{"id":26725,"date":"2022-10-17T17:00:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=26725"},"modified":"2022-10-17T15:53:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T15:53:05","slug":"ultimate-comics-avengers-blade-versus-the-avengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/10\/17\/ultimate-comics-avengers-blade-versus-the-avengers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Comics Avengers: Blade versus The Avengers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Mark Millar<\/strong>, Steve Dillon<\/strong>, Andy Lanning<\/strong>, Scott Hanna<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN: 978-0-7851-4009-2 (TPB\/Digital)<\/p>\n

Marvel\u2019s Ultimates sub-imprint began in 2000 with key characters and concepts retooled to bring them into line with the tastes and sensibilities of modern readers – a potentially discrete market from the baby-boomers and their descendants. The line proliferated and prospered, but eventually this darkly nihilistic new universe became as continuity-constricted as its predecessor.<\/p>\n

In 2008, cleansing event Ultimatum<\/strong> culminated in a reign of terror that killed dozens of superhumans and millions of lesser mortals. Although a strong seller, the saga was largely trashed by the fans who bought it, and the ongoing new Ultimatum Comics line quietly back-pedalled on its declared intentions\u2026<\/p>\n

The key and era-ending event was a colossal tsunami that drowned the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan. This post-tsunami collection (re-presenting Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 <\/strong>#1-6) focuses on a more or less dried out world with diminished global populations adapted to the new status quo.<\/p>\n

Before the Deluge, Nick Fury<\/strong> (a black iteration so popular that he not only became the film version, but was also retrofitted into the mainstream MCU and replaced the white guy from WWII) ran a super-secret Black Ops team of superhumans designated the Avengers<\/strong>. He was eventually ousted from his position for sundry rule-bending antics – and being caught doing them. Now, as the world dries, he\u2019s firmly re-established, running another black ops team, doing stuff his publicity-courting, officially sanctioned Ultimates<\/strong> team wouldn\u2019t dream of\u2026<\/p>\n

Fury\u2019s secret army consists of Hawkeye<\/strong> – <\/em>the man who never misses; James Rhodes<\/em>: a fanatical soldier wearing devastating War Machine<\/strong> armour; Gregory Stark<\/em>, Iron Man<\/strong>\u2019s smarter, utterly amoral older brother; Nerd Hulk<\/em> – a cloned gamma-monster with all the original\u2019s power but implanted\/programmed with Banner\u2019s brain and milksop character; size-shifting insect queen Red Wasp<\/em> and ruthless super-spy Black Widow<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Also popping in when no one\u2019s looking is resurrected WWII super soldier Captain America<\/strong> – part of the bright and shiny squad, but always happy to slum it when necessary\u2026<\/p>\n

Here the dark-side heroes stumble into an ancient and clandestine war that has continued uninterrupted by the end of the world, which sees half-human vampire-hunter Blade<\/strong> on the unaccustomed defensive. The undead bloodsuckers he has historically picked off with ease are now far better organised, more effective and more dangerous. As the story unfolds, it transpires they have found a new king with a grand plan\u2026<\/p>\n

This mysterious mastermind is wearing Iron Man\u2019s old armour and now ignores ordinary mortals, preferring to turn super-heroes into a vampiric army. The situation starts bad and gets exponentially worse with metahuman heroes and guest-stars – like Kid Daredevil<\/em>, Slavic thunder god Perun<\/em>, numerous Giant-Men<\/em>, and zen hero-trainer Stick<\/em> – dropping like flies. With all possible saviours succumbing to the unstoppable plague, it looks hopeless when only Fury, Black Widow and Hawkeye are left untainted, and only the greatest miracle or boldest masterstroke can save humanity. After Cap also succumbs to the curse of the undead, the team\u2019s unwelcome sometime-ally Blade makes a bold but surely suicidal move\u2026<\/p>\n

With covers and variants by Leinil Francis Yu, Marte Gracia, Ed McGuinness, Morry Hollowell, Olivier Coipel, Laura Martin, Greg Land, Frank D\u2019Armata, this dark, moody and fast-paced thriller comes from Mark Millar (Judge Dredd<\/strong>, Civil War<\/strong>, Superman<\/strong>, Kick-Ass<\/strong>, The Kingsman<\/strong>, American Jesus<\/strong>, Jupiter\u2019s Legacy<\/strong>) and Steve Dillon (Laser Eraser & Pressbutton<\/strong>, Abslom Daak<\/strong>, Judge Dredd<\/strong>, Animal Man<\/strong>, Preacher<\/strong>, Hellblazer<\/strong>, The Punisher<\/strong>): a wry, violent and powerfully scary romp that is engrossing and eminently readable.<\/p>\n

This spooky, cynical, sinister shocker is another breathtakingly effective yarn that could only be told outside the Marvel Universe proper, but one that will resonate with older fans who love the darkest side of superheroes (and remember fondly the days when heroes could be horrors) as well as casual readers who know the company\u2019s movies better than the comics.
\n\u00a9 2020 MARVEL. A British edition published by Panini is also available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mark Millar, Steve Dillon, Andy Lanning, Scott Hanna & various (Marvel) ISBN: 978-0-7851-4009-2 (TPB\/Digital) Marvel\u2019s Ultimates sub-imprint began in 2000 with key characters and concepts retooled to bring them into line with the tastes and sensibilities of modern readers – a potentially discrete market from the baby-boomers and their descendants. The line proliferated and … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Ultimate Comics Avengers: Blade versus The Avengers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[94,237,74,85,247,98,120,79,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-avengers","category-black-widow","category-captain-america","category-daredevil","category-hawkeye","category-hulk","category-iron-man","category-marvel-superheroes","category-ultimate-marvel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6X3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26725"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26729,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26725\/revisions\/26729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}