The Ultimates 2: Gods and Monsters (2.1)

The Ultimates 2 starts off with a bang. Captain America leaps out of a helicopter and kicks some terrorist ass to free some hostages. But that really has nothing to do with what this book is about. There are some smaller side story lines, like Hank Pym coming back with his Ant Man persona, the relationship between Cap and Janet gets more involved and Tony Stark falls for the Black Widow, but the core of the story revolves around two characters; one is a god and the other is a monster.

Just when Dr Banner seems to be getting the Hulk under control we finally the consequences from Ultimates 1 come to fruition as the Hulk is held responsible for killing over 800 people on his rampage through New York. Was it really his fault? Does that even matter? There is always a need for a scapegoat and Banner, deservedly or not has become just that. Now he must be tried before a jury of his peers.

On the other end of the spectrum, Thor is being more vocal in his discontent with the US Government stating his belief that they will eventually send the Ultimates to the Middle East despite the fact that it is prohibited by their charter or something. He publicly removes himself from the team right before confidential documents about Bruce Banner being the Hulk get leaked to the media. This brings him into conflict with the Ultimates and besides that Thor’s delusions of godhood appear to be getting worse, will they be forced to fight another teammate?

The book is written at the same pace as the other Ultimate books which may be a bit slow for casual readers but that’s because it’s not meant for casual readers. This series wants us to take a look at these super heroes and discover just how human they are. They have faults, desires and fears that impact their lives and the story.

Spoiler

Hank Pym wants back into the program badly. He creates the Ant Man hero which is a flop and also designs two robots that he freely offers to Nick Fury, but unfortunately for him, his time with the team is over.

Bruce Banner is held on trial for his murderous rampage. It’s really just a show because everyone knows he’s going down for what he did. Fury doses Banner with a bunch of tranquilizers and they set him on a ship which they blow up with a nuclear bomb. There’s no way he could have escaped that, right?

Tony Stark asks the Black Widow to marry him and Janet has moved in with Captain America. Not really important spoilers but there you have it.

Thor learns that Loki has escaped and seeks vengeance against his brother. Loki apparently has reality-altering powers and he reconstructs recent events to paint Thor as just a mental patient with a big heart who stole some equipment and now is on a rampage. This brings out the Ultimates to get Thor under control and they do manage to best him and lock him up so that he can be observed and offered therapy. Loki stops by Thor’s new prison for a chat and passes on the knowledge that one of the Ultimates is a traitor. Then again, all of this could exist only in Thor’s mind for all we know.

After an embarrassing outing as Giant Man which ends up painting Hank Pym in a bad light he gets a visit from one of the Ultimates, the one that is a traitor. Of course, we can’t see the traitor’s face so as to who that person is… we’re just going to have to wait and see.

Again, it’s another good Ultimates read that I’d recommend and it leaves you with one Hell of a cliff-hanger that will have you itching to get the follow-up book Grand Theft America.

Story
Artwork
Value
Can It Stand Alone
Cool Factor
Average

One thought on “The Ultimates 2: Gods and Monsters (2.1)”