The Ultimates is part of Ultimate Marvel, a series designed to re-imagine the stories of some of Marvel’s classic characters with a modern twist. Not only does this allow Marvel to remove some of the confusing and sometimes convoluted histories of these characters, update their origins within our current scientific paradigm but it also had the possibly unforeseen but beneficial side-effect of de-cluttering this new universe. Sometimes the classic Marvel galaxy just feels too overrun with both villains and heroes. Does the world really need to be saved from destruction everyday? A reduced cast makes what you are reading somehow feel more important and more possible.

But that’s just my opinion on the whole Ultimate Universe of which the the Ultimates are just one part. The Ultimates are this generations Avengers using pretty much the old cast. The story begins with Captain America serving a much deserved beat down to some evil Nazis before an explosion sends him into the dark depths of the Arctic where he can cool off for 50 years or so.

Major Nick Fury, a black and more fierce version of than the one from the original universe — who even in the book compares himself to Samuel L. Jackson — is charged with putting together a government sponsored force capable of dealing with the world’s new super-threats. This comes as a response to the Hulk ravaging a pier in Manhattan and coincidentally, the first member of the new team is a cured Dr. Banner with the hope that he can reverse engineer the super-soldier serum that made Captain America the man he was in WW2.

Dr Banner was eager to join the team and redeem himself but his colleagues Hank & Jan Pym who also agree to join the team as Giant Man and Wasp aren’t so eager to have Banner along for the ride; neither is Banner’s old girlfriend Betty Ross who was brought in as the Director of Communications for the new team.

Tony Stark volunteers his service so the only hold up on getting the team rolling is the new Super Soldiers Banner is going to create when his serum gets completed which is proving more difficult than previously believed. As fate would have it though just when all looks bleak, a team of marine biologists discover a Captain America popsicle in the Arctic Ocean and somehow Major Fury’s team is able to revive him. The Avengers have assembled. Well, I left out Thor, and while he does help the team in a time of crisis he also refuses to work for ‘the man’.

Now that the team is together the problems begin. Captain America is a man out of time, he struggles with understanding the world’s declined social standards and being 50 years younger than those he loves. Next, the media starts questioning the governments choice to fund a team tasked at stopping super-powered crime when there’s been nothing worth fighting in months.

In moment of relaxation, Dr Banner overhears his colleagues joking about him and it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. He feels like an utter failure having not come up with the answer to the Super Soldier formula and he turns to the Hulk for an answer. That’s the irony of the whole book, Banner Hulks out and it’s his own team that stops him. If the team had never been put together, Banner wouldn’t have had a reason to bring out the Hulk. A team with no one to fight manages to to create their own foe to give them a justifiable purpose, even if it’s only one team member who is to blame.

The book touches upon some dark aspects of humanity. People break into Captain America’s new digs and destroy his personal belongings, Hank and Jan have a fight that goes way too far. It’s real, that’s what I’m trying to get across, some of the shine that normally goes hand in hand with superhero comics has been dulled, but that’s alright, it’s actually what I enjoyed about The Ultimates.

For instance, when Giant Man grows and when Wasp shrinks, their clothes don’t resize with them. During a fight, Iron Man needs to take time out to recharge, Giant Man takes a hit and is out for the entire fight, Captain America gets beaten to a pulp.

The closer to reality action and the somewhat dark themes makes for a more mature book, and hey there’s a cameo by President Bush and you don’t wanna miss that. It’s a great read but it does leave a lot of story left to be finished in the second Ultimates book which I’ll be reviewing soon. That’s probably the only real knock I have against this book as a TPB, but that doesn’t really bother me honestly.

Spoilers

I’ve actually pretty much outlined the plot and given everything away in the review, but I’ll add more details about some of those incidents.

Captain America’s fiancee in the 50’s marries his sidekick Bucky when Cap disappears and is believed dead.

Tony Stark admits to Thor and Cap that he has a terminal brain tumor so he wants to go out making a difference.

Betty Ross goes to dinner with Freddie Prinz Jr. – seriously – which explains why the Hulk goes stomping through Manhatten screaming for Freddie Prinz Jr’s blood.

Wasp stops the Hulk with a sting directly into his brain after flying into his head through his ear canal.

The Wasp versus Giant Man fight is brutal. When it begins to get violent, Wasp shrinks and Giant Man sprays her with bug spray before donning his ant man helmet and attacking her in her Wasp form with an entire colony of ants. There will be big repercussions from this in the next book.

( Additional comment, after seeing how Hank Pym becomes the poster boy for spousal abuse and dysfunctional spouses after this, it’s actually kind of sad that a founding Avenger gets remembered this way. I do understand that stories need heels, but it’s still sad to me. We’ll see what direction Marvel takes this in their cinematic universe in the upcoming Ant Man film. )

If you are picking it up hoping for non-stop action, then you are bound to be disappointed, this is more of a character study of classic characters that deserve the attention.

Story
Artwork
Value
Can It Stand Alone
Cool Factor
Average