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Publisher:  Marvel
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist:  Carlos Pacheco
Cover: Carlos Pacheco, Danny Miki, Laura Martin

“The Next Generation” Pts 1 & 2: Whatever your feelings are towards Marvel’s Ultimate line you can count on them to deliver shocks and surprises! Taking what you know about familiar characters and upping the ante to where you either love it or hate it! Personally I’ve loved several of the titles in Marvel’s alternate universe, and none more so than the Ultimates. So when I heard about the crossover Ultimatum event that would kill off many of the characters in the Ultimate line of books, I was worried if this issue would even be worth it.  Even with Millar writing this series, skepticism crept in and I basically wondered…”Can I further be impressed by this alternate version of some of Marvel’s finest?”

The first issue takes place 3 weeks after the events in Ultimatum, with Hawkeye letting Nick Fury know that Captain America has gone rogue and he knows about the Red Skull. We then flashback to the previous day’s events, and we have Hawkeye hanging from a helicopter as Cap comes flying out of a sky scraper window on a motorcycle to assist! They easily take out the A.I.M. terrorists inside and make their way towards the second chopper. One thing missing from the mission though is Iron Man, however he’s busy being depressed about what he did to Wolverine in the last issue of Ultimatum. So he’s spending time at the bottom of a bottle at an exclusive gentleman’s club.  Cap and Hawkeye do seem to be handling things just fine without him, as Cap has made the jump to the second chopper and cleared out the bad guys.  Then from the front of the chopper appears a huge scarlet faced man who quickly introduces his right fist to Cap’s face!  Let’s just say you could tie your shoes in the amount of time it takes for this guy to hand Cap his ass!  At the final moment he pulls Captain America close and whispers something, right before tossing him out of the cargo bay doors!             

The second installment starts in 1945 and bounces around time a little to catch us up to the present day events.  We  get the origin of Cap’s assailant and the real reason Hawkeye was sent to see Nick Fury. S.H.I.E.L.D wants Cap found, so project Avengers is given the go ahead and Fury is going to hand pick the team to get the job done.  Too much more info on this issue will just ruin it for anyone who hasn’t read it, and I don’t want to put out a spoiler fest here!

I will say that in these two issue Mark Millar has done a great job in answering a lot of questions quickly and effectively! Crafting a different origin story for one of Cap’s oldest foes that changes everything, and it’s perfect!  There’s still enough mystery left with all of these reveals to leave you salivating for the next issue as well!  Carlos Pacheco’s visuals are just top notch, and I will eat humble pie and admit that I was not a big fan of his earlier work and wasn’t thrilled about the choice of artist.  He makes you feel the beating that Cap took, and then Cap’s escape from the plane in Ultimate Avengers # 2 was great!  I just want him to put someone besides Cap and Hawkeye on the next cover!

Earlier I asked myself if I could still be impressed, and the answer is a definitive YES!

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