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Underground > Comic Books >

The Ultimates?

  
 
uncle retrospective
22:23 / 29.10.02
So the question I have to ask is should I buy it? Is it any Good?
I love the art but am very warey of Miller.
So part with the cash or not? I trust you guys...
 
 
some guy
23:08 / 29.10.02
The Ultimates is enjoyable action fluff. I hate almost everything else Millar's ever written, including his Authority stint. Make of that what you will...
 
 
The Falcon
01:10 / 30.10.02
Do you, or have you ever, liked superheroes?
Will you like The Ultimates?

Same answer.
 
 
The Natural Way
08:24 / 30.10.02
Yes, it is good.
I'm beginning to think it's the only real superhero comic Marvel produce. People like to waffle about how NXM is really a superhero book, but, well....Cyclops just ain't Thor.
 
 
The Natural Way
08:24 / 30.10.02
Invest in the trade. It's cheap, and you'll soon know if The Ultimates is yr bag or not.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
10:41 / 30.10.02
Unless you have a fanatic devotion to Bryan Hitch, who is producing the best work of his career to date on this title, avoid it. It's pretty dim, and the obnoxious bits drown out the more interesting bits. There's a lot of better ways to spend your money. Why not go and have yourself a nice dinner instead?
 
 
bio k9
11:30 / 30.10.02
With pie. Mmmmm. I like pie.
 
 
Sebastian
12:32 / 30.10.02
Its currently being praised as the best super-hero comic book being published these days, and I agree, along with some people here, except the gastronomics above.

Whichever the case, like it or not, its a new or differential take on the super-hero genre. Its more actually a probing towards the "super-human-in-a-human-world" characterisation genre.

I say, yes, the TPB is cheap, enjoyable and readable, whether you disapprove of the whole book or not, and by the way I am also one of the assholes that bought the individual issues to find later that the art and coloring in the TPB was improved, thanks to those farts at Marvel who have now decided they may well take their time to release each issue so they do not have to rework it for the TPB.

The only word of warning I would have for someone cautiosly approaching the TPB is that the story contained reads as a sort of big preamble with a very open ended, inconclusive, and question marked last chapter, strictly speaking on "narrative" terms (you'll be left wondering whatever happened to at least one of the main characters in terms of life and death). Hopefully, the next six chapters will bring some sense of conclusiveness to the over arching story.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
13:32 / 30.10.02
Whichever the case, like it or not, its a new or differential take on the super-hero genre. Its more actually a probing towards the "super-human-in-a-human-world" characterisation genre.

Tears of mocking laughter are streaming down my cheeks...
 
 
The Natural Way
14:04 / 30.10.02
It's Hollywood "realism", Seb, not Mike Leigh "realism".

No, Flux, he should check the trade. It's only 9 quid and, with all due respect (you being a top bloke and all that), not everyone shares yr taste.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
14:19 / 30.10.02
Well, it's just that there's so many better (superhero) comics out there...why not read them instead? Gosh, if you've GOT to read Millar, why not go for Ultimate X-Men? That's marginally better, even if the art is invariably awful.
 
 
some guy
14:39 / 30.10.02
if you've GOT to read Millar, why not go for Ultimate X-Men?

How is Ultimate X-Men better? For all its flaws, The Ultimates actually has distinct characters (as opposed to the uniform personalities exhibited by the X-Men in the twelve issues I read), and it works much better as an exploration of a militarized superhero team.

Has the second half of Ultimate X-Men veered away from the presentation of the first year?
 
 
The Natural Way
14:48 / 30.10.02
Mmm. The latest storyline's pretty nice. I think I've got a handle on most of the characters.

For once I'm w/ Lozza. And, Flux, please tell me what these great superhero books are, 'cause I have some pretty shameless mates who pick up anything there's the slightest whiff of a buzz around, and I'm telling you NOTHING out there is half as much fun as the Ultimates. Most superhero books are really, really shit.

You don't really read superhero comics, do you? C'mon...s'not really yr bag....
 
 
Murray Hamhandler
15:45 / 30.10.02
Yes, I want to know these superhero books on an intimate level, as well. NXM, X-Statix, Ultimates, Ultimate X-Men, maybe Captain America (which I could make a judgement on if the initial story would ever end), Catwoman, if you want to count it as such... Umm... Uhhhhhh... I don't know. Every other superhero book I've read recently has been pretty much crap. If you're aware of hidden gems, please do share.
 
 
Jack Fear
17:22 / 30.10.02
...I want to know these superhero books on an intimate level...

Ew.

Cover them in plastic wrap first, at least.
 
 
kid coagulant
19:02 / 30.10.02
'Incredible Hulk' has been pretty good lately. It's been described in a few places as a cross between the old Hulk tv show and the 'X-files' (which is better than it sounds). Stuart Immonen is a good replacement for John Romita Jr, and the covers by Kaaaare Andrews are consistently fucking great. It's worth checking out.

Chuck Austen's 'Uncanny X-Men' has been OK, but then I'll read anything that involves Juggernaut.

As for 'The Ultimates', I go back and forth on it, and w/ Millar in general. I like this better than any of his writing on 'Authority' or 'Ultimate X-Men', but there's just not a lot of subtlety to his work, which is probably the whole point.
 
 
bigsunnydavros
21:01 / 30.10.02
Like most folk around here, I'm a bit torn when it comes to Mark Millar.

I think some of his stuff is just crass, sensationalistic nonsense. His last Authority story arc is the worst offender in my opinion... I can't even begin to understand how some hardcore Millar fans seem think they were cheated out of genius because some scenes involving Jenny Sparks corpse were edited out. Yeah, that was a big loss to the world. Honest.

There are other times when I just think he's a bit dull. I lost interest in Ultimate X-Men veeeeeery quickly simply because, in the light of the first New X-Men arc the blandness of the whole thing became all too apparent. I picked up some recent issues, but again I dropped the book because it was a bit too dull for my liking. Plus the art is, as has been noted, shite.

Some of his work, however, I genuinly really like. I'm big on his first Authority story arc, and on The Ultimates so far.

Both are good, dumb fun, I think. I certainly doesn't hurt that Bryan Hitch and Frank Quitely are brilliant artists, but I do enjoy the writing contained within.

The Ultimates isn't particularly clever or challenging. It's not realistic. It's not even very fast-paced or original. What it is, however, is very slick and entertaining, in a Hollywood superheroes kinda way. It's a very modern kind of superhero book that is written in a cheap, easy tabloid style.

It's pure trashy soap-opera, but I really enjoy it.

There are a couple of moments where Millar's lack of subtlety grates, but on the whole, I think it's a hoot.

Plus, the trades pretty cheap.. which is always a plus!
 
 
CameronStewart
23:31 / 30.10.02
I agree with Mr. Davenport.

Mostly.
 
 
The Falcon
23:48 / 30.10.02
Daredevil is pretty screamingly ace in my estimation, at present.

But, there's not an overwhelming amount of better superhero stuff than the Ults just now.
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
00:21 / 31.10.02
Yeah, the super-hero landscape is faltering a bit these days. A lot of books that seemed really great in their first arcs, JMS' ASM, Black Panther (okay, I defended the denseness for a long time, even enjoyed it, but it's way too much now, I literally had trouble breathing while reading the last couple of issues of the velluto run, such was the caption-induced claustrophobia), Cable/Soldier X, just aren't that good anymore. Uncanny will always be limping behind New (which, when you think about the way they used to be, is quite a Morrisonian and fitting twist). Ultimate X-Men really is a bit flat, and troubling when the fill in artists blow the regular team away.

Ultimates, however, as the newly released 7 will attest, is quite a solid animal. I honestly could care less about any basis in Avengers history any of these storylines have. I am thoroughly feeling at least three or four of the main characters as human beings at any given moment (there's really no hope for Fury though), and now I know they eat at the same places I do.

X-Statix is still great. Every three out of four issues of Tangled Web is worth reading. And somewhere in the middle of the latest Punisher I realized I really enjoy this book. I was ready to ditch the whole lot of Ennis' run and the simplicity of it just hit me. It really is beautiful to have someone in the Marvel Universe ready to shoot Wolverine in the nuts just to shut him up ("I'll buy ya a drink! I'LL BUY YA THE WHOLE SNIKTS-PACK!" Ennis clearly does not like James.), and use Spider-Man as a punching bag.

And, well, we all know about New X-Men. Save your pennies for the hard cover. It's "the way it was meant to be seen." Except for the missing page from the annual. I really wish they'd put the annual on fold out pages.

Ultimate Spider-Man I enjoy and Waid's Fantastic Four is really surprisingly good. The last issue ended with a renegade math equation threatening Reed with some homoerotically-undertoned lovin'! Can you beat that?

Read Ed and Cam's Catwoman, too. The best designed heroine in comics, Brubaker is writing the book again, and, if he doesn't mind the unabashed praise, Mr. Stuart draws seamless leaping scenes.

Hulk ain't bad either, but I'm really concerned that this big (BIG) build up is going to fizzle. To echo outvix, the covers are definitely best draw to the book.

Watch Buffy too. That's some QUALITY super-heroing.

And I have a soft spot for the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Benjamin.
 
 
Sebastian
15:18 / 31.10.02
I wish we had here sort of those click-the-button-to-vote features. After reading the above, I became curious about how many barbelithers actually prefer UXM to The Ultimates. I'd love to see a statistic, stratified by age and years of reading comic-books.
 
 
Murray Hamhandler
20:09 / 31.10.02
For a while there, on a month-by-month basis, I actually liked UXM more than even NXM (which seems vaguely blasphemous to me now). Now, I'd say I like UXM about the same as Ultimates, w/NXM several notches above them.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
20:16 / 31.10.02
Runce, you've totally nailed me - I really don't read much in the way of superhero comics lately. I'm just guessing that there are probably some better superhero comics out there, and certainly there are a lot of older comics one can read that are better.

As for Ultimate X-Men, I'd say it's better than the Ultimates for one simple reason: The X-Men are just a lot more interesting than the Avengers. It always was this way, it shall always be this way. Even if Millar botches the characters completely, the basic concept of the X-Men interests me far more than Captain America and Iron Man. The X-Men are just better, ipso facto, Ultimate X-Men is superior to the Ultimates.
 
 
The Natural Way
07:39 / 01.11.02
The Hulk, as people have pointed out above, IS good, but it's not "God! I must get that book!" good. Ult Spidey's lovely and captures perfectly one of the most important aspects of ol' Webhead - Peter Parker the teenager (the other's Peter Parker the grown up journo) - and, I'm beginning to think, Bendis, regardless of how much you enjoy his stuff, is actually writing THE definitive spidey-tale.

It's so regular, so consistent, so perfectly captures the spidey mood.

Now, I really enjoy UltXM, but I think Millar's more at home writing the big guns and, TBH, I feel he's managed to pull the same thing off w/ the Avengers that Bendis has w/ Spiderman: he's writing THE definitive article. They feel like that fucking hardcore football team Morrison so accurately described them as. So, regardless of whether or not you prefer Xpeople, I can't help feeling Millar's managed to perfectly distill an energy in The Ultimates that he doesn't have quite the same handle on in UXM, and, well......in my opinion that makes The Ultimates the better book.
 
 
Sebastian
10:35 / 01.11.02
and certainly there are a lot of older comics one can read that are better.

Heh, lets face it, some comics of today will still get reprinted ten years later, some won't, just like you can find fresh new editions of some of the older comics, which by the way even some of those have a strange taste of being already outta their time. The superhero genre has mutated a lot.

Runce is wright, in my opinion, also with the comment on the Hulk. Millar's both Ultimate titles and Bendis' Spidey will probably be still available by the time my children reach their teens, down this decade, and I suppose Morrison's NXM and Invisibles too. But, in any case, UXM 1st HC will be targeted for kiddies.
 
 
The Falcon
11:29 / 01.11.02
I've never liked the Avengers, particularly; though I did (to my everlasting discredit) buy 2 issues as part of the 'Blood Ties' X-Men anniversary crossover.

I have read all the Ultimate comics online (and a friend's first ten Spideys.) USM is sweet, perfect for kids, too. UXM is oh-kay, but when put beside NXM completely fails to measure up. Ultimates is probably bad for kids/for bad kids - definitely my favourite of the 3 titles.

Hitch was born for this.
 
 
000
19:05 / 03.03.03
Bought the trade this past Friday and found it quite trashy and enjoyable. But I have just a minor observation:

Hitch. I have occassionally bought something from him, Clandestine no. whatever (clinging onto it then, in case Alan Davis should return - oh, how wrong I was), something in a crossover and the last 2 issues of Authority, I like his work but has anyone else noticed that the faces he illustrates are screamingly inconsistent? Even now, in Ultimates, the facial features morph themselves slightly from panel to panel, no matter how lovely they're rendered.

Anyway...
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
20:43 / 03.03.03
How Dare You!

How Double Dare You!!
 
 
000
21:09 / 03.03.03
Alan Davis he ain't.
 
 
BryanDude
06:25 / 04.03.03
To extend the thread rot further, If you think Hitch's faces are bad, examine Frank Quitely's. Compare all the faces of the main characters he drew from the first issue to the current issue. Totally different. But he pulls it off very very well.

As for whether or not the Ultimates are worth it, I'd have to say get the trade for the artwork. Hitch is magnificent(sp?). But personally, I don't find Millar's writing all that great. It feels to me like to add emphasis on the character development, he makes sure there's no action. But he doesn't write any characters worth developing in my opinion, so the lack of action makes it IMHO boooooring.
 
 
abstractgeek
13:39 / 05.03.03
i like the book a lot. its not particularly more realistic than any other superhero book, but its a fun (if light) read. if you don't like much in the superhero realm (which seems to be the case with most people on these boards) you probably won't like it. If you prefer classic supereheroes of years gone by, you probably wont like it. its pretty standard gritty, psychologically messed up superhero (iguess that's what makes it realistic?) fare, but i enjoy it a great deal. The artwork and the action is fantastic. there seems to be a strong anti Millar sentiment these days, but ive enjoyed just about everything he's done in the superhero realm and this is no different. this is not supposed to be deep intellectual stuff here. this is not a making excuses, but honestly i get more enjoyment out of the book, than i do most of the more insightful or intelligent comics out there. 2 different kinds of books, 2 differnt kinds of reading pleasure
 
  
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