341. Ultimate Avengers vol 2 #4 ... Marvel ...

You know how people used to (and still do I guess) make fun of Rob Liefeld's artwork about how many lines he used on his characters' faces? And how old he makes them? Well why do they not knock other artists like Yu? Is it because Rob was a phenom? Because if you look at this cover, the Spidey must be at least in his 40s or 50s with that gum/ teeth thing going on and all that unshaven look and ridges in his face ... hell he looks older than black Hulk (blulk?)

Sadly enough when you open the first sequence ... it is awesome featuring a character that you have no idea of knowing would appear unless you read the previous issue ... SPOILER ALERT? Nah I am helping them sell because the Ult A (sorry getting ridiculous to type Ultimate ... something or other ... each time) ... are kicking butts with Ult Ghost Rider and this Ghostie looks like the classic Dan Ketch chap with all those spikes!

So is that really our Peter Parker?

Hmmmm ... hehehe ... got you thinking now, eh?

Hmmm now what else can we share with you? O yes the other characters ... we get to see what Millar calls "serious" by having a sequence where the nasty ex-wife of Fury (sob sob) actually says why they divorce and it isn't her but the fact that Fury slept with everyone including her mother while she is away (say what)

And then we got a bit of Nerd Hulk ... doesn't do anything for me ... and I am not sure why the cover has Blulk when he doesn't make much of an impact here ...

And for fans of Iron Man, you won't like this as he made a cameo only because Black Ops is assisted by his brother who is apparently smarter and richer (you shitting me) and they hated each other ...

See? Millar-world

Ratings: 5/10

340. Ultimate Avengers vol 2 #1 ... Marvel ...

A while back ... when our reviews were in the late 200s ... we did a review of Ult A vol 1 and 3 ... now why did we skip 2? Because artist is Leinil Francis Yu. When Yu started on X-Men, it was sorta nice but as his star rose, he seemed to be intent on meeting deadlines and churning out as many pages/ books as he can and his art became more like drafts/ roughs ... at least in my opinion ... see his work on New Avengers for what we meant!

Now don't get me wrong. I may not be a fan of his work but I do like some of his work especially that High Roads series (try it)

Anyway, since we are in this back-2-back cycle of reviews, let's do this

As the cover clearly indicates, we are going to get a heaping of the Punisher and this issue is sure no letdown as we open with a blood bath, we got through a bloodbath of an interrogation and we end with more promises of violence to come

Basically, as the Punisher tries to take down all the mobs he can get his gunsight set on, one chap even under torture manage to indirectly set him up and thus to his absolute surprise, he had a run in with the Ultimate Cap. Naturally he got his shit handed to him and next thing you know, since this is Ultimate Nick Fury, he got himself a deal i.e. to be the leader of the Black Ops Ultimate team codenamed Avengers. Say what?

But the ending is cool as I didn't know that in the old world of Ult there are more than one Hulk!

Ratings: 6/10 (would have scored higher if it wasn't for Yu)

335. Ultimates #9 ... Marvel ...

And now for our second instalment and boy can this series pump up the pressure! It continues as if it was the same flow from last issue ... because basically it is ... as we see Cap confronting Pym about his behaviour towards Janet. Rather than taking it as it is, Pym decided that it was none of Cap's biz and grew to giant man size and you know what this means, right? Fight!

And what a fight it is! We get to see once again how bad ass the Ultimate Cap can be as he gave Hank the beat down of a lifetime. Damn! Aside from this, there is always the need to seed the story for the future. So cue some downtime chat between some of the characters like Tony and Natasha and Fury and his mates ...

The really heartfelt and sad moment came just before the last scene change for this issue. Cap went to the hospital with simple gifts for a recuperating Janet ... only to be torn a hole as Janet ripped out right at him telling him to butt out of his business ... and that his 1940s values just do not work here ... crazy woman ... Hank nearly killed you and regardless of your love for this man, shouldn't there be a limit? Sigh!

Yes, there are bits about the aliens on earth but for me this little drama is so much more exciting. And that cover with Hawkeye - how cool is that?

Ratings: 10/10

334. Ultimates #8 ... Marvel ...

I cannot believe that almost one year in of reviews and I have not touched on this title. This is easily one of the best comic series I have ever read and this is the series that made me a fan of artist Bryan Hitch and writer Mark Millar. Honestly. Before this, I don't even know Hitch's work even though I have seen it like the Thing and She-Hulk one off

Anyway, the Ultimates is basically the Ultimate Universe's version of the Avengers before this verse go too messy and by messy I meant that after several years' in, there came an Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Ultimates. Yes, see what I mean? Hehehe!

Now covers aside, the highlight of this issue is certainly not Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. In fact, until the end of this volume, these two are merely on the fringes of the book and gets cameo appearances and occasional dialogue. Whatever they do, it is always off panel

So what's the highlight here then, you ask? It is the awesomeness that is Hitch's artwork. Hehehe! Basically the focus is on Hawkeye and Widow as they infiltrate a seemingly normal building to uncover that the workers here, from drone to managers are all decades old aliens. And what a firefight it was. This is worthy of a movie framing sequence - reminds one of Matrix lobby scene where Neo walks in, gets checked and whips out the guns! I kid you not. Check it out and you will be glad you did

Of course the ending is equally good promising us a sure kick ass next issue as Cap takes it upon himself to track down loser, Pym in a bar after he has finished (Pym not Cap) assaulting the Wasp until she has to be hospitalized! Talk about wife abuse!

Ratings: 10/10