Ultimates #4 - Review/Spoilers

[Theycallmebone]

Rocafort's art really shined this issue. But Eternity is alive? So does that mean that other cosmic beings were restored? Now I'm more interested in the state of the cosmos post-secret wars.

[Heroine Addict]

A slower issue than the previous three, but still enough to keep me fascinated with what Ewing is heading towards with this series.

My reaction mirrored yours, but...

... that ending...wow. ...

... scored some bonus points, with me. Ewing knows how to end on a high note, that's for sure.

... I have a bad feeling that Ewing... is building up to the characters finding out they are in a comic book...

Oh, I really hope not, that's an awful idea. That kind of direction doesn't really fit the tone of this book, IMO, and the story it's telling. I would be beyond disappointed, if they were to take that route, and become some sort of self-referential satire.

[runguy]

Eternity. The universe. Basically the universe is trying to ice our heroes.

i thought the universe was represented by the "universe" character that was shown in Hickman's Avengers?

[JudicatorPrime]

Eternity. The universe. Basically the universe is trying to ice our heroes.

Yes, it's Eternity, but is it me, or does his face look more like Lord Chaos than Eternity?

lord_chaos.jpg

[oneminutemonkey]

Huh. Eternity represents the entire multiverse that represents Marvel. As seen as recently as the previous Silver Surfer run, Eternity was essentially replaced by Doom...but at the same time, Surfer started to build a second reality represented by Glorian, leading to two separate yet possible "everythings."

In DC vs Marvel, the two separate collections of universes were represented by a pair of cosmic brothers who temporarily came together to form the Amalgam setting.

Depending on how you look at it, either Eternity only represents Marvel in which case he's not the only omniversal figure out there, or the two brothers are contained within Eternity.

Whenever we see Eternity, he's standing in a field of absolute white, to represent the void.
Several things come into consideration here:
1) Figures have stepped outside of Eternity to hang out in the white plane before, so this can't be what the Ultimates are doing.
2) Gruenwald established that most cosmic figures/abstractions are usually represented by Living Fractals from the Dimension of Manifestations.

So at the risk of getting into immense cosmological theory, I suspect that the Ultimates, in stepping outside of the Omniverse, are going to discover that "their" Eternity is the tiniest fraction of an impossibly larger Eternity... perhaps he's the speck amidst the great white expanse of a fingernail or eyeball. Either that, or he dwells in a dimension full of other Eternities. Because how can you go outside of everything without generating something new within which to exist? They want to fix time by going outside to a place where they can see how it's broken, but how does that work?

Ewing's going to blow our minds. At least I hope so. And I hope it's not a "the white is the blank space on a comic page" like suggested above.
Ow. Headache.

[JudicatorPrime]

If you were expecting a huge fight between Anti-Man and the Ultimates, this is not the issue for you. Buy it anyway. Hell, buy it for Kevin.

Being a Blue Marvel fan, this was a very solid issue in my opinion. Not only does Ewing recap the Blue Marvel and Anti-Man history, but he added a couple of revelations here and there that I didn't see coming. I like the way that he is subtly raising the real world issue of mental health crises vis-a-vis Anti-Man. It also helps mold the original concept of Conner Sims as a radical political extremist into a much more sympathetic character. He is someone that has spent extensive time in the Neutral Zone, a place that no mortal mind was meant to see or comprehend. Anti-Man's mission now takes on a whole new meaning. He's not just trying to destroy some unjust politico-socio-economic system that, let's face it, only a small percentage of modern day readers care about anyway. He's trying to destroy something on a much more cosmic scale, something even more deleterious to the human spirit. His words (paraphrased): "The cage won't let us grow." I get it. Eternity's order to Galactus confirms it. The question is, will the Ultimates take a hint and leave well enough alone, or will they challenge the gods themselves? Can't wait for #5.

If I had to nitpick Ultimates #4, it's that I would like to see MAC weigh in more on cosmic quandaries. Surely she knows "the truth", or is at least far enough along in her understanding of it that she can advise the team... this opposed to waiting for them to make a mistake and pounce all over them. No one on this team is cosmically aware...although I think Carol still has her psychic 6th or 7th sense... so MAC needs to step up and share her insights.

All in all I liked #4 and plan to read it a few more times while we wait for the next installment to drop.

[Seren]

I really like issues that work on a lot of background and set up for the next one. I'm not familiar in the least with Blue Marvel until this comic came out, so I was very thankful for all the background that was provided. And now I need to delve into Marvel Unlimited to learn more about the rest of it (eternity etc.)

[itspopularnowitsucks]

The truth is probably just Reed Richards and kids are throwing universes out there...

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I have a bad feeling that Ewing never read Cullen Bunn's Deadpool Killology and is building up to the characters finding out they are in a comic book, thinking no character has done it before.

That book wasn't exactly the first to do that. Earlier Deadpool did it. Animal Man did it in the 80s/90s, probably most famously. Hell, She-Hulk, who he's written before, knew she was in a comic at one point, and he's a guy who cares about the history of his characters. If he's doing this (not convinced that'll be it, but if he does), it''s not from lack of foreknowledge.

[Tiamatty]

I loved this. I'm a big fan of character-focused stories, so this was great. A great exploration of Adam's anger and resentment over his wife's death. His son showing up to stop him from being a murderer was really good.

The art is fantastic. I loved Carol's exploration armour. It looked totally bitching. That was a great design.

And on a minor note, I like that Monica and America don't need armour to go into the Neutral Zone. "Oh, a universe that literally destroys living beings? Whatevs, we can handle it." They're just that badass.

[Kasper Cole]

Ewing's filling in a lot of gaps from the Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel Mini. The reveals here and there are adding so much to Adam's overall story.

Yup, this might have been my favorite issue of the series so far. I especially loved seeing Kevin again. I also dug that Ewing gave a better explanation for why Anti-Man basically declared war on humanity.

[Iconic]

Yup, this might have been my favorite issue of the series so far. I especially loved seeing Kevin again. I also dug that Ewing gave a better explanation for why Anti-Man basically declared war on humanity.

One of my favorite things about this issue.

[LordAllMIghty]

Dangit, now I gotta get this book.

[John Ossie]

Pretty damn good issue. No complaints from my end whatsoever.

[penthotal]

I loved it, many tears were shed.
I really dug Ewing adding a lot of LSD metaphors and symbolism to Anti-Man's origins story.

I have a bad feeling that Ewing never read Cullen Bunn's Deadpool Killology and is building up to the characters finding out they are in a comic book, thinking no character has done it before.

Unlikely, it's not like hundred of stories about that topic hasn't been written already, it's a know trope.