After reading The Ultimates 2 (Ultimates vol 2, no. 1 TPB) I was going to write a review, but I ended up reflecting on the entire Ultimate Universe, and so I thought it was better suited to a blog post than a review. Enjoy.
 
 I held off reading The Ultimates for a long time.

I didn't know why, I just had some aversion to this comic. Part of it was probably fear of the unknown. Ultimates? What's that? I had been burned too many times in the past picking up titles just to try things out. And cover prices being what they are these days... But then, that really wasn't it either, not entirely. It's more that I had reservations about The Ultimates, and I'll get to why in a minute. First to why I did pick up The Ultimates.

The Art. The art in this comic was amazing. Computer coloring especially had come a long way. These pages looked more like the painted panels of Alex Ross, I had loved so much in Marvels. But the art was just the initial hook. The story is what kept me coming back again and again.

For a long time I was looking for the good writers. Where were they? After McFarlane/Liefield/Lee in the 90s, it seemed like every comic was focused on the artwork - and overly stylized artwork at that - but where was the next generation of storytellers? Basically if the title didn't have a name I trusted, a Busiek, Gaiman, Miller, Moore, Morrison, maybe a few others - I knew it was going to suck. But then, finally a writer who really knew how to write. Don't get me wrong, I still don't rank Mark Millar up with all the aforementioned esteemed writers - his writing always seems just one step removed from total awesomeness at best, and at worst well - let's just say I read Ultimate Spiderman, and teenagers didn't even talk that dorky when I was a teenager - Peter Parker's friends sounded like they should have been in an Archie comic. And don't even get me started on the awfulness that was the film Wanted...

But with the Ultimates - here, finally was a series where the superheroes felt like real people in our real world. This series was so great, I just had to tell someone about it. So I told a good friend of mine who had been a comic fan for as long as I had. I said, "have you checked out Marvel's Ultimate line?" He said no, but his reason really struck me. He said he always had dismissed it because it sounded so cheesy. Regular Spider-man wasn't good enough, so now they had to have ULTIMATE Spider-man! Regular X-Men wasn't good enough, so now they had to have ULTIMATE X-Men!!!!!! Probably with ALL NEW POWERS!!! And you know what - he had a point - it was like any product. Regular Tide™ isn't good enough anymore? Don't worry, now we have ULTIMATE TIDE™ with EXTRA STAIN FIGHTERS!!!

Which brings me to my reservations about Marvel's entire Ultimate line. First, I think I saw it as a cheap way for Marvel to capitalize on the recent movies - creating movie versions of the same heroes, and repackaging the same old stuff. And secondly, how many damn reboots do we really need? Endless retcons and reboots are what ended my regular trips to the comic store the first time.

But then, with The Ultimates, it wasn't the same old stuff. Sure, it was just the Avengers with a new team name, but as I said before, the writing and the art were top notch. I really loved The Ultimates vol 1, no.1 and The Ultimates vol 1, no.2. But time and work being what it is, it took awhile for me to get around to reading The Ultimates vol 2, no. 1, Gods and Monsters. It's been a few years, so I have to admit, I'm a little hazy on some of the events in the first volume, but I am pleased to say that this TPB is at least as good as the first two, if not better. The confinement and trial of Bruce Banner was fascinating reading. The idea that there is a traitor on the team and the love affair between Tony Stark and Natasha Romanova also well done. And who can dislike the appearance of a loser superhero team the Defenders, a team who fail as miserably in battle against even the most pedestrian of foes, as their actual comic failed on the newsstand.

But perhaps the best - and worst part of this segment of  The Ultimates, is the storylines centering around Thor. Worst because Thor is a God, and frankly the idea that he is powerless without his special belt is frankly insulting. But also best, because Millar so deftly weaves the story that even the reader is unaware of Loki's possible manipulation of reality. One sees the world through the eyes of The Ultimates, and it's easy to view Thor and his followers as kooks. Hippie pacifists. And in a great parallel to real life we see how easily a trickster at the top can lead the superpowers to war anywhere on the globe he wants. By the time it's revealed that Thor was right all along - it's too late - we're already bogged down in a war in the Middle East that we should never have gotten involved in in the first place.

You want superhero comics that are well written, have great art, and really have something to say? This is it.