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Ultimatum #1-5
Ultimatum
The end is here! Or, is it a new beginning?
Massive, climatic disturbances are wreaking havoc with the planet - underwater volcanic eruptions, tidal waves crashing over whole cities, and snowstorms burying entire countries - and even the assemblage of the Ultimate U's mightiest is no match for this worldwide destruction! Featuring Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Ultimates, the Hulk, and more, find out whose lives are at stake in this defining moment of truth for the Ultimate Universe. Brought to you by award-winning scribe Jeph Loeb and superstar artist David Finch, this is the must-have book that will set the stage in the Ultimate U for years to come!
Collecting: Ultimatum 1-5
Massive, climatic disturbances are wreaking havoc with the planet - underwater volcanic eruptions, tidal waves crashing over whole cities, and snowstorms burying entire countries - and even the assemblage of the Ultimate U's mightiest is no match for this worldwide destruction! Featuring Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Ultimates, the Hulk, and more, find out whose lives are at stake in this defining moment of truth for the Ultimate Universe. Brought to you by award-winning scribe Jeph Loeb and superstar artist David Finch, this is the must-have book that will set the stage in the Ultimate U for years to come!
Collecting: Ultimatum 1-5
120 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
80 people are currently reading
417 people want to read
About the author
Jeph Loeb
1,575 books1,388 followersJoseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an Emmy and WGA nominated American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.
A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.
A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
September 4, 2022
Is this the end of the Ultimate universe? A fully realised villain takes it to our heroes with an attempted genocide of everyone bar his allies, resulting in shocking fatalities, the devastation of areas all over the planet! No messing around, you have to love it, even though it kind of peaks mid-story, once all the real damage has been done.
The Ultimate universe was always about a more realistic portrayal of a super powered being universe, so in this event, they show how a super villain with planet destroying powers would act and the damage he would cause. Although at time the graphic depictions of violence are a but much for this overall series, they work here to show the true barbarity of using power to fight other people. Where does the Ultimate universe go after this, because , one thing's for sure it's irrevocably changed!
2022 read; 2017 read; 2011 read
The Ultimate universe was always about a more realistic portrayal of a super powered being universe, so in this event, they show how a super villain with planet destroying powers would act and the damage he would cause. Although at time the graphic depictions of violence are a but much for this overall series, they work here to show the true barbarity of using power to fight other people. Where does the Ultimate universe go after this, because , one thing's for sure it's irrevocably changed!
2022 read; 2017 read; 2011 read
June 19, 2018
Ummmm. Well, I liked the artwork?
I have to admit, I was warned (thanks, Caz), but I thought that maybe I'd like it anyway. Yeaaaaah, not so much. What can I say? That was...something else.
Ok. Here's what sucked. It was basically one long story about killing off almost everyone in the Marvel Ultimates universe. Loeb didn't just thin the herd, he took out tons of major players. The problem with doing that all at once is that it loses its shock value after a few pages. Yeah, yeah. Nobody's safe...I get it. Unfortunately, after the first few big ones get killed, you really don't care anymore.
Maybe it could have been better if the plot wasn't so thin, or the resolution so inconsistent.
The short version is that the whole thing was a steaming pile of crap.
I have to admit, I was warned (thanks, Caz), but I thought that maybe I'd like it anyway. Yeaaaaah, not so much. What can I say? That was...something else.
Ok. Here's what sucked. It was basically one long story about killing off almost everyone in the Marvel Ultimates universe. Loeb didn't just thin the herd, he took out tons of major players. The problem with doing that all at once is that it loses its shock value after a few pages. Yeah, yeah. Nobody's safe...I get it. Unfortunately, after the first few big ones get killed, you really don't care anymore.
Maybe it could have been better if the plot wasn't so thin, or the resolution so inconsistent.
The short version is that the whole thing was a steaming pile of crap.
December 17, 2017
This suckfest should be titled “Ultimate Hack Job” cause Loeb produced a shit story.
For those who care to know more, this story was confusing, disjointed and spent its time killing everyone and destroying everything for shock value to hide the fact that there is zero plot development. In other words, this book was pure trash.
On the bright side though, it had great art!
With that limited rant out of the way I’m now going to just pretend this whole story never happened.
For those who care to know more, this story was confusing, disjointed and spent its time killing everyone and destroying everything for shock value to hide the fact that there is zero plot development. In other words, this book was pure trash.
On the bright side though, it had great art!
With that limited rant out of the way I’m now going to just pretend this whole story never happened.
August 31, 2018
Kinda...gross. A little mean spirited too. And historically speaking I enjoy both of those things! Mark Millar's Nemesis and Frank Miller's Holy Terror can be described thusly, and I had a whale of a time with both of those books. But this one just rubbed me the wrong way.
Every encounter ended with someone dying horribly. Again, not something I'm squeamish about. But it felt unfair. In almost every scenario I felt like the outgoing hero or villain deserved a more respectable demise. It's as if the author hated every single one of these characters and wanted to send them off in the most spiteful way possible.
Check out this book if these reviews have peaked your curiosity. You'll be worse off for the experience, but at least you'll know what the fuss is about.
Every encounter ended with someone dying horribly. Again, not something I'm squeamish about. But it felt unfair. In almost every scenario I felt like the outgoing hero or villain deserved a more respectable demise. It's as if the author hated every single one of these characters and wanted to send them off in the most spiteful way possible.
Check out this book if these reviews have peaked your curiosity. You'll be worse off for the experience, but at least you'll know what the fuss is about.
February 28, 2022
I heard this was bad, and oh man people weren’t kidding. This is the comic book equivalent to burning your Bar down for the insurance money. This feels like some asshole 14 year old finally got to throw that big ass tantrum he always wanted to and just smash all the action figures he hated as a kid. Awful shit happens just for the hell of it. And look I get Jeph Loeb was going through a rough patch in his life at the time, but maybe don’t have him write a super dark book where he’s mandated to kill off a bunch of Marvel heroes. This is just fucking abysmal.
The story is Magneto is mad, moves the magnetic poles, and causes a massive flood to hit NYC, killing a bunch of people, and heroes begin to die as Magneto watches the world burn. UGH. Oh, you are a fan of Daredevil? Well, he drowns off-panel after having made just one other appearance in costume! Oh, you are a fan of Dr. Strange? How about Dormammu just pops his head like a zit, killing him in just a single page! Oh you were a fan of the Wasp’s character development in The Ultimates? How about the Blob eats her for no other reason than just caz, because wouldn’t that BE SO FUCKING GRIMDARK IF HE JUST LIKE ATE HER MAN! And look, I realize I am a fan of grimdark shit too, I love Black Label books and my favorite writer is Garth Ennis for fucksake, but it just sucks because if you read Ultimate X-Men (like I have), you would know Blob was played off as a mostly sympathetic character. He was a slob and member of the Brotherhood, but also a good-hearted prankster with an estranged daughter. He wasn’t a cannibal. BUT WOULDN'T IT BE LIKE SO COOL IF THE BLOB ATE WASP? That’s just grimdark and nihilistic because Loeb thinks it’s cool, not because it helps the narrative in any meaningful way. They prematurely killed a ton of potentially interesting stories for these new versions of characters we already know for no other reason than to “Kill as many characters as possible”. Most of the deaths don’t even make sense either, like how the fuck does Nightcrawler drown? Dudes a motherfucking teleporter. Dumb ass contrivances like that take me out of the story faster than anything else. At least come up with an interesting way to kill these heroes, not some stupid ass one.
You can make the argument the Ultimate universe was already fucked at this point, but THIS was not the way to “clean it up”. It’s not even a fun or enjoyable gorefest like Archie vs Predator or Injustice, it’s just genuinely fucking stupid. I’ve also seen people like this because it’s the one time a Marvel event hasn’t felt “safe”, which on one hand is completely fair, but on the other, you can’t expect me to be shocked or care by the end when you take everything I like about these characters and just say “Fuck It”. Their characterizations have to be consistent with what’s already been set up & happened, which is why moments like Wasp’s & Strange’s deaths are so maligned. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if it was an Elseworlds event or Black Label like DC has, but it’s not. The only way you could possibly enjoy this is if you haven’t invested any time into or didn’t like the other Ultimate titles, and at that point, why even read this other than for badly written superhero gore porn?
At least Finch’s art is stunning, and the Spider-Man tie-ins are genuinely fucking amazing because this was probably the worst reading experience I’ve had all week, and I read that shitty Tom Taylor Hellblazer book.
The story is Magneto is mad, moves the magnetic poles, and causes a massive flood to hit NYC, killing a bunch of people, and heroes begin to die as Magneto watches the world burn. UGH. Oh, you are a fan of Daredevil? Well, he drowns off-panel after having made just one other appearance in costume! Oh, you are a fan of Dr. Strange? How about Dormammu just pops his head like a zit, killing him in just a single page! Oh you were a fan of the Wasp’s character development in The Ultimates? How about the Blob eats her for no other reason than just caz, because wouldn’t that BE SO FUCKING GRIMDARK IF HE JUST LIKE ATE HER MAN! And look, I realize I am a fan of grimdark shit too, I love Black Label books and my favorite writer is Garth Ennis for fucksake, but it just sucks because if you read Ultimate X-Men (like I have), you would know Blob was played off as a mostly sympathetic character. He was a slob and member of the Brotherhood, but also a good-hearted prankster with an estranged daughter. He wasn’t a cannibal. BUT WOULDN'T IT BE LIKE SO COOL IF THE BLOB ATE WASP? That’s just grimdark and nihilistic because Loeb thinks it’s cool, not because it helps the narrative in any meaningful way. They prematurely killed a ton of potentially interesting stories for these new versions of characters we already know for no other reason than to “Kill as many characters as possible”. Most of the deaths don’t even make sense either, like how the fuck does Nightcrawler drown? Dudes a motherfucking teleporter. Dumb ass contrivances like that take me out of the story faster than anything else. At least come up with an interesting way to kill these heroes, not some stupid ass one.
You can make the argument the Ultimate universe was already fucked at this point, but THIS was not the way to “clean it up”. It’s not even a fun or enjoyable gorefest like Archie vs Predator or Injustice, it’s just genuinely fucking stupid. I’ve also seen people like this because it’s the one time a Marvel event hasn’t felt “safe”, which on one hand is completely fair, but on the other, you can’t expect me to be shocked or care by the end when you take everything I like about these characters and just say “Fuck It”. Their characterizations have to be consistent with what’s already been set up & happened, which is why moments like Wasp’s & Strange’s deaths are so maligned. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if it was an Elseworlds event or Black Label like DC has, but it’s not. The only way you could possibly enjoy this is if you haven’t invested any time into or didn’t like the other Ultimate titles, and at that point, why even read this other than for badly written superhero gore porn?
At least Finch’s art is stunning, and the Spider-Man tie-ins are genuinely fucking amazing because this was probably the worst reading experience I’ve had all week, and I read that shitty Tom Taylor Hellblazer book.
January 6, 2022
One of the worst, most vile, mean-spirited comics I've ever read. Just pure shit.
July 22, 2016
Well, this was a steaming pile. Essentially, this is the humorless, Ultimate version of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe. It's just a string of deaths of Ultimate characters, big and small, with about as much attention and care given to their individual demises as would normally be given to an average Danger Room session. The impression that I overwhelmingly got was that, at the time, nobody in editorial really cared about the Ultimate universe and were trying to hit the reset button, hard. Um. I guess it worked?
The edition that I read included The Ultimates 3: Who Killed the Scarlet Witch?. Which is, I guess, probably a good thing, as that series tried really hard to explain why Magneto would go off the deep end, so to speak. What it actually accomplished, for me, was to remind me why I don't read the Ultimates. It's just so damn petty, with art I hate and characters I hate and dialog I hate. No thank you.
The edition that I read included The Ultimates 3: Who Killed the Scarlet Witch?. Which is, I guess, probably a good thing, as that series tried really hard to explain why Magneto would go off the deep end, so to speak. What it actually accomplished, for me, was to remind me why I don't read the Ultimates. It's just so damn petty, with art I hate and characters I hate and dialog I hate. No thank you.
August 30, 2022
This was one of those stories which kind of is big in terms of impact and pretty much just uses death to make itself look bigger but the substance is not that good.
So its basically Magneto flooding the entire world and we see what happens, who dies and who lives and then shocking deaths every page of major marvel characters and yeah that scene with the Hulk was disgusting and then finally seeing who survives, the impact it has on their lifes and the world's reaction to mutants then and the fate of Magneto and so much more. And umm yeah idk too many deaths it feels like TWD/GOT level carnage but yeah one of those events I will probably not remember much but the impact will be felt in future ultimate line books.
I really liked that stuff with Thor and how he sacrificed himself to save Cap and that moment of Scott but yeah he gets punked too lol and the USM tie-in is hinted at and should be read along with this.
But yeah a one-time read and people might not like it, might like it, one of those divisive books but the art looked good.. but the scenes weren't. Umm yeah.
So its basically Magneto flooding the entire world and we see what happens, who dies and who lives and then shocking deaths every page of major marvel characters and yeah that scene with the Hulk was disgusting and then finally seeing who survives, the impact it has on their lifes and the world's reaction to mutants then and the fate of Magneto and so much more. And umm yeah idk too many deaths it feels like TWD/GOT level carnage but yeah one of those events I will probably not remember much but the impact will be felt in future ultimate line books.
I really liked that stuff with Thor and how he sacrificed himself to save Cap and that moment of Scott but yeah he gets punked too lol and the USM tie-in is hinted at and should be read along with this.
But yeah a one-time read and people might not like it, might like it, one of those divisive books but the art looked good.. but the scenes weren't. Umm yeah.
June 18, 2021
3.25 stars. This is one of those books that everyone said was the worst comic around. I read it because I’m working my way towards Hickmans FF and Avengers and this was part of the preliminary reading. Well I’m not sure why everyone hates it. 😂 I found it pretty solid. Magneto has really went and done some crazy ass ish, heroes are being brutally killed and the ones who are left band together to go after Mags. Great art by Finch. I know there are a lot of tie ins for this end of the Ultimate universe and after reading this I have a small idea what some of them could be about and I want to read them now. Plus I want to read the rest of the Ultimate universe as I’ve only read The Ultimates by Millar.
October 5, 2012
If GoodReads was to make a negative stars rating, this hunk of garbage would probably be the reason.
SO... I was lead to believe all these Ultimate Comics were "connected" in some grand mystery that would ultimately rear it's ugly head during the "Ultimatum."
But instead it ended up being a tidal wave. And a villian that was beat in the first 6 comics of Ultimate X-Men.
If that isn't bad enough, EVERYONE dies. And in incredibly moronic ways.
Want to see a teleporter somehow get killed by a slowly moving tsunami wave? How about one of the original Avengers get eaten by a throwaway character (the Blob) who inexplicably shows up (and some how survives) right after the "natural" disaster? Want to see a core X-Men character, who has fought Sentinels and Apocalypse, among other villians, get assassinated while his all powerful god of a girlfriend looks on?
This is just the tip of the iceberg of stupidity.
And trust me I get the business end of things was the real reason Marvel had to close out this universe. Sales had dipped. But so what? Get someone who isn't borderline retarded to finish things up. I'm looking at one of the three flagship writers of this universe... Bendis, Ellis or Millar.
You can still have violence. You can have a lot of characters dying. But just do it right for Thor's sake!
The readers deserved better than this and it totally cheapens how amazing Ultimate Spiderman was and even the solid reads of Ultimate X-Men, FF and the first two "Ultimates."
RIP Ultimate Universe and burn in hell Loeb. You will always be known as the creator of the worst comic book series Marvel has ever published.
SO... I was lead to believe all these Ultimate Comics were "connected" in some grand mystery that would ultimately rear it's ugly head during the "Ultimatum."
But instead it ended up being a tidal wave. And a villian that was beat in the first 6 comics of Ultimate X-Men.
If that isn't bad enough, EVERYONE dies. And in incredibly moronic ways.
Want to see a teleporter somehow get killed by a slowly moving tsunami wave? How about one of the original Avengers get eaten by a throwaway character (the Blob) who inexplicably shows up (and some how survives) right after the "natural" disaster? Want to see a core X-Men character, who has fought Sentinels and Apocalypse, among other villians, get assassinated while his all powerful god of a girlfriend looks on?
This is just the tip of the iceberg of stupidity.
And trust me I get the business end of things was the real reason Marvel had to close out this universe. Sales had dipped. But so what? Get someone who isn't borderline retarded to finish things up. I'm looking at one of the three flagship writers of this universe... Bendis, Ellis or Millar.
You can still have violence. You can have a lot of characters dying. But just do it right for Thor's sake!
The readers deserved better than this and it totally cheapens how amazing Ultimate Spiderman was and even the solid reads of Ultimate X-Men, FF and the first two "Ultimates."
RIP Ultimate Universe and burn in hell Loeb. You will always be known as the creator of the worst comic book series Marvel has ever published.
December 16, 2015
You know, I was expecting so much worse. I'd read other people's reviews, trying to decide if I should bother reading this book. Well, obviously I decided to read it. Here's my review...
Here's what I understand about "Ultimatum":
*At the time, it was decided by Marvel that their "Ultimate" line needed some re-tooling, as sales were not stellar (a natural consequence of sub-par writing, art, or a combination of both). This would be done by an "Event" that would involve all corners of the Ultimate Universe.
*As in any other Event worth its salt, there has to be at least a death or two. But hey, folks, this is the Ultimate line - anything goes! "No One Is Safe! Mwahahaha"! So they ramped it up to at least 13 deaths of major-or-at-least-well-known characters, not counting the hundreds of thousands of civilians who needlessly drown or freeze to death.
Here's what I didn't understand about it:
*If this was such a big deal to Marvel, did they have to give it to David Finch to draw it? In "Ultimate X-Men" and "New Avengers", his art was at best okay. In "Ultimatum", the art more often than not was NOT okay at all. Some panels - scratch that - PAGES were downright terrible. Was he in some sort of rush? All I'm saying I guess is that the caliber of the art DID NOT match the supposed importance of the comic book "Event".
Here's what I LIKED about it:
*The fact that quite a few household names were killed off, not the least of which is Marvel's own cash cow (no, not Spider-Man - the other one), the inimitable Wolverine! Also, not ONE, but TWO major villains die in this story.
*The fact that the heroes DID NOT know of Magneto's Big Bad Plan before he put it into effect. And the fact that they needed him to fix things (before killing him, of course - so heroic).
*Magneto killing Xavier (by breaking his neck). Looks like Magneto finally grew a pair.
Finally, might as well tell you what I DIDN'T like about it:
*Um, a lot of people might disagree, but I thought it was too short. Everything happens so fast: Boom-Boom-Boom, so-and-so's dead, start over... There's so much happening that MAYBE one (or two) more issue(s) might've been good. More time to explore and maybe even expand on some story points.
*David Finch's art, but I already covered that.
*Cyclops' death: I think that was just pointless. It's as if Jeph Loeb, after re-reading his script, decided that the body count wasn't high enough and thought another big-name victim would be 'just great'. Yes, I think a big problem with this story is the staggering amount of gratuitous deaths.
Here's what I understand about "Ultimatum":
*At the time, it was decided by Marvel that their "Ultimate" line needed some re-tooling, as sales were not stellar (a natural consequence of sub-par writing, art, or a combination of both). This would be done by an "Event" that would involve all corners of the Ultimate Universe.
*As in any other Event worth its salt, there has to be at least a death or two. But hey, folks, this is the Ultimate line - anything goes! "No One Is Safe! Mwahahaha"! So they ramped it up to at least 13 deaths of major-or-at-least-well-known characters, not counting the hundreds of thousands of civilians who needlessly drown or freeze to death.
Here's what I didn't understand about it:
*If this was such a big deal to Marvel, did they have to give it to David Finch to draw it? In "Ultimate X-Men" and "New Avengers", his art was at best okay. In "Ultimatum", the art more often than not was NOT okay at all. Some panels - scratch that - PAGES were downright terrible. Was he in some sort of rush? All I'm saying I guess is that the caliber of the art DID NOT match the supposed importance of the comic book "Event".
Here's what I LIKED about it:
*The fact that quite a few household names were killed off, not the least of which is Marvel's own cash cow (no, not Spider-Man - the other one), the inimitable Wolverine! Also, not ONE, but TWO major villains die in this story.
*The fact that the heroes DID NOT know of Magneto's Big Bad Plan before he put it into effect. And the fact that they needed him to fix things (before killing him, of course - so heroic).
*Magneto killing Xavier (by breaking his neck). Looks like Magneto finally grew a pair.
Finally, might as well tell you what I DIDN'T like about it:
*Um, a lot of people might disagree, but I thought it was too short. Everything happens so fast: Boom-Boom-Boom, so-and-so's dead, start over... There's so much happening that MAYBE one (or two) more issue(s) might've been good. More time to explore and maybe even expand on some story points.
*David Finch's art, but I already covered that.
*Cyclops' death: I think that was just pointless. It's as if Jeph Loeb, after re-reading his script, decided that the body count wasn't high enough and thought another big-name victim would be 'just great'. Yes, I think a big problem with this story is the staggering amount of gratuitous deaths.
February 7, 2024
Re-read upon getting named one of the most needlessly bleak stories in comics, by a few randos on Reddit.
Still has the power to shock with un-telegraphed deaths, and gruesome casual murder.
Knowing that Jeph Loeb wrote this just after losing his son starts to explain how a decent person and revered storyteller would lean so hard into this level of cheap trash. But it doesn’t excuse that Marvel pushed for this and published it.
When I first read this story, I think I knew the Ultimate Universe was in its death throes. Looking back, it’s obvious the sweaty desperation reeks off this and a few other late-stage moves.
It’s too bad that Donny Cates didn’t get a chance to see through his return to Ultimate universe (though Hickman is hardly a poor choice for pinch hitter). Cates’ energy and investment in unique storytelling would’ve gone a long way to take the stench of rot off.
Still has the power to shock with un-telegraphed deaths, and gruesome casual murder.
Knowing that Jeph Loeb wrote this just after losing his son starts to explain how a decent person and revered storyteller would lean so hard into this level of cheap trash. But it doesn’t excuse that Marvel pushed for this and published it.
When I first read this story, I think I knew the Ultimate Universe was in its death throes. Looking back, it’s obvious the sweaty desperation reeks off this and a few other late-stage moves.
It’s too bad that Donny Cates didn’t get a chance to see through his return to Ultimate universe (though Hickman is hardly a poor choice for pinch hitter). Cates’ energy and investment in unique storytelling would’ve gone a long way to take the stench of rot off.
April 10, 2014
Magnificent Artwork by Loeb, The images of Hela and Magneto in contemplation will stat with me for ever.
But it is the bravery of the story that deserves credit, remember these were originally comic books made into GN's so to not only kill off the vast majority of your heroes and also your two greatest villains for the sake of the plot and not just financial gain can only be applauded. Awesome.
But it is the bravery of the story that deserves credit, remember these were originally comic books made into GN's so to not only kill off the vast majority of your heroes and also your two greatest villains for the sake of the plot and not just financial gain can only be applauded. Awesome.
December 20, 2024
"In Memorandum
Honoring those who fell in Ultimatum
Angle Beast Blob Cannonball Captain Britain and the European Initiative Cipher Cyclops Daredevil Dazzler Detonator Forge Dr. Emma Frost Hardrive Juggernaut Longshot Lorelei Madrox Magneto Nightcrawler Polaris Pshylocke Hank Pym (Yellowjacket) Janet Pym (Wasp) Dr. Franklin Storm Dr. Stephen Strange Sunspot Syndicate Thor Toad Victor van Damme (Doom) Wolverine Prof. Charles Xavier
Missing in Action
Firestar Havok Spider-Man"
From the first panel to the last it's shock after shock, no one is safe, I wish this could have gone on for 8/10 issues but this is one of the greatest comic stories ever and rhe art was fantastic, it wasn't over saturated with characters and there was no egos, incredible....5 🌟
Honoring those who fell in Ultimatum
Angle Beast Blob Cannonball Captain Britain and the European Initiative Cipher Cyclops Daredevil Dazzler Detonator Forge Dr. Emma Frost Hardrive Juggernaut Longshot Lorelei Madrox Magneto Nightcrawler Polaris Pshylocke Hank Pym (Yellowjacket) Janet Pym (Wasp) Dr. Franklin Storm Dr. Stephen Strange Sunspot Syndicate Thor Toad Victor van Damme (Doom) Wolverine Prof. Charles Xavier
Missing in Action
Firestar Havok Spider-Man"
From the first panel to the last it's shock after shock, no one is safe, I wish this could have gone on for 8/10 issues but this is one of the greatest comic stories ever and rhe art was fantastic, it wasn't over saturated with characters and there was no egos, incredible....5 🌟
September 27, 2012
I can see why some people might be upset by the wanton destruction that is this volume. However, from the other side, it's an epic story of the sort that Marvel would never have the courage to tell in their normal universe and it's generally compelling for that fact.
June 19, 2018
This is the worst graphic novel I’ve ever read. Period. It’s hard to believe this was written by Jeph Loeb.
April 9, 2018
Χαμούλης γενικά. Αναρωτιέμαι πώς συνήλθαν από όλο αυτό...
Έχω πιο σημαντική απορία όμως. Πώς στο καλό πήρε ο Magneto το mjiolnir? Νόμιζα ότι δε μπορούσε να το σηκώσει. Τι άλλαξε;
Επίσης τι ήταν αυτό με τους X-men ότι είναι πειράματα και όχι εξέλιξη; Έχω χάσει επεισόδια προφανώς! Πάντως πολύ με ξενέρωσε η συγκεκριμένη αποκάλυψη.
Έχω πιο σημαντική απορία όμως. Πώς στο καλό πήρε ο Magneto το mjiolnir? Νόμιζα ότι δε μπορούσε να το σηκώσει. Τι άλλαξε;
Επίσης τι ήταν αυτό με τους X-men ότι είναι πειράματα και όχι εξέλιξη; Έχω χάσει επεισόδια προφανώς! Πάντως πολύ με ξενέρωσε η συγκεκριμένη αποκάλυψη.
November 24, 2009
This book succeeded in destroying the Ultimate Universe. It'll also be pointed to as the one in-continuity crossover that actually delivered in killing off a slew of important characters. In sum, it's atrocious.
Marvel's Ultimate line has been stagnant for a while. Perhaps that's what happens when a set of books whose selling point is "no history!" turns 9. There's confusing backstory where there used to be clean archetypes to re-envision. So Jeph Loeb cleans away the mess by killing almost everyone. Ugh.
It'd be one thing if the cleansing destruction at least came with stirring or iconic deaths, but no. There's cannibalism, snapped necks and crushed skulls, and a bunch of drowning. The big threat facing the Ultimate characters also isn't that original. New York City gets trounced just like in an old crossover, and the villain's main plot is just like another old crossover. Ugh.
This book stirred such a visceral negative reaction. It's hard to find anything worthwhile in this book.
Marvel's Ultimate line has been stagnant for a while. Perhaps that's what happens when a set of books whose selling point is "no history!" turns 9. There's confusing backstory where there used to be clean archetypes to re-envision. So Jeph Loeb cleans away the mess by killing almost everyone. Ugh.
It'd be one thing if the cleansing destruction at least came with stirring or iconic deaths, but no. There's cannibalism, snapped necks and crushed skulls, and a bunch of drowning. The big threat facing the Ultimate characters also isn't that original. New York City gets trounced just like in an old crossover, and the villain's main plot is just like another old crossover. Ugh.
This book stirred such a visceral negative reaction. It's hard to find anything worthwhile in this book.
April 11, 2014
After years of investing in the Ultimate universe Marvel successfully takes a huge dump on me. Killing characters for no reasons other than shock value. It is like a big fuck you to the fans of the Ultimate Universe.
November 1, 2012
VERY mixed feelings about this crossover event that sees many, many deaths, the return of and serves as the conclusion for what have been epic runs on Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate X-Men, and Ultimate Fantastic Four.
Why give it four stars anyway?
Pros: Ambitious plotting, total shock and awe when it comes to some of the events/ deaths, reasonably satisfying resolution, universe spanning implications. The cliched way to say it would be nothing will be the same again in the Ultimate U. I liked the art (didn't LOVE it) and thought overall the Marvel team pulled off the event they were looking to.
Cons: (Can't believe I'm saying this) but it was too short, and resolved too easily/ conveniently in the end. I've yet to read the Requiem collections, or any of the post-Ultimatum stuff but I also feel that while some deaths were pitch perfect, others were unnecessary (particularly ). And one in particular had a really lame ass note at the end that makes its reversal via retcon inevitable...
I don't think they will be able to manage the fallout very effectively to be honest because this event is like an open unmanageable wound. I hope it doesn't make the Ultimate U fester from here on out...
Why give it four stars anyway?
Pros: Ambitious plotting, total shock and awe when it comes to some of the events/ deaths, reasonably satisfying resolution, universe spanning implications. The cliched way to say it would be nothing will be the same again in the Ultimate U. I liked the art (didn't LOVE it) and thought overall the Marvel team pulled off the event they were looking to.
Cons: (Can't believe I'm saying this) but it was too short, and resolved too easily/ conveniently in the end. I've yet to read the Requiem collections, or any of the post-Ultimatum stuff but I also feel that while some deaths were pitch perfect, others were unnecessary (particularly ). And one in particular had a really lame ass note at the end that makes its reversal via retcon inevitable...
I don't think they will be able to manage the fallout very effectively to be honest because this event is like an open unmanageable wound. I hope it doesn't make the Ultimate U fester from here on out...
November 13, 2013
Do not read if you want to still enjoy things in your life. I read it and now I don't enjoy anything anymore. The drink will not satisfy, the food turns to ash in my mouth; all the company in the world will not harm or slake my lust. I am a cursed man, dear reader. Compelled by shittiness, I was. But now I am consumed by it.
March 5, 2011
What can I say after putting this graphic novel down...
Cataclysmic stories like these will always have some casualties. I get that. Stories that involved larger-than-Life conflicts depend on action for plot. I get that too. How the characters respond to the situation at hand frames characterization, development & perhaps even some surge of uncharacteristic behavior. Fine, the character goes thru an adrenaline rush to meet the demands of the situation. But radical changes in the plot that are justified (or is it) by wanton acts of violence and aggression and even feral behavior just to move the story forward is something I don't get.
Reading some of the earlier reviews, I learned that this compilation is suppossed to be in line with the discontinuation of the Marvel Ultimate Line. Ok so you want to go out with a Bang! Great. But somehow along the way, the Bang became a Dud!
Somewhere along the way, they felt it was ok to kill off some excess characters because the roster was too many & they didn't know what to do with some of them, if not all. Some if these "excess" characters were clearly of no use. Like Spider Man, Wasp, Ant Man, Doctor Doom, Dazzler, Emma Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine, Magneto, Professor X, Thor, Valkyrie and my favorite, Dr. Strange! (just to name a few)
And since one was already in the process of trimming, no need for them to go out in a blaze of glory, because they're just too many & to highlight the tragic fall of each chosen "excess" hero would be emotionally taxing on the reader. After all it is a comic book right? And not classic literature that invokes introspection, relatability, and moral insights.
Perhaps seeing the Wasp die at the hands of The Blob turned cannibal & Professor X's head being snapped like a twig should have clued me in on the "unpredictability" element of the Ultimate Universe. (not to mention graphic depictions of arrow-in-the-eye-shot, incinerations & limb tearing) But seeing my favorite character Dr. Strange so easilly defeated by Dormammu, and so easilly and blodilly dispatched as if he was a novice and Not Sorcerer Supreme was the last straw for me.
I should have heeded my instincts to check reviews first before giving into impulse and buying this on the spot. But at least I have another compilation to cheer me up after this. Let's hope the Justice
League fares better.
In short, if you don't mind seeing some favorites die & you just wanna go for the ride then be my guest. But don't say I didn't warn you.
Cataclysmic stories like these will always have some casualties. I get that. Stories that involved larger-than-Life conflicts depend on action for plot. I get that too. How the characters respond to the situation at hand frames characterization, development & perhaps even some surge of uncharacteristic behavior. Fine, the character goes thru an adrenaline rush to meet the demands of the situation. But radical changes in the plot that are justified (or is it) by wanton acts of violence and aggression and even feral behavior just to move the story forward is something I don't get.
Reading some of the earlier reviews, I learned that this compilation is suppossed to be in line with the discontinuation of the Marvel Ultimate Line. Ok so you want to go out with a Bang! Great. But somehow along the way, the Bang became a Dud!
Somewhere along the way, they felt it was ok to kill off some excess characters because the roster was too many & they didn't know what to do with some of them, if not all. Some if these "excess" characters were clearly of no use. Like Spider Man, Wasp, Ant Man, Doctor Doom, Dazzler, Emma Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine, Magneto, Professor X, Thor, Valkyrie and my favorite, Dr. Strange! (just to name a few)
And since one was already in the process of trimming, no need for them to go out in a blaze of glory, because they're just too many & to highlight the tragic fall of each chosen "excess" hero would be emotionally taxing on the reader. After all it is a comic book right? And not classic literature that invokes introspection, relatability, and moral insights.
Perhaps seeing the Wasp die at the hands of The Blob turned cannibal & Professor X's head being snapped like a twig should have clued me in on the "unpredictability" element of the Ultimate Universe. (not to mention graphic depictions of arrow-in-the-eye-shot, incinerations & limb tearing) But seeing my favorite character Dr. Strange so easilly defeated by Dormammu, and so easilly and blodilly dispatched as if he was a novice and Not Sorcerer Supreme was the last straw for me.
I should have heeded my instincts to check reviews first before giving into impulse and buying this on the spot. But at least I have another compilation to cheer me up after this. Let's hope the Justice
League fares better.
In short, if you don't mind seeing some favorites die & you just wanna go for the ride then be my guest. But don't say I didn't warn you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2010
"everything I love about WWF pro wrestling with the tight plotting of a Michael Bay film... And I can't believe it took them over 50 years to draw a comic book without panels. Those fragmented pages have been confusing me since day one. Now every page is like a giant poster, and only the text is there to distract me from the violence."
That is a quote from someone else's review of Death Of Superman but I think it is a fairly accurate description of Ultimatum. The book eventually hits a point where every 3 pages someone gets shot in the face (or has their head decapitated or eaten, ect.) and at some point I was asking myself "how many more panels are we going to see this exact same picture of someone getting shot in the eye with an arrow?". As far as plot is concerned: Magneto fucks up the planet and the super heroes punch him to death (or blow up his head or something). I know they were advertising this series as the culmination of the entire Ultimates universe where secrets are revealed and whatnot, so when they revealed that mutants were the result of government testing I was a bit underwhelmed. Wow, some people with superpowers actually got their superpowers the exact same way every single other person in the universe got their superpowers... what a revelation.
I didn't think Jeph Loeb could make a worse comic than Ultimates 3, and I was wrong.
That is a quote from someone else's review of Death Of Superman but I think it is a fairly accurate description of Ultimatum. The book eventually hits a point where every 3 pages someone gets shot in the face (or has their head decapitated or eaten, ect.) and at some point I was asking myself "how many more panels are we going to see this exact same picture of someone getting shot in the eye with an arrow?". As far as plot is concerned: Magneto fucks up the planet and the super heroes punch him to death (or blow up his head or something). I know they were advertising this series as the culmination of the entire Ultimates universe where secrets are revealed and whatnot, so when they revealed that mutants were the result of government testing I was a bit underwhelmed. Wow, some people with superpowers actually got their superpowers the exact same way every single other person in the universe got their superpowers... what a revelation.
I didn't think Jeph Loeb could make a worse comic than Ultimates 3, and I was wrong.
May 20, 2010
Do I really need to give a review for this? This was unequivocally one of the worst events of all time. However, for criticism, it really depends on the person. Personally, House of M was the worst event of last decade, but I would not hold it against you if you say this event is. David Finch is a great artist, but he was wasted on this title; nevertheless, the artwork for this book was well-illustrated-probably his best work to date.
January 10, 2010
A collection of many, many deaths, people acting out of character, events with no connection unless you've read the other books, massive plot points introduced and then forgotten. What a mess.
July 26, 2011
Not good at all. Shock after shock but not much characterisation at all. Disappointing.
October 14, 2012
Wow, I had heard how bad this was but nothing could have prepared me for the sheer terribleness that is Ultimatum. The only reason this even gets 1 star from me is for David Finch's pencils.
July 13, 2016
This Ultimate run used to be good until they did this....chaotic bullshit where they kill off characters.
January 20, 2017
Contrary to the popular opinion, I remember having solid fun following this hogwash. Every single one is killed and none of them were opening their eyes in last panel.
January 21, 2018
Other Useful Reviews: Sesana's review
Book Info: This collection contains Ultimatum issues #1-5.
"After thousands of years humans have done nothing but destroy this planet. War. Famine. Ecological ruin. When God didn't like what he'd created he washed it all away in forty days and forty nights. I will do it in three."
– Magneto
ABSOLUTE RATING: {1.5/5 stars} (Rounded Up)
STANDARDIZED RATING: <1/5 stars>
Following the events which transpired in Ultimates 3 , Loeb continues to weave his grand tapestry of misfortune after having inherited the Ultimate helm from Millar. So in this crossover finale event, Magneto implements his doomsday plot to decimate humanity and institute a mutant takeover of Earth. Among the numerous and devastating global natural disasters caused by Magneto's disruption of the planet's magnetic poles, the villain unleashes a tidal wave in New York City – one that claims the lives of over a million people in the space of a single hour. With half of the city destroyed, and many of its heroes incapacitated, Spider-Man, as well as the remaining members of the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Ultimates, are left to pick up the pieces and figure out a way to stop Magneto before it’s too late.
Well, well, well. So *this* is the infamous Ultimatum, eh? Hmm. Well I guess I finally see why the story always seems to make it onto everybody’s worst comics list: apparently, it truly is as bad as everyone’s been saying all along. Honestly, going into this, I had my doubts. But as it turns out, not only was it the worst comic event I’ve ever read, but it’s one of the worst comic books I’ve read of *any* variety. The only other flat 1-star reviews I’ve given thus far were for Byrne’s Man of Steel and Claremont’s The Dark Phoenix Saga, but those were decades-old productions with expectable age-related faults. Ultimatum, on the other hand, was published in 2009, so what’s Loeb’s excuse, right? Well he’s not the greatest writer in the world (3-star quality at best), and with this, he’s only following the inevitable path he set himself toward atrocity in Ultimates 3. Besides, this is a crossover event, and we’ve all seen how those can draw out mediocrity (or worse) even from writers far more competent than he.
To start, I guess I’ll discuss the book’s opening chapter. It’s terribly weak, and does a pathetic job of capturing your attention despite the catastrophic premise it introduces. Because for one thing, nothing really is done here to build up to Magneto’s attack. That just happens very suddenly, and the frequent scene-changing makes it difficult to connect with any of the depicted events. Also, nothing much occurs of any consequence besides the flood. I mean, sure, we're introduced to all the main players involved in the story, and we get to see the tidal wave hit, but that's pretty much all there is. The rest just seems like trivial details (especially in retrospect), since that starting foundation only leads to a big, dumb Magneto boss fight in the final issue. (For more on this, see postscript.) And though he seemed to want to get some characterization done before things took off, the dialogue scenes were too brief and redundant, and his script was shockingly unexceptional.
This leads me to my next point: Loeb's inexcusably amateurish writing. Some moments are more painful than others, but there were a couple instances (as in the two images above) where I told myself that *I* could have written that shit! In fact, I might have done them better. And don’t you think bland scripting is bad enough without the extra addition of dumb character psychology? Another thing is that Loeb’s characters too often end up looking foolish, petty, or both. Given what else I’ve read from him – which proves he can do better – I suspect this characterization was intentional on the writer’s part: it allowed him to decompress the book, as well as add a bit of “drama,” by manufacturing time-wasting melodrama that increased the page count. And for the moments when genuine emotion was an absolute necessity, bad phrasing and hurried scenes came back to water them down or trivialize them entirely.
[Okay, Reed: Namor was a decent guess, I suppose. But he makes a good case in his defense, and you seem to get that. So let's see what happens next...]
[Wait. So why are we back to thinking Namor did this again? Even *after* Xavier's sensible statement, which itself followed soon after Namor's sensible denial? Sadly, this is only one of several such crappy character moments meant to somehow draw us further into the story.]
Okay. So for all of you fortunate enough to have missed out on the Ultimates 3 arc, the whole reason Magneto is so ticked off all of a sudden is because his son (Pietro, aka “Quicksilver”) and daughter (Wanda, the Scarlet Witch) were recently murdered. But at one point in this story, Magneto claims that their deaths have “merely opened [his] eyes” to the “[war, famine, and ecological ruin]” that would inevitably consume the world if humans are not eradicated. Strange, isn’t it? This motivation doesn’t seem credible for a minute, because he must have been aware, for quite some time, of the damage that humans have been inflicting on the planet and on themselves. So more likely than not, he’s just snapped, and is fed up with sharing oxygen with homo sapiens. Fortunately, Loeb doesn’t try and hide this fact, so I’ll take no points off the book for Magneto’s bullshitting. However, I don’t much buy the fact that that the deaths of two kids – neither of which he seemed very close to – would trigger such a drastic sea change in his behavior/personality.
[Just a little heads up, folks (WITHOUT spoilers): soon after this, Magneto will commit the most vicious attack he's ever perpetrated against the X-Men. And he'll do it without hesitation, mercy, or even the slightest hint of remorse. Let's just say it's something that – given his previous ambivalence toward the X-Men, as well as his deep (though troubled) friendship with Charles – will seem extremely out of character for him. If this sounds to you like a difficult sell, that's because it is, and Loeb's casual treatment of it fails to adequately explain it or grant it the poignancy it clearly deserves.]
But in Ultimatum, Magneto's not the only one who's acting differently than you would expect: pretty much everyone here is strangely undeterred by the thought of violence, if not flat-out eager to spill blood. For me, there are three (main) problems with this – the first of which being the shallow blood porn nature of the affair: without either the cleverly flippant Ennis-type humor, or potent writing to accompany the copious gore, one quickly gets desensitized to all of the violence, and it's virtually impossible to take anything serious after a while. The second problem has to do with the maddeningly nonsensical nature of this approach: because Loeb sought to get away with as much maiming and murder as he possibly could here, he necessarily warps the laws of the Ultimate reality *way* past believability. To illustrate this point, I'd ask you to consider how it is that so many heroes and villains could die so fast and easy here, when they've all been fighting to the death since the very first Ultimate books. It's certainly not enough to say that Ultimatum somehow pulls the gloves off, because they've largely been off for quite a while. Lastly, Loeb simply takes the grittiness way too far – even for UMU standards – making Ultimatum a tonal outlier that blatantly invalidates almost everything that preceded it.
[Great! Because if you're lucky, you just might, Logan. You just might...]
[Here's one of the lesser character deaths that took place here. (By the way, if you couldn't tell, that's Doctor Strange getting squished.) As you probably know, there's an infamous cannibalism scene featured in the book, but I would prefer you experience that one yourself. But I will say that there's actually a pseudo-cannibalistic scene which is prompted by the first one, and it's even *more* disgusting. Basically, there's just a whole lot of ineffectual shock value to be found in this book, all of it much too sloppy and overdone. So by the end of the second issue, the shock value effect has been used up entirely, so you stop caring about anything (if you ever did).]
All that said, I guess there's maybe one or two good (or not bad) comments I'd be willing to make about this book. For one thing, a crossover event of this scale ought to be much more cluttered than Ultimatum turned out to be. Unlike Blackest Night , for instance, Ultimatum has a far more limited cast, and only focuses on a modest four primary POVs. Although most of it is unimaginative and uninteresting padding, there's less extraneous material, the book length is short, and it's not nearly as sickeningly cheesy as Blackest Night was. So even though I rated it a half star lower, in some ways, this was actually a less painful read for me to get through. For a hot and festering turd, it's unexpectedly palatable.
And as for David Finch: the guy manages to come off as little more than a glorified Rob Liefeld. If I close my eyes and think hard enough, I can vaguely remember a time when I actually used to love this guy's work. But now, it's really quite average-looking. If I'm being totally honest, there were a handful of decent moments – with the finale, issue covers, and Thor vs. zombie moments particularly standing out – but most of it did little for me. I'll have to wait and see if his work on New Avengers still hold up to memory, but right now, I'm not so optimistic.
[This has got to be as good as it gets for Finch's art in this book. So if you does nothing for you, chances are you'll never be impressed by anything else you see here.]
The more I think about it, the more I suspect it was Loeb's hope for this to be a gripping and dramatic crossover that would have the whole comic book world talking. Well it would appear that he was at least half successful. Normally, for a book this horrible, I’d recommend steering clear of it at all costs, but I think folks owe it to themselves to experience just how bad this thing really is. Assuming you don't immediately repress the memory, I promise that it's an experience you're unlikely to soon forget. Because with Ultimatum, Loeb successfully spawns the Ultimate nightmare. Too bad the name was already taken.
Postscript:
Up until now, there's a lot I've yet to touch on in my main review. And there will probably be much I will have neglected to mention even by the end of the postscript. Thing is, there's so much wrong with this comic that I'd have to spend far more time than it's worth to innumerate everything. So I'll just try and stick to the most important/obvious stuff, and I think you'll find that to be more than enough.
Guess I'll start with the story. Honestly, there isn't much of one at all: simply put, the tidal wave hits, people die, the remaining heroes lick their wounds and team up, then If you've actually read the story, I imagine you might be tempted to say I've left out a lot, but I think that if you really look back on it carefully, you'll see that I really haven't. To give the illusion that important things are taking place that will build toward the finale, Loeb creates two plot threads which include Captain America and Thor fighting in Valhalla to save Valkyrie's soul (as well as their own), and Doctor Doom teaming up with Mr. Fantastic to bring back Nick Fury to save the world. In the case of the Cap/Thor thread, the souls of those three heroes are obviously very minor in the scheme of things, and as I've mentioned before, Loeb's writing makes it tough to give a shit about their fate one way or the other. Furthermore, Hela's challenge to Thor and Cap was sinfully easy (i.e. killing off some dumb, animated skeletons), and the "twist" at the end of it failed to be imaginative, shocking, or compelling.
And as for the Mr. Fantastic/Doom thread, Loeb not only gave it less coverage than the more pointless one with Cap and Thor, but he never explained what made Doom think Fury's contribution would be so significant to the counter-offensive against Magneto. All Fury could possibly have to offer was
------------------------------------------------
In this second (and final) section, I'll just go through some of the plot details that seemed highly illogical or unadvised.
Firstly, how could Magneto fail so completely at taking advantage of the chaos and eradicating his superpowered opposition? As many heroes died in this event, it wasn't nearly enough: more than perhaps any comic I can think off, the odds were stacked overwhelmingly in the villains favor, and the heroes barely had to try in order to take him down. They didn't even have a plan far beyond a plain old frontal attack! The Madrox suicide bombers were admittedly a fairly decent idea, and was very wise, but he should have known it would have taken a lot more. So in the end, his "Doomsday Protocol" was nearly as lazily conceived as the heroes' response to it! Is this supposed to be the best we can expect from one of the greatest, most insidious comic book villains of all time? Really?
For my final two points, please refer to the following two pics and captions:
Book Info: This collection contains Ultimatum issues #1-5.
"After thousands of years humans have done nothing but destroy this planet. War. Famine. Ecological ruin. When God didn't like what he'd created he washed it all away in forty days and forty nights. I will do it in three."
– Magneto
ABSOLUTE RATING: {1.5/5 stars} (Rounded Up)
STANDARDIZED RATING: <1/5 stars>
Following the events which transpired in Ultimates 3 , Loeb continues to weave his grand tapestry of misfortune after having inherited the Ultimate helm from Millar. So in this crossover finale event, Magneto implements his doomsday plot to decimate humanity and institute a mutant takeover of Earth. Among the numerous and devastating global natural disasters caused by Magneto's disruption of the planet's magnetic poles, the villain unleashes a tidal wave in New York City – one that claims the lives of over a million people in the space of a single hour. With half of the city destroyed, and many of its heroes incapacitated, Spider-Man, as well as the remaining members of the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Ultimates, are left to pick up the pieces and figure out a way to stop Magneto before it’s too late.
Well, well, well. So *this* is the infamous Ultimatum, eh? Hmm. Well I guess I finally see why the story always seems to make it onto everybody’s worst comics list: apparently, it truly is as bad as everyone’s been saying all along. Honestly, going into this, I had my doubts. But as it turns out, not only was it the worst comic event I’ve ever read, but it’s one of the worst comic books I’ve read of *any* variety. The only other flat 1-star reviews I’ve given thus far were for Byrne’s Man of Steel and Claremont’s The Dark Phoenix Saga, but those were decades-old productions with expectable age-related faults. Ultimatum, on the other hand, was published in 2009, so what’s Loeb’s excuse, right? Well he’s not the greatest writer in the world (3-star quality at best), and with this, he’s only following the inevitable path he set himself toward atrocity in Ultimates 3. Besides, this is a crossover event, and we’ve all seen how those can draw out mediocrity (or worse) even from writers far more competent than he.
To start, I guess I’ll discuss the book’s opening chapter. It’s terribly weak, and does a pathetic job of capturing your attention despite the catastrophic premise it introduces. Because for one thing, nothing really is done here to build up to Magneto’s attack. That just happens very suddenly, and the frequent scene-changing makes it difficult to connect with any of the depicted events. Also, nothing much occurs of any consequence besides the flood. I mean, sure, we're introduced to all the main players involved in the story, and we get to see the tidal wave hit, but that's pretty much all there is. The rest just seems like trivial details (especially in retrospect), since that starting foundation only leads to a big, dumb Magneto boss fight in the final issue. (For more on this, see postscript.) And though he seemed to want to get some characterization done before things took off, the dialogue scenes were too brief and redundant, and his script was shockingly unexceptional.
This leads me to my next point: Loeb's inexcusably amateurish writing. Some moments are more painful than others, but there were a couple instances (as in the two images above) where I told myself that *I* could have written that shit! In fact, I might have done them better. And don’t you think bland scripting is bad enough without the extra addition of dumb character psychology? Another thing is that Loeb’s characters too often end up looking foolish, petty, or both. Given what else I’ve read from him – which proves he can do better – I suspect this characterization was intentional on the writer’s part: it allowed him to decompress the book, as well as add a bit of “drama,” by manufacturing time-wasting melodrama that increased the page count. And for the moments when genuine emotion was an absolute necessity, bad phrasing and hurried scenes came back to water them down or trivialize them entirely.
[Okay, Reed: Namor was a decent guess, I suppose. But he makes a good case in his defense, and you seem to get that. So let's see what happens next...]
[Wait. So why are we back to thinking Namor did this again? Even *after* Xavier's sensible statement, which itself followed soon after Namor's sensible denial? Sadly, this is only one of several such crappy character moments meant to somehow draw us further into the story.]
Okay. So for all of you fortunate enough to have missed out on the Ultimates 3 arc, the whole reason Magneto is so ticked off all of a sudden is because his son (Pietro, aka “Quicksilver”) and daughter (Wanda, the Scarlet Witch) were recently murdered. But at one point in this story, Magneto claims that their deaths have “merely opened [his] eyes” to the “[war, famine, and ecological ruin]” that would inevitably consume the world if humans are not eradicated. Strange, isn’t it? This motivation doesn’t seem credible for a minute, because he must have been aware, for quite some time, of the damage that humans have been inflicting on the planet and on themselves. So more likely than not, he’s just snapped, and is fed up with sharing oxygen with homo sapiens. Fortunately, Loeb doesn’t try and hide this fact, so I’ll take no points off the book for Magneto’s bullshitting. However, I don’t much buy the fact that that the deaths of two kids – neither of which he seemed very close to – would trigger such a drastic sea change in his behavior/personality.
[Just a little heads up, folks (WITHOUT spoilers): soon after this, Magneto will commit the most vicious attack he's ever perpetrated against the X-Men. And he'll do it without hesitation, mercy, or even the slightest hint of remorse. Let's just say it's something that – given his previous ambivalence toward the X-Men, as well as his deep (though troubled) friendship with Charles – will seem extremely out of character for him. If this sounds to you like a difficult sell, that's because it is, and Loeb's casual treatment of it fails to adequately explain it or grant it the poignancy it clearly deserves.]
But in Ultimatum, Magneto's not the only one who's acting differently than you would expect: pretty much everyone here is strangely undeterred by the thought of violence, if not flat-out eager to spill blood. For me, there are three (main) problems with this – the first of which being the shallow blood porn nature of the affair: without either the cleverly flippant Ennis-type humor, or potent writing to accompany the copious gore, one quickly gets desensitized to all of the violence, and it's virtually impossible to take anything serious after a while. The second problem has to do with the maddeningly nonsensical nature of this approach: because Loeb sought to get away with as much maiming and murder as he possibly could here, he necessarily warps the laws of the Ultimate reality *way* past believability. To illustrate this point, I'd ask you to consider how it is that so many heroes and villains could die so fast and easy here, when they've all been fighting to the death since the very first Ultimate books. It's certainly not enough to say that Ultimatum somehow pulls the gloves off, because they've largely been off for quite a while. Lastly, Loeb simply takes the grittiness way too far – even for UMU standards – making Ultimatum a tonal outlier that blatantly invalidates almost everything that preceded it.
[Great! Because if you're lucky, you just might, Logan. You just might...]
[Here's one of the lesser character deaths that took place here. (By the way, if you couldn't tell, that's Doctor Strange getting squished.) As you probably know, there's an infamous cannibalism scene featured in the book, but I would prefer you experience that one yourself. But I will say that there's actually a pseudo-cannibalistic scene which is prompted by the first one, and it's even *more* disgusting. Basically, there's just a whole lot of ineffectual shock value to be found in this book, all of it much too sloppy and overdone. So by the end of the second issue, the shock value effect has been used up entirely, so you stop caring about anything (if you ever did).]
All that said, I guess there's maybe one or two good (or not bad) comments I'd be willing to make about this book. For one thing, a crossover event of this scale ought to be much more cluttered than Ultimatum turned out to be. Unlike Blackest Night , for instance, Ultimatum has a far more limited cast, and only focuses on a modest four primary POVs. Although most of it is unimaginative and uninteresting padding, there's less extraneous material, the book length is short, and it's not nearly as sickeningly cheesy as Blackest Night was. So even though I rated it a half star lower, in some ways, this was actually a less painful read for me to get through. For a hot and festering turd, it's unexpectedly palatable.
And as for David Finch: the guy manages to come off as little more than a glorified Rob Liefeld. If I close my eyes and think hard enough, I can vaguely remember a time when I actually used to love this guy's work. But now, it's really quite average-looking. If I'm being totally honest, there were a handful of decent moments – with the finale, issue covers, and Thor vs. zombie moments particularly standing out – but most of it did little for me. I'll have to wait and see if his work on New Avengers still hold up to memory, but right now, I'm not so optimistic.
[This has got to be as good as it gets for Finch's art in this book. So if you does nothing for you, chances are you'll never be impressed by anything else you see here.]
The more I think about it, the more I suspect it was Loeb's hope for this to be a gripping and dramatic crossover that would have the whole comic book world talking. Well it would appear that he was at least half successful. Normally, for a book this horrible, I’d recommend steering clear of it at all costs, but I think folks owe it to themselves to experience just how bad this thing really is. Assuming you don't immediately repress the memory, I promise that it's an experience you're unlikely to soon forget. Because with Ultimatum, Loeb successfully spawns the Ultimate nightmare. Too bad the name was already taken.
Postscript:
Up until now, there's a lot I've yet to touch on in my main review. And there will probably be much I will have neglected to mention even by the end of the postscript. Thing is, there's so much wrong with this comic that I'd have to spend far more time than it's worth to innumerate everything. So I'll just try and stick to the most important/obvious stuff, and I think you'll find that to be more than enough.
Guess I'll start with the story. Honestly, there isn't much of one at all: simply put, the tidal wave hits, people die, the remaining heroes lick their wounds and team up, then If you've actually read the story, I imagine you might be tempted to say I've left out a lot, but I think that if you really look back on it carefully, you'll see that I really haven't. To give the illusion that important things are taking place that will build toward the finale, Loeb creates two plot threads which include Captain America and Thor fighting in Valhalla to save Valkyrie's soul (as well as their own), and Doctor Doom teaming up with Mr. Fantastic to bring back Nick Fury to save the world. In the case of the Cap/Thor thread, the souls of those three heroes are obviously very minor in the scheme of things, and as I've mentioned before, Loeb's writing makes it tough to give a shit about their fate one way or the other. Furthermore, Hela's challenge to Thor and Cap was sinfully easy (i.e. killing off some dumb, animated skeletons), and the "twist" at the end of it failed to be imaginative, shocking, or compelling.
And as for the Mr. Fantastic/Doom thread, Loeb not only gave it less coverage than the more pointless one with Cap and Thor, but he never explained what made Doom think Fury's contribution would be so significant to the counter-offensive against Magneto. All Fury could possibly have to offer was
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In this second (and final) section, I'll just go through some of the plot details that seemed highly illogical or unadvised.
Firstly, how could Magneto fail so completely at taking advantage of the chaos and eradicating his superpowered opposition? As many heroes died in this event, it wasn't nearly enough: more than perhaps any comic I can think off, the odds were stacked overwhelmingly in the villains favor, and the heroes barely had to try in order to take him down. They didn't even have a plan far beyond a plain old frontal attack! The Madrox suicide bombers were admittedly a fairly decent idea, and was very wise, but he should have known it would have taken a lot more. So in the end, his "Doomsday Protocol" was nearly as lazily conceived as the heroes' response to it! Is this supposed to be the best we can expect from one of the greatest, most insidious comic book villains of all time? Really?
For my final two points, please refer to the following two pics and captions:
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