The Good

The most interesting part of this book is the new team line-up of Spider-Man, Cloak, Dagger, Kitty Pryde, Bombshell, and Spider-Woman/Black Widow. It takes the old idea of the Ultimates fighting gigantic forces that could destroy the world and brings it down to a street-level team.

Writer Michel Fiffe does a fine job at having these characters try to find their new place in the world. The original Ultimates are disbanded, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is no more, but someone has to step up to fight for justice. They're not entirely sure what to do or how this is going to work and that, by far, is the best and coolest part of this introductory issue.

The Bad

While this book does do a decent job of setting up a new team, the issue as a whole misses its mark. This is supposed to be a brand new series, but it really isn't too new reader friendly. Fiffe tries to make new readers feel at ease with smaller scenes explaining what is going on and what has happened, but what the reader is left with is a ton of story recap that is overwhelming to not only new readers, but to long-time ULTIMATES fans.

Amilcar Pinna's are is a bit clunky. Right off the bat, the biggest complaint is that some characters just don't look like their counterparts from other books. Obviously, different styles mean characters won't look identical, but you wouldn't know Ganke and Kitty Pryde were Ganke and Kitty Pryde if it wasn't spelled out for you. Faces, at certain angles, look extremely awkward because the eye spacing is odd. It also seems that a majority of the time female characters are engaged in conversation their heads are tilted down and their hair is covering a small portion of their face. Everyone must talk with their chin pinned against their neck.

There's also a few smaller problematic things that are a bit off. Spider-Woman changes her name to Black Widow here, and while the cover of the next issue leads the reader to believe that we'll find out why. In this issue, it comes out of no where.

The Verdict

I had high expectations for this issue, but overall, it was a let down. The concept for the new book is fantastic, but the execution was a let down. The issue is not new reader friendly and not incredibly interesting to boot. The art is a bit clunky and characters are unrecognizable. This is a series I really want to be successful, but this first issue was a bit of a mess. Overall, I do not recommend this issue.

Holy sweet Jesus,that bad?!

Here's the thing. I have higher expectations for this series because I am a huge Ultimates fan. However, seeing the changes that have been made in this universe over the past year, this book has so much it can do. I love the concept here, but it's just such a rough start.

Was not expecting it to get that low of a score...definitely won't be picking this up now.

I quite liked this issue but I don't like the art, I think it looks... hm dated maybe?

Same here.
But i noticed, anything NOT Bendis in the 1610 Universe is pure mediocricy......

I would disagree. I think Fialkov did an awesome job on Ultimates and his cataclysm tie ins. And Brian Woods' X-Men was awesome, minus that horrific conclusion.

Bendis has also screwed the pooch in the Ult U a few times as well

It's not even that it's an awful book, it's just that it's the first issue of a new series and, as Mat said, is not that friendly to new readers. That's something that this All-New Ultimate line should be doing well. And the art was an obvious negative to me too, Miles is oddly proportioned when he's standing up, and Kitty looks nothing like Kitty.

I'll stick around because I want to support the Ultimate Universe as much as I can, but it isn't looking like it'll be top of my pile like the Ultimate books normally are.

Whoo yeah.......big time.

Exceptions.

Is nobody a fan of Hickman's Ultimates?

Nah.
The only thing i liked is that he made the Iron Man suit look like the movies' one.

I liked Ultimates 1,Bendis' X-Men and some FF issues.
And i shouldnt even mention this,but obviously Ultimate Spider-Man too.

Darn, I was hoping for a 5. Here's hoping Ultimate FF will have a better start.

Yikes. Glad I changed my mind at the last minute.

I enjoyed it. The art wasn't that great

Felt exactly the same reading this issue

I didn't think it was that bad, just not a very good jumping on point (this has been the case with some of the #1's in the industry lately) I kind of enjoyed it actually, although yes the art was kind of...distracting

3.5/5

I loved Hickman's Ultimates run. I feel like anything Bendis does in the UU that isn't an event has been pretty great. The Ultimate Doom trilogy was a terrible let down, Ultimates last stand also felt rushed. In fact, I think that's the biggest problem with the UU is that Marvel decides to change direction and rush it into production while leaving a bunch of plot threads dangling (I still want to know who carried away Dr. Strange's headless body in Ultimatum!!!)

Anyway, I haven't read this issue yet, but I'm disappointed to hear that it got a 2/5. I was feeling optimistic about the UU after USM #200. I was hoping this book could have filled my interest in a teen superhero book after young avengers ended and Teen Titans continues to suck. Major bummer...

The story was solid. It just wasn't a good jumping on point.

@tmul501: I wouldn't give up hope yet. Its only the first issue. It just wasn't a good jumping on point is all.

I was definitely a fan. I just bought the trades for it a couple months ago and it was great. I think most recent writers for the Ultimates have all been good.

I'll still check this out despite the score since i've been looking forward to it

I'm surprised at the score. I read the review & it sounds like it could of been better. I hope the series gets better. I like the cover to the issue though.

Excellent review. From one Ultimate Universe fan to another, I completely agree. But I will take it a step further...I didn't enjoy this issue one bit. Too much talking and then the action was just meh. And the art...Kitty looked horrible! I hope ANU gets better with time because I love this team and the Ultimate Universe.

@micah: Well if it's not a good jumping on point, and the series is struggling, then what's the point of releasing it?

yeah I was extremely disappointed with this issue...I know Bendis has a lot on his plate with Uncanny, All-New, and Ultimate Spider-man but I feel with that with this line-up of characters that he should have been the one writing this series...either him or someone better than Fiffe

the other thing is that I've come to expect top notch art work in the Ultimate Universe books and this was far from that...Kitty looked like her face was melting at times

I was thinking of checking this out .. mainly because I love the cover ... but I may pickup Nightcrawler or Iron Fist instead ... alot of great new books to check out .... I still love that cover tho.

I quite enjoyed this issue and thought Fiffe did well establishing the characters and how they got there. It didn't feel overwhelming to me and I've been on Ultimate since Ultimate Spider-Man: Requiem. It seemed to flow at a natural pace and we get to see the characters adjusting to their new lives. Sure, the art is strange but that's because we're used to someone different and the artist here is new to these characters. As time is spent drawing these characters the art will gradually get better and Fiffe will continue to get a good footing on these characters. Me, I give this 5/5.

Ugh. What a boring issue. I should have known this wasn't gonna be any good when I didn't see Bendis as the writer. The art was not good either. It looked like a comic from about 10-15 years ago. Hope it gets better.

@captainmarvel4ever: To reignite interest into the UU. They should have made it more reader friendly, but overall a great issue.

Hey do you mind following me?

@micah: Sure, gotta warn you though, I have a lot of trouble understanding the account system on here.

Ouch, 2 stars.

Yikes. I was actually thinking of picking this one up, but I'm not really up-to-date on what's going on in the Ultimate Universe right now.

@inferiorego: I don't think you're expectations were too high. The issue was bad. I felt it was terrible and I am a big Ultimate Universe fan and I think I am a bit softer than you when it comes to reviews, lol. I would give it 2 stars as well. I was so highly disappointed and I was really looking forward to it being great since I loved the line up. You were also right on the art, the characters were so not recognizable whatsoever.

Its not new reader friendly at all. If I hadn't already been reading Ultimate Comics Spider-Man/Cataclysm I would be lost. Also, Ganke doesn't look like Ganke. I'll keep reading because I like the roster. I was expecting more though. Hopefully it picks up.

It's too bad you rated it a two star, because I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and recommend others read it whole-heartedly

I agree with Corey #2, this was a 2 star book for me. The writing and art was clunky. The villains were not intriguing to me at all. Ultimate Comics Spider-man is one of my favorite titles and I've been reading it from the beginning. I really hope Miles' other title is better because I won't be able to continue reading this comic.

I love the cover.

Does anyone know when the interior artist is going to change

@captainmarvel4ever: HaHa me too

I liked this issue I enjoyed the writing and the art was good in my book also I really like the new roster and the fact there fighting street-level is a new thing for the Ultimates and I like that in my opinion I'd give this issue 5 out of 5 stars

The Ultimates has been dead since Hickman left the relaunch. The concept and roster of this series does not feel like the Ultimates to me at all.

@jonny_anonymous: Loved Hickman run, he understood the ultimate universe and clearly set out to do a sequel to Millar/hitch era Ultimates. Its shame we never got to see where he was going. It also a shame people got so annoyed about Reed Richards being the villain (Bendis did that not hickman), prehap if he just made the villain kang it would of been more popular. Sam Hampheries messed hickman's story up big time and Fialkov didn't help either.

Sadly the now impossible continuity of the Ultimate Universe (now pretty much Bizzaro Earth) makes it the most inaccessible books on the market.

Doomed to die

I agree with the 2 stars. I enjoyed this group when they were in Spider-man, but they lacked chemistry, and the plot seemed uninspired. Spider-Woman's new costume looked terrible, all the worst elements of the 90s. I was looking forward to this team, but can't see me getting more of this.

I actually enjoyed the issue, but I really dislike the art.