Disjointed, But Still Good
The three story format started in Ultimate Fallout #2 and totally makes sense. Fallout is all about establishing the state of the Ultimate Universe for the Reborn event and we're finally taking some large strides.
Tony Stark
Hickman's up to bat twice in this issue in what was the weaker parts of the book. It's interesting to put Tony Stark into a position where he might have to make a morally ambiguous choice, but Jonathan Blackhaven's long-winded speeches about being rich and awesome kind of wore on me. I don't recognize any of the names or the Kratos Club, but this could be an interesting development for the universe. Gregory Stark was one of the first Ultimate Universe only characters I'd seen in the universe. It would mean big things for the UU for Marvel to allow it to develop on its own WITHOUT referencing old 616 characters with a twist.
Kurth's art in this section is vintage Ultimate art style. It's solid and it gets the job done well
Kitty Pride
Batting in the two-hole is Nick Spencer who continues to set up the status for his X-Men book. This time the focus is on Kitty Pryde whose characterization since Ultimatum has hovered somewhere between angry and very angry and Spencer remains consistent.
Before I get too into it, I've got one major gripe. Bobby says the government is still searching for mutants, but Kitty and Bobby were at Peter's funeral? The government knows you guys were friends and what you guys look like. It seems like a bad idea.
Anyway, barring some other big development in Fallout, the new X-Men book seems to be going in a very odd direction. Without an Ultimate Xavier, Cyclops, or Wolverine, the typical leadership roles in the X-Men are all absent, which means there's close to zero positive role models for mutants. Going just by the cover, Kitty, Bobby, and Johnny Storm will comprise 3/4 of the X-Men book (or perhaps 3/4 of the core) and Kitty is definitely not interested in heroics. I really wonder what will happen once they meet Jimmy Hudson.
The art by Eric Nguyen's is easily the standout in this book, but that's partly because it's the most distinct. Nguyen's art is the most colorful and cartoony art, rather like the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man art. Thanks to the distinct, not-quite-Ultimate look, his art pops most in the book, even though I'm more wowed by Carlo Pagulayan's work. I hope to see more of Nguyen in the Reborn line.
Karen Grant & The Hulk
I haven't had a chance to go back and read Ultimate Comics X yet, so I had to learn that Karen Grant = Jean Grey and also that she recruited The Hulk to her band of merry misfits. How her X-Men and Kitty's will unite will have to be addressed in Fallout since Jimmy was last seen with Karen, but seems to be with Kitty (according to the cover of X-Men).
This last section establishes an unlikely alliance between The Ultimates, Karen Grant, and The Hulk. Will the mutants gathered by Karen (and under Fury's protection) remain part of SHIELD or splinter off?
Hickman's writing gets to be more immediately rewarding in this last section and Pagulayan's art has that Ultimate style we're all accustomed to, but that last panel leaves a lot of ambiguity. Is it in Bruce's mind or is it actually happening?
Ultimate Fallout has had a lot going on since #1. World building doesn't happen easily or quickly. #3 remains just as split as #2, but the interludes seem to fit in and flow a lot better than #2's Thor interlude. That said, I thought the emotions at play in #2 were stronger and the Tony Stark section fell flat to me. Worth picking up if you're interested in the direction the Ultimate Universe is headed.
