Ultimates #18 Discussion/Spoilers

[Jer]

Thought this issue was just okay. Not reaslly the worse thing I have read.

[Sinx]

I finally got around to reading this issue. It was bad. I voted 'meh' but now that I've had time to read some other posts and let the story settle in my mind, it really was terrible. The whole football thing with the helicarrier was pretty stupid and the dialogue was just all around horrid. The art was good though, so that's good. I think Marvel really rushed in picking up Humphries as a writer based on his work at Image. Let's hope his next arc is better.

[Drz]

Awful like everyone else has mentioned. ;(

[batGRRRl4ever]

I'm finding all the qualms by more longer term Ultimates fans kinda amusing in that the DWF-UWS storyline brought me aboard to The Ultimates. I LIKED the story, it was great! It was straight forward story telling! It's a story analogizing how we in the real world can only let the modern day robber barons taking over America through tax loop holes, perverting our elections, etc. can win only if we LET them. I LIKED that this storyline didn't take three years to complete. The very POINT of it was it's brevity, I'm surprised so many don't seem to get that.

This is a forward moving progressively changing universe. You have a SUPER HERO who is still the POTUS. That's as big a game changer as there can get. If you want unbelievably convoluted storytelling with no end in sight, the regular 616 Marvel Universe is right there to go buy, IMO. But the Ultimate line right now is an incredible breath of fresh air and is actually successfully bringing me in as a new reader for Marvel, at least for the UU titles at any rate.

[thwhtGuardian]

I'm all for a straight forward story, and I always prefer a shorter story to a year long epic but in this case the ending just didn't meet the build up of the previous issues. It isn't that the concepts themselves are lacking it's just that the end result doesn't offer anything in the way of a satisfying resolution, it ended so abruptly that the build up becomes hum-drum.

[batGRRRl4ever]

As opposed to build up I saw each installment as exciting stories unto their own. The fight to retake Texas, California, and Montana, and rejoining North & South Carolina, were all their own stories in my mind. The Ultimate Universe is taking a (slightly) more realistic approach to the super hero trope, and it shows that a good story can be had without the standard villian that wants world domination going "Bwoo-ha-ha!" at the end. Modi got taken out by his dad, it's that simple. But the EMOTIONAL ramifications will be much longer heard and rippled into future story lines, as with Peter Parker effectively being Cap's "Bucky" for this universe.

[Chaos_Alfa]

As opposed to build up I saw each installment as exciting stories unto their own. The fight to retake Texas, California, and Montana, and rejoining North & South Carolina, were all their own stories in my mind. The Ultimate Universe is taking a (slightly) more realistic approach to the super hero trope, and it shows that a good story can be had without the standard villian that wants world domination going "Bwoo-ha-ha!" at the end. Modi got taken out by his dad, it's that simple. But the EMOTIONAL ramifications will be much longer heard and rippled into future story lines, as with Peter Parker effectively being Cap's "Bucky" for this universe.

To see the Ultimates at their best you should read Ultimates 1 and 2 by Mark Millar. It was even more grounded than Humphries's run.

[thwhtGuardian]

As opposed to build up I saw each installment as exciting stories unto their own. The fight to retake Texas, California, and Montana, and rejoining North & South Carolina, were all their own stories in my mind. The Ultimate Universe is taking a (slightly) more realistic approach to the super hero trope, and it shows that a good story can be had without the standard villian that wants world domination going "Bwoo-ha-ha!" at the end. Modi got taken out by his dad, it's that simple. But the EMOTIONAL ramifications will be much longer heard and rippled into future story lines, as with Peter Parker effectively being Cap's "Bucky" for this universe.

How can you not see the build up? There was a constant ratcheting up of the threat level only to have it knocked down by a single punch, and that's just not satisfactory. As for Modi not being your standard villain, I just don't see that at all as in the end "Bwa-Ha-Ha" was almost literally what he did. He was such a cardboard cut out of a villain in the last issue to the point that if he had been given a mustache by the artist he undoubtedly would have been shown to be twirling it while delivering his standard super-villain monologue.

There were good character elements to be sure, Cap looking at Pete was a great moment, but over all it was a something of a fizzled firework.

[taylor51]

Where's wyokid? This thread won't be complete without his "Great! An awesome conclusion!" vote and bombastically contrarian opinion .

(we love you man!)

Anyway, I stopped reading 3 or 4 issues ago, but I'm sad to hear the general downward trend continuing. Hickman getting pulled out from under us killed the Ultimates for me. I don't REALLY mind, since he landed the Avengers next and I've always secretly hoped that storytelling devices pioneered in the Ultimates would make their way over to 616 for the staying power anyway, but that comes with the bittersweet decline of the stories told under the Ultimates banner. I don't think we'll ever really be in danger of the Ultimate line getting cancelled until Bendis leaves, especially with Wood doing the seemingly impossible and rocking it on UXM, but it's unsettling to say the least.

I am happy to note that Marvel NOW!'s Avenger mandate seems to reflect Millar's work (via the Ultimates influence movies influence 616 chain we've grown accustomed to), so I have high hopes there. So long as they can sell me on the Fury/Hawkeye/Widow relationship moving forward and hopefully sprinkle some military involvement into the plots (AVX 6, anyone?), I'll be okay with Ultimates stories changing addresses for the future.

[pinq09]

I'm finding all the qualms by more longer term Ultimates fans kinda amusing in that the DWF-UWS storyline brought me aboard to The Ultimates. I LIKED the story, it was great! It was straight forward story telling! It's a story analogizing how we in the real world can only let the modern day robber barons taking over America through tax loop holes, perverting our elections, etc. can win only if we LET them. I LIKED that this storyline didn't take three years to complete. The very POINT of it was it's brevity, I'm surprised so many don't seem to get that.

This is a forward moving progressively changing universe. You have a SUPER HERO who is still the POTUS. That's as big a game changer as there can get. If you want unbelievably convoluted storytelling with no end in sight, the regular 616 Marvel Universe is right there to go buy, IMO. But the Ultimate line right now is an incredible breath of fresh air and is actually successfully bringing me in as a new reader for Marvel, at least for the UU titles at any rate.

I don`t think people here have any qualms with what you`re saying. indeed, those are the very reasons why most of us read UU in the first place.
the problems with humphries lie elsewhere.

a., cringeworthy dialogue.
b., mis-characterization. what humphries is writing are not ultimates. ultimate cap should not be this idealistic falgwawing mary-sue.
c., dropping the awesome set-up from before, in favour of an inferior story.
d., stupid ideas. tumor. the football metaphor.
e., anticlimactic resolution to everything. what is the point of splitting up the country, if cap is just going to put it back together by punching everyone?. plus the less said about how he resolved the reed situation, the better.

[jphamlore]

I'm finding all the qualms by more longer term Ultimates fans kinda amusing in that the DWF-UWS storyline brought me aboard to The Ultimates. I LIKED the story, it was great! It was straight forward story telling! It's a story analogizing how we in the real world can only let the modern day robber barons taking over America through tax loop holes, perverting our elections, etc. can win only if we LET them. I LIKED that this storyline didn't take three years to complete. The very POINT of it was it's brevity, I'm surprised so many don't seem to get that.

This is a forward moving progressively changing universe. You have a SUPER HERO who is still the POTUS. That's as big a game changer as there can get. If you want unbelievably convoluted storytelling with no end in sight, the regular 616 Marvel Universe is right there to go buy, IMO. But the Ultimate line right now is an incredible breath of fresh air and is actually successfully bringing me in as a new reader for Marvel, at least for the UU titles at any rate.

Indeed, things happened FAST. How is that a bad thing?

[jphamlore]

plus the less said about how he resolved the reed situation, the better.

The resolution of the Reed situation was exactly in line with previously established Ultimate universe continuity.

[pinq09]

The resolution of the Reed situation was exactly in line with previously established Ultimate universe continuity.

i am not disputing that. nevetheless, it was still badly written, anticlimactic and rushed. continuity doesn`t enter into it. if you liked it though, good for you.

[Gold Rhapsody]

It really feels as if there is going to be very little to come out of this event except the establishment of Ultimate Hydra. Everything was wrapped up neatly, Thor is just a little moody but he will definitely be back to his pre-DWF/UWS persona soon enough. It would be great if it had the same level of repercussions that other crossover/special events had.

[Plawsky]

Indeed, things happened FAST. How is that a bad thing?

I don't care that things happened fast. Hickman's Ultimates was extremely fast paced. But it's not just that this was fast, it was disjointed and rushed. The weak dialogue certainly didn't help. In Hickman's Ultimates we got great scenes like Loki's "Brother, I regret everything" as Asgard fell; with Humphries, we get a lame football metaphor as a hastily (and that's putting it lightly) introduced character dove to catch a helicarrier.

For me, it just seemed like there was so little effort put into the overall arc. It was just built for the individual moments, but there wasn't a solid road map to get from place to place. There was no explanation as to why Spider-woman was back or where Captain Britain was or who Cassie Lang was or how each issue transitioned into the next. And the bad guy was a huge dud. Thor's son is back and.... he's Loki. That's it. And we don't have any clue who Hydra is, except that they were used by Modi.