Ultimates Annual #1

[MatthewC]

Is it just me, or have they made Ultimate Nick Fury into basically Marvel's version of Amanda Waller?

I really liked this comic. It treaded a careful line. It was obvious why people in the Ultimateverse would find the superhuman arms race so frightening, but at the same time Fury had an answer and a justification for everything he did... and even if you disagreed with some of his actions, you can see why men of good conscience would agree with him.

What did everyone else think?

[bushboy]

I liked this issue also. The Defenders look like a joke. Not really into the art though.

[Adem]

The ending with Fury was pretty badass and I like how they can't find anyone else who can take the super soldier formula. I want to see the Four Seasons in action to see what they can do.

[ultramandingo]

dillon wasted on a book with no one getting their heads blown up , what he does best. so who are the "4 seasons' suposed to be? any ideas

[Adem]

Their original ideas Millar thought up for the Ultimates they have no 616 counter part.

[ultramandingo]

Their original ideas Millar thought up for the Ultimates they have no 616 counter part.

since when did millar get "original" ideas? probably got morrison drunk and went though his big box o'ideas wile poor ole grant was passed out.

[Redjakk]

dillon wasted on a book with no one getting their heads blown up , what he does best. so who are the "4 seasons' suposed to be? any ideas
*SPOILERS*

The Four Seasons seem to be original Superhero concepts. So far, the Ultimate Reserves have 3 Iron Man knockoffs, 6 (maybe 9) shock troops of indeterminate power, and various USAgent analogues that are training to be Captain America, but can't handle the treatment.

We've learned that Daimon Hellstrom is really working for Fury, that Fury is trying to create a replacement for Cap, that Tony really loves Natasha even though her husbands end up dead, that Russia is becoming hostile and has a super soldier program beyond what was seen in Ultimate Nightmare, and that Fury's willing to do anything for his country.

Anything I'm forgetting?

[ultramandingo]

*SPOILERS*

The Four Seasons seem to be original Superhero concepts. So far, the Ultimate Reserves have 3 Iron Man knockoffs, 6 (maybe 9) shock troops of indeterminate power, and various USAgent analogues that are training to be Captain America, but can't handle the treatment.

We've learned that Daimon Hellstrom is really working for Fury, that Fury is trying to create a replacement for Cap, that Tony really loves Natasha even though her husbands end up dead, that Russia is becoming hostile and has a super soldier program beyond what was seen in Ultimate Nightmare, and that Fury's willing to do anything for his country.

Anything I'm forgetting?

dude you forgot the defenders bitchn new ride .. and the wheel chair guy

[jcp011c]

dude you forgot the defenders bitchn new ride .. and the wheel chair guy

The comments about the guy in the wheel chair were so un-PC it wasn't even funny. I'm pretty un-PC myself at times and even I was offended. Millar probably needs to a little more careful in those regards. Otherwise, a good read.

[ultramandingo]

you think that was bad...you havent read much millar have you? check out "wanted" or dont

[Doom Hammer]

The comments about the guy in the wheel chair were so un-PC it wasn't even funny. I'm pretty un-PC myself at times and even I was offended. Millar probably needs to a little more careful in those regards. Otherwise, a good read.

But the material was about how ignorant the Defenders were, and how their statements were insensetive and stupid. It wasn't the glorification of cripple-bashing.

[ultramandingo]

But the material was about how ignorant the Defenders were, and how their statements were insensetive and stupid. It wasn't the glorification of cripple-bashing.

no.i think millar hates the handicaped and kittys and babies too

[hbkabdul]

The comments about the guy in the wheel chair were so un-PC it wasn't even funny. I'm pretty un-PC myself at times and even I was offended. Millar probably needs to a little more careful in those regards. Otherwise, a good read.


Millar spent forever and a day looking for a marvel character in a wheelchair for that?

[ultramandingo]

Millar spent forever and a day looking for a marvel character in a wheelchair for that?

so ..is that "wiz kid" guy for real or did he make him up .mabey he'll bring back "howard the duck" too

[TJ Shoun]

After this, I'm firmly convinced Fury is not the traitor.

It'd be waaaaay to obvious now.

Dillon is a great artist but was mismatched for this book -- didn't feel right.

Love the cover.

[MatthewC]

After this, I'm firmly convinced Fury is not the traitor.

It'd be waaaaay to obvious now.

See, after this I'm convinced that Fury is not a traitor because he's a man of geniune conviction who really believes in what he's doing. It makes no sense for him to betray SHIELD, since he's the one with all the freaking power and SHIELD is doing what he wants it to currently. That would be like the pope betraying the Catholic Church.

I don't understand how anyone could think the annual made Fury an "obvious" suspect as the traitor.

[Sekhemket]

I wouldn't be surprised if Liberman isn't really dead. They said his central nervous system shut down his brain, but I can see the writers interpreting that as a form of suspended animation.

The Defenders bit was pretty funny, especially the stupidity regarding "whiz kid" being in a wheelchair. A Pontiac firebird for a superhero vehicle? Pretty darn funny to me. I think Whiz Kid is supposed to be a take on Roger Bochs from Alpha Flight, the one who invented the robot Box.

And how awesome was it to see that Banner is up and running around the globe!!!!

[The Lucky One]

so ..is that "wiz kid" guy for real or did he make him up .mabey he'll bring back "howard the duck" too

Well, there is a Wiz Kid in the 616 universe, but he's an Asian-American named Taki with the power to telekinetically reshape technology to fit his whims, kinda like a combination of Jean Grey and Forge. The Ultimate version is "Whiz Kid" and is a caucasian who's not named Taki and has minor temperature varation powers, so they're probably not supposed to be the same dude.

-D

[thik_3rd]

all those little "wheel fellow" jopkes were pretty funny... "maybe we can get a roof rack". it was ok. i dug dillon's art...i don't know what some of ya'll are complaining about.

8/10

[Cayman]

The part with the Ultimate Defenders was hilarious. Poor Whiz Kid. I had to laugh at Daimon's face. I kinda like that he's a fraud because maybe a real Ultimate Son of Satan can show up someday as well.

I also enjoyed seeing the Ultimate Hulk again.

Poor Lieberman.

Cay

[Nick Kal]

I thought the dude in the rainbow suit was going to turn out to be Ultimate Speedball... :(

Anyways, this was soooo good. Great issue. It's nice to have an issue that's sort of outside the book but still related to it. Way to go Millar!

P.S. Son of Satan is sooo cool and funny. He's a SHIELD spy, right?

[Private America]

Liked this better than the last two issues of ULTIMATES 2. Millar puts a bunch of stuff in here, almost too much, but it's all entertaining.

And, just at the end when you might start to pity Nick Fury a bit, you realize he was always in control.

7.5/10

[Kether]

A Pontiac firebird for a superhero vehicle? Pretty darn funny to me.

Great Lakes Avengers have that beat. They drove a QuinJetta. Nothing like rolling up on some bad guys in some German engineering gone gay. ;)

[crackin' skrulls]

The ending with Fury was pretty badass
highlight of the book, no doubt...should have seen it coming, but didn't...

I want to see the Four Seasons in action to see what they can do.
from http://www.history-of-rock.com/four_seasons.htm

"One of the most long-lived and successful white vocal groups of the '60s, The Four Seasons scored a series of smash hit singles between 1962 and 1967 featuring the shrill piercing falsetto (three octave) voice of Frankie Valli. During their nearly 40 year career Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons sold over a 100 million records making them the most long lived and successful white doo wop group"

wow, wisconsin gets no love in the ultimate u...first the crappy name, and then the brutal costumes designed by the "marketing dept"...

didn't like the art either, after the first few pages i thought i wasted my cash, but the story turned out to be pretty strong...

the line about cap standing outside the strip club cracked me up, that guy needs to loosen up...

[Beast]

I'm suprised noone mentioned the Ultimate X-Men cameo in the Annual. Scott and Piotr are both clearly seen in the establishing panel of the strip club for Tony Stark's bachlor party. Jean appears to be there also, but she could just be a random female guest. In fact Colossus is armored up becuase a girl is flirting with him. :D

[ultramandingo]

"skrull kill krew member" ..hey! your the other guy that read that...

[Manchine]

Have to say it was pretty good. Not as good as Ultimates but it was pretty good.

[kelvingreen]

"skrull kill krew member" ..hey! your the other guy that read that...
Count me in on that too! ;)

[ultramandingo]

Count me in on that too! ;)

so thats 3 , how come those bastards canceled that? what ! ..... like we only killed one tree! fucking stupid tree.........

[Flight]

In fact Colossus is armored up becuase a girl is flirting with him. :D Ooh, i thought that was Colossus!

Does anyone know when this issue was set, continuity wise? Hawkeye's in it so probably before the last Ultimates ish.

[Will.S]

I'm suprised noone mentioned the Ultimate X-Men cameo in the Annual. Scott and Piotr are both clearly seen in the establishing panel of the strip club for Tony Stark's bachlor party. Jean appears to be there also, but she could just be a random female guest. In fact Colossus is armored up becuase a girl is flirting with him. :D
Nice find.

Does anyone know when this issue was set, continuity wise? Hawkeye's in it so probably before the last Ultimates ish.
It's most definitely before the current issue.

Pretty good annual and I enjoyed Dillon's art. I was surprised Millar was still keeping tabs with the Ultimate Defenders, I thought they would just be used as a joke group for that one issue. The issue was pretty much a more in depth take of Fury and his ultimate reserves so I'm happy that it was explored more here than in the regular issues.

That was a pretty badass ending with Nick too, gotta love that.

[jrio]

The whole Defenders sequence was laugh-out-loud hilarious. I am surprised that the Nighthawk's reference to "little wheel-fellow" could have been seen by anyone as other than identifying what a crass, spoilt wannabe he is. Makes me glad he was duffed up in his earlier appearance. Even more hilarious to see Cage, with his shirt off parody of the NA depiction, copying him. The would-be assassin plot was unconvincing and the "magic bullet" seemed to have escaped from a less well-imagined universe. Most welcome for the revelation of the mole spying on Hank and the confirmation that Banner is alive and well, which means major ramifications for Hank now that Fury knows. I'd like to have seen him kept unaware of that until a much later stage.

[Jagernaut]

I'm happy that someone on the team was questioning Wanda's "Hex powers".

[kelvingreen]

Didn't think much of it to be honest. Quite pedestrian in pace, didn't make a good use of Steve Dillon's art, and other than the revelation that Fury has a mole in the Defenders (and possibly other teams too), not much overall development.

It was a good character piece, but a good bit of character work isn't really what I expect in an Annual. I'm looking for something more exciting and notable in a "special" comic. I mean, Annuals in which bugger all of consequence happens were the reason Queseda phased out the regular Annuals in the first place. :rolleyes:

[Gauss]

so ..is that "wiz kid" guy for real or did he make him up .

"Real", no, but a Whiz Kid did appear in the 616 Universe at some point. I think he was an X-Terminator or something, but all I remember him from is a backup story where he hung around with Artie and Leech...

[Private America]

It was a good character piece, but a good bit of character work isn't really what I expect in an Annual. I'm looking for something more exciting and notable in a "special" comic. I mean, Annuals in which bugger all of consequence happens were the reason Queseda phased out the regular Annuals in the first place. :rolleyes:

But you can't really take a monthly issue of ULTIMATES and devote it to Nick Fury. Seems like an annual is a perfect place to do that, which is why I quite liked the issue.

[Gaveedra 6]

"Real", no, but a Whiz Kid did appear in the 616 Universe at some point. I think he was an X-Terminator or something, but all I remember him from is a backup story where he hung around with Artie and Leech...

Yeah, he was in the X-Terminators series and never seen again. I thought it was hilarious that Millar brought him into the Defenders.

In 616 he was a little asian kid, maybe 10, with the abitilty to reshape inorganic matter. He really understood the workings of machines and computers, so he could create all sorts of things just by laying his hands on inanimate objects. He was confined to a wheelchair, and would transform it into anything he could imagine.

here's a pic: http://www.uncannyxmen.net/covers/xterminators/x-terminators2.jpg
http://www.uncannyxmen.net/covers/xterminators/x-terminators1.jpg

[kelvingreen]

But you can't really take a monthly issue of ULTIMATES and devote it to Nick Fury. Seems like an annual is a perfect place to do that, which is why I quite liked the issue.
Oh yes, I agree. It was just a bit underwhelming as a read, I thought.

[jrio]

Caught a repeat of Ricky Gervais' "Politics" on E4 last night which was staged in London last year. At the end he starts talking about his radio producer Carl Pilkington and the blunt way he has of stating his views. He mentioned Carls's dissatisfaction in seeing 2 guys in wheelchairs playing tennis on Centre Court and referred to them as "little wheelchair fellows". Sounds as this is where Millar may have picked up the phrase from.

[ultramandingo]

Caught a repeat of Ricky Gervais' "Politics" on E4 last night which was staged in London last year. At the end he starts talking about his radio producer Carl Pilkington and the blunt way he has of stating his views. He mentioned Carls's dissatisfaction in seeing 2 guys in wheelchairs playing tennis on Centre Court and referred to them as "little wheelchair fellows". Sounds as this is where Millar may have picked up the phrase from.

do they have "political correctness" in the u.k. or did they get rid of it when they shipped those kooky no fun having pilgrims over here?

[Tobias March]

Is it my imagination or is Jarvis turning into Herr Lipp? :p

I enjoyed Dillon's art, it's good to see a little more grit introduced into the UU.

And Hellstrom is a mole eh?...is that why he looks bored all the time?