Ultimates #19 Discussion - SPOILERS

[Plawsky]

Divided We Fall, United We Stand is finally over... where will Sam Humphries take the Ultimates now? Joined by new artist Scott Eaton, Humphries brings us part 1 of "Reconstruction."

spoilers:

-Cap meets with Mr. Ford, who is pulling the strings of California's new governor. -Ford is asking for help with problems they are having with Nevada, Cap tells them to figure it out on the State level. -Insulted by Ford's threats, Cap tackles Ford through a wall. -At a football game, Tony shows up as Iron Patriot to flip the coin. -Hydra uses a SHIELD satellite to attack the game; Tony destroys the satellite. -Commander Chang meets with a recovering Cassie Lang and invites her to the Ultimates; she accepts. -Sue Storm meets with Thor, and reveals that there are two more gems in SHIELD custody, along with a glove that fits them. -The glove has space for a fourth; Sue asks Thor's help to find it, but he's reluctant. -Cap stops a Hydra attack at the Chicago Stock Exchange. -Monica reveals to Cap that the man who is behind all these Hydra attacks is Scorpio, Nick Fury in disguise! To be continued...

end of spoilers

Warning: there are some minor spoilers for USM #18 in this review.

It's not a secret that many of us have been down on the Ultimates by Humphries so far. I've been hopeful that getting out of the event will help things, and it seems that they have. Without being forced to deal with what turned out to be a pretty bland crossover, Humphries stretches his legs a bit. But there is still room for improvement.

My biggest complaint of Humphries so far has been the voices for his characters. None of them have been bad, but few have been truly good. Everything has just been bland, and that continues here. There's no awful "goat dung" dialogue like Loeb gave us, but there's no powerful "Brother, I regret everything" moments from Hickman's run either. And that's what makes this so hard to critique for me. I can't call out any of the moments where these characters are wrong, because there really aren't any. If any character stands out as Humphries's best, it's Tony. I like his fun-loving, cocky Iron Man, but I'd like to see him go deeper with this Iron Patriot, so hopefully we'll get that soon. And if any is his worst, it's Thor. Again, it's not bad, but I feel like Thor could have been much more poignant in the scene with Sue Storm; he leaned a lot more towards Loeb's Thor than Hickman's (which itself was a perfect combination of Loeb and Millar's takes on the character).

The story wasn't bad, either, but it was a bit slow, considering we just had a setup issue with #18.1. However, this was still part 1 of an arc, so I'll excuse that, I suppose. To be honest, while I'm not crazy about this issue as a standalone, I like it for what it is. This is more a broad look at our status quo than a big "change is happening" type issue. Humphries sets up the search for the fourth gem, which is exciting, and introduces a new Ultimates member (it's hard to say "reintroduce" since we hardly met Cassie before). It would have been nice to see more of these new Ultimate members that were teased in the last issue. I liked the focus on Hydra as a continuing threat; a status quo threat rather than a one-off evil. And, of course, there's the big reveal of Scorpio at the end. My "bonus moment" for this issue was Thor going to see Hela. It was inconsequential, but I liked the nod to the past.

I know a lot of people were worried about who Scorpio would be, but I'm happy with this reveal. While it was one of the more obvious twists, I'm a fan. Fury has been off the table too long. And while Fury vs Danvers already happened recently in Millar's Avengers run, it could be interesting to see him take on the role of a true villain, which might be where this is going. Though I'm sure he'll be a good guy at the end of the day, I don't know how he'll justify all these attacks on SHIELD.

As for the art, I don't find myself going one way or the other on it. Some of the scenes - particularly the opening one - are great, but others - Tony in Space, for instance - leave a lot to be desired for me. I don't think Eaton is the right fit for this book, but he's at least a solid artist. The last page is great, too - and that's one of the most important things in an artist for me - leaving on a good note. I really like that page with Scorpio.

So, as expected, this series continues to slowly improve. I like the setup for this arc, and I hope it keeps getting better. That said, there's still a lot of room to grow.

Ratings:
Writing: 6/10
Story: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Final verdict:

This is a great place to jump on if you're looking for one. It's all setup, but the story that comes from it looks to be a good one.

[atlasjj]

Ah this popped up the same time I posted the same thread so yeah delete the one I started if you want. Or maybe merge them?

But yeah here are my thoughts.

Finally an issue of the Ultimates that I enjoyed from this author. While not the best, it still is a vast improvement over the last few issues. Its also nice that the new Team of Ultimates is starting to come together, slowly but its happening. And the twist ending was not what I was expecting which is nice.

Art 7/10
Plot 7/10
Story 7/10
Overall 7/10

[JaggedFel]

Now he is trying to ruin fury seriously.

[Balfro]

Ok, while this was Humphries' best issue it was still riddled with errors and problems and horrible dialogue.

1) Cassie says that she grew up with an Ultimates poster on her wall. This is not possible. The Ultimates were formed no more than 2 and a half years ago. Cassie looks to be at least in her mid 20's.

2) Monica says she's putting together a secondary team of Ultimates. Assuming she's talking about the West Coast Ultimates, this is incorrect since it was already established that the West Coast Ultimates already exist, they are just being held in stasis tanks.

3) Iron Patriot is Tony Stark. At least Humphries had enough self-awareness to even write Cap's disapproval of the idea of him being Iron Patriot in the comic itself. Such an unoriginal idea. I was really hoping it would be someone we didn't expect. Heck, even Rhodes.

Now, on to the parts that were actually redeemable:

1) The art looked really good, especially in the Cap scenes.

2) The Infinity Gauntlet is now more than just an Easter Egg and (just like I had assumed) now leaves an opening for a potential Thanos story in the UU come time for Avengers 2 to hit theaters. Or, even better, maybe Humphries will do something original with this opportunity.

3) Scorpio was revealed to be Nick Fury using his White Fury disguise from the Doomsday Trilogy, which is an instant step up from Scorpio just bearing a resemblance to 616 Fury. But also he wasn't wearing the silly 60's 616 Fury costume. He was wearing something very appropriate and at least looks like he belongs in the UU, like he did in Doomsday.

4) I do like how there's a few plots forming and so far they all seem to be getting equal page-time: Hydra attacks, Thor and Sue finding the missing Gem, West Coast Ultimates being formed.

So, as you can see, there good does outweigh the bad in this issue. But Humphries still has a LONG way to go before reaching Millar or Hickman's level.

[Samorai_black]

This was a pretty good issue. The Thor and Sue talk about the gems got me excited for the stories to come. Not a fan of having two characters in the red, white and blue but I understand the reason for Tony's new look and it really works with the state of the UU. As for Cap as the president I like that he cant just solve everything by force and I hope thsi is played up more during his time at the top. It was cool that Fury is using his 616Fury camo again, I hope we get some insight into Fury and all his crazy weapons and whatnot, (rainbow menory wipe thingy?)

Hope the rest of the story is as strong or stronger as this one was.

[Codah]

Ok, while this was Humphries' best issue it was still riddled with errors and problems and horrible dialogue.

1) Cassie says that she grew up with an Ultimates poster on her wall. This is not possible. The Ultimates were formed no more than 2 and a half years ago. Cassie looks to be at least in her mid 20's.

2) Monica says she's putting together a secondary team of Ultimates. Assuming she's talking about the West Coast Ultimates, this is incorrect since it was already established that the West Coast Ultimates already exist, they are just being held in stasis tanks.

3) Iron Patriot is Tony Stark. At least Humphries had enough self-awareness to even write Cap's disapproval of the idea of him being Iron Patriot in the comic itself. Such an unoriginal idea. I was really hoping it would be someone we didn't expect. Heck, even Rhodes.

Now, on to the parts that were actually redeemable:

1) The art looked really good, especially in the Cap scenes.

2) The Infinity Gauntlet is now more than just an Easter Egg and (just like I had assumed) now leaves an opening for a potential Thanos story in the UU come time for Avengers 2 to hit theaters. Or, even better, maybe Humphries will do something original with this opportunity.

3) Scorpio was revealed to be Nick Fury using his White Fury disguise from the Doomsday Trilogy, which is an instant step up from Scorpio just bearing a resemblance to 616 Fury. But also he wasn't wearing the silly 60's 616 Fury costume. He was wearing something very appropriate and at least looks like he belongs in the UU, like he did in Doomsday.

4) I do like how there's a few plots forming and so far they all seem to be getting equal page-time: Hydra attacks, Thor and Sue finding the missing Gem, West Coast Ultimates being formed.

So, as you can see, there good does outweigh the bad in this issue. But Humphries still has a LONG way to go before reaching Millar or Hickman's level.

That one is unfair. You are just assuming so I don't think it's a necessary inclusion.

Also, Tony being Iron Patriot isn't an error, it's just something you don't like.

[Wolverine12]

Is nobody going to mention that in USM #18 Cassie Lang is a terrorist and in the Ultimates she is being recruited as a hero?? I understand that one could argue that she was under control of Modi, but the scene in UCSM clearly takes place after she makes her "touchdown" catch and was no longer under Modi's control. Am I missing something here?? They're the same person, doesn't anyone notice, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! (Whoever gets that reference gets 10 free internets)

[Balfro]

Is nobody going to mention that in USM #18 Cassie Lang is a terrorist and in the Ultimates she is being recruited as a hero?? I understand that one could argue that she was under control of Modi, but the scene in UCSM clearly takes place after she makes her "touchdown" catch and was no longer under Modi's control. Am I missing something here?? They're the same person, doesn't anyone notice, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! (Whoever gets that reference gets 10 free internets)

A) I haven't read USM yet

B) Mugatu (Zoolander)

[Balfro]

That one is unfair. You are just assuming so I don't think it's a necessary inclusion.

Also, Tony being Iron Patriot isn't an error, it's just something you don't like.

I don't think it's an assumption. They went to that seemingly abadnonned yet actually a secret SHIELD base in the West Coast and the guy introduced the team to the tanks with foating bodies in it and said something along the lines of "This is a secondary team of Ultimates".

And I didn't say Tony was an error. I'm saying it was a downside note for the book. Iron Patriot could have been ANYONE else and it would have been more interesting.

[sage6paths]

so no one is going to talk about how humphries compltetly ruined the whole thor has become valhalla idea by hickman. That was one of the best scenes of thor when he talks to the ghosts yet according to this chapter hela is still alive and completly ruined that scene. So humphries is telling me all the dead asgardians are now controlled by hela? I understood that the ghosts stopped talking to thor but really what the hell is going on?

[Balfro]

so no one is going to talk about how humphries compltetly ruined the whole thor has become valhalla idea by hickman. That was one of the best scenes of thor when he talks to the ghosts yet according to this chapter hela is still alive and completly ruined that scene. So humphries is telling me all the dead asgardians are now controlled by hela? I understood that the ghosts stopped talking to thor but really what the hell is going on?

Ah good call. Yes, it seems Humphries destroyed that awesome plot as well :(

[Codah]

I don't think it's an assumption. They went to that seemingly abadnonned yet actually a secret SHIELD base in the West Coast and the guy introduced the team to the tanks with foating bodies in it and said something along the lines of "This is a secondary team of Ultimates".

And I didn't say Tony was an error. I'm saying it was a downside note for the book. Iron Patriot could have been ANYONE else and it would have been more interesting.

The solicits mention the West Coast Ultimates so it's not like he forgot. This new team is probably a replacement team for the main team. The wackos will still do their thing.

Also, on the Hela thing, it kind of annoyed me but also it was something that was started like an issue before Humphries came in so if he did drop it, I don't think that's the worst thing ever. Although, that scene could have taken place inside his own head because even Modi said he was the last Asgardian.

[Hostile_17]

I really enjoyed this. Starting to have hopes for this run yet!!

The problems mentioned above with the Asgardian stuff doesn't really bother me as I never really like that side of the stories anyway.

I thought his opening scene with President Cap and that king maker at the start was really good and set the tone for what Humphries run could be about. Much prefer The Ultimates when it's all about SHIELD and Politics.

Glad to see Fury back on the scene and love that ending. With him being Kitty's go to guy over in X-Men it will be interesting to see how his motives tie in to the big picture.

[Codah]

So, since we have the introduction of Scorpio and the infinity gauntlet is officially in continuity, I'd say Humphries is probably headed towards finally doing something with the zodiac key from Ultimate Spider-Man. So that's interesting since we've been waiting for it to be important for a while.

[Plawsky]

Is nobody going to mention that in USM #18 Cassie Lang is a terrorist and in the Ultimates she is being recruited as a hero?? I understand that one could argue that she was under control of Modi, but the scene in UCSM clearly takes place after she makes her "touchdown" catch and was no longer under Modi's control. Am I missing something here?? They're the same person, doesn't anyone notice, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! (Whoever gets that reference gets 10 free internets)

I meant to talk about that in my review (hence the USM spoilers warning), but I totally forgot. It's not confirmed in USM that it's Cassie, though - is it? I mean, it sure as hell seems like it is supposed to be, but I have no clue what the deal is if it is her.