This is a trilogy of mini-series written by Warren Ellis, about the ultimate version of Galactus.
Ultimate Nightmare (art by Trevor Hairsine and Steve Epting) is a set up for what’s to come. It is the ultimate version of Tunguska, in the form of Vision, who was sent to warn humanity about the coming of Galactus. This is only revealed at the end, the rest of the mini feels like a sci-fi mystery, very dark and moody both in the story and the visuals. Hairsine’s artwork works well for this type of story, though Epting’s art is probably even more suited.
Ellis was only supposed to write Nightmare as a setup for an event written by Mark Millar, but Millar had to bow out so this was transformed into a trilogy (not before writing a short story about the Vision with John Romita Jr). However Ellis had to come up with the second part of the trilogy quickly, so Ultimate Secret is basically a side story while waiting for Galactus. The Kree are involved, as well as Captain Marvel. They want to trap the humans on earth while waiting for Galactus, but Fury and a group of heroes manage to defeat them and also get as much information about Galactus as the Kree had.
The first two issues are drawn by Steve McNiven and look gorgeous. His Captain Marvel looks truly alien. Unforunately he couldn’t finish the story, so Tom Raney took over and finished the mini. His style is not bad, but he pales in comparison with McNiven. This mini felt like a big blockbuster story, which started out with a bit of mystery, but by the end was just like any other big action story.
The last mini finally sees the arrival of Silver Surfer and Galactus, who turns out to be a swarm of sentient spaceships. All heroes are united and fight him back, humanity does the impossible. This series was drawn by Brandon Peterson, who at least lasted all issues of this mini. As usual, Ellis comes up with plenty of pseudo scientific explanations for the nature of Gah Lak Tus, how he destroys planets and how humans manage to defeat him. The rest is filled with well drawn fight sequences.
Overall this was a big event that starred many of the ultimate heroes, and used them fairly well. Each mini stands on its own, but at the same time this could have been told in one mini.