The Ultimates Volume 1: Superhuman is the first comic book I’ve read in... oh, probably two decades. I was basically inspired to give it a go because of Carl’s enthusiastic review, so I borrowed it from him (we know each other in real life too, you see). Anyway, the difference between his wild enthusiasm and my reserved enjoyment is probably because he is already a comic book fan and knows the characters and their history inside out already, whereas I am a newcomer. (I liked it enough to want to borrow the second book off him though! :-D) Anyway, if you’re an enthusiast, you’re more likely to agree with Carl’s review, and if a newcomer, you’ll probably see things more in line with mine.

Just so you know...

This first volume is, predictably, all about re-introducing the characters who will form “The Ultimates”. These are SHIELD boss Nick Fury, superheroes Captain America, Iron Man, Giant Man, the Wasp, the Incredible Hulk, and Thor. Nick Fury’s style of leadership does rather seem to be throw everyone and everything into a boiling pot and see what happens, but I’m sure he’ll become a more potent ingredient in the plot later on. Captain America is a super-soldier and all-American hero, while Iron Man is an alcoholic, womanising billionaire who has come to think that it might be a good idea to start helping people. Giant Man is, unsurprisingly, a big, BIG man, while his wife “Wasp” is a woman who can become an insect – fortunately they are both the same size, more or less, as humans. Hulk is, of course, a huge green angry horny thing (yes you read that right!), and Thor is... is... well, he’s either a reincarnated Norse god or some crackpot with mighty powers (or, very possibly, both).

There is some back-story for each character weaved into the book (starting with Captain America winning the second world war!) Being a “how they all came together” issue, there’s not really much of a plotline, but there are some interesting facets of their backgrounds and conflicts that bode well for future storylines. To start with Bruce Banner (AKA The Hulk) has tried hard to remain human, but his love for Betty (who, in this issue at least, most certainly doesn’t deserve it!) is bound to drive him to a repeat of the events that have left a large section of the city in ruins... Jan and Hank Pym (Wasp and Giant Man) are not getting along quite as well as it seems... Hank also seems to have an amazing ability, whether apparently intentional or not, of winding Bruce Banner up... Astonishingly Tony Stark seems to be the main voice of reason and peacemaker of the whole set-up. These aren’t exactly the traditional heroes we’ve come to know – in fact, without their internal struggles and arguments, they wouldn’t actually have anyone to fight in this issue! (I’m sure that will all change in the second instalment, however...)

The fact that this is effectively starting afresh with each character means that no prior knowledge of them is needed, which is good for someone such as myself who only knows any of them from the films they’ve been in. The dialogue varies in quality but is sometimes very good, and I’m pleased that the didn’t dumb down certain sections – I’m not talking about the inevitable pseudo-science, but rather when they have Germans speaking they do speak in German, and in one scene medical language is used that sounds realistic. All in all this evidently wasn’t done with kids in mind – even though I think it’s mostly kids (or at least teens) who will end up reading this, since most people of [cough] my age would probably think they’re too old for this sort of thing.

At one point the characters are talking about who would play them if a movie version was made. Interestingly Johnny Depp is suggested for Tony Stark / Iron Man, though of course in actuality it was Robert Downey, Jr. Nick Fury states that he could only be played by Samuel L Jackson – who we see very briefly in Iron Man after the end credits. “Wasp” then asks about her movie likeness:

Wasp: What about me?
Nick Fury: Heck, who else but Miss Lucy Liu?
Wasp: Oh, naturally. Even though she looks absolutely nothing like me, she’d be great because all Asian people are basically identical, right? Who’d be your back-up choice, General? Bruce Lee?

At this point Steve (Captain America) asks who Bruce Lee is – there’s a reason he’s not up to date on current events, but it might be too much of a spoiler to tell you why, so I’ll leave you to guess. Steve’s story is perhaps the best-told of all the character’s, and the most complex (at least within the confines of this volume).

The text is always clearly readable, but the effect of having words stressed in bold – an effective way of highlighting key words – seemed a little less effective than it should have been, since the choice of words to be stressed often seemed rather odd. Still, maybe it’s just me...

Apart from the heroes mentioned, there are references, directly or indirectly, to several other Marvel Comics superheroes – Spiderman is in a picture with the Hulk on the rampage (presumably a future issue is going to delve further into this particular occurrence of green rage), the Fantastic Four are mentioned, a needle intended to sedate the big green thing is tipped with adamantium (the alloy running through Wolverine’s body in X-Men, Jarvis (Tony Stark’s butler) is asked if he’s going to meet Alfred (Batman’s butler) at a club, etc. This is a book with a social conscience too – there is a fair bit of political satire scattered throughout (after the initial nasty Germans in the beginning, anyway), and some of it is very funny. Thor is European (added to the English Jarvis to make an attempt at multinational appeal), and refuses to join the team because of his view on American international political activity. He also refuses to help out until America double their international aid package! There are plenty of pop culture references (for instance, Tony Stark has a lunch meeting with Cameron Diaz, and Betty flirts with Freddie Prinze Jr) strewn among the pages as well, and probably a few in-jokes that I didn’t really get as I’m not very familiar with the Marvel comics.

Some of the book’s weaknesses, apart from the thin plot, are that when one character ends up unwittingly killing several civilians, no-one actually seems to think it’s much of a problem. The stupidity of the civilian population also seems to have reached record levels, as they are thankful to “The Ultimates” for saving them from a problem that mysteriously popped up almost immediately after they received a multi-billion dollar research budget. Hmm... anyway, some things worked, some things didn’t. About average for an introductory volume.

The artwork is definitely on two completely separate levels here – good but rather functional for the cells containing the main dialogue and action, and spectacularly good in the occasional full page / double page spreads containing a single scene. The picture of Tony Stark in space with actress Shannon Elizabeth is frankly sensational, and a two pager of Tony Stark and crew on a snow-capped mountain is also superb. If Superhuman had looked average I would have been inclined not to really recommend it, but the artwork is extremely good so, while not blown away with the book as a whole, I recommend you give it a go. Now that the characters and basic scenario have been set up though, I fully expect the second volume to be more exciting.

There were a couple of things in this book that parents might not want their young children to see – not so much in terms of bad language (really not much at all), nudity (a tiny amount) or violence (some, not gruesome but not exactly mild), but rather in the exploration of mature themes. The most disturbing of these to most people would probably be the subject of spousal abuse, which can’t be very pleasant however it’s portrayed (however I am reliably informed that the perpetrator gets punished for this in the next episode, and at least they do feel remorse for what they’ve done afterwards). I think the best advice is to have a look first if you’re concerned and your child wants to read this.

The team behind this book:

Story: Mark Millar
Pencils: Bryan Hitch
Inks: Andrew Currie
Colours: Paul Mounts
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Associate Editors: C.B. Cebulski & Brian Smith & Jennifer Grunwald
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Collections Editor: Jeff Youngquist
Book Designer: Jeof Vita
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

(The overall look and feel of the book is very high quality, and the colour reproduction is very good.)

RRP is $12.99 (USD), $21.00 (Canada). The UK release seems to be £8.50 RRP, which is quite a bit higher - maybe an import? At any rate I didn't have to pay for it as I borrowed it! :-D




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

The release of this book coincided nicely with that of Marvel’s first homespun (sort of) movie release, Iron Man


Recommended: Yes