Ultimate Marvel
The Ultimate line saw 11 different titles come out this last year.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #38-49: Stemming out from 2006, there was a constant focus on Reed Richards' attempt to create the Cosmic Cube, after being made aware of it by the Ultimate version of Thanos. This storyline won't see fruition until 2008, but the seeds have been sown by Mike Carey, making Ultimate Fantastic Four one of the rare highlights in 2007 from the Marvel line. Carey really did his best to step out of the shadow of Millar and Land's UFF, and the one thing you notice is the complexity and fullness of his stories. He doesn't rely on gimmicks or shock value. This year, we saw the Ultimate version of Diablo, Silver Surfer, Psycho Man, Crimson Dynamo, and a very different Red Ghost.
Ultimate Spider-Man #104-117: Many would say 2007 started out on a sour note with the conclusion to Bendis' "Clone Saga." While I absolutely hated issue #100, by the time #104 came out, many secrets were revealed and it didn't end up being as bad as many of us thought. (I really liked the new version of Spider-Woman.) Of course, leave it to Bendis to screw things up one issue later. Issue #105 saw Peter get back with Mary Jane, when the newness of his relationship with Kitty Pryde was never fully explored. (In fact, we've seen more of Kitty in that last few issues than the full year prior to their breakup.)
The next storyline, "Ultimate Knights," really got USM back on track. With a ton of guest stars, Daredevil focused his attention on bring down the Kingpin, and the readers also got the final storyline that would be penciled by Mark Bagley. His replacement, Stuart Immonen, would take a bit of getting used to; but, there was one very big difference: Immonen was much, much better at drawing fight scenes. What was always blamed on Bendis' bad writing really made me wonder if it was more the artist who failed than the writer. 2007 ended with Bendis and Immonen bringing back Norman and Harry Osborn with the story, "Death of a Goblin." In the end, I think 2007 was a much better year for Ultimate Spidey than 2006 was.
Ultimate X-Men #78-89: I hate to talk about this title, because I pretty much hated everything Kirkman did with it. Unlike many of the other comics I've read by him, like Irredemable Ant-Man, this title just tanked. The splitting up of the team, with Cyclop's new school versus Bishop's new X-Men, all centering around Ultimate Cable just felt and looked ugly. Yanick Paquette's art really didn't help, and probably made me despise the comic even more.
The beginning of the year saw the conclusion to the first Cable story, in which the X-Men are led to believe that Professor X had been killed. Most of the year focused on the breaking up of the team into various splinter groups, and we got to see the Ultimate versions of the Shadow King, Morlocks, the return of Nightcrawler, Beast, and the Sentinels, and finished with a hint of things to come with the Brood.
Ultimates: Not a whole lot to say about the Ultimates...but, two big things did happen: One, readers finally got the conclusion of Ultimates 2 with the very late release of issue #13 on May 16th, and two, December saw the first issue of Ultimates 3, by Jeph Loeb. Both created their own controversy, whether due to their arrival dates or shock value. Myself, I felt let down with Ultimates 3. I thought Loeb went a very cheap route, focusing that first issue on the incestuous love affair between Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and comparing that issue to what came previous really makes a glaring difference. As I get older, I find myself noticing that writing the depends on shock value to be a cheap way to get the reader's attention. Someone, like Mike Carey, might not get the publicity; but, what he's doing with UFF is so much better than this garbage. I didn't think I'd say it, but I'd take the long delays of previous Ultimate titles over what Loeb is going to bring us.
One more thing did happen with the FAR OVERRPRICED Ultimates Saga, released in November, recapping the entire series up to date. Charging $3.99 for a recap really speaks of the comic industries greed to rape their reader's wallets.
Ultimate Power #4-9: If there was one Ultimate title I thought wouldn't be finished by the end of 2007, this would have been the one I would have bet on. But, they did get the final issue out (2 months late) in December. Argued by some as to how good it really was, I enjoyed it very much. It was simply packed with guest star after guest star, and compared to previous crossover attempts with the Ultimate line, I think this was one of the best. Plus, while I focus on how bad the art in UXM is, Greg Land's drawings looked absolutely beautiful.
Ultimate Vision #2-5: I'm really surprised to see that 2007 might have been one of the least productive years from the Ultimate line. It really seems like Marvel's focus has turned back to the 616, and the Ultimate line is taking a backseat. This title and Ultimate Power were pretty much the only two miniseries of significance to come out all year.
Ultimate Vision wasn't a bad mini; it just wasn't that memorable. And, by the time issue #5 came out, it had almost been a year from the release date of #1. This was Ultimate Vision vs. Gal Lak Tus vs. A.I.M., with special guest star Falcon helping out.
Ultimate Iron Man II #1: After an almost two years since the first five-issue story, Ultimate Iron Man returned at the very end of the year. A real review will have to wait to see what Orson Scott Card can do after one issue; but, it did show promise. Tony and Rhodey go on a mission for the US, only to discover that things are not what they seem. (Yeah, not too original.) In between, we get many subplots with characters from the first series making appearances.
Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham Crisis: Ok, this is not really an Ultimate title...but, I threw it in here to be a completist with the Ultimate titles. All I will say is this title isn't really memorable at all.
Ultimate Origins: Slated to be released in November, this is the Ultimate title that never saw the light of day. It's supposedly "the story that finally reveals the conspiracies behind the entire Ultimate Universe," promising that "Everything is connected." It's now due to be released June of 2008.
