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Spoiler Warning: this review contains spoilers for Volume I - I would advise not reading this if you haven’t already looked at that book. You can find my review of Volume I here.

End of Spoiler Warning.

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The Ultimates Volume II: Homeland Security turns up the heat following the scene-setting that took place in Volume I, which basically had various superheroes and whatnot getting together to form SHEILD, the national security organisation headed by Nick Fury. The Ultimates consisted of The Incredible Hulk, Giant Man, The Wasp, Iron Man, the original “super-soldier” Captain America, and occasional associate (though not an official member of the team) Thor. Several new characters are introduced in volume II including Hawkeye and Black Widow, and two children of Magento – Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver – who seem to be there only for a repeating joke that they can be seen on the scene only if you “replay satellite photos in slow motion”. In fact most of the extra characters seemed a little pointless to me.

At least we do get some proper enemies now though – apparently the world is in great danger of being taken over by mysterious forces. Captain America is rather surprised to find out that World War II was not altogether what he thought it was. In addition to this there are a few things to be concluded from the first volume; Giant Man’s attack on his spouse (The Wasp) and the Hulk’s decimation of a large part of the city. Betty (and in fact everyone else apart from Bruce Banner himself) seem amazingly unconcerned about the carnage of his last transformation into the giant green man, and in fact Betty is not only a repulsive character here but it turns out that she has... unusual turn-ons. The fact that this unit who are purportedly trying to keep the planet safe are not really bothered when one of their own kills hundreds of people was a bit of a negative point for me.

Much of the story is likewise nonsensical or just plain silly, but there’s a lot of action and some very sharp humour in there to keep things moving. What with people losing their clothing every time they transform to a much larger or smaller creature, there is a bit of nudity in this book although it’s not gratuitous and anyone who finds themselves getting excited by it should seek professional help immediately. There is some bad language, most of it ****’d out, and some of the violence is fairly graphic. Some sections have definitely gone for being as gross as possible. Again the artwork is very good but to me the action scenes were often a bit too over the top – even considering that this is a comic book. As mentioned in my earlier review of the first volume, much of my impression of the books overall could well be down to the fact that I’m not a particular comic book fan, nor have I been very familiar with them since... well, about ten years old.

That said, what I liked most about The Ultimates Volume II: Homeland Security was the humour, most of which would be utterly lost on a ten year-old (or even some twenty year-olds I know!). As with the first book, the political satire is the best, often right on the mark (particularly with Thor’s character). At other times it is less subtle and certainly not politically correct – at the suggestion of his surrendering, Captain America (who has an A on his forehead) shouts “Surrender? What do you think this letter on my forehead stands for – FRANCE?!?”. Subtle, no, but definitely funny. Captain America’s interaction with the Hulk is also pretty funny. Even Nick Fury actually gets something to do this time, and one very funny line – I won’t spoil it by telling what it is, though.

Also the emotional punch packed by some scenes surprised me – whereas the dialogue overall was a bit better than in volume I (though still with some decidedly cheesy moments!), a few scenes without any dialogue at all stood out. In particular there was a scene where Steve (Captain America) hears about Hank (Giant Man)’s history of physically abusing Jan (The Wasp), who Steve has formed a strong liking for. In the midst of this there is a picture of Steve just sitting there silently, but you know exactly what he’s thinking. Shortly after this there is a somewhat predictable showdown which results in Giant Man being beaten up by a smaller member of his own team for the second time in two books. Despite this you can almost feel a bit sorry for him as his contrition seems real enough; until, that is, his whole history of abuse comes to light. Does the story end there though? (Does it even end in this book?) Probably not... but who knows...

Anyway, that’s about it really. Decent action, sometimes silly but engaging enough storyline with a good dollop of twists, good visuals, some nice touches of humour... all in all I had about the same overall impression of this to volume I (though for slightly different reasons) – I enjoyed it enough to recommend it, but that’s about it. Fans will enjoy it more... non-fans are not likely to become fans through reading this.

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This review was an entry to ElvisDo’s Funny Pages Write Off
See where most of my limited superhero knowledge comes from (apart from listening to Carl ramble on about them) - My Top Ten Superhero Movies

Ultimates characters in the movies: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk


Recommended: Yes