For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
Textless preview for issue 1 of Ultimate Spider-Man
Trailer:
Hope Ultimate Black Panther gets the same treatment.
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
I’m curious about the Spider-Man book. I wish he had a different suit from 616, though. It doesn’t need to be completely different, but I think it needed to be identifiable from the original when he’s suited.
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
It was a product of its time. Like early 90s “style over substance” Marvel comics illustrated by the Image artists, before they left. At the time I remember people loving Millar’s Ultimate X-men. Myself included, and I loved it precisely for its edginess. It felt so different from the boring, stale 616 X-men titles… at least until Morrison came along and shook everything up in the 616. But Millar’s UXM hasn’t aged well, at least IMO. On that we agree.
“Not as good as I once was… but I’m as good, once, as I ever was.”
It definitely has its Millar-isms, but it was a fresh approach that mocked celebrity culture and Bush-era politics that resonated with people at the time. I'm no fan of Millar's, but there were some quality aspects to those runs. It gave us the Sam Jackson Fury and developed him into a huge character that ended up in the films. It gave us a very likable take on Tony Stark (I frequently found Ultimate Tony to be much more lovable and sympathetic than his 616 counterpart), one of the coolest versions of Hawkeye (that also informed the movie version), an interesting take on Thor, and so on. Even the idea of the Hulk, as creepy as it was, had a sense of logic to it, that the unleashed inhibitions of a deeply repressed, resentful man would be absolutely terrifying.
There were also moments of actual humanity in those, too, with a sympathetic Iron Man laying a rosary on Banner's unconscious form before he was executed and saying "And people wonder why I drink" and Captain America coming to realize that his blind loyalty to the government had compromised his ideals and quitting SHIELD.
I don't know. Millar is always edgy and try hard, but I think Ultimates had some actual thought put into it and had interesting takes on its characters.
Now, Millar's Ultimate Avengers, on the other hand, had very little redeeming qualities and was one of the most mean-spirited Marvel books I've ever read in my life.
Speaking of the original Ultimate Iron Man, I did like that one line when asked about his motivation to become a superhero, and he basically said he wanted to know what it would be like if the people who had all this money and power to run the world did something good with it for a change. Something to that effect.
The spider is always on the hunt.
Yeah, that was a nice moment, too. I always have a soft spot for Ultimate Tony. When they asked him if it was smart to be drinking before armoring up for a mission and he gestures to the armor and says, "Who in their right mind is going to climb into it sober?" That part always gave me a laugh. But despite his debauchery and glib attitude, he always seemed like he actually cared about his friends and helping people. I recall that he fell into a deep depression after Magneto forced him to kill Wolverine.
Having read Ultimates 1 and 2, I mostly liked it for the art and spectacle.
Barring Thor and Tony, the characters were otherwise repulsive. Makes me excited that Ultimate Cap doesn't have to deal with Mark Millar's asinine "Cap is an asshole because thats how people were actually like in the 1940s".
Ultimates had some moments that were cringe even then but it was a sharp and timely critique at the right time. UXM was just terrible.
"We live in a world of cowards. We live in a world full of small minds who are afraid. We are ruled by those who refuse to risk anything of their own. Who guard their over bloated paucities of power with money. With false reasoning. With measured hesitance. With prideful, recalcitrant inaction. With hateful invective. With weapons. F@#K these selfish fools and their prevailing world order." Tony Stark