| Title | : | The Ultimates, Volume 1: Super-Human |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785109609 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785109600 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published October 1, 2009 |
The Ultimates, Volume 1: Super-Human Reviews
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Several of my friends dislike Millar's Ultimates for one reason or another. So, every few years I do a re-read of it to see if this will finally be the time my eyes open and I notice what a shitshow it is.
Well, I'm still loving it. Every time I crack it open and see Captain America kicking ass, I get a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy. I just love the way Millar tweaked these characters.
Now, I will admit that a lot of the celebrity name-dropping came across as really dated this time around. Shannon Elizabeth and Freddie Prinze Jr. aren't exactly in the forefront of anyone's mind anymore. But I recently read
Kingsman and he did the same thing there, so I guess the guy is either obsessed with celebrities or is hoping that if he gives them a shout-out they'll be in the movie version of his comic. Although, at least in Kingsman he used stars that already had longevity, like Mark Hamill.
Even so, this is still a lot of fun for me to read.
You have this slightly skewed, and in quite a few cases, slightly skeevy version of the classic Avengers lineup.
When I first read it, it seemed groundbreaking. Now? Well, it's still not your mainstream Avengers. Banner/Hulk is probably the most interesting to me in Super-Human because he's such a grasping, weasely character, and his relationship with the equally horrible Betty is such a fun trainwreck to watch.
I don't know why, but I feel like I should apologize for putting this on my favorites list for some reason?
Whatever. I doubt it's going to happen because I just continue to love the hell out of this. -
I have empirical proof that comic books can predict the future.
This comic in 2002:
Iron Man movie in 2008:
Case in point- this made me laugh a little too much! -
Ever wonder why comic book fan boys are a little nuts?
Well, for starters, there’s the kind of stuff we have to keep track off. Like this for example:
Way back in days of yore, Marvel just did one book called The Avengers. Several years ago, they essentially destroyed the original team to make way for stuff like The New Avengers and Young Avengers and The Mighty Avengers and Dark Avengers and Avengers Academy.
As that was going on, Marvel had also launched it’s Ultimate line of comics as a way of rebooting and updating their characters and when they did a version of the Avengers, they chose to call them The Ultimates instead of Ultimate Avengers like they did Ultimate Spider-Man or Ultimate X-Men. And then, they released some animated movies called Ultimate Avengers which borrowed ideas from both the original and revamped title. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough to screw you up, then they actually launched an Ultimate Avengers title.
Plus, you have to wrap your head around the idea that the Ultimate version of Nick Fury had been changed from the original recipe version of an old white dude to a black superspy based on Samuel L. Jackson, and now Samuel L. Jackson is going to play Nick Fury in The Avengers movie coming out later and for god’s sake there’s even a joke in this comic about how Samuel L. Jackson would play Nick Fury in a movie even though it was written years before the first Iron Man movie where Samuel L. Jackson did that cameo as Nick Fury after the credits that kind of started this concept for an Avengers movie and there’s another joke in this about being smashed like Robert Downey Jr. which is really funny because now he’s playing Iron Man but this all happened before he was Iron Man and they talk about Brad Pitt playing Captain America but Cap is now played by Chris Evans who was also the Human Torch is those terrible Fantastic Four movies but he was really good in Captain America where they did a reference to the original Human Torch not the one that Chris Evans played in the Fantastic Four movies but ha-ha it’s a Human Torch reference and oh by the way Captain America was dead for a while but he’s back now and Joss Whedon who in addition to creating Buffy, the Vampire Slayer also has written comics like X-Men and now he’s directed/written The Avengers movie and a few years ago he was writing a Wonder Woman movie for DC but they fired him and don’t you think they feel stupid now and wish they’d kept him on and I wonder if that new Wonder Woman TV show that David Kelly developed was really so bad that it couldn’t get on the air or if it was just TV executives being stupid and why are they rebooting Spider-Man instead of just continuing stories from the first movies and there’s no way Dark Knight Rises is gonna be as good as The Dark Knight but it should still be pretty good and I really liked that X-Men: First Class movie and I guess they’re doing a sequel to it and…..
Wait. What was I talking about?
Oh, The Ultimates. It’s a really great comic with a modern twist on the superheroes as both celebrities and political pawns.
And Marvel also brought back a book just called Avengers with a lot of the old line-up like Thor and Iron Man and Captain America and Hawkeye which you know they did because the movie is coming out but it’s still really cool to see kind of a classic Avengers line-up but I hate the way they stuck Wolverine and Spider-Man in there just for sales and….etc. etc. -
4.5 stars
This book was all kinds of fun..until my husband took it away from me for giggling while he was watching TV. I snatched it back and ran and got to finish it..so there!
You've got Bruce Banner who is working on a super soldier gene so that other's can be like the Captain America of old. Little does he know that they will find the original Captain frozen in the Antarctic ocean. The guy looks good for being on ice for so long.
Other scientist's the Pym's (Giant Man and the Wasp) working on gene research also and that makes old Bruce feel a bit weak. Especially since he is no longer the Hulk. He had the Hulk gene's removed from himself. Boo Hiss.
After awhile Bruce Banner breaks down and Hulk is back. Back with a vengeance.
I cheered, laughed and cussed this book. Yes..a comic book. That's how good it is. Go read it. Now..before Hulk gets angry again.
I think this is the book that my friendHulk-boy
Goldblum boy recommended to me. If so thanks!!! Yes, I'm old and can't remember. -
The Marvel Cinematic Universe was partially inspired from the Ultimate Universe of Marvel Comics, from it's looks, it's characters to those characters' relationships and interactions. As I'm a big fan of MCU, I was interested in seeing what The Ultimates give me in a wider space. Another reason was the main Marvel Universe became so convoluted and difficult to follow with its 40 years of backstories that as a new reader I couldn't make heads or tails of where to even start and what to follow... Instead the Ultimate Universe was a nice alternative with its more or less streamlined continuation (at least compared to the main 'verse) and easy to follow storylines with a definite beginning. Also I watched the animated movies The Ultimate Avengers 1 & 2 which were based on the Ultimate'verse way back in 2002-2003, and found them very entertaining.
Suffice to say I got what I hoped for, somewhat. This first volume acted as an introduction to the whole Ultimates team (Ultimate version of the Avengers), how and why they came together and what's their relationships and inter-relations with each other that gradually made it work. The artwork and the visuals were gorgeous and just right for this type of storytelling. The main plot was good, albeit a bit predictable. The developments also were engrossing without rushing into action and giving enough room in building the foundation. Each of the characters' motivations were unique and believable, as was their actions.
The one thing I didn't like was the characters themselves, because quite frankly, as of now, most of these so called 'heroes' are downright unlikable. Only Captain America remains likable (which should be no surprise, given his ironclad morality and decency), but all the others- Hulk, Iron Man, Giant Man, Wasp -more or less came as a bunch of pathetic, mean, selfish and in some cases jealous people. And when I compare them with their much better cinematic counterparts, along with their perfect, nobler screen portrayals, it becomes even more glaring. But I have a feeling that this was intentional from the writer, to make their changes and developments even more prominent and rootable throughout the series, and if that's the case I'm all for it. It would really help to define that these so called superheroes are in truth nothing more than simply ordinary people underneath all the extremely powerful exteriors and share all the human feelings we have too, they have to overcome their shortcomings just like any other people. I surely hope so.
The writing and storytelling was good enough, although fall short compared to the brilliant painstaking, visionary developments of the MCU over the years. There's nothing absolutely outstanding or heart-touching in Millar's writing, which felt rather mechanical instead of organic at times, but it works. Over all, I found this beginning of The Ultimates enjoyable and fun, and will eagerly want to see where they take me. -
The public is terrified of supervillains, so terrified in fact that the government just reallocated a lot of money to forming a team of superheroes. Nick Fury is in charge of putting together a team to defend against any supervillain threats that may arise.
So the first thing I noticed about the Ultimates is that the Marvel MCU has borrowed heavily from the Ultimate comic universe. First and most obvious is Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, but a lot of different things as well like the Triskellion. There were a few lines the films directly lifted from the comics as well.
The second thing I noticed is that all the characters have more significant character flaws than their Marvel Universe counterparts. They all have some real ugliness to them, but perhaps worst of all is Bruce Banner and The Hulk. Marvel Universe's Banner's only real mistake was that his actions made him into the Hulk and he couldn't cure it. Otherwise Banner is a total genius who seems capable of practically anything. Ultimate Bruce Banner is a whiny unsure egomaniac. He has none of the inherent goodness of Marvel Universe's Bruce Banner. The Ultimate Hulk is more verbal and said he was horny at least twice...
The volume also name dropped tons of celebrities.
I'm at least old enough to know who they are talking about for each example, but at some point I wanted to say enough is enough.
Bottomline I have had a hard enough time keeping the Marvel Universe characters straight as they change from author to author so having such a significant shift from an alternate universe isn't overly appealing to me at this point.
2.5 out of 5 stars -
I have mixed feelings about modernizing traditional comics. Sometimes it works quite well, other times it comes off a bit, well, clunky. Now, The Ultimates works quite well, for the most part. Although I don’t think it should be considered a “definitive” version by any means.
For example: Thor is portrayed as a beer drinking, green-peace hippy with a messianic complex. One could write books about the portrayal of Bruce Banner / Hulk, and not all of it constructive. On the other hand, Captain America is pretty much spot on.
The Ultimates are, for all practical purposes, The Avengers. I’m not sure how I feel about the inclusion of Hank Pym as Giant Man; I much prefer his Ant-man incarnation. A giant guy walking around in a leather suit just strikes me as lame. As opposed to a normal sized guy walking around in a leather suit? Well, this is a comic book we’re talking about, so…
The Ultimates certainly has a lot going for it: it looks good and the characters are likeable (for the most part). It’s clear, though, that this is only the beginning of the series, since there is no real threat (other than the pre-requisite internal strife)... and I just know how some people will disagree with me on that, but think about it.
There are some cons as well, as there often are. I didn’t like the characterization of either Bruce Banner or Betty Ross… and Samuel L. Jackson’s acting was a bit wooden (no, that’s just me being lame, but there are some in-jokes here that aren’t particularly funny). All in all though, if you’re looking to start reading Marvel and don’t quite know where to start, this wouldn’t be the worst choice.
I also didn’t quite see that ending coming.
3.5 stars -
The Ultimates by Mark Millar was awesome. There are a great deal of similarities with the movies and I can see where a lot of the ideas originally came from. The Ultimates is essentially an Avengers story. But it is different than what I am used too. It's darker, grimmer and grittier than the usual Avenger's titles. This is almost like an alternative version of the Marvel universe, closer to the movie universe.
Tony Stark, billionaire inventor, and Nick Fury, head of SHIELD, have a idea- in order to save the world from super-powered threats there needs to be a super-powered team. Enter the Ultimates. We follow, in this volume, the foundation of the team. Captain America is found frozen in ice and reclaimed. Eventually a super-team consisting of Wasp, Giant-Man, Captain America and Iron Man form the nucleus of this team. Thor is a super-hippie and not wanting to join this team yet. Eventually the Hulk threat throws him into the team. The final part of this volume ends on a dark note with the domestic violence between the Wasp and Giant-Man.
What can I say? Mark Millar's version of the Avengers is awesome! It's dark and the writing has darkly humorous undertones that I liked. It's a darker and grittier version of the normal Marvel universe. The characters seem more real and more human as their flaws are more evident. This is quite an accomplishment. The action is nonstop-I loved the Hulk fight. I also really liked this psychotic version of the Hulk.
The artwork is excellent throughout this volume. It helps to complement this darker and grimmer tale. I liked the way Millar's characters aren't just one-dimensional versions. They have depth, their heroic qualities balanced by human frailties. I enjoyed that. In fact this is a darker, and likely better, version than what was in the movie version. I like this. If the Avengers were a "R" rated movie it would be more like Mark Millar's version.
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This tells the origin of Avengers if they were formed in 2000s and it tells the story of super human arms race after Cap and how the world wants to create a super soldier and we see the familiar origins of Cap and also the twist with Hulk and how he becomes the monster for the Ultimates to fight against and then some great twists along the way and weird relationships and political influences like with Thor but the thing I didn't like was whatever they did with Ant-man and wasp. It felt so misogynistic and weird in a way but then again Millar being edgy and apart from it, its a cute little origin that inspired MCU to this day and the art by Hitch is pretty good! Its an okayish read!
-
3.5 ⭐⭐⭐
Woah. That ending.
Ok. Thor is portrayed as a beer-drinking hippie. Hank Pym is a sadistic prick and a bully. Banner lost his genius mind and became a horny, sad kid. What?!
This comic definitely gave the foundation on the 2012 film though.
And!!! I love how they were talking about who would play who in the movies and Fury wanted Samuel L. Jackson to play him! Haha. I found it hilarious. Johnny Depp as Iron Man - not sure if that would've worked. Guess we'll never know!!
I just read that the artist has always wanted Jackson to play Fury!! Haha fun fact!
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Basicly a marketing advertisment for the Avengers
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The story opens in 1945 in a bombing raid by the Allies over a Nazi compound and inside one of the planes is the one and only Captain America. The story picks up after the raid to the modern world where Nick Fury is prepping a new team of heroes to save the world. The Triskellion is built, Tony Stark has a revelation, and Bruce Banner does something very stupid. Despite the numerous technological advances since WW2, scientists have been unable to replicate the super-soldier serum that went into turning Steve Rogers into Captain America so there haven't been any new Caps - until a discovery is made!
Mark Millar does a wonderful job of bringing the Avengers back in style. The opening sequence set in WW2 is superb, full credit to Bryan Hitch for drawing such beautiful pictures amidst the carnage and chaos war presents. Millar chose to write Thor as a new age liberal which is a great choice as it makes him less haughty and irritating.
I will say that this book came out in 2002 and hasn't aged well. One of the central plot points is that a certain someone's girlfriend is dating Freddie Prinze Jnr - Freddie Prinze hasn't been thought of since, well 2002, so it dates the book, as do the mobile phones (not a single smartphone in sight!) and the plastic colourful iMacs (remember those?). Also, having read Millar's latest books on "New Avengers", I find myself liking those more than this "Ultimates" book.
That said, Hitch's drawings are fantastic and Millar does know how to tell a story so reading it is fun and never boring. Not essential reading as the Marvel Universe has moved on quite a bit since 2002 but for fans looking for more Millar books, this is definitely a decent read. -
3.5 stars.
This was pretty much like the animated movie, so no surprises for me bar one....Hank Pym is a serious dick in this. I wish Hulk had ripped his head off!
I knew this would be different to most ultimate universe comics, but it's not good enough to splash out on the omnibus. I'm not too bothered about reading vol 2 unless it's on sale. -
When it comes to classic comic book characters, I'm such a n00b, it's not funny. So I'm not going to do a real review of this, just a few notes.
Excellent comic book for those who adored The Avengers movie, but have never read a comic book about Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man or any of the other "classic" Marvel superheroes. AKA me.
Story: Very nice. Good pacing, interesting story. I had no trouble jumping in, with my only knowledge of these characters from the movie(s).
Characters: Funny and genuine. I wish there were more females and females in a positive light, but I guess I should be happy that there are women in this.
Art: Beautiful. Little to no trouble following the panels. (Though there is an odd two page spread of the Hulk that is spread across the front and back of same page.)
Action: Well done. There is a flow, a sense of cohesion between panels, beyond just showing Captain America in one cool pose after another.
Excellent graphic novel that I had trouble putting down. Can't wait for Volume 2! -
Since my son is part of the newest generation of burgeoning comic book fans, and since he's been sucked into the
Avengers by me and the animated films, I thought I should read this much loved pseudo-reboot of my favourite super team. Here's what I thought:
The Good: The best parts of
Mark Millar's
The Ultimates are the little flourishes of character depth that nudge the classic Marvel cast in directions they've never gone before. I can't cheer them all (I found Captain America way too gung-ho, and Bruce Banner too pathetic), but they are all effective.
The most convincing changes were to Henry and Janet Pym. Millar took two of the blandest, most vanilla characters in the Marvel Universe (Ant-Man and Wasp...nuff said) and made them interesting. No mean feat. And Thor's new age, anti-US, anti-military industrial complex, anti-capitalist conscience (even if it is going to be riddled with hypocrisy as the story continues) was a nice foil to the conservatism of the rest of the characters.
The Bad: Too much of the real world encroaches on
The Ultimates universe. Freddie Prinze Jr. is a character. Seriously. Freddie Prinze Jr.! And he's a target of violence for an enraged and hormonally engorged Hulk. Even George W. Bush makes an appearance, chumming it up with General Nick Fury and sharing one of the most cringe worthy moments in
The Ultimates with Captain America. Blech.
But the worst encroachment of all is Millar's scripting of a masturbatory movie casting fantasy, wherein Nick Fury declares that Samuel L. Jackson (which has come true) should play him; in fact, they all talk about their future cinematic manifestations. Why does this bother me? First, Millar's Nick Fury is drawn like Mace Windu-with-an-eye-patch right from the start, so we didn't need to have Millar's casting desires beaten into our heads. And one of the great joys of reading comic books is imagining -- for ourselves -- who should play our beloved super-heroes. Millar crossed a line into reader imagination, and that pisses me off.
The Ugly: There is a Reichstag fire moment in
The Ultimates wherein Bruce Banner turns back into the Hulk and decimates part of Manhattan to ensure that The Ultimates have something to fight so they can maintain their funding. He manufactures a threat, murders people, partially destroys landmarks like Grand Central Station, and makes himself a genuine menace as destructive as any real world terrorist. It's an interesting twist, but what's ugly about it is the reaction of those involved in the cover-up (or their non-reaction). I can see Tony Stark not caring, if I suspend my disbelief, but the Captain America I know and love would never let a cover-up of the Hulk's motives and actions stand, nor would this new age Thor. Yet these two jokers share a happy little toast with Mr. Stark at the end of the sixth issue as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s funding for The Ultimates remains secure. I hope that this will change as the story arc continues (please don't tell me if it does), but I'm not liking it right now.
The Promising: Thor's kookiness promises to breathe life into one of Marvel's stodgiest characters. Hank and Janet's mutual abusiveness is disturbing and promises some gritty personal life realism. Tony Stark's brain tumor promises to replace his drinking as his raison d'etre (not sure I like this, but it is interesting). There was a mention of Hawkeye, and the story hints he'll be joining the team, which is great because I love him. And there's Captain America. He's my all time fave, and whether I will like the end result or not, the journey with the rebooted Cap promises to be interesting.
I'm not blown away, but I am sucked in. -
This volume, considering it has a 4.11 rating, was a TERRIBLE disappointment. It wasn't even just uninteresting. It was actively awful, for the following reasons:
1) The way it treats women. That is to say, the Wasp is apparently one of the main members of the Ultimates, but the only thing she does in the entire six issues is get naked to distract the Hulk at some point. And then her husband hits her, after telling her that no one will love her once they find out she's a mutant, and proceeds to spray her with insecticide when she's transformed into the Wasp, the implication on the last page being that he might have killed her. And Betty Ross, after having her date with Freddie Prinze Jr interrupted by a rampaging, 'horny Hulk' (god, I wish I was kidding), is flattered that the Hulk wanted to rape her, and expresses regret that she broke up with Bruce Banner several months ago. The whole thing is seriously gross.
2) Bruce Banner is bullied mercilessly. And then they wonder why the Hulk goes rampaging. If you have a rage monster on your hands, maybe you should consider being nice to him sometimes, so he doesn't rip up Manhattan every two weeks. Just a thought. However, the Ultimates needed a 'bad guy' to fight, and so here we are.
3) Everyone's an asshole. No one is likable. CAPTAIN AMERICA is somehow NOT LIKABLE. How do you even manage that?
4) The whole storyline is rushed. There's so much that they try to cram into these six issues that really ought to be spread out and given more time. The scene where Cap reunites with an elderly Bucky only takes up a couple of pages, and barely gives you time to appreciate the moment before jumping into the next thing. It feels like it's skimming over meaningful scenes just to get to the action again, just paying brief lip-service to what should be heartfelt moments.
5) The weird emphasis on everything. Every single speech bubble has one or two or three bolded words/phrases, which is highly distracting and unnecessary. I don't need emphasis on what Bruce Banner is ordering for lunch at a restaurant. I don't need keywords highlighted like there's going to be a test later. I don't know who decided to do this, but it is super irritating.
I read this whole volume because I was certain, at several points, that it could not get worse, only to be proven wrong time and time again, and then I just needed to know what horrible turn it would take next. Obviously, I will not be reading the next volume. Obviously, I will not be keeping this volume on my shelf any longer. This was touted as 'the book to read' if you like The Avengers movie, but holy crap, DO NOT READ THIS if you like The Avengers. You'll be let down. I certainly was. -
4.0 stars. It has been a while since I read this but I remember really liking the updating of the Avengers, with the possible exception of Captain America who I thought engaged in a little too much realpolitik for my taste. No matter how gritty you want the new version of the Avengers to be, you can't make Cap act in a morally ambiguous manner. beyond that one criticism, I thought the story was great and I loved the rest of the updated characters, especially the Hulk. Recommended.
-
**trigger warnings for anti-woman violence. Because yes, this book is that classy.**
So, I'm kind of obsessed with The Avengers movie. And though I've long shied away from superhero comics, it seemed like maybe this was a good time to give them a shot. But where to start? I spent a good amount of time hunting online for some kind of guide to the Marvel universe. Finally, I found an article that seemed to be just what I was looking for -- a "if you loved The Avengers movie, try these comics..." sor of thing. It recommended this.
It was horribly, horribly wrong.
Okay, think what you want of Joss Whedon. But he is explicitly feminist. Sure, he doesn't get it right 100% of the time (who does?), but he's always trying. His dialogue is sharp, intelligence is respected rather than made the butt of jokes, and he does ensembles really well. That's what I was looking for in a comic, but that is not what this is.
You know, I actually mostly enjoyed this book while I was reading it, but the more time went by, the more I thought about it -- the less I liked it. Now I pretty much detest it. Let's start with the feminism, shall we? Not counting Captain America's elderly ex, there are two female characters in this book. Betty, who is (here), a self-centered bitch who thinks it's a compliment when The Hulk tries to rape her and kill her dinner partner, and Janet Pym, who starts out promising, but then evidently ends up making out with Captain America in front of photographers, prompting a psychotic rage from her insecure husband, who then maybe almost kills her at the end.
Awesome.
As for the smart, even though throughout this volume, people keep expressing supposed concern for Bruce Banner's tendency to Hulk out, the whole volume is basically a textbook pressure cooker for poor Bruce. And at no point does anyone ever stop and say, you know, maybe we should be nicer to Bruce. Take a little pressure off. Give him the occasional compliment. If for no other reason than if he gets angry he could kill us all/destroy the entire island of Manhattan/completely undermine everything we've been working for.
You know, I get the whole thing of portraying your "superheroes" as flawed characters, warts and all, but the only character I even liked at the end of this was Thor, who was pretty full-on awesome, all the time, even if he's maybe not really a god in this 'verse.
Anyway, I'm not at all interested in reading any more of this. Giving up on superhero comics a little longer. -
ESTUVO MARAVILLOSO, hasta la última parte.
Los Ultimates es el relanzamiento de un equipo inspirado en los Avengers, y esto se nota con la elección de los superhéroes que son parte de él. En esta historia pudimos ver a estos superhéroes en pleno siglo XXI luchando entre sí.
Debo decir que la historia me tenía más que atrapada y estaba a nada de volverse uno de mis números favoritos. ¿Por qué hicieron la pelea final? No me gustó nada la postura de culpabilidad que tuvo la parte femenina: ¡ELLA NO HIZO NADA MAL Y SE TERMINÓ CULPANDO! Sé que esta historia continúa en otro número y por esto es que no le bajé más estrellas, tengo esperanza de que el final de esta guerra termine de una forma sensata.
Después de leer Los Ultimates me he pasado varios minutos volviendo a apreciar las páginas y los dibujos de Bryan, cada escena mejor que la anterior. Me encanta el nivel de detalle que presenta y sé que volveré en nada a ver las pinturas de este maestro.
Estoy ansiosa por leer la segunda parte y espero que me guste mucho más. -
#86 on the top graphic novels of all time list
This was a solid opener for the new Ultimates faction. Had it's funny moments, and even some jabs at DC which I enjoyed.
The heroes were slightly different than the main level ones, but still similar enough and with storylines close enough to stay abreast while reading.
I might read volume 2, just to see what happens between Hank and Jan.
Also, I like the route they were taking with Banner/Hulk, although the humor from the Hulk is juvenile at times, but then again, comic books, right?
Not saying they are juvenile, or for that age group, but it should come as no surprise when that type of humor slips in.
All in all, not too bad. But, I am happy to be moving on. -
„Върховните: Свръхчовеци“ е том 12 от „Върховна колекция графични романи Marvel”. Той е също така първия, който да включва история от алтернативната „Върховна“ вселена, създадена през 2000 г. Идеята на Върховната вселена на Марвел е да осъвремени някои от най-култовите герои на издателството и да започне на чисто – тоест, без сценаристите да са обременени от това да трябва да се съобразяват с комиксите, излизали през последните 40-50 години. В тази вселена, Върховните са еквивалент на Отмъстителите – Капитан Америка, Железния човек, Тор, Хълк, Осата и Човека-гигант, събрани от Ник Фюри, за да бранят света от опасности. Феновете на филмовите приключения на героите веднага ще забележат, че точно тук за първи виждаме вдъхновената от Самюъл Л. Джаксън версия на началника на Щ.И.Т. (като самият Фюри се шегува, че ако направят филм за него, именно Джаксън трябва да го изиграе…което, разбира се, в последствие се случва). Останалите образи обаче не са особено изменени от традиционните си версии, поне визуално. Прочетете ревюто на „Книжни Криле”:
https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202... -
I loved loved loved Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man, so I had high hopes for this series. As it stands, I thought this first volume was a pretty big disappointment. There were a few moments that made me smile, but there were significantly more moments that left me feeling a mix of queasy and horrified. As a female comic book reader, I was really uncomfortable with so many of the storylines here. Spoilers ahead - and ranting. Quite a bit of ranting.
In short, I didn't mind most of the Captain America storyline (though his interactions with Janet - with Hank, too, actually - weren't my favorite), and Tony Stark was fine, but for me, it's a huge NO to everything having to do with the Pyms and Bruce Banner. (Hippie!Thor, however, was kind of delightful. He is probably what pushed my rating from one star to two.) I'm going to give the second volume a shot, but my expectations are much lower than they were before reading the first volume. -
So this is a book that many seem to either love or hate. I have mixed feelings... mostly negative ones.
What's it about?
SHIELD is forming a team called The Ultimates which is the Ultimate universe's edition of The Avengers so this story is pretty much about that team being formed and starting up.
Pros:
The art is really good.
The action scenes are pretty awesome. I'm always a fan of fun superhero action. Gets me real excited while reading.
I loved the first chapter because I'm a big fan of war stories.
The general idea for the main story's alright. It's nothing we haven't seen before but it's kinda interesting seeing it happen in (a bit before) modern day in a different world than the main Marvel universe.
Cons:
The dialogue in this book is some of the worst I've read in my entire life probably. I hate to say it but the dialogue alone should have Millar taken off this book.
Very predictable but that's typical for Marvel and DC.
The 5th chapter... holy s***, that was bad. It's like poorly written, f***ed up, perverted fan fiction only Marvel actually printed. Hulk getting horny doesn't merit an issue's story (I seriously wish I was kidding but that's what it was).
The Ultimates never fight a villain (at least in this volume) but instead argue with each other and/or sit around BS-ing with the exception of the awful 5th chapter where they have to fight a teammate so he doesn't rape anybody.
Attempts at humor were pretty bad.
All the characters except Wasp and Captain America are terribly written d***hebags that shouldn't be considered heroes.
Overall:
This book is not horrible but still bad, which is what I define 2/5 as, so that's exactly what this book is getting. It could have been great but this felt like a very low quality mess that sort of made me wish The Boys were in Marvel's ultimate universe. -
So some years ago this was Mark Millar pulling a DC by creating a alternative earth, for the most part it's an interesting idea, but I didn't really enjoy his adaption of The Avengers. What I mainly don't like about this is the direction, the whole thing is very negative, it paints the heroes we know and makes them look like egotistical assholes(excuse my language ), the only character in this that stays true is Captain America, he's always a nice guy! This book however does have characters make pop culture References which was cool. But overall not a fan.
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https://www.goodreads.com/series/5016... -
A very nice alternate reality view of the Avengers. This series is a much more realistic, gritty version of the standard Marvel Avengers comics. Recommended
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Wow, what a clusterfuck of bad writing and worse characterisation.
The premise behind this comic is genuinely intriguing, but it rapidly devolved into a circle-jerk of (notably male) comics nerds scrambling to write the most grimdark gritty-realism nonsense. Not a single one of the characters had positive traits amplified—and don't get me wrong, I'm almost always in the mood for a good tragic horror story—but it's just not interesting when the entire "plot" is just bigger and bigger enemies and huge guns and bombs and tanks and testosterone and chauvinism and wow did we mention these men have dicks and they are big dicks and they are men who have them. Also it's misogynistic and racist as hell. Overall just really bad!!!! Captain America is one of my favourite superheroes of all time, a statement alongside with which I typically include a disclaimer that I'm not one of those MAGA types, because that sort of clarification is unfortunately necessary. When I first read the Ults comics, I read the panel where Cap points at the A on his helmet and says, "You think this letter on my head stands for France?" which I thought was a really funny thing to say because obviously France starts with F, not A! The letter A is because he's a golem[1]! I didn't understand what the "joke" was supposed to be.
Then I did, and it wasn't funny.
Captain America fought alongside the French resistance during WWII. This shit doesn't make any sense.
Anyway, these comics, to quote Grant Morrison, perfectly embody the "trendy and unconvincing 'bad-ass' cynicism of current comics, most of which are produced by the most un-'bad-ass' men you can possibly imagine."
[1] I joke, but not really; Captain America was a character created by two Jewish men with the intention of convincing the US to join the war against the Nazis, i.e., to join the war to protect the Jewish people, which is the purpose of a golem. The "A" represents the Hebrew letter א (aleph), the first letter of אמת (truth), which was typically inscribed on a golem's forehead. The golem could be "killed" by erasing the first letter so that the inscription would read מת (dead). After completing its purpose of defending the Jewish people against antisemitism, the golem would be "deactivated" or "retired," much as the character of Captain America was after the war had ended: his purpose had been served. -
This book came so highly recommended by my local comic book store that I'd been looking forward to reading it for ages. Wow. What a disappointment. It started off well enough, and for a good chunk of the origins-esque first half I was already planning on buying the next one. Then things went off the rails so hard. Fed up of being the laughing stock of the team, Dr. Banner deliberately injects himself with an untested mix of Hulk serum and Captain America's blood. He Hulks out, and goes on a rampage to interrupt his girlfriend's date with Freddie Prinze Jr. Yeah. Freddie Prinze Jr is a character in this comic. He's super rapey, and the phrase "Hulk horny" was used at least twice, meaning I had to put the book down for a while to stop cringing so hard. Oh but it gets better, because after several members of the team beat on him for a while, the only female member steps in to distract him, by.... flashing her boobs. And her husband is so embarrassed by her conduct, he later beats the crap out of her and tries to kill her. WOW WHAT A GREAT BOOK. At least I won't be wasting £10+ on the next one.
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Ядреният физик Брус Банър реши, че най-лесният начин да изглади противоречията в току-що сформирания супер екип на полковник Ник Фюри (Щ.И.Т.) е като възроди обладаното си от разрушителни инстинкти алтер-его Хълк. С разчистването на бакиите се заеха прясно изваденият от водите на Северния ледовит океан Стив Роджърс, по известен като Капитан Америка, милиардерът Тони Старк (Железния човек), семейство Пим, Джанет и Ханк (Осата и Човека Гигант) и хипарясалото божество Тор. На дванадесетата книжка от Върховната колекция на MARVEL установявам, че историите стават все по-еднотипни откъм сценарийни решения тюрлю-гювечи, но пък рисунките и екшънът си ги биваше.
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the ultimates es una versión de los vengadores más adulta y oscura, quizás más coherente; con un capitán américa ultra tradicional, un bruce banner inestable y caprichoso, un matrimonio pym con una relación tempestuosa cuyos detalles escabrosos se nos muestran más que nunca, un thor hippie y curiosamente parece que tony stark es el que tiene la cabeza mejor amueblada. Me gusta que explore la posibilidad de un grupo de superheroes en un mundo que realmente parece que no lo necesita. Este primer volumen queda un poco cojo por si solo, pero la verdad es que me ha gustado bastante.
