Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Mark Millar
Artists: Carlos Pacheco
Cover: Carlos Pacheco, Danny Miki, & Justin Ponsor
“The Next Generation pt 3“: Ultimate Comics Avengers is shaping up to be one of the best books in what remains of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe! Mark Millar continues chapter 3 with an introduction to the new lineup, as they prep to bring in an AWOL Captain America. We’re first introduced to Dr. Gregory Stark who is described as being amoral and 10 times smarter than his brother, Tony Stark a.k.a Iron Man. The former terrorist, the Insect Queen (now code named Red Wasp), a Hulk built from Banner’s stem cells that will keep Banner’s intellect and the Hulk’s strength all in one body… sound familiar? The rest of the team is filled out with a new Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine, Nick Fury and a mysterious guy in Spider-Man’s costume.
Things slow down from the first two issues to allow us time to meet everyone. From War Machine’s explosive yet controversial intro to Black Widow’s banter with Fury, not much about whats going on with Cap is revealed. Only that Fury is pissed (what else is new?) and that keeping Cap from Red Skull is priority #1! The last few pages where we get to see some of the team members in action during their attempt to take Cap are great! Pacheco’s work is just consistently awesome from page to page. I especially liked the Red Wasp’s taking out of the terrorist cell and then what she does to the last guy is just brutal, and she then uses his dead body as a chair to take a phone call!
When it comes to the story in this issue no answers are given and Millar gives individual spotlights to the team. Cap is the subplot here, but Millar makes it work just fine. The dialogue throughout the issue is what kept the story from being stale and repetitive which it easily could have been. Though I will say that I was a lot more interested in finding out the mystery behind who is in the Spider-Man suit because Gregory Stark referred to him as “it”, and apparently “it” knows Fury and Hawkeye.
Even with the main plot playing the background role in this one and the only reveal is the final team roster it’s a solid issue; the book isn’t called Ultimate Cap it’s Ultimate Avengers so it’s about time they got to shine in their own title! This is the halfway point of the opening arc, and since Millar has set us up for a potentially great story lets hope the payoff is worth it. I’m definitely looking forward to a Hulk vs. Cap rematch even if it’s not the original Hulk from the Ultimates!
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I agree man- this run has been great so far!
Can’t wait to find out who else makes the team… hopefully some former X-Men will make the cut!
The Ultimate titles have always had me second guessing myself about not buying. This sounds pretty good. Millar is awesome.
@ Andy from what i’ve been seeing about the Ultimate Universe the Mutants are going to be busy with their own issues!