Ultimate

I read a lot of comic books. Not a nerd-amount, but enough nonetheless. I get grief from RoboGirlfriend over it, and the circle of friends that I can talk to about them is extremely small. Which is sad, and lame, because some comics out there are not only great, but are mind-blowing. So I figure I should share with you, dear reader, some of RoboNixon's personal favorites, in the hopes that you too may enjoy the under-appreciated, often overwrought, but occasionally exceptional work being done.

Let's start off slow. For beginners. Which is a perfect tie in to-

The Ultimate Universe.

Marvel Comics has been churning out books of well loved characters for seemingly forever. I'm not going to get into the company's history because quite frankly it's long, mostly boring, not the focus of this post. No, rather, the point you should be taking away that with 40+ years of history for all the well known characters -- Spider Man, Hulk, the X-Men, Captain America, etc -- it becomes awfully intimidating to introduce a new reader to the universe. Who wants to dive into the tail end of hundreds upon hundreds of issues? Not I, said the reader. 

Which leads us to 2001. Reacting to this difficulty in attracting new readers to the books, Marvel launches the Ultimate Marvel imprint with Ultimate Spider-Man, written by Brian Michael Bendis. I am not a Bendis fan. I also think Ultimate Spider-Man is lame. Take this, for example:

The original Amazing Fantasy #15 story [RoboEditor: the origin of Spider-Man] is only 11 pages long, but Bendis retells it as a 180-page, seven-part story arc in which Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man only after issue #5.

Yeah. 

Launched soon after, Ultimate X-Men premiered, written by Mark Millar, with art by Adam Kubert. A more successful outing than Ultimate Spidey, the book is an amusing and interesting take on the X-Men franchise.

Millar's original X-Men consisted of telepath Professor X, Cyclops, whose eyes shoot concussive beams, telepathic/telekinetic Jean Grey, weather-manipulating Storm, simian genius Beast, metal-skinned Colossus, and cryokinetic Iceman. With the exception of Beast and Colossus, these mutants were also featured in the first X-Men movie.

...The first X-Men movie being where Millar got most of his inspiration from. Ultimate X-Men was a step up from Spidey, simply because Millar, whose run on The Authority is brutal (they'll get their own post, eventually), is a better writer than Bendis. It's not perfect, however; story beats are rushed, or skipped over for action, leaving someone with even a hefty-dose of regular Marvel-Universe information confused about what's happening.

I own a handful of Ultimate X-Men trade paperbacks, though, so they're worth some time. I recommend browsing through the earlier issues if you have time and find yourself in a comic-book store. 

Strangely enough, it was a collaboration between Bendis (who I'm not a fan of) and Millar (who I am a fan of) that lead to one of the Ultimate Universe's more successful ventures: Ultimate Fantastic Four. Plotted by Millar and scripted by Bendis, it combines the best aspects of both of their styles, with great art by Adam Kubert.

It may be due to significant changes from the regular Marvel-Universe's Fantastic Four, but Ultimate FF worked right off the bat. The characters were younger, more vulnerable, the scope larger, but the heart was still there. Better yet, after Bendis and Millar left, Warren Ellis, one of the most insane comic-writers around, took over with a fantastic arc. It's a great series, and the first three trade paperbacks are worth a blind-buy. You won't regret it. 

Finally, we get to The Ultimates, the new line's version of the classic superhero team, The Avengers. Except written by Mark Millar. In post-9/11 America. 

It is unbelievable. 

In the regular Marvel Universe, the Avengers are the goody-two-shoes team lead by Captain America, and populated by a rotating cast, with the Hulk, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Thor and others filling in the ranks. This was no Avengers though. These were The Ultimates.

Realizing that the continuous-stream of issues was counter-productive to story arcs, Millar realized that structuring the series like a television show -- with seasons -- was the way to go. Thus, the first season, a twelve-issue story in the series THE ULTIMATES, began (the second story arc is in The Ultimates 2, and The Ultimates 3 is currently running). 

One of many notable differences between Ultimates and many other comics is the edgier and darker elements that Millar has written in to them. This can be especially seen in the characters, which are quite different than their mainstream counterparts. Captain America is more violent and pragmatic, Nick Fury is notably fiercer and scorns oversight of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hank and Janet Pym share an abusive relationship and Tony Stark is a womanizing drunk with a flamboyantly gay butler. Bruce Banner is written as a far more self-conscious, socially-inept individual and Betty Ross as careerist, manipulative and self-indulgent, a source of their frequent relationship woes. The Hulk is frequently depicted as a murderous sociopath whose rage leaves little concern for civilian casualties. Nick Fury and Janet Pym, both previously depicted as Caucasian in mainstream Marvel comics, have their ethnicities adjusted to give the team a more multi-cultural tone (with Fury as an African-American and Janet an Asian-American).

It is awesome. And the art by Bryan Hitch is AMAZING. Seasons 1 and 2 are by Millar and Hitch, and are, without a doubt, the best "super hero team" comics I've ever read. Ever. I cannot encourage enough to go out and get them right now. Hell, here they are over at Amazon (Season 1 pt. 1, pt. 2; Season 2 pt. 1, pt. 2).

So where does that leave us? Well, unfortunately, the quality in the Ultimate Universe could not stay consistent forever. As happens with any comic book that goes on for too long, things get complicated, messy, and quality diminishes. The Ultimates 3, for instance, is nearly unreadable, and later arcs of Ultimate FF begin to fluctuate wildly in quality. But as a whole, the Ultimate line is still the best that Marvel has to offer. It's generally smarter, better, and faster than the originals. It's written for a modern audience. And it's worth it.

-RoboNixon