Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #24 – Review

By: Sam Humphries (Writer), Joe Bennett (Penciler), Ruy José (Inker), Matt Milla (Colorist), VC’s Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

Review: I’ve taken a l’il sabbatical from my Ultimate Comics Ultimates review duties of late. Partially this is the fault of Bioshock Infinite and Injustice: Gods Among Us – both of which give Heroin and Marshmallow Fluff a run for their money in the addiction stakes – and also because I thought it best to give Sam Humphries a break. Most of his issues I’ve…well, ‘savaged’ is a strong word. I’ve ‘lightly rebuked’ them? Yeah, that sounds better. However I honey-coat it though, here’s the main gist; this has not been a good run. At its best Humphries’ Ultimates has read like a parody comic flirting dangerously near Robot Chicken territory while at its worst it’s been one of the most depressing uses of a Marvel licence since *dry-heaves for a few minutes* that Hasselhoff Nick Fury film *vomits all over his keyboard*.

Ultimate Iron-Man II #4 (of 5) – Review

By Orson Scott Card (writer), Pasqual Ferry (artist), Dean White, Laura Martin, Dave McCaig, Paul Mounts (colorists), VC’s Cory Petit (letterer) 

Ultimate Iron-Man #4 really picks up the pace after the wading through most of issue #3’s  buildup. There are intense moments, comic relief, and an interesting revelation on who may be responsible for what is going on. This issue brings back the same fun captured in the first two issues and a lot more.

The story begins with Tony still stuck on the plane (with a nuke on board) heading towards South America. Tony decides to use his nanobots to analyze the bomb to see if it can be defused, but learns there’s a second bomb in place just incase an attempt is made to defuse the nuke on board. This gives Tony the idea to take control of the plane so that he can jump out and detonate the second bomb over the ocean instead. After the first two passengers exit, Tony exits the plane but doesn’t give himself enough time. He’s caught in the blast, injuring himself (again)! Meanwhile, Rhodes is back at the factory questioning people the whereabouts of Dolores. Upon his discovery. James heads to Delores’ mansion only to find out that he’s been killed moments before his arrival!

After reading this issue I’m glad Orson Scott Card was able to accelerate the plot while keeping us readers on our toes. With all the mystery and double crossing going on I can only imagine what the final issue is going to be like. My only gripe is there’s a little too much comedy for something that’s supposed to be so serious. Other than that, this is one hell of well crafted issue, and well worth your money. (Grade: A-)

-Matt Allen

Iron Man #27 – Review

By Daniel and Charles Knauf (writers), Carlo Pagulayan (pencils), Jeffrey Huet (inks), Dean White (colors)

Month after month, this series goes unnoticed by many readers. Maybe it’s because Iron Man’s in every single Marvel Comic these days that no one cares. Whatever it is, it’s a shame that writers Daniel and Charles Knauf don’t get the recognition they deserve. I’ve heard lots of people anticipating Matt Fraction’s upcoming Iron Man title; they say this is the Iron Man they want to see and frankly, that makes no sense to me. First of all, they haven’t even read it yet. And second of all, if any of those people actually gave this title a try they might find it just as compelling and mature as Ed Brubaker’s Daredevil run. The writing’s not the only thing that’s good, this book is gift wrapped by Carlo Pagulayan’s art which perfectly fits the title.

Lecture aside, Iron Man #27 draws many similarities to what’s going on in Captain America. We’ve got a large scale conspiracy going on with Mandarin. This issue showcases just how devious and cunning he can be when we get the big reveal. Tony Stark is racing against time to foil Mandarin’s plot while the Government brings him and his senior SHIELD officers up on terror charges. Everything in this plot is very large in scope and my biggest misgiving is that none of these events are echoing in Marvel continuity. This is serious stuff!

Iron Man may not be as consistently good as Marvel’s top tier titles like Captain America, Daredevil, and Iron Fist, but it’s got a strong mature story that’s been brewing for quite a while. It’s not fun super heroics like Spider-Man, it’s a serialized drama that acts very much like a TV show. And the villains are no joke either. This version of the Mandarin portrayed is the one we’ve always wanted to see. And if they do make a second Iron Man movie, this is how he should be patterned after. (Grade: B)

– J. Montes

Echo #1 – Review

By Terry Moore (art & story), Brian Miller (colors)

I’m probably going to be flamed by the comic community for this, but I’ve never read a Terry Moore book before. I’ve heard *many* good things about Strangers in Paradise – and I do plan on buying all the trades soon, because I’m itching to see what he can bring to Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. So truth be told, Echo is the first work I’ve ever read by Terry Moore. And I’ll be honest, if I had not met him at WonderCon ’08 I probably would have skipped over this book. He sold me on this book, so Terry, if you’re reading this, give yourself a pat on the back.

Echo starts off in a very awkward way. A woman flies through the air with a nuke strapped to her back as she tests kind of experimental flight suit. This invention enables her to fly through the skies with great maneuverability and at high Gs. Then something terrible goes wrong. For unexplained reasons, the Air Force blows her out of the sky with a missile. This causes the nuke she’s carrying to explode. A form of fallout from the nuke ends up mixed with this now dead woman’s suit. I’m not going to go any further on what scientists determine of these little stones, but let’s just say it’s not good.

Enter Julie, a normal woman out photographing nature when this catastrophe occurs. She’s not perfect – she’s got her share problems: her credit’s gone into collections and she’s going through a bitter divorce. But within moments, she’s presented with an extraordinary situation as she’s rained on by these radioactive stones. A lot of these stones fall into the bed of her truck along with a large piece of debris from the detonation. Knowing something’s not right, she flees the scene. It’s only when she gets home that she realizes what trouble she’s gotten herself into.

If you can make it past the clumsy opening, you’re in for a treat. I only say clumsy, because the art contained within the opening pages feels so amateurish in terms of weight, perspective, and dynamics. Once we the story moves to the ground level (literally), Moore’s art begins to shine. Echo is one of those books that you’ll just need to take at face value. There’s no real hard science involved and Moore doesn’t give a lot of explanations, but it’s probably for the best. Instead, we’re presented with a classic science fiction situation in a more modern and realistic setting. Count me on board for next issue. (Grade: B)

– J. Montes

Ultimate Iron-Man II #3 – Review

By Orson Scott Card (writer), Pasqual Ferry (artist), Dean White, Laura Martin, Dave McCaig, Paul Mounts (colorists) VC’s Cory Petit (letterer)

The first two issues of Ultimate Iron-Man were excellent! That said, Iron Man II #3 falls a bit short of expectations. The good build up, action, and intensity that ran through the previous issues are absent from this installment. Instead, we’re a meatier story and some suspense.

In this issue, we learn that Dolores used to have dealings with Stark but was excluded from numerous deals – which has led to him wanting to take out Stark Industries. Dolores wants Tony to deliver him a “robot” (Iron Man) in exchange for the nuke. He also wants Tony on a plane with him, but that isn’t possible (as Tony Stark is the “robot” – duh!). To remedy this, Tony has another one of his scientists use a remote controlled robot inside of the Iron Man. This proves to be a hassle as the remote droid hasn’t been perfected; it has trouble walking correctly.

Dolores is quick to discover that the robot delivered isn’t the same that was seen on the news but Tony lets him know the same software isn’t being used as a safety precaution. He’s also put some safeguards on the robot to prevent civilian casualties. Tony notices that the plane is on course to South America and after formulating some conclusions realizes there may be another nuke.

After a slow start, this issue picked up its pace near the end and really drove the story forward. I feel that there were a some wasted pages; the few comic relief moments didn’t do much for me. But, overall this issue is setting up for either one hell of a big conclusion. I’m eager to see how they wrap this up.  (Grade: B)

– Matt Allen

Ultimate Iron Man II #2 (of 4) – Review

By Orson Scott Card (writer), Pasqual Ferry (artist), Dean White (colorist) VC’s Cory Petit (letterer)

Issue #2 begins with Tony Stark and James Rhodes coming to a decision on which of the foreign men is the real threat. In an odd turn of events the terrorist takes his own life so the two don’t have to make the decision and risk killing the wrong person. After a quick understanding on who is friend or foe, the father tells Tony to check a boulder for unknown reasons. Rhodes cautions him not to do it as it may be a trap, amd it turns out it actually is. Once again, Tony stops another explosion and ends up losing an arm. Showing a side we rarely see, Tony urges Rhodes to get the two civilians away from the carnage.

Tony recovers while investigating a box that survived the explosion. Rhodes jokes that Tony should make his suit out of the same material so he wont end up losing more body parts. As their mission concludes, Tony goes on a hunch that they shouldn’t let the U.S. government pick them up. He radios Stark Industries to pick them up and it turns out that the government was ready blow up the whole site!

Later on, Tony’s advisor, Si Ma, holds a meeting with the two government officials to see how they can cover the story up. The box Tony recovered has documents showing plans of a bomb. He believes whoever left the box there wanted the plans to be found. The two officials act clueless about any such thing. As this is happening Tony’s father gets a visitor who uses a device to control the guards to get them to kill his dad. This is the more sinister part of the issue. Turns out his visitor is one of the guys responsible for Howard Stark’s false imprisonment and is working with the man responsible for the explosion on Stark Industries’ building.

This series is a blast to read! There’s so much plot and double crossing going on and it keeps you wondering what’ll happen next. You have the nuke plans in place, a government conspiracy, and the conspirator of the Stark Industries attack! What’s not to like? Issue #3 is gonna be awesome. (Grade A-)

-Matt Allen