Title: The Ultimates #12
Writer: Sam Humphries / Jonathan Hickman
Art: Luke Ross / Ron Garney / Butch Gucie
Publisher: Marvel
The first major arc for Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates comes to a dramatic close, and sets us up for the upcoming slaughterfest Divided We Fall.
Fair warning: spoilers be sighted in yonder posting.
After cone-headed Reed Richards destroys the White House, killing most of the chief staff and the President, he’s suddenly presented with an intriguing peace offering. The new President has handed over Tony Stark, longtime competitive nemesis to Richards.
We later find out that this isn’t at all what it appears to be. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After a series of interesting events involving a sentient brain tumor in Stark’s noggin, Richards is finally detained by former wife and partner Sue Storm. Crisis averted, but the damage has been done.
And yes. Sentient tumors. I guess if any Marvel character had to have a sentient brain tumor, it would naturally be Stark. Especially a SMART sentient brain tumor. I’m not going to go into too much detail about that aspect of the plot, but I’ll say that it was interesting if nothing more.
The arc was wrapped up nicely, and no main characters had to be killed off for resolution. Not that they should be, of course, but I guess I’m still reeling from the compounding curtain calls used in Ultimatum to offer ‘closure’. So it’s nice to know that cone-headed Richards is still kickin’ and likely already constructing 80 or 90 revenge plans and contingencies.
Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #12 has three artists over the 20 page issue. It’s quite obvious as well, as you’ll instantly notice from page 14 onward. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was distracting. The styles of Ross and Garney are too different to retain the transparency required for an uninterrupted story. Where the artist switch does prove effective, however, is in the final two pages when we’re taken to Alaska. The baton is passed to Guice before he sprints to the finish, and it works. The setting is different enough to effectively transition between two artists.
The Ultimates has seen a mighty roster of talent take to the pen and craft stories about Earths Mightiest Heroes, and Humphries run is shaping up to fit right in with the best of them. And that’s good news for the Ultimate Universe. We’re witnessing a trifecta of talent – Bendis, Humphries, and Wood – continuing the impact made my the Ultimate Universe 12 years ago. And it’s still just as fun.
