The Ultimates 2 – Grand Theft America (2.2)

Well, this book finishes up the story where Gods and Monsters left off and to be honest with you, I could use a bit of a break from The Ultimates so it will be a while before I check out The Ultimates 3.  So does this book do justice to the series?  In my humble opinion, no.  I’ve mentioned before that the normal pace for The Ultimates books tends to be a bit slow, but this book isn’t slow at all.  In fact it moves so fast at times it seems frantic, like we’ve missed a panel or two.

Basically the bottom falls out on The Ultimates in this book, which could have worked out very nicely, but I feel that Marvel took the wrong path on this one.  I see what they were doing, I get the fact that Marvel likes to tie issues in the real world into their stories:  Mutant/Super-hero registration, segregation, the Legacy virus… I get it.  I normally enjoy the way Marvel intertwines issues between the real world and the created one, but sometimes it gets in the way.  In fact, I think this could have been a much better book had they just removed the politics and just told the story.  It felt very contrived and rushed the way it is.

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There was some great action in this book, so if you pick it up just for that reason then you’ll probably enjoy the tale, but if you are looking for story that feels honest you may be left a bit disappointed like I was.

Civil War

The thing to ask yourself before going into Civil War is ‘do I like change?’.  I figure most readers of Trade Paper Backs do enjoy change.  They enjoy villains rising from the dead, characters changing powers and even super-heroes getting killed.  Not all the time mind you, but once in a while to shake things up.  Well that’s exactly what Civil War does to the entire Marvel universe, and things will never be quite the same.

This is important for you TPB readers and I can’t emphasize this more, if you want to understand what Marvel’s Civil War was all about, buy this TPB first! I have read many of the other Civil War TPBs and some of them are downright confusing and most add nothing substantial to the main plot.

Long story short and a minor spoiler– chances are anyone knowing even the slightest about Marvel’s Civil War probably knows all of this anyway — the New Warriors which include Speedball and Namorita are starring in a reality TV show about super-heroes and to boost their ratings they raid a hide out for super-villains.  Unfortunately they aren’t up for the challenge and things go wrong when the villain named Nitro uses his exploding power to kill everyone in a two block radius which just happens to include an elementary school.  There’s major repercussions from this tragedy as the American people demand accountability from their super-heroes and in this case, accountability means un-masking.

What really sets things off in this book is the horrible way the current Director of Shield Maria Hill handled the situation in her briefing with Captain America which forced him to take a stance.  In fact Cap took a stance to an extreme that he probably never would have  if cooler minds had prevailed.

So here’s the synopsis.  Half of the Marvel super-heroes led by Tony Stark agree to register with the government, get trained in how to use their powers responsibly and even draw a government paycheck.  The rest of the heroes following Captain America believe the registration act is a violation of their civil rights and refuse to arrest and imprison super-heroes who don’t feel that they need to register.  So of course, the two sides must clash.

Perhaps if the rebellious team led by Captain America had just buried themselves and hidden out things wouldn’t have turned violent, but these are still heroes, people who feel the need to be where the public needs them most, making them easy targets for Tony Stark’s team of heroes and the entire Shield force.

This is a great book as far as TPBs go because with minimal knowledge of the Marvel Universe you can easily understand what is going on yet fanboys will enjoy the more subtle references that aren’t integral to the storyline.  That’s the other great thing about this book as a read, it’s completely self-contained and meant to be just that.  There’s a beginning, we see how and why the conflict began, there’s a middle filled with conflict and loss and finally there is an ending that offers closure, not hinting at what’s going to happen in the next book.  This is obviously a result of Civil War covering a limited series and the end result is a very enjoyable experience.

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You’ll notice that this review has a ton of tags.  I actually limited the character tags to those characters that actually contributed significantly to the action or the storyline.  The number of tags would be double if I had merely included anyone who made an appearance in this book.  So yeah, just about everyone in the Marvel universe picked a side, fought for it and had their lives changed by all that happened.  So to me, this TPB is a must have for any Marvel fan, the companion books…not so much.

New Avengers: Breakout

Historically, I haven’t been huge on the Avengers.  I don’t exactly know why, when I started reading comics all of my friends were into the X-Men and so that’s what I began reading.  At that time, I also liked matching costumes which I know is lame but I was  bit anal back then.

Anyway, I actually got into the Avengers through the Ultimates, which was really the first true Avengers type book I had read.  After that I picked up the Essential Avengers and went from there.  So while I know the basics, I’m still a little foggy on their recent history right before Breakout which means, I read Breakout without without having read Avengers Disassembled.  Blasphemous, I know but that’s the way it is with TPB’s, sometimes you get what’s available.  So the question I had going into this book was, ‘how well is this book going to stand on its’ own?’  Turns out, pretty well.

I remember seeing a Joe Quesada interview about the New Avengers and I remember him seeming excited about a brand new start and mentioning how they could add popular characters like Wolverine into the mix.  Hearing his excitement made me want to pick up the title even more, but adding Wolverine to the mix, not so much – isn’t he stretched pretty thin as is?

Other than that I knew nothing about the title so I picked it up and jumped into it with both feet, reading and enjoying the book in a single sitting.  The first thing I noticed was that the coloring was amazing, just like it was in The Ultimates. See to me, coloring is really important because it can make good art look like crap if it’s done wrong.  The art, text and layout look excellent as well, as I would imagine it should in a top shelf title.

So the story opens up with Electro inciting a jailbreak at a maximum security prison for the super-powered.  I love this concept, even if it is a bit played out.  A bunch of bad guys with a lot of pent up rage make for an outstanding super hero beatdown, and that’s exactly what happens.  Some of the released criminals include Carnage, Purple Man and The Hydro-Man, you know the usual suspects. The heroes who just happen to be there or get there quick enough to make a difference include Captain America, Spider-Man, Spider Woman, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Man and some guy called Sentry who only plays a small part in this book.

The battle that takes place is absolutely fantastic.  It’s mass chaos set at a frantic pace with bone-crushing results.  I would suggest this book to anybody just for the initial fight scene alone, it’s just that good.

After the fight, Captain America attempts to recruit the heroes that helped put some of the super-criminals back in their cells to be the New Avengers, because as he says, ‘it’s fate’ that they all gathered at the same spot in a moment of need.  Most agree and a new team is born.  Soon after the collective team discover clues about the breakout that lead these heroes to the Savage Land where they run into Wolverine.  Our heroes let him tag along because it never hurts to have a killing machine along with you for the ride when you’re in a jungle filled with dinosaurs and mutates.

Our heroes eventually discover the reason for the breakout and and get caught up in intrigue fueled by an unsuspected conspiracy that leaves the New Avengers unsure as to who their allies and enemies really are.

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So with the amazing action in the jailbreak fight, the humorous interactions of Spider-Man with Luke Cage, the sexiness of Spider-Woman and the inclusion of some of the best heroes Marvel has to offer — Captain America, Wolverine, & Iron Man — you’ve got to pick up this book because it’s got something for everyone put together by some of the best writers and artists Marvel employs.