The team of Mark Millar and Leinil Francis Yu brings together a new team of Ultimate Avengers for 2010. This series seems to focus on Punisher and his possible upcoming relationship (good or bad) with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. The last series of the Ultimate Avengers, which ended last week, was just ok, so hopefully, a new creative team can get this Ultimate train running.
The Good:
This is the first time I've seen Ultimate Punisher. I'm not sure if he's been in an Ultimate comic before, but to save you some questioning, as of this issue, he's pretty much the same as his 616 counter-part. That's not necessarily a bad thing though. I'm really excited with how this issue sets up the next couple of issues. If the rest of this mini-series is on the same story level as this first issue, this will quickly become one of my favorite Ultimate series books. One of the things that made is so great was the creative team. I may not be a fan of Kick Ass and Nemesis was just ok for me, but I love Mark Millar's writing when the violence and swearing is restrained a little bit. Yes, this is a very violent book, hence the "parental advisory" notice on the barcode, but this doesn't go over-the-edge like Kick-Ass did. The writing is solid and flows very well. I really enjoyed Frank's inner-monologue the most. It was gritty, straight-to-the-point, and felt like the Frank was talking. Sometimes I feel when people write that character, it comes off like someone pretending to be Frank Castle. Millar's (so far and Ennis) writing of the Punisher felt very true to the character. This book also had my favorite artist on it: Leinil Yu. I know many people aren't the biggest fan of his style, but I personally love the small details he puts into his art: the way a shirt stretches in some areas when a character raises their arms, smaller details on a gun, and I love the facial expressions he gives characters.
The Bad:
Ultimate Avengers 1 ended last week, and this book is already out? It seems a little too soon for that. Also, I know it's only the first issue, but as of yet, I'm not seeing the connection to the first series. I'd also like to know how many issues this run is. If it's only 6 issues, I'm not sure if this is going to be played out the way it should. The first issue lets the reader know that they'll be setting up a new team, and I hope that's not just what the story is about.
The Verdict:
Get in on this book now, before it sells out. I recommend this to everyone. It's fun, the art is beautiful and the story is engrossing. It's the Ultimate Universe, so you don't need to know too much history to understand the characters and world. I'd say this was the pick of the week, but I haven't read all my books yet.
