Post by goldenfist on Dec 25, 2008 1:47:58 GMT -5
Ign.com reviews Ultimatum #2.
There's only one word that sprung to mind as I turned the pages of Ultimatum #2: stupid. And I don't mean that in the teasing, inane schoolyard way. I mean it very, very seriously. This issue is so mindless and shallow that I'm not even inspired to find a deeper word than "stupid," mostly because that is just so accurate. From the plotting to the script to the art, it's all just some of the dumbest comic material I've seen since, well... Ultimates 3. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
Most of Ultimatum #2 details the cleanup of the New York flood from last issue, which basically means the denizens of the Ultimate Universe are wandering around town, finding their dead comrades. About three pages into the first issue, it became clear that the entire pitch for Ultimatum probably went something like "Magneto kills everybody," and I assume these deaths are supposed to rock me to my core or break the blogosphere in half or whatever. But the way they're just being tossed out left and right, it's hard to feel much of anything. The choppy pacing doesn't help, as it seems like Loeb wrote this like a paint-by-numbers - 1) Show distressed hero; 2) Have some awkward, unnatural chatter; 3) Show gored hero and quickly change the scene. Lather rinse repeat. Vomit.
This issue features one bad development after another. I'd think somewhere along the line readers were supposed to buy Thor and Valkyrie as a legitimate couple, because this issue features the Norse god raiding Valhalla to rescue her (as opposed to doing anything heroic, like helping with the NY cleanup). And there's a frankly stupid (there's that word again) sequence where the usually logical Reed Richards flatly refuses to believe Magneto is behind the attacks, even in the face of multiple sources of cold, hard evidence. Princess Power is awkwardly wheeled out to remind everyone that Ultimate Power was a "Road To Ultimatum" tie-in. And then, of course, there's more throwaway dialogue reminders that Tony Stark is a drunk. In case you forgot, guys. Loeb's handling of these characters is at best misguided, and at worst completely disrespectful.
Speaking of the dialogue, it's another one of those issues where characters walk around recapping events. The first page, for example, sports Spider-Man saying (to nobody) what happened last issue, and later Yellowjacket and Hawkeye outline Hank's relationship with Jan for a page or two. It's bad writing at its finest. The only sequence that borders on acceptable is the Magneto/Xavier face-off in the final pages, and even that feels like stock dialogue from any of the millions of X-Men issues when Charles and Mags have had an antagonistic conversation.
Then we have the art. Normally I enjoy David Finch's work, but the stupidity of Ultimatum extends to encompass his art as well. It's not nearly as diabolical as the script, and it's actually nice in parts, but there are some glaring missteps that rightly deserve a facepalm or two. For one, there's a splash of Carol Danvers rocking some ridiculously massive breasts and brandishing two semi-automatic rifles in both hands. In the middle of an otherwise peaceful hospital. Finch's rendering of Hela, Norse goddess of the dead, is equally as ridiculous and somewhat at odds with the overall feel of the Ultimate Universe. Valhalla isn't much more detailed than some fog effects and a gradient, perhaps suggesting that Finch is as confused about what to make of the whole thing as I am. There is, however, a very chilling splash page featuring the Blob eating human remains that's shocking and grisly in the right way and actually made me check the cover of the issue to see if there's a parental advisory.
Very, very, very few redeeming qualities for the second installment of Ultimatum. I don't know if the deteriorating quality of the plot is meant to mirror the rapidly unravelling state of the Ultimate Universe, or if it's simply suffering from the same lack of editorial direction as Ultimates 3. Either way I really, really don't recommend this unless you've begun playing a self-fashioned drinking game with Loeb comics or something.
Review Score: 2.7 Terrible
There's only one word that sprung to mind as I turned the pages of Ultimatum #2: stupid. And I don't mean that in the teasing, inane schoolyard way. I mean it very, very seriously. This issue is so mindless and shallow that I'm not even inspired to find a deeper word than "stupid," mostly because that is just so accurate. From the plotting to the script to the art, it's all just some of the dumbest comic material I've seen since, well... Ultimates 3. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
Most of Ultimatum #2 details the cleanup of the New York flood from last issue, which basically means the denizens of the Ultimate Universe are wandering around town, finding their dead comrades. About three pages into the first issue, it became clear that the entire pitch for Ultimatum probably went something like "Magneto kills everybody," and I assume these deaths are supposed to rock me to my core or break the blogosphere in half or whatever. But the way they're just being tossed out left and right, it's hard to feel much of anything. The choppy pacing doesn't help, as it seems like Loeb wrote this like a paint-by-numbers - 1) Show distressed hero; 2) Have some awkward, unnatural chatter; 3) Show gored hero and quickly change the scene. Lather rinse repeat. Vomit.
This issue features one bad development after another. I'd think somewhere along the line readers were supposed to buy Thor and Valkyrie as a legitimate couple, because this issue features the Norse god raiding Valhalla to rescue her (as opposed to doing anything heroic, like helping with the NY cleanup). And there's a frankly stupid (there's that word again) sequence where the usually logical Reed Richards flatly refuses to believe Magneto is behind the attacks, even in the face of multiple sources of cold, hard evidence. Princess Power is awkwardly wheeled out to remind everyone that Ultimate Power was a "Road To Ultimatum" tie-in. And then, of course, there's more throwaway dialogue reminders that Tony Stark is a drunk. In case you forgot, guys. Loeb's handling of these characters is at best misguided, and at worst completely disrespectful.
Speaking of the dialogue, it's another one of those issues where characters walk around recapping events. The first page, for example, sports Spider-Man saying (to nobody) what happened last issue, and later Yellowjacket and Hawkeye outline Hank's relationship with Jan for a page or two. It's bad writing at its finest. The only sequence that borders on acceptable is the Magneto/Xavier face-off in the final pages, and even that feels like stock dialogue from any of the millions of X-Men issues when Charles and Mags have had an antagonistic conversation.
Then we have the art. Normally I enjoy David Finch's work, but the stupidity of Ultimatum extends to encompass his art as well. It's not nearly as diabolical as the script, and it's actually nice in parts, but there are some glaring missteps that rightly deserve a facepalm or two. For one, there's a splash of Carol Danvers rocking some ridiculously massive breasts and brandishing two semi-automatic rifles in both hands. In the middle of an otherwise peaceful hospital. Finch's rendering of Hela, Norse goddess of the dead, is equally as ridiculous and somewhat at odds with the overall feel of the Ultimate Universe. Valhalla isn't much more detailed than some fog effects and a gradient, perhaps suggesting that Finch is as confused about what to make of the whole thing as I am. There is, however, a very chilling splash page featuring the Blob eating human remains that's shocking and grisly in the right way and actually made me check the cover of the issue to see if there's a parental advisory.
Very, very, very few redeeming qualities for the second installment of Ultimatum. I don't know if the deteriorating quality of the plot is meant to mirror the rapidly unravelling state of the Ultimate Universe, or if it's simply suffering from the same lack of editorial direction as Ultimates 3. Either way I really, really don't recommend this unless you've begun playing a self-fashioned drinking game with Loeb comics or something.
Review Score: 2.7 Terrible