After figuring out how the Hulk works, Tony actually manages to insert his nanites into Bruce’s blood and keep the Hulk cells at bay. Unfortunately the Leader kidnaps them and destroys all hope to keep the Hulk locked up.

As it’s a series written by Warren Ellis, there’s a lot of techno babble about the Hulk cells and how they work. It’s an interesting way of seeing the Hulk, and the fact that Tony actually manages to “cure” him is brilliant.

I also liked how Ellis re-worked the Leader’s identity into his own creation Pete Wisdom. The third issue is all about how Pete became the Leader, and I must admit it felt like a Queen & Country issue. It’s all about British intelligence and career advancement. Great stuff.

Obviously by the end nothing really changes, that’s just the nature of this kind of story.

The art by Cary Nord is very good, I think he wasn’t inked, instead it was directly colored, which gives it a nice painterly look.

This is not a particularly great story, but it’s entertaining, and I really liked the 3rd issue.

I enjoy Lindelof’s writing in Lost, so I was curious to check out how he does writing a comic. I wasn’t disappointed, as this is just a fun story with plenty of action and some twists.

It’s an over the top story, especially since it starts with Logan divided in half. There’s a nice twist regarding the identity of She-Hulk, and there are other good dialogs with Fury.

But the main attraction for me is Yu’s big bold art. He seems perfect for this kind of action with Hulk and Wolverine.

This is nothing too deep or important, but it’s a nice action comic.

We already saw that many of the Marvel scientists were connected to the super soldier serum project, but here they also tie the mutants to it. This is probably the biggest shock of the series, something that totally destroys the evolution theory about mutants. The history between Fury and Logan was also hinted at, and it’s explained fully here.

In the present we see the Watcher who is there just to warn humanity of the upcoming event. This is basically just a tease for Ultimatum.

I do like some of the connections between the various Ultimate characters, but there are a lot of retcons. Some of them are passable (Nick Fury having super strength), but others were totally unacceptable: Magneto being immune to Xavier’s powers totally contradicts Millar’s run. But the worst retcon was Peter’s parents dying while he was still an infant. Sure it strengthens the relationship between Fury and Peter, but it contradicts Bendis’s own story about the creation of the symbiote.

Butch Guice’s art is more traditional than the usual Ultimate style, but it fits the flashbacks perfectly.

After 2 months of reading I am finally caught up to the beginning of Ultimatum, which I will read once it’s all done. I like Ultimate Spider-Man the best, X-Men was fun with Millar and ok to good with the rest. UFF wasn’t really to my liking, while I loved the Ultimates. There are many mini-series that I haven’t read, I don’t think I’ll read them any time soon. I just hope the relaunch of this line later this year will focus on the best titles and creators.

His first arc is Death of the Goblin (#112-117) which is exactly what it sounds like. I like the way Osborn almost gets away with it using the media, which has always been a theme for Spider-Man. The power of the media. I was a bit confused about Fury’s absense, did I read what happened to him? The end of the Osborns seem definitive, and after 117 issues I think we need to move on.

The next arc (118-120) is a familiar story of a teenager finding out she’s a mutant. The difference here is that it’s about Liz Allen, whose subplot has been going on for a while. I liked seeing the X-Men and Johnny Storm, they always make for great supporting characters, just like Kitty Pride who shines in 121, a single issue with Omega Red. She’s just a great addition to Peter’s life, even if it’s just as an ex-girlfriend. But I can see her becoming very close to both Peter and MJ. That can already be seen in issue 122, another single issue story where Shocker kidnaps Spider-Man.

Bendis seems to be wrapping up some of the long standing subplots of the series, first with the Osborns, then with Liz Allen, and now with the symbiotes. This arc is told in different timelines, so it jumps back and forth between past and present. The past is only a few weeks ago, when Osborn escaped from prison. Eddie Brock and the Gwen clone containing Carnage have a huge battle at the end of this arc, culminating in Venom absorbing Carnage and leaving a healthy Gwen. I am happy about this, I thought Gwen was a great character and I am glad she’s back. But the end of the arc brings us to Ultimatum, with the Beetle capturing Venom and bringing him to Latveria.

The third annual is another self contained story that is important in the personal life of Peter. The subject of sex is discussed by the young couple, and as usual is dealt with class by Bendis. But there’s also the introduction of an important new villain, Mysterio. I have a feeling we’ll hear more from him in the future. David Lafuente is the artist, and he brings a very youthful style to the book.

USM is definitely the best Ultimate title, and it’s also my favorite Bendis superhero title (not counting Daredevil, which is more urban crime).

They are introduced in his first arc, which puts the FF in the middle of a galactic war. The art by Pasqual Ferry is very good, he has a very clean but at the same time artistic style. I am not crazy about the colors though, they look too digital.

The next arc is about Diablo, and it takes place in the past. There wasn’t much to like here, but at least it looked opposite to the previous arc: futuristic/alien vs 18th century Europe. Mark Brooks drew this arc.

Silver Surfer comes in the following arc. This is where Reed’s obsession for the cosmic cube starts to damage them. Psycho-Man almost subjugates the entire human race, but thanks to Richard’s cunning he’s defeated. Pasqual Ferry was again on the art and it suits him perfectly.

Next there’s the arc about Crimson Dynamo and Red Ghost. Honestly I thought this felt more like a fill in arc before the big climactic arc. In the fact it starts and ends with the cosmic cube.

Four Cubed is the final confrontation with Thanos, who finally gets in posession of the cube. But Richards managed to deceive him and in the end saves the day again. This is when Top Cow started to produce the look of the book. Tyler Kirkham has the perfect Top Cow art style, but it’s not very original or exciting for me.

The last arc again felt like a tacked on arc, as if they needed one more arc before the events of Ultimatum. This one is about Hydra and Namor.

Overall I wasn’t crazy about Carey’s run. They were an ok blend of sci-fi and superhero, but nothing too original. Ferry’s art was spectacular, but everyone else was just fine. This was definitely the less intersting Ultimate ongoing, so it’s good that they’re cancelling it soon.

He starts with a few issues focusing on relationships within the team. Scott and Jean, Rogue and Iceman, Logan and Ororo, Kurt and Alison, Kitty and Peter Parker, and he also introduces Lilandra, which continues the Phoenix mythology started by Millar.

That’s explored even more in the next arc (69-71) when it’s clear that the Phoenix is not a legend and it’s not created by Jean’s mind. Although the characters don’t know yet. Meanwhile Magician is the new member of the team, and he helps fight the Brotherhood. Kurt keeps being unhappy about Piotr’s sexual life, and confesses his love for the comatose Alison.

The next arc (72-74) finalyl reveals the truth about Magician, which was a nice twist. He didn’t even realize his powers, and when he did it was too late. The end was heartbreaking and lonely, but it was the only one he could allow, other than suicide.

The second annual sees Nightcrawler kidnapping Alison after she wakes up from her coma. This behaviour has been planted by Kirkman since the beginning, with Kurt growing ever more frustrated due to Piotr and Alison/Angel.

Issue 75 starts the main plot in this run, with the introduction of Cable. I like that Cable is now Wolverine from the future, it’s less convoluted than the 616 version and it’s easy to understand and justify. He also appears to be a villain (with Bishop as his enemy), since he kills Xavier, the first time Xavier “dies” in the ultimate universe. However it turns out that Xavier is alive and in the future, where Cable is preparing him for a big battle, while Bishop was always working with Cable but stuck in the present. Meanwhile Scott disbands the X-Men and turns the school into a pacifist haven for mutants.

Beast is brought back in issue 81, while Mystyque is now out and working with Magneto. The Morlocks are introduced, just in time for Nightcrawler to join them. Bishop recruits mutants to effectively substitute the X-Men. I like that Alison turns out to be a much more powerful mutant than she even knew.

In 84-88 the Sentinels are back, and it turns out that Fenris are behind them this time. Styfe is also introduced, though he turned out to be a spineless selfish man. Even Trask has a better ending than he does.

Issue 89 seems ties up a few storylines before the big final arc. Wolverine finally kills Cornelius, and Storm fights the Shadow King. This actually felt too rushed, as if Kirkman didn’t have much time anymore, and he had to close those threads in a hurry. Not only that, but there was one big thread that he couldn’t close: Magneto. Now we know that was because of plans for Ultimatum.

His final arc sees the return of Sinister, who manages to achieve his goal: release Apocalypse. There’s a huge battle, with many victims (Angel, Bishop) and in the end Cable brings back Xavier all suited up (looking like Onslaught) ready to defeat Apocalypse… except he can’t. It all comes down to Jean and Phoenix, who merge and defeat Apocalypse.
She also changes reality to before this all happened.

Throughout his run Kirkman tried to develop the characters and their relationships, while at the same time introduce new concepts and continuing previous threads. Unfortunately the ending felt very rushed, and the big concept of Cable preparing Xavier in the future felt like a moot point. He was also not helped by the continuing change of artists, and their low quality compared to previous ones. This is probably the weakest run on the series so far, which is a shame because I think Kirkman had some good ideas.

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.

In Warriors (79-85) the Kingpin is manipulating Spider-Man in order to maintain his control over the criminals in NY. He gives him information about his rival Hammerhead, and Spider-Man decides to go fight Hammerhead. Other “heroes” are involved, Moon Knight, Iron Fist and Shang-Chi, as well as Black Cat and Elektra. In the end it is revealed that Captain Jean De Wolfe is working for Kingpin and helping him manipulate Spider-Man, though at first it looked like she was Spider-Man’s “Gordon”. Meanwhile in the first Annual, Peter starts dating Kitty Pryde which kind of makes sense, but it’s clear that they’re not that serious, at least not yet. This is a very different relationship than with MJ, Bendis is very good at distinguishing them.

In Silver Sable (86-90) even more costumed people show up, this time it’s Silver Sable and her group, who easily find out Spider-Man is someone who goes to Peter’s high school. I don’t understand why the spider-sense didn’t go off when he was being followed, I guess it’s not directly dangerous. But it does work if someone is about to see his identity? Even the Tinkerer and Vulture show up, in a story involving another corporation (other than Oscorp, Justin Hammer): Roxxon.

In Deadpool (91-96) Peter is kidnapped together with X-Men and brought to Krakoa, in a nice follow up to BKV’s run on Ultimate X-Men. I didn’t particularly care for Deadpool, it might be because I am not familiar with his original character in 616. The next story features Morbius, in a classic story where Spider-Man thinks he’s an evil vampire. It’s funny how people can’t believe there are vampires, but they have no problems with spider men. The second Annual already see De Wolfe being killed after she was revealed as a corrupt cop. Punisher shows up as well as Daredevil, hinting at a future storyline.

After introducing so many guest stars, there is a huge story arc that goes back to Peter’s personal life and past. Bendis was very ballsy in calling this arc the Clone Saga (97-105). The original Clone Saga started out with shocking revelations about Peter’s past, but it quickly became a huge event that was poorly executed. The scope here is much smaller, since there is only one title, but Bendis does a great job at giving us a shocking status changing story that doesn’t disappoint.

This being the Clone Saga, it was clear that some of the dead people that suddenly reappear were clones, but I was so confused at first that I thought Aunt May was a clone. Instead it’s just Peter and Gwen clones. I like the different Peter clones, I was incredibly never confused about who was who, even though there were 5 of them. Each was distint (both visually and in their motivations) enough.

I started to despise Fury here, he was so obsessed with protocol and “protecting civilians” that he treated Peter as a weapon, not as a human being. Luckily he came through at the end, thanks to MJ’s speech! And poor MJ, she’s actually become a monster and I am sure there will be consequences. But it was obvious that Peter would realize how much she means to him, and get back together. His relationship with Kitty was doomed from the start. I like that both Fantastic Four and Ultimates where part of the story, and it didn’t feel forced at all. The fact that Doc Ock was involved makes this even more personal.

Finally Aunt May knows about Peter, another inevitable revelation. This arc was one of my favorites of the series, with plenty of mystery and emotions, plus lots of guest stars and plenty of action. Just a great story.

Ultimate Knights (106-110) sees Daredevil creating a group of heroes especially to kill the Kingpin. Moon Knight is one of them, but his split personality takes it too far and endangers Peter. Kingpin also tells Peter that he owns his likeness, and Peter can’t do anything to him. Even Iron Fist betrays the group and works for Kingpin. In the end Moon Knight comes forward to testify against Kingpin, who is finally arrested. I must admit, I am not crazy about this group of heroes, and Daredevil seems a bit our of character to me. But I am glad that Kingpin is in jail again (for how long?). But the most interesting part of this arc was Kitty going to Peter’s high school. I hope she stays for a long time and becomes a regular character.

Finally, we get to issue 111, which is the big talk between Peter and May. This is a very emotional talk and it felt very realistic. It’s also a good jumping on point, summerizing the important events of the series so far. In the middle of it there’s even a fight against Spot, which I don’t think was really necessary, but it did introduce the new regular penciller of the series.

Yes, Mark Bagley left the series after 111 straight issues, a record for consecutive run in a superhero series. His work will be greatly missed by me, I really identify Ultimate Spider-Man with his style, and I started to like his work way back in Amazing Spider-Man (around the time of the original clone saga, actually). Luckily Bendis is staying on board, and will be joined by Stuart Immonen whose work I enjoyed on Ultimate X-Men.

The first arc (1-3) lays down subplots of the big theme of this series, that is the Ultimates in foreign countries. But the big issue in this arc is Hulk’s trial. Somebody leaked information about Hulk’s real identity, which brings to the trial. But this is just a formality, he’s obviously going to be executed. I like the way Fury tricks Banner into thinking he got away, when it was clearly not possible. Hank helping Bruce was unexpected, but it was the perfect “ending” to Banner’s fate, hiding and on the run.

In the second arc (4-5) some relationships are spotlighted. Cap and Jan always hang out with Bucky, it’s clear they have a huge difference of opinion. Meanwhile Tony proposes to Natasha, even giving her an iron suit. But Thor is at the center of attention when he attacks the police in Italy. Everybody thinks he’s delusional after his brother Gunnar Golmen explains Thorlief real story. I liked the big fight to take Thor down, he’s is not to be messed with. Gunnar’s story is pretty believable, up until the last scene when Loki tells Thor that there is a traitor among the Ultimates. Obviously Thor wouldn’t know that, so Loki is not in his mind only.

Next there’s a fun issue about the Defenders, who make a pathetic debut despite Hank’s help. But Hank is pathetic himself, trying to sell his Ultron idea to Fury, while at the same time being bullied by Cap. The Defenders come back in the Annual 1, drawn by Steve Dillon. This is a one shot about a killer and how badass Nick Fury is.

Starting in issue 7 the big bad starts his strike against the Ultimates, finally revealing himself. Loki is real and he’s been manipulating reality against the Ultimates. First he leaked the information about Hulk (with the help of the traitor, Natasha!!), then he had Thor imprisoned, now he kills Hawkeye’s family and implicates Cap. All this without lifting a finger basically. He had his allies do everything for him. The Liberators are superheroes from European and Asian countries, all created in order to destroy the American superheroes who meddled in other countries affairs.

They basically take over the US in just a few hours, so this is a huge event on the scale of Secret Invasion. The Ultimates obviously get free and start a huge fight, even Hulk appears and helps, but it’s Thor who takes the fight against Loki to the next step, bringing his Asgardian army to fight Loki’s army of monsters.

This action is all fun, but what I like about this series is the premise of US people interfering with foreign countries, which is obviously very relevant to the real world. In fact, after this fight the Ultimates decide to be independent from the government, which is a nice and obvious conclusion to this series. We don’t get to see what happens to Hulk though, which I was very curious about. But the final pages are dedicated to Steve Rogers and Gail right before Steve goes to war and becomes Captain America, a nice ending for this 26 issues series.

The art by Bryan Hitch is stunning as always. I can’t give him enough praise for his work here. I think it was well worth the wait (not that I read this in monthly). I had a lot of fun reading this series, Millar and Hitch gave us a fun and enjoyable story with good characters.

The first arc Tempest (46-49) introduces Mr. Sinister and Apocalypse. It’s a completely different concept, with Sinister having allucinations of Apocalypse. Vaughan keeps it ambivalent enough that at the end we wonder if Apocalypse isn’t real afterall. A few mutants have cameos, including Northstar (nice nod about Colossus homosexuality), Sunspot, Marrow. The art here is by Brandon Peterson, which I’ve always liked. I particularly like his Storm, she really looks badass with that haircut and clothes.

Cry Wolf (50-53) brings back Gambit, who was introduced in a guest arc by Chuck Austen. I am not a fan of Gambit and I never understood why Rogue liked him. Same here, he just messed with the X-Men to kidnap Rogue, but she still likes him. Not only that, but he’s dumb enough to believe the Fenris twins. I don’t see why Rogue had to leave Xavier for Gambit, but at least they’re not regulars anymore. The triangle between Iceman/Rogue/Kitty gets annoying, but I guess teenagers are like that. I did like the relationship between Ororo and Logan. I also quite liked Andy Kubert on the art, his style is slightly different here, it felt a little bit darker to me. Don’t know why.

The Most Dangerous Game (54-57) is about Mojo/Longshot/Spiral. The setup is similar to the original concept, but it’s all less fantastic and more grounded. For example Mojo is not an alien, but an albino. Vaughan really plays with our knowledge of the previous version of these characters and give us a suprise ending reversing Longshot and Spiral’s innocence. He also starts a relationship between Angel and Dazzler which feels natural.

Hard Lessons (58-60, Ann 1) includes a few shorter stories. There’s a one-shot with Xavier averting a bank heist which felt a bit weird due to Steve Dillon’s pencils. Xavier looked more like a twisted old man in Preacher than a leader and educator. I liked the two part about Storm after Logan, it develops their relationship but it also integrates Lady Deathstrike into Storm’s past. That first motorcycle scene reminded me of Akira. Finally, the annual goes back to Rogue and Gambit, involving Juggernaut (he’s in love with Rogue?!?). Gambit and Rogue have already kissed too often in my opinion, it dilutes Rogue’s powers and struggle with them. But at least this time the kiss meant something. This is a nice twist on the Rogue/Ms Marvel story.

The last arc is Magnetic North (61-65) and it’s about the return of Magneto. However this arc is about getting Magneto out of prison, and it all starts with putting Lorna Dane inside Magneto’s cell. At first it’s a mystery what happened to Lorna, then slowly it’s revealed that everything was part of Magneto’s plan. At the end we get a series of action sequences with many different characters, including Emma’s Academy of Tomorrow, the Ultimates and the Brotherhood. Many of the characters introduced in previous arcs are chess pieces in Magneto’s grand plan (Longshot, Havok, Polaris etc…). Even Mystique finally appears (as Xavier’s ex!) and she’s also part of the final twist that gives Magneto his freedom.

The art for the majority of Vaughan’s run is by Stuart Immonen, his angular style was a bit jarring at first, but it quickly grew on me. His facial expressions are very good and his action scenes are easy to follow. I really enjoyed his work here.

Vaughan’s run was very enjoyable, but I particularly like how he put together all the pieces in the last arc. He also developed some of the character relationships, which is always part of the X-Men mythos. Overall this is a very good run.