THE ULTIMATES #6 is a brutal showdown

Welcome Marvel Comics faithful to another edition of the Marvel Rundown, The Beat’s weekly coverage of all books from the House of Ideas. This week we check in on Ultimates #6 as they finally confront the new Ultimate Hulk. Additionally our Rapid Rundown features reviews of X-Men #7 and Aliens vs. Avengers #2.

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The Ultimates #6

Writer: Deniz Camp
Artist: Juan Frigeri
Colorist: Frederico Blee
Letterer: VC’ Travis Lanham

Arguably one of two books people think of when they think of Ultimate Marvel’s first iteration (the other being Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man), The Ultimates by Mark “subtext is for cowards” Millar and Bryan Hitch truly reflected it’s times. Thinking of post-9/11 as a dark time in American history almost seems laughable given the last 8 years. But The Ultimates reflected an America as a superpower using superheroes like nuclear weapons. These characters acted solely in American interests enforcing American policies, for better and worse.  

Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri spent the last six issues building up this 2024 concept of The Ultimates. Indicative of this time period, this Ultimates group is now an underground network of superheroes trying to overthrow a global oligarchy. Superheroes portrayed as revolutionaries than as blunt instruments in an imaginary war on terror. In times where a small few hoard hoard resources for themselves, destroy the environment, or influence elections for the worse, the idea of a small but powerful network of people trying to undo their evil feels necessary.

Issue six finally brings the entire team together for a rescue mission. Saying the mission goes badly is an understatement. The team goes up again Bruce Banner, who spent the first arc of the book lying in wait. This iteration of the Hulk is unique. Bruce Banner’s desire to control the Hulk resulted in him becoming the Iron Fist and ruler of K’un-Lun. So now the Hulk, along with his cunning intellect, uses atomic kung fu moves along with being the strongest there is. Letterer Travis Lanham seems to have a fun time displaying the names for all of the science based moves used by the Hulk and his acolytes (the winner might be Madam Curie’s Death by Ten Million Cuts)

This issue sees Juan Frigeri cut loose on the action in a way he really hasn’t previously. To put it bluntly and if the words atomic kung fu,  K’un-Lun or Iron Fist didn’t clue you in, this issue is an all out brawl between the Ultimates, the Hulk, and Hulk’s forces. And the action is brutal. This is a level of violence not really seen in this comic previously limbs get dismembered and people explode. The gore isn’t rendered in anatomical detail and the mostly fiery orange palate used by colorist Frederico Blee palate dulls the violence.

Camp and Frigeri make their point though. That earlier iteration of The Ultimates had victories assured. This is a team with their back against the wall. The final page is reminder that nothing is certain in this series and that we’re less than a year away from the return of The Maker. The world is a cruel place with cruel people in power. The work to topple them seems hopeless and difficult but it is work that needs to be done.

Verdict: BUY

Rapid Rundown

X-Men #7
After a strong start, Jed MacKay’s X-Men has felt like it was treading water, obliquely gesturing toward mysteries and status quo shifts without explaining them. Finally here we get answers and fill in gaps between the end of Krakoa and the start of this new era. What at times has felt like an empty back to basics approach feels newly timely, as we sit with the pain of our heroes losing a promise of a brighter future only to rubber band back to old fears and hatreds. It’s nice to finally have time with Magneto as well. Keeping his situation a mystery has forced him onto the back burner. With all the cards on the table hopefully he will play a larger role. MacKay’s script is heartbreaking and humanist. Netho Diaz’s art is full of superb action and a sense of scale but he shines in the quiet moments of personal interactions. There is a fight here but it is not the big heroic battle you might have expected. Diaz is a fine fill in for Stegman and gives the series a consistent look.  The visuals fall apart a bit with the dual inkers, Sean Parsons and Livesay, having different approaches to line weight and shading. The two colorists, Marte Gracia and Fer Sifuentes-Sujo work better together.  The flashback scenes, looking back at a time when there was a little more hope,are notably brighter. It finally feels like this book is moving toward something deeper than just covering familiar tunes. I hope it stays that way. We need our heroes.
-TR

Aliens vs. Avengers #2
There is a small but vocal contingent of people who are fans of Sir Ridley Scott’s two prequels to Alien, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Apparently Jonathan Hickman is one. This issue reveals the villain of Aliens vs. Avengers and folks, it’s David, the android played by Michael Fassbender in those films. David in those films saw organic life as lab subjects and deployed biological agents and face huggers to experiment. Eagle eyed readers probably recognized him as the two androids disguised as Kree in issue one but this iteration of David gets a Hickman styled upgrade. Here David is hellbent on using Xenomorphs to wipe all organic life across the multiverse, going from one universe to another and killing everything. The only ones thing that can potentially stop him are what’s left of the Avengers. Hickman gets to unleash the xenomorph as pure cosmic horror. The art by Esad Ribic and Ive Svorcina perfectly balances high concept science fiction, the pit of your stomach horror with grand scale superheroics. Seriously, this is the best book Marvel is putting out right now. – DM

Next week Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness reunite on Amazing Spider-Man #61, Venom War continues, and Werewolf by Night Red Band