The Avengers: Ultron Unlimited (2004)

Author: Kurt Busiek | Illustrator: George Pérez | Page Count: 96

“The battle goes poorly.”

Ultron rebuilds himself yet again and returns to cause trouble for the team.  He just can’t stay away.  Corny villain dialogue and panel-filling fights ensue.

The story threatens to become interesting once or twice in the first half when it introduces familial concerns but they’re frustratingly underdeveloped.  That lack of depth gets remedied in the second half, but it’s possible that only the most ardent fan will make it that far because throughout is Marvel at its most fanwanky, alienating anyone who isn't interested in developing an encyclopaedic knowledge of the characters and their convoluted relationships.

I kept reading just to see how bad it could get.  My brain almost shut down, but, like I said before, the second half saves the day a little.  It also paradoxically throws everything else into an even deeper pit of ridiculousness.  The number of enemies reaches critical proportions.  They’re like an unwanted currency attempting to achieve value by increasing in number. ‘More is Better,’ seems to be the motto, but a mountain is no better than a molehill when both are built out of crap.  Kurt Busiek had some genuinely great ideas but you’ll need superhero levels of endurance if you're to dig them out of the carnage.

The book collects together Avengers Vol. 3, issues 0 and 19 - 22.

2 yellow flashbacks out of 5

The Ultimates: Volume 2: Homeland Security (2004)

Author: Mark Millar | Illustrator: Bryan Hitch | Page Count: 200

"Why would she put up with that?"

"I don't know.  Why would anyone?"

By the end of Volume 1 Millar had taken steps in setting up a real opportunity to tackle a subject that needs to come out from behind closed doors.  He could've did it in a powerful and sensitive way but for some reason he pushed it aside too soon, and instead exploded the main story into a boring three and a half issue battle with some pretend Nazis.  I was bored out of my mind by the end.
I'd love to know why he ignored such a prime opportunity.  Was it his idea, or his editor's?  Was there a more satisfying draft that got rejected?  Or did he just get bored and decide to blow shit up because it's the easy way out?

Conversely, if lengthy combat scenes like the one at the end of The Avengers (2012) movie is something you enjoy then maybe you’ll get even more jollies from Volume 2 than you did from Volume 1.

Prior to the DBZ moment, Hawkeye gets an action scene and proves how problematic a character he is to write for; there’s not much you can do with a guy whose superpower is the ability to magically not run out of arrows.  He's teamed with Black Widow who has a similarly limiting condition.  It played out fine regardless but it felt like it was forced into the narrative just to give the pair something meaningful to do.  Hawkeye has his own current title but I've not read it; I'd be interested in seeing how he fares in it.

The addition of two guests from another title seemed superfluous, unless Millar was setting up something that he’d develop further in Ultimates 2; I don’t have the subsequent books so I don't know.  I'd hate to think it was pointless fan-service or there simply to undermine the main team dynamic.

At almost every turn this book left me wondering about things that were outside of the story, but not in a 'food for thought' kind of way, more in a 'I wonder would something else be better than this' kind of way.

The book collects together The Ultimates, issues 7 - 13.

2½ vendettas out of 5

The Ultimates: Volume 1: Super-Human (2002)

Author: Mark Millar | Illustrator: Bryan Hitch | Page Count: 160

“Listen, I’m really sorry about breaking your nose back there, General Fury.”

“Take it easy... This nose has been smashed more times than Robert Downey Jr.”

The team with the modest name are like an Ultimate Universe version of the Avengers.  (See Spider-Man post if you need Ultimate Universe info.)  It’s not a typical origin story; it’s more of a recruitment story.  General Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (who was comic book Sam Jackson years before real life Sam Jackson was movie Nick Fury) puts together a team of the best and brightest superheroes he can find because he fears an attack on the U.S. by some as yet unknown super villain(s); he’s the ultimate paranoid Boy Scout.  There’s only one problem with that strategy: they've got no one to fight.  When that many egos are gathered together in one place some members of the team begin to get anxious.

Millar’s heroes are part warrior, part pawn and part celebrity in a world not unlike our own.  I was a little annoyed by the many references to the real world he kept throwing in.  Some of it was blackly humourous (I think he was mocking the kind of sad individual that believes namechecking celebrities will give them status) but mostly it was just irritating, and is the thing that will cause the book to feel most dated the further we are removed from the pop culture events mentioned.
It’s a good thing Millar was able to balance it out with some excellent pacing elsewhere, and some fast but deep character developments.

His style is as cinematic as they come.  In fact, both the first Captain America and Avengers films stole large chucks of his story for their scripts, and all they gave him was a thank you in the screen credit; they ought to be ashamed.

Bryan Hitch’s artwork is great, and some clever use of thick shadows by colourist Paul Mounts means it isn't ruined by the digital colouring techniques.

The book collects together The Ultimates, issues 1 - 6.

4 kinds of jealousy out of 5

Iron Man: Extremis (2005)

Author: Warren Ellis | Illustrator: Adi Granov | Page Count: 160

“John Pillinger says the Iron Man suit is a military application.  I told him he was wrong.  I’m trying to decide if I was lying."

This work, perhaps more than any other, is responsible for the origin and aesthetic of the first Iron Man film.  Warren Ellis is a good writer, he’s not afraid to take bold chances with existing properties and it paid off this time, mostly.  Extremis was a new start for the character, bringing it up to date while still remaining faithful to the original team of Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby.  It’s less of a superhero approach and more of a sci-fi thriller; Iron Man is a weapon, not a flying hero in metallic tights.

In an abandoned slaughterhouse, a test subject is injected with a secret serum; it transforms him into something more than human.  Iron Man is called in by an old friend to fix the situation but he’s carrying around more baggage than just a heavy suit of armour.  It places Tony temporarily out of the convoluted continuity of the extended Marvel universe, and focuses on the man; it humanises him, exposes his flaws and shows that being a millionaire isn’t always just necking champagne and bedding bunny girls.  When it works, it’s fantastic.  He still finds time to have the obligatory fight scene with people lifting cars over their heads etc.

The real star here is Adi Granov’s amazing art.  He sketches in pencil and colours with watercolour, inks, gouache etc.  He takes that into Photoshop and renders there.  It’s a mix of the traditional and the new (like the story) and the result is emotionally charged and dramatically staged panels that often tell a story without the need for words.  It needs to be seen to be understood properly.  It’s a slow process, it took him a year and a half to complete the work but the finished product is definitely worth the wait.

The book collects together Iron Man vol.4, issues 1-6.

3½ pieces of shrapnel in an awkward place out of 5