The Ultimates #1

Cover by Kaare Andrews, Esad Ribic

The Ultimates #1 (August 24, 2011)

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Penciller: Esad Ribic

Colorist: Dean White

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Whoa, this was a busy comic.

Every page was action-packed, full of surprise attacks, explosions, and Nick Fury yelling a lot. It was intense.

While I love me some Avengers and basically adore each character in this series, the writing in this introductory issue sorely disappointed me. When it ended, I was dizzy and trying to figure out just where the conflict was coming from and who were the bad guys. Then I remembered that each Avenger is dealing with an apparently different conflict and there’s a ton of bad guys spread out all over the globe. It’s shaping up to be a pretty bad week for the Avengers.

I understand that as an introductory, rehash issue, it’s probably best to have everything go to hell before emerging with a new storyline for everyone. It’s not a bad narrative trope but it’s also a dangerous one to spring on new readers. Hickman tried and though it was exciting, this issue was terribly overwhelming and left me questioning just what was the point of everything.

I’m sure that with the upcoming issues, all will be made clear and the global problems scaled down somewhat. It was interesting to see Nick Fury as unsure of what of to do (which was somewhat alarming), and I must not be the only one who has the answer to all of this mayhem: get Agent Coulson.

Found on this awesome and accurate tumblr.

 I am convinced that Agent Coulson can resolve any major issues. I’m crossing my fingers my special agent makes an appearance in this series.

The art by Ribic was pretty solid and enjoyable. His renditions of these characters were really well done especially since they were pretty clearly made to vaguely resemble the actors playing them in the upcoming film. Whenever real people are drawn in a comic, I often get secondhand embarrassment. I was pleasantly surprised that Ribic didn’t just draw fanart of these actors in their costumes but simply drew from their appearance for inspiration.

I’m going to keep reading this series, mostly because I love the Avengers and am holding out that the rest of the issues are not as jam packed as this one. Also, I want Agent Coulson to show up and debrief EVERYONE.

PS. Whoever catches my Twin Peaks reference gets a nod of approval from me.