new physical abilities, painfully discovering the daily costs of living a life of lies and how an inescapable sense of responsibility is the worst of all possible threatsâ€¦

Meanwhile in the mainstream Marvel Universe â€œourâ€ Peter Parker underwent his own turmoil and travails, surviving to become a more-or-less grown man and first rank superheroâ€¦

This collection (collecting the miniseries Spider-Men #1-5 from June to September 2012) was designed as part of the celebrations for the web-spinner’s 50^th anniversary and offers a slight but magically enthralling guest-star-packed riff on one of the superhero genre’s most popular themes.

The action begins in the original universe where Peter is on patrol, stopping a couple of fleeing thieves – and almost getting arrested for his help – when he spots an eerie light. Investigating he discovers the latest hideout of old foe Mysterio and after a brief struggle overpowers the sinister Special Effects genius.

Something is off though: the villain’s babblings make no sense. The creep is clearly delusional, screaming that Spider-Man is already dead before breaking loose and triggering the bizarrely glowing device he’d been defending.

In a blaze of light Spider-Man transits from a dark warehouse at night to a sunny rooftop in a New York radically different, and things get even stranger when he stops a mugging and the victim thanks him but says his costume is in â€œterrible tasteâ€ and asks if he knew Peter Parkerâ€¦

And that’s when the kid in a way cool Spider suit shows upâ€¦

In another universe the Ultimate Mysterio wakes up and activates a telemetric avatar of himself to follow Spider-Man across the dimensions, where Parker is – in true Marvel style – fighting his namesake in a fever of confused misapprehension. Utterly underestimating his diminutive opponent, the elder Arachnoid is defeated by the kid’s secret powers (invisibility and a debilitating venom sting) and wakes up in a S.H.I.E.L.D. cell where an African-American Nick Fury confirms that he’s fallen into an alternate Earthâ€¦

Finally released into Miles’ custody, Peter is introduced to a New York where Peter Parker is a revered â€“ albeit dead â€“ hero, but before he can adapt the Mysterio avatar attacks with a lethal arsenal of ballistic weapons and mind-warping chemical weaponsâ€¦

By the time Ultimate heroes Thor, Hawkeye and Iron Man appear the battle is won and the mechanoid trashed, but as the ferociously curious Tony Stark examines the dimensional transfer tech in our world, their Mysterio is preparing another deadly assaultâ€¦

As the assembled heroes try to find a way home for the wall-crawling wanderer, Parker is torturing himself by visiting â€œhisâ€ old haunts and hangouts, leading to gut-wrenching meetings with Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson and a Gwen Stacy who hadn’t been murdered by Green Goblin Norman Osbornâ€¦

â€¦And in the other universe Mysterio just can’t let go and once again prepares to launch his devilish devices across the dimensional rift to kill Spider-Man: all of them and whoever stands with themâ€¦

Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli, aided by painter/colourist Justin Ponsor, have crafted a massively impressive fresh take on the alternate Earth team-up: one drenched in genuine warmth and tragedy, brimming with breathtaking action and stuffed with light-hearted, razor sharp humour which elevates it from the rank of formularized Costumed Drama fare and makes it easily one of the best superhero tales of the decade.

As usual the volume also contains a gallery of covers and variants – by Jimmy Cheung, Humberto Ramos, Marcos Martin, Terry & Rachel Dodson, Travis Charest, Tommy Lee Edwards, Mike Deodato, Ponsor, Rainier Beredo and Pichelli, to delight and thrill in a rollercoaster ride of that tense, evocative suspense and easy-going adventure which blessed the original Lee/Ditko tales.
A British Edition â„¢ & Â© 2012 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. and published by Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved

October 21, 2012October 18, 2012

Ultimate Spider-Man: Venom

By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Art Thibert & Rodney Ramos (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2873-1

After Marvel’s financial – and indeed creative – problems in the later 1990s, the company came back swinging. A key new concept was the remodelling and modernising of their core characters for the new youth culture. The ‘Ultimate‘ imprint abandoned the monumental continuity which had always been Marvel’s greatest asset, and the company’s major characters were given a separate universe to play in, with varying degrees of radical makeover to appeal to a contemporary 21st century audience.

Peter Parker was once again a nerdy high-school geek, brilliant but bullied by his physical superiors, and there was a fresh and fashionable, more modern and scientifically feasible rationale for the spider bite which imparted impossible arachnoid abilities.

Uncle Ben still died because of his lack of responsibility. The Daily Bugle was still there as was the outrageous J. Jonah Jameson. But now in a more cynical, litigious world, well-used to cover-ups and conspiracy theories, arch-foe Norman Osborn – a corrupt, ruthless billionaire businessman – was behind everything.

Any gesture towards the faux-realism of traditional superhero fare was surrendered to a tried-and-tested soap-opera melodrama that inevitably links all characters together in invisible threads of karmic coincidence and familial consanguinity, but, to be honest, it seldom hurt the narrative. After all as long as internal logic isn’t contravened, subplots don’t have to make sense to be entertaining.

By reworking key moments of Lee & Ditko’s Spider-Man – and their myriad successors – writer Brian Michael Bendis and illustrator Mark Bagley succinctly captured the core values of the original and certainly re-cast in it terms that newer readers readily assimilated. The Ultimate Peter Parker spoke to modern teen readers in the same way the 1960s incarnation spoke to me and my peersâ€¦

Collecting issues #33-39 of Ultimate Spider-Man from 2003, this premiere hardcover edition introduces an alternative vision for the web-spinner’s most memorable foe of recent vintage, and upped the angst-quotient by revealing untold connections with Peter’s long-dead parents.

The convoluted, clotted web of coincidence and continuity which had eventually bogged down the original Spider-Man was just beginning to creep into these tales, but perhaps that’s unavoidable if you’re concocting contemporary super-heroics.

What you need to know: Parker is the perennial hard-luck loser kid, a brilliant geek just trying to get by in a world where daily education is infinitely more scary than monsters and villains. His alter ego’s already shaky reputation has been destroyed by a burglar, who impersonated Spider-Man, went on a very public crime-spree and murdered Police Captain George Stacy.

Whilst Peter was dealing with the deadly doppelganger his widowed Aunt May was inviting Stacy’s orphaned daughter Gwen to move into the Parker household. In the aftermath Pete’s girlfriend and confidante Mary Jane Watson dumped him, unable to deal with the constant stress of having an underage superhero and perpetually potential corpse for a loverâ€¦

Shell-shocked and emotionally gutted by his bad break-up, Peter broods and mopes around the house until he finds an old box of junk which contains notes and video tapes of his 5-year old self and his parents; dead for a decade in a plane crash.

The idyllic scenes show a picnic in the park, attended by geneticists Richard and Mary Parker, their research partners the Brocks, Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Although he had forgotten, Eddie Brock Jr., despite being an older kid, was young Pete’s best friend for years â€“ almost a brotherâ€¦

Eddie’s folks had also died in the crash and the boy had been forced to leave the city and live with his grandparents.

All fired up, Peter tracks down Eddie and, discovering he’s now a student at Empire State University, resolves to find his old buddy and show him the tapes. So eager is the Arachnid kid that he doesn’t even glance at the notes and files in the box: enigmatic records pertaining to an incredible, radical cancer-cure code-named the Venom Projectâ€¦

Under the tutelage of Dr. Curt Connors (whom Spidey once battled when the scientist temporarily mutated into a sentient Lizard), Eddie has grown into the coolest guy imaginable: a science student carrying on their father’s work and a player with lots of great-sounding advice about girlsâ€¦

At the end of a great day on Campus, Eddie takes Peter to the labs and shows his bro-besotted pal â€œthe workâ€ – a shared inheritance from their departed fathers which will change the world foreverâ€¦

The miracle-cure is a gloopy black liquid based on Ray Parker’s DNA: designed to coat a cancer sufferer’s entire body in a living bio-suit that would boost the victim’s system and repair organic malfunctions, and as Eddie shows it off he also discloses how corporate skulduggery scuttled the bold project even before the groundbreaking technologists died in that mysterious crashâ€¦

The suspicious and embittered Brock has spent years reconstructing the project using notes and samples kept by his grandfather. Now the student is close to total, vindicating successâ€¦

Back in High School Pete wants to confront Mary Jane, but Gwen advises against it. However when college-guy Eddie shows up in flashy sports car she joins the distracted Parker in another jaunt to ESUâ€¦

Fuming for hours at the imagined cause of his parents’ death and how well Gwen is getting on with Eddie, Parker breaks into the university labs to â€œobtainâ€ his own test samples of the Venom prototype and is horrified when the goo attacks and utterly envelops his bodyâ€¦

That night, a new Spider-Man rampages through New York, clad in deepest black. Stronger, faster, tougher, far more reckless and wild and spectacularly crushing crimes big and small. After brutally foiling a celebrity kidnapping and easily trashing super-villain the Shocker, the dark Spider tackles a petty thief who reminds him of Uncle Ben’s killer and, lost in an emotional flashback, mutates into a fanged horror which tries to eat the gun-toting thugâ€¦

Petrified and aghast, Peter comes to his senses in time and tries to escape but the suit won’t let him go until the panicked lad blunders into high tension power cables and crashes to earth in the cemetery where his parents are buriedâ€¦

Eddie is far from the cool guy he seems. After trying to take advantage of Gwen the frustrated frat boy sees TV footage of the Black Spider-Man and puts the pieces together. Rushing to the lab he finds Peter with the Venom sample and demands to know everything. Peter’s desperate warnings seem to hit home and he allows Parker to destroy the potentially homicidal sludge. Returning home he finds the still-shaking Gwen who tells him what Eddie did and slowly realises that his childhood friend might not be the paragon he imaginedâ€¦

Brock meanwhile has retrieved another sample in his ongoing series of Venom experiments and activated it with his own bodyâ€¦

Plagued by nightmares, Peter seeks out Mary Jane who again rejects him and his dangerous lifestyle, whilst at ESU Eddie’s rash act has already cost the life of the cleaning woman who tried to help the mewling ebony mess on a lab floor.

Next day at Midtown High, Peter’s Spider-Sense alerts him to incredible peril and he realises that the suit has copied his memories and passed them on. Eddie has become a ravening, shape-shifting carnivorous version of Spider-Man, fuelled by a now unsuppressed psychotic paranoia and hatredâ€¦

With Richard Parker’s video-taped fears and misgivings on the Venom Project and life in general echoing in his head, Peter confronts the exultant, mutated Eddie and is soundly thrashed. The big black beast is going wild: slaughtering cops and civilians, whilst only really craving Peter. The savage suit is madly trying to reunite with Peter’s memories and Parker DNA…

In the pointless battle that follows, the monstrous avatar is vaporised by lightning and Peter flees. Dodging cops who want to arrest him for his various impostors’ crimes, the totally traumatised kid runs straight into the formidable Nick Fury.

The Director of covert security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. is the government’s go-to guy: responsible for superhuman affairs and crises. Moreover he had previously threatened to draft Spider-Man once he turned eighteenâ€¦

Despondent and dejected, the boy surrenders and begs to be cured of the curse of Arachnid powers, but instead receives an unexpected and life-changing pep-talkâ€¦ Bewildered Peter again breaks into the ESU lab and meets Dr. Connors, wearily examining the vaults from which all the remaining Venom samples have been removedâ€¦

This version of the Wondrous Wall-crawler is very close to the movie iteration – surely a welcome benefit for all converts from celluloid to paper adventuring – and this book also includes added value features ‘Venom Arc Outline’ and 8 pages of beautiful Bagley pencils for the assorted comics and collection covers.

Moody and scary, but far more-concerned with angst-ridden melodrama than Fights ‘n’ Tights action, this thriller ends on a pensive, low-key and unsatisfactorily inconclusive note, deferring the eventual, inevitable showdown with the Venom-Brock amalgam to another day and leaving tragic Peter Parker even more conflicted and confused than beforeâ€¦

And that’s probably the point. Frenetic and compelling, the geeky charisma of the misunderstood alienated outsider fuels and permeates this readable pot-boiler of turbulent teen-tribulation and fashionable school-daze. Light yet addictive, this glossy super-soap brings great comics entertainment to the post-literate generation.
Â© 2003, 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

September 21, 2012September 19, 2012

Ultimate Comics X-Men: His Will be Done

By Nick Spencer, Carlo Barberi, Paco Medina, Walden Wong & Juan Vlasco (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-516-1

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.

The era-ending event was a colossal tsunami triggered by mutant terrorist messiah Magneto which inundated the superhero-heavyisland ofManhattan and utterly devastated the world’s mutant population. The X-Men – as well as many other superhuman heroes and villains â€“ died, and in the aftermath anybody classed as â€œHomo Superiorâ€ had to surrender to the authorities or be shot on sight. Understandably most survivors as well any newly emergent X-people kept themselves well hiddenâ€¦

Mutants had always been feared and despised: as the indisputable inheritors of Earth, the often lethally-empowered and wildly uncontrollable creatures were generally believed to be an intrinsically hostile species; a new race destined to take the world from humanity the way we took it from the Neanderthalsâ€¦

This second compilation continues to document the return of mutants to the post-deluge world, collecting Ultimate Comics: X-Men issues #7-12 (April-September 2012) as the alternate Earth begins to crumble from the horrific tide of ongoing disasters following the cataclysmic flood. (For fuller comprehension the reader is also advised that a thorough reading of companion series Ultimate Comics: the Ultimates volumes 1 & 2 will greatly enhance understanding of the parlous state of this alternate universe in its darkest hoursâ€¦)

In a grandiose and compelling story-arc by writer Nick Spencer, artists Carlo Barberi, Paco Medina, Walden Wong & Juan Vlasco and colourist Marte Gracia, the slow descent into catastrophe and chaos continues after a shattering announcement from Presidential Special Advisor on Superhuman and Mutant Affairs Valerie Cooper. When she publicly disclosed that X-people, proliferating around the globe, were the result of a 50-year old American program of covert genetic manipulation which got out of control, rather than a result of inexorable evolution and natural selection, humanity went crazy.

In a world where Homo Superior are registered like assault weapons and imprisoned in internment camps, and where good, normal God-fearing folk would rather execute their children than have them grow up afflicted with the sin of â€œmutant-nessâ€, the news instantly caused uproar and riot across the nation all over the worldâ€¦

Former X-Man Karen Grant (nee Jean Grey) has been continuing Charles Xavier‘s dream of fostering Human/Mutant co-existence when the news not only ripped the rug out from under her; but drove her young charges into a state of rebellion.

Especially upset was Jimmy Hudson, who heard on National TV that his dead father Wolverine was the US Military’s ‘Mutant Zero’ and all the pain, prejudice, horror and super-powered proliferation stemmed from that subject’s initial escape from American captivity five decades earlierâ€¦

In the aftermath of the announcement and with the entire world in crisis from a genetic arms-race in Asia (see Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye and The Ultimates: The Republic is Burning), the President unexpectedly sidelined S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury in favour of co-operation with Magneto’s son Pietro Lensherr who had inherited control of the terrorist group known as the Brotherhood of Mutants.

The super-swift manipulator had a Faustian Bargain for the severely embattled Leader of the Free World, but their plans were subverted by fundamentalist preacher Reverend William Stryker who seized control of the government’s Sentinel technology and used it to attack mutants all overAmerica as part of his genocidal crusade to purify humanityâ€¦

Quicksilver‘s plan had been to co-opt the new Nimrod Sentinels to his own purposes but Stryker had outwitted him: taking control of the entire Sentinel program, the hate-filled preacher had unleashed every killer robot inAmerica’s arsenal to hunt down all the remaining mutants wherever they might be hidingâ€¦

With Nimrods executing victims everywhere, His Will be Done opens as Pietro, reeling at the repercussions of his failed scheme, is unable to outrace the deaths he has caused amongst his rapidly depleting people. His guilt-charged flight leads to a savage confrontation with his missing sister Wanda and the revelation that the World’s deadliest mutant has returnedâ€¦

Meanwhile in Asiatwo floating cities house the Earth’s latest metahuman races: both Celestials and Eternals are the result of state-sponsored scientific tampering which turned thousands of unwilling victims into another deadly super-powered population threatening embattled humanity just by existing. Moreover their ill-advised creators had already released a tailored-plague which neutralised those genes which caused mutants to develop, hoping to corner the market in living weapons by eradicating naturally occurring super-humans.

Of course now everybody knew that there was nothing natural about mutant genesisâ€¦

In Washington, Fury thinks Jean Grey is working for him and leading his Ultimate X Homo Superior task force against targets he has selected – but he couldn’t be more wrongâ€¦

Meanwhile in the remote Mutant Internment enclave Camp Angel, the human guards are casually torturing former X-Man Colossus whilst his former comrade Storm determinedly advocates a policy of appeasement and good behaviour in the face of Warden Colonel Lake‘s obvious company-line cant about keeping mutants safe and contained for their own good.

Some of the younger mutants are increasingly swayed by the rabble-rousing demagogue Stacy X, but trouble really occurs after the prisoners see Valerie Cooper’s televised announcement, whichLake’s guards were too slow to interceptâ€¦

With tensions rising Storm abandons her pacifist stance and destroys all the Sentinel defences, leaving the human guards helpless before the enraged and liberated mutants. After freeing Colossus the internees discover what other atrocities the normals have been secretly perpetrating against the captives and, after a close but heated discussion, enact their own form of justice on the Warden. However before the situation can escalate further the sky is filled with unstoppable Nimrod sentinels who begin their program of eradication by targeting human and mutant alikeâ€¦

â€¦And after the Camps, the Nimrods turn their attention on the cities of humanity which foolishly allowed mutants to live amongst them, before beginning to construct their own robotic god and masterâ€¦

This volume concludes by focusing on another lost strand of mutant lore, as in a quiet corner of New York State, a sinister stranger slaughters all the patients and staff at an exclusive mental healthcare facility to liberate the cosmic-powered Alex Summers and bring him to the offices of one of the world’s most devious and corrupt corporations.

Summers is bemused and bewildered: constantly conversing with his dead brother Scott, but if he suspected just what undying monstrosity has returned, even in his deranged state the hero once called Havoc would recoil in very rational dreadâ€¦

To Be Continuedâ€¦

This welcome return to the darkly trenchant and cynical Ultimate fare, with the trademark post-modernity and bleakly brutal action, still delivers the grim ‘n’ gritty punch fans crave, but with so much backstory to absorb this is definitely not a book for anybody thinking on jumping on to the decidedly different world of Wonder. Nevertheless the striking drama and returning cast-favourites will certainly please those older readers who love this savage iteration of superhero sagas and any casual readers who are more familiar with the company’s movies than the comic-books.
A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd. Licensed from Marvel Characters B.V. â„¢ & Â© 2012 Marvel & Subs. All Rights Reserved.

September 20, 2012September 19, 2012

Ultimate Comics the Utimates: Two Cities. Two Worlds.

By Jonathan Hickman & Sam Humphries, Esad Ribic & Luke Ross with Ron Garney, Butch Guice, Leonard Kirk & Patrich Zicher (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-517-8

Marvel’s Ultimates imprint began in 2000 with a new post-modern take on major characters and concepts to bring them into line with the presumed different tastes of 21st century readers and free of the sixty years of accumulated continuity baggage which had saturated the originals.

Eventually even this darkly nihilistic new universe became as continuity-constricted as its ancestor, and in 2008 the cleansing event â€œUltimatumâ€ culminated in a reign of terror and Tsunami which excised dozens of super-humans and millions of lesser mortals, courtesy of mutant menace Magneto.

In the aftermath the meta-human survivors struggled to restore order to a dangerous new worldâ€¦

This compilation collects Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates issue #7-12 (published in comicbook form from April to September 2012) which continued and expanded the core-story for the latest relaunch of the constantly-changing grim and gritty alternate universe.

Before the Deluge, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury ran an American Black Ops team of super-humans called the Avengers, but he was removed from his position for blatant rule-bending – and being caught.

In the wake of the global inundation, civil war amongst the covert ops community, and deadly brushfire wars which have broken out all over the planet, Fury returned to seize control of the entire spook-show, along with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s army of secret agents and both clandestine super-squad The Avengers and the officially sanctioned Ultimates: a superhero team as much for vote-winning public consumption as traditional world-savingâ€¦

Civilisation is falling apart at a phenomenal rate. Metahumans are classed as Weapons of Mass Destruction and personal superpowers are now the focus of a terrifying global arms race. In Asia the new nation SEAR (SouthEastAsianRepublic) dissolved into bloody conflict after developing a serum which randomly sparked fantastic abilities in humans. The plan was to corner the living weapon market and they tried to stack the deck by simultaneously releasing a global virus which neutralised the genes which triggered natural mutationâ€¦

When the Asian state collapsed from internal dissent and open warfare, a dual metahuman nation was established and these Celestials and Eternals began offering super-powers to anybody wanting the Serumâ€¦

Meanwhile premiere hero Spider-Man was murdered, resurrected WWII super soldier Captain America had gone AWOL and the gods of Asgard, who had been dragged from their heavenly halls and marooned on Earth, were slaughtered by a new fantastic race called the Children of Tomorrow.

Thor was the sole survivor of the Aesir, although deprived forever of his magic hammer and elemental thunder. Moreover, the last god was perpetually haunted by the ghosts of all the fallen Asgardians who constantly called out to himâ€¦

The Children were the results of a fantastic experiment by the Maker – in actuality disgraced and insane genius Reed Richards – who created a high-tech dome inNorthern Germany where enhanced time and ruthless scientific augmentation enabled the inhabitants to hyper-evolve thousands of years in the space of a few days.

The Dome inexorably expanded and absorbed much of Western Europe, despite every effort of the region’s superhumans, until Thor raided the City within, aided by boffin Sam Wilson (AKA the Falcon) and freed captive hero Captain Britain.

Unable to stop the Children, defeated humanity could only wait for the endâ€¦

The saga continues as Fury and his surviving operatives Falcon, Hawkeye and Black Widow attempt to forge an alliance with the elevated inhabitants of Tian, but the Celestials of Xorn and Eternals of Zorn are initially reluctant to join. That all changes once Richards, in his arrogance, flamboyantly murders the celestial envoy Shu-Tan, Oracle of Peace, provoking an unprecedented and unsuspected retaliation from Zorn, whose exposure to the enhancement serum dubbed The Source transformed him into a sentient singularityâ€¦

S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Flumm is attempting to oust Nick Fury and begins his campaign by blackmailing Bruce Banner into attacking the Dome. Initially successful the Hulk‘s assault goes catastrophically wrong when Richards convinces Banner to switch allegiances, even as inAmerica, the President launches the nation’s entire nuclear arsenal at the ever-evolving city. To ensure no interference the Commander-in-Chief has invoked â€œthe Winter Protocolsâ€ and set S.H.I.E.L.D. forces to capture and/or kill both the Ultimates and Avengersâ€¦

In New York the permanently drunk Thor and Iron Man Tony Stark – secretly dying of a malignant brain tumour – easily repulse their Federal attackers even as the missiles close in and the Children of Tomorrow engage the enraged forces of the Eternals and Celestials in the skies above Europe.

Even the nuclear fusillade and Zorn’s attack could not obliterate the Dome but the collective, component intelligence of the living City beneath is badly damaged. In retaliation the Maker unleashes the Hulk and a very special Child of Tomorrow he had cultured without the knowledge of the hive-mind to exact bloody vengeance. The deadly child then eradicatesWashingtonDCâ€¦

As the shock of losing the capital and the entire ruling structure sinks in, self-promoted S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Flumm is further frustrated when Fury escapes arrest and disappears just as his former employees come for him. This also allows Falcon, Hawkeye and the Widow to escape captureâ€¦

Tony Stark is suffering badly and experiencing complex hallucinations – constantly arguing with a younger version of himself – but still has a brilliant plan to strike back at Richards and the Children. Sadly it involves turning himself in to the ambitious Flumm and new Leader of the Free World President Howard, who only a day previously was the earnest but under-qualified Secretary of Energy.

This new POTUS can’t even cope with the relatively minor and pedestrian crisis of a state seceding from theUnionand declaring itself an independent nation. Still, backed up by the advanced technology of the four biggest S.H.I.E.L.D. bases inAmerica, now happily defending the New Republic of Texas, this is a problem that also needs dealing with immediatelyâ€¦

Recruiting Richards’ estranged wife Sue – a brilliant scientist and super-powered survivor of the defunct Fantastic Four – Stark allows himself to be traded to the increasingly unstable Maker in his damaged Dome, whilst unknown to all in the devastated ruins of fallen Asgard something strange and magical is awakeningâ€¦

With Hawkeye and his comrades on the run and seeking allies from the top secret West Coast Operational Security (another of the eternally paranoid Fury’s off-the-books super-team projects), S.H.I.E.L.D.’s usurper Director is rapidly losing control and cannot cope with any more bad newsâ€¦

Ebullient and utterly jazzed with his ultimate triumph, Reed Richards is delighted with his peace offering from President Howard and happily begins torturing his greatest intellectual rival, but Stark has an incredible implausible plan and by the most impossible of stratagems turns the City and its collective populace against its Maker, allowing Thor and the Invisible Woman to invade the Dome. However the Hulk, now enlarged to the size of a building, is waiting for themâ€¦

â€¦And in the Arctic, news of the World’s imminent demise finally reaches a Star-Spangled hermit who had thought himself finally beyond the reach of humanity and his own irrepressible sense of dutyâ€¦

To Be Continuedâ€¦

Once again this hot-off-the-presses epic pauses on a potent cliffhanger as what might well be the Last Battle of the Ultimate Marvel Universe moves towards a catastrophic end-game with scripters Jonathan Hickman and Sam Humphries providing gripping suspense and spectacular tension. Illustrators Esad Ribic, Luke Ross, Ron Garney, Butch Guice, Leonard Kirk & Patrich Zicher readily transform the tale into stunning action-packed visuals that will enthral and astound all fans of grim and gritty cosmic costumed drama, and this slick and compulsive read for older Fights ‘n’ Tights fans also includes an impressive cover gallery by Kaare Andrews & Oliver Coipel which adds even more impact to the book’s artistic appeal.

Much more in tune with the feel and sensibilities of the assorted Movie franchises than the traditional comicbook market, the post-modernity and cynical, bleak adventure delivers the visceral shocks and staggering revelations fans of this sub-imprint seem addicted to.

Whilst perhaps not the best book for anybody thinking of jumping on to the decidedly different Ultimate World, Two Cities. Two Worlds. will certainly strike a chord with older readers who love the darkest side of superheroes and those who know the company’s films better than their publications.
A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd. Licensed from Marvel Characters B.V. â„¢ & Â© 2012 Marvel & Subs. All Rights Reserved.

June 3, 2012June 3, 2012

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Scorpion

By Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-515-4

When the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man died, a new hero in his image aroseâ€¦

Marvel’s Ultimates imprint began in 2000 with a post-modern take on major characters and concepts to bring them into line with the tastes of a 21^st century readership – a wholly different market from those baby-boomers and their descendents content to stick with the precepts sprung from founding talents Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Stan Leeâ€¦ or simply those unable or unwilling to deal with the five decades (seven if you include the Golden Age Timely tales retroactively co-opted into the mix) of continuity baggage which saturated the originals.

Eventually even this darkly nihilistic new universe became as continuity-constricted as its ancestor and in 2008 the cleansing event â€œUltimatumâ€ culminated in a reign of terror which excised dozens of super-humans and millions of lesser mortals in a devastating tsunami which inundated Manhattan, courtesy of mutant menace Magneto.

In the aftermath Peter Parker and his fellow meta-human survivors struggled to restore order to a dangerous new world.

Spider-Man finally gained a measure of acceptance and was hailed a hero when he valiantly and very publicly met his end during a catastrophic super-villain showdownâ€¦

This collection (collecting Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6-10) follows child prodigy Miles Morales as the freshly empowered 13 year old learns to cope with his astounding new physical abilities, discovers the painful cost of living a daily life of lies and how an inescapable sense of responsibility is the worst of all possible threatsâ€¦

Now a day resident at the prestigious and life-changing Brooklyn Visions Academy Boarding School, Miles spends only weekends at home and is coming to terms with some unpleasant truths. Foremost is that he has secrets to keep from his parents, but also poisoning the air is the fact that his father used to be a street-thug and now passionately hates costumed heroes – like Spider-Man.

Almost as bad is the discovery that Miles’ Uncle Aaron is a major thief and bad-guy known in the game as the Prowlerâ€¦

Ever since a living piece of Aaron’s loot bit Miles and transformed him into a super-strong and fast kid who can walk up walls, turn invisible and deliver a devastating venom charge through his hands, the Prowler has been laying low, and the action opens here as he resurfaces in Mexico, narrowly escaping a deal-gone-sour with local super-powered gang-lord the Scorpion.

Meanwhile the replacement Spider-Man has been making a name for himself in New York, and news of a junior Arachnid Avenger is soon making global headlinesâ€¦ Classmate, confidante and fellow nerd Ganke undertakes to train Miles using candid footage of the deceased Peter Parker in action and, when continued sightings of the boy hero reach Aaron south of the border, the wily rogue instantly puts two and two together and heads back to the Big Apple.

As the troubled teen tackles street scum and even old Spidey villains such as Omega Red, triumphing more by luck than skill or judgement, Aaron murders underworld tech-guru The Tinkerer and co-opts his ingenious arsenal of criminal gadgets before confronting Miles at school: offering hints at a possible partnershipâ€¦

Since Peter Parker perished his Aunt May and true love Gwen Stacy have been world travelling. They’re in Paris when the shocking news of a successor reaches themâ€¦

In New York harassed Police Captain Quaid is also coming to terms with another Wall-crawling crazy to complicate his life but is utterly unaware that major grief has hit town as the Scorpion, following the Prowler, has seen New York is wide open for a new Kingpin of Crime to step in and take overâ€¦

After a spectacular battle against The Ringer, Spider-Man and Quaid reach an accommodation of sorts, but the Prowler’s first North American clash with the Scorpion doesn’t go nearly as well and Aaron Morales once again accosts his nephew with veiled threats and a shocking offerâ€¦

Of course it all devolves into a fist-fight before calmer heads prevail and Miles really thinks over what’s on the table: one of the world’s most effective and capable villains is offering to train him in combat, strategy and survival on the streets whilst schooling him in the myriad ways the underworld worksâ€¦

Only problem is that the Prowler has no intention of reforming and won’t say what he expects in returnâ€¦

To Be Continuedâ€¦

Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Samnee & Sara Pichelli have crafted a stirring new chapter which offers intriguing new insights into the morally ambiguous and far less black-and-white world of modern Fights ‘n’ Tights dramas, and as usual this volume also contains a gallery of alternate covers to delight and thrill.

Tense, breathtaking, action-packed, evocative and portentous suspense; full of the light-hearted, self-aware and razor sharp humour which blessed the original Lee/Ditko tales, and lovely to look at, this second collection (which does end on a cliffhanger , I’m afraid) looks set to prove that the new Spider-Man is here to stay – unless they kill him tooâ€¦
A British Edition â„¢ & Â© 2012 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. and published by Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved.

May 6, 2012May 7, 2012

Ultimate Comics X-Men: Reborn

By Nick Spencer, Paco Medina & Juan Vlasco (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-506-2

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.

The era-ending event was a colossal tsunami triggered by Magneto which inundated the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan and utterly devastated the world’s mutant population. The X-Men as well as many other superhuman heroes and villains died and in the aftermath anybody classed as ‘â€Homo Superiorâ€ had to surrender to the authorities or be shot on sight. Understandably most survivors as well any newly emergent X-people kept themselves well hiddenâ€¦

Mutants had always been feared and despised: as the indisputable inheritors of Earth, the often lethally-empowered and wildly uncontrollable creatures were seen by many as an alien, inimical species; a new race destined to take the world from humanity the way we took it from the Neanderthalsâ€¦

This compilation continues to describe the gradual return of mutants to the post-deluge public gaze which began in Ultimate X: Origins by collecting Ultimate Comics: X-Men #1-6 and pertinent portions of Ultimate Comics: Fallout #4 (published in comicbook form from September 2011 to March 2012) which provided a game-changing new reality and status quo for the latest relaunch of the constantly-changing, grim and gritty alternate universe.

In a stunning story-arc by writer Nick Spencer, artists Paco Medina & Juan Vlasco and colourist Marte Gracia, the slow descent into uncontrolled chaos begins when Presidential Special Advisor on Superhuman and Mutant Affairs Valerie Cooper is forced to admit to the entire world that – rather than a result of inexorable evolution and natural selection – Mutants are the result of a fifty year old American covert program of genetic manipulation which got out of controlâ€¦

In a world where Homo Superior are registered like guns, kept in internment camps and where good, God-fearing folk would rather execute their children than have them grow up afflicted with the sin of â€œmutant-nessâ€, the news instantly causes uproar and riot across the nation and around the planetâ€¦

Former X-Man Karen Grant (nee Jean Grey) has been continuing Charles Xavier‘s dream of fostering Human/Mutant co-existence but the news not only rips the rug out from under her; it also proves intolerable for her young charge Jimmy Hudson, who hears on National TV that his dead father Wolverine was the US Military’s ‘Mutant Zero’ and from his initial escape five decades ago has stemmed all the pain and horror and super-powered proliferationâ€¦

With a downtrodden, oppressed emergent species suddenly reduced to a virus or failed science experiment, global tensions are explosively high, and when renegade X-survivor Rogue very publicly battles American Nimrod Sentinels, the US President is faced with a civil crisis like no otherâ€¦

Meanwhile hunted â€œMutant Terroristâ€ Kitty Pryde is holed-up with fellow fugitives Iceman and the Human Torch, all on the run since their friend and fellow teen Peter Parker was murdered in his Spider-Man guise.

With the entire world in crisis (see Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye and The Ultimates: The Republic is Burning), the President consults S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury but is also approached by the deceased Magneto’s son Pietro Lensherr who has since inherited control of the terrorist group known as the Brotherhood of Mutants. The super-swift master manipulator has an arcane Faustian Bargain for the severely embattled Leader of the Free Worldâ€¦

Soon after the deluge hit, fundamentalist preacher Reverend William Stryker seized Sentinel technology and attacked the Xavier School, murdering many of the mutants Magneto’s flood had missed. Now he has returned, intent on capitalising on the troubled times and expediting his genocidal crusade.

Acting as a new X-team and against Pryde’s best judgment Iceman and the Torch rescue Rogue, but are horrified to discover that the fugitive powerhouse has literally â€œseen Godâ€.

However, as they all hide in subterranean tunnels beneath New York, picking up stray mutant children as they flee, the young misfits have no idea just how far their former comrade has fallen or what lengths Rogue will go to in order to fulfil her divinely ordained missionâ€¦

With the nation in chaos Stryker plans a massive event in Times Square, offering a cure for mutantcy and a final solution to the crisis, but his true plan is to ambush the gathered deviants and end their blasphemous existence foreverâ€¦

In the White House Quicksilver has his own scheme: he knows the secret Stryker is concealing and intends to use it for his own ends, but when the Reverend takes control of the entire Sentinel program and sends every killer robot in America’s arsenal to hunt down all the remaining mutants still in hiding, the cataclysmic battles leads to a stunning series of revelations and a breathtaking cliffhangerâ€¦

This welcome return to the bleak and cynical Ultimate fare, with the trademark post-modernity, sharp abrasive humour and darkly brutal action, still delivers the grim ‘n’ gritty punch fans crave, but with so much backstory to absorb Reborn might not be the best book for anybody thinking on jumping on to decidedly different world of Wonder. Nevertheless the striking drama and returning cast-favourites will certainly please those older readers who love this trenchant iteration of superhero sagas and any casual readers who are more familiar with the company’s movies than the comic-books.

March 28, 2012March 27, 2012

Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates: The Republic is Burning

By Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, Brandon Peterson & various (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-504-8

Marvel’s Ultimates imprint began in 2000 with a new post-modern take on major characters and concepts to bring them into line with the tastes of 21st century readers – apparently a wholly different market from those baby-boomers and their descendents content to stick with the precepts sprung from founding talents Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Stan Leeâ€¦ or simply those unable or unwilling to deal with the five decades (seven if you include the Golden Age Timely tales retroactively co-opted into the mix) of continuity baggage which saturated the originals.

In the aftermath the meta-human survivors struggled to restore order to a dangerous new worldâ€¦

This compilation collects Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates issue #1-6 and Ultimate Comics: Fallout #4 (published in comicbook form from October 2011 to March 2012) which comprised the core-story for the latest relaunch of the constantly-changing grim and gritty alternate universe.

Before the Deluge, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury ran an American Black Ops team of super-humans called the Avengers, but he was toppled from his position for blatant rule-bending – and being caught.

Now in the wake of the global inundation, internecine strife amongst the covert ops community and brushfire wars which have broken out all over the planet, Fury is back: once more running the entire spook show and firmly re-established in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s army of secret agents, an official superhero team for public consumption and another clandestine super-squad doing stuff the officially sanctioned Ultimates wouldn’t dream ofâ€¦

It isn’t a job many would want: the world is falling apart at a phenomenal rate. Individual metahumans are classed as Weapons of Mass Destruction and personal superpowers are now the focus of a terrifying new global arms race. In Asia the new nation SEAR (South East Asian Republic) is dissolving into bloody civil war after developing a serum that will randomly spark fantastic abilities in humans dosed with it. They also stacked the deck by simultaneously releasing a global virus which has killed the genes responsible for causing natural mutation.

A new metahuman nation has grown up within the embattled country offering super-powers to anybody daring to take the Serum, as seen in sidebar series Ultimate Comics Hawkeyeâ€¦

The gods of Asgard have been dragged from their heavenly halls and marooned on Earth where their wild warlike ways and fantastic powers are disrupting all of Europe. Premiere hero Spider-Man has been murdered, resurrected WWII super soldier Captain America has gone AWOL and in the wings an old friend turned foe has returned to remake the planet according to an impossible and remorseless agendaâ€¦

The constant calamity begins when enigmatic mastermind Maker and his dedicated band of volunteers entomb themselves in a high-tech dome in Northern Germany where enhanced time and ruthless scientific augmentation enables the inhabitants to hyper-evolve a thousand years in the space of a few days.

Whilst Iron Man Tony Stark is being conned by his fellow members of billionaires fraternity The Kratos Club and tricked into detonating a nuke over Montevideo in order to manipulate global stock markets, these Children of Tomorrow – now more alien ant farm than human science cult – break out as the Dome begins to expand and absorb Western Europe. The region’s superhumans, including current Captain Britain Jamie Braddock are busy losing a fight with the errant Asgardians and card-carrying Ultimate Thor when The Children attackâ€¦

As Hawkeye attempts to forestall the civil war in SEAR and Stark is dragged back from death by his bodyguard Jarvis, the Children perform the impossible feat of killing almost every god in Asgard.

Only Thor and Braddock survive but the Thunderer’s hammer and magic are gone foreverâ€¦

Resorting to technology provided by Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. the Last Asgardian returns to the fray, intending to die gloriously in battle as a warrior should, but the expanding dome and ravening children are unstoppable. After an all-out final assault by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World’s armies, humanity is utterly defeated and humiliatingly allowed to slink off to await the endâ€¦

When the Dome stops growing and stands revealed as an incredible future City the doom-hungry Thor invades it, freeing Braddock, who has been imprisoned and subjected to torturous scientific investigation. They are then captured by the Maker who reveals his impossible true identity, after which he discards the ineffectual and demoralised warriors.

Thor doesn’t care: he has just realised that he is being haunted by the ghosts of all the fallen Asgardiansâ€¦

Fury is almost out of ideas. When technologist Sam Wilson AKA the Falcon finds a way to infiltrate the City he suddenly vanishes without trace, and even Captain America has refused to rejoin the Ultimates and lead mankind’s last hurrah against their implacable unshakable successorsâ€¦

To Be Continuedâ€¦

Hot off the presses this saga ends on a chilling cliffhanger as what might well be the Last Battle of the alternate Marvel Universe begins. However the always entertaining Jonathan Hickman, artists Esad Ribic & Brandon Peterson (as well as colourists Dean White, Jose Villsrrubia, Jim Charalampidis, John Raunch & Edgar Delgado) make this a slick and compulsive read for older Fights ‘n’ Tights fans and the impressive cover gallery by Kaare Andrews, Ribic & Chris Evans adds immeasurably to the book’s visual appeal.

Much more in tune with the visual feel and sensibilities of the assorted Movie franchises than the traditional comicbook market, the trademark post-modernity and cynical, dark action is amped to the max here; delivering the visceral shocks and staggering revelations fans of this sub-imprint seem addicted to.

Whilst perhaps not the best book for anybody thinking on jumping on to the decidedly different Ultimate World, The Republic is Burning will certainly strike a chord with older readers who love the darkest side of superheroes and readers who know the company’s films better than their publications.

March 12, 2012March 11, 2012

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Who is Miles Morales?

By Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-503-1

When the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man died writer Brian Michael Bendis and Marvel promised that a new hero would arise from the ashesâ€¦

Marvel’s Ultimates imprint began in 2000 with a new post-modern take on major characters and concepts to bring them into line with the tastes of 21^st century readers – apparently a wholly different market from those baby-boomers and their descendents content to stick with the precepts sprung from founding talents Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Stan Leeâ€¦ or simply those unable or unwilling to deal with the five decades (seven if you include the Golden Age Timely tales retroactively co-opted into the mix) of continuity baggage which saturated the originals.

In the aftermath Peter Parker and his fellow meta-human survivors struggled to restore order to a dangerous new world.

Spider-Man finally gained a measure of acceptance and was hailed a hero when he valiantly and very publicly met his end during a catastrophic super-villain confrontationâ€¦

This collection (re-presenting the introductory teaser from Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 – August 2011 – and the follow-up Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Who is Miles Morales? #1-5) introduces a new and even younger Arachnid Avenger and describes how, just like his predecessor, a troubled boy learned the painful price of misusing the unique gifts fate had bestowedâ€¦

The epic opens with a skinny kid having the poor taste to parade around town in a cheap imitation costume of fallen hero Spider-Man encountering and somehow defeating vicious super-villain The Kangaroo before the revelations begin by spinning back to the recent past where manic industrialist Norman Osborn repeats the genetic experiment which first gave Peter Parker his powers (see Ultimate Spider-Man volume 1: Power and Responsibility) via artificially-mutated spider bite.

Unfortunately the deranged mastermind didn’t expect a burglar to waltz in and accidentally carry off the new test subject as part of his haulâ€¦

When grade-schooler Miles Morales got into the prestigious and life-changing Brooklyn Visions Academy Boarding School by the most callous of chances, the brilliant African American/Latino boy quickly and cynically realised that life is pretty much a crap-shoot and unfair to boot. Feeling guilty about his unjust success and sorry for the 697 other poor kids who didn’t get a chance, he snuck off to visit his uncle Aaron.

The visit had to be secret since his uncle was a â€œbad influenceâ€: a career criminal dubbed The Prowler. Whilst there, a great big spider with a number on its back bit Miles and he began to feel very oddâ€¦

For a start he began to turn invisibleâ€¦

Suddenly super-fast and strong, able to leap huge distances and fade from view, Miles rushed over to see his geeky pal Ganke, a brilliant nerd already attending Brooklyn Visions. Applying â€œscientificâ€ testing the boy also discovers Miles can deliver shocking, destructive charges through his hands. When Miles goes home Ganke did more research and deduced a connection to the new hero Spider-Man; pushing his friend towards also becoming a costumed crusader.

However, after Miles assisted during a tenement fire, saving a mother and baby, shock set in and he decided never to use his powers againâ€¦

Time passed: Miles and Ganke had been roommates at the Academy for almost a year when news of a major metahuman clash rocked the city. The troubled Miles headed out and was a bystander at the scene of Spider-Man’s death.

Seeing a brave man perish so valiantly, Miles was once more consumed by guilt: if he had used his own powers when they first manifested he might have been able to help; to save a truly great heroâ€¦

As part of the crowd attending Parker’s memorial Miles and Ganke talked to another mourner, a girl who actually knew Parker. Gwen Stacy offered quiet insights to the grieving child which altered the course of his life forever: â€œwith great power comes great responsibilityâ€¦â€

Clad in a Halloween Spidey costume borrowed from Ganke, Miles took to the night streets for the first time and stopped the Kangaroo from committing murderâ€¦

His third night out the exhilarated boy encountered the terrifying and furiously indignant Spider-Woman who thrashed and arrested him, dragging him to Government agency S.H.I.E.L.D where Hawkeye, Iron Man and master manipulator Nick Fury coldly assessed him.

However, before they could reach a decision on Miles’ fate, the murderous Electro broke free of the building’s medical custody ward and went on a rampage.

Despite defeating all the seasoned heroes the voltage villain was completely unprepared for a new Spider-Man: especially as the boy had a whole extra range of powers including camouflage capabilities and an irresistible â€œvenom-strikeâ€ stingâ€¦

As Miles considered the full implications of his victory, Fury imparted a staggeringly simple homily: â€œWith great powerâ€¦â€

Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli have crafted a stirring new chapter which is both engaging and intriguing and the volume also contains a gallery of alternate covers by Marko Djurdjevic and Pichelli.

Tense, breathtaking, action-packed, evocative and full of the light-hearted, self-aware humour which blessed the original Lee/Ditko tales, this is a controversial but worthy way to continue and advance the legend that Fights ‘n’ Tights addicts will admire and adoreâ€¦
A British Edition â„¢ & Â© 2012 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. and published by Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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