Changing opinion on the Ultimates

[blind_justice]

All right, gotta admit, I've never realy liked the idea of, nor really gave a chance to, and Ultimates titles. But I finally broke down and read the Ultimates vol I. Following that, I read the first 4 issues of Ultimate FF. Gotta say, I'm pretty impressed.

There are some changes I really don't care for, but at the same time, there is a "freshness" to it all. These stories are more then just a re-telling of the past, their familiar, yet new. The characters may be presented slightly different, but, they're still the same beloved familiar characters, just with some changes (ranging from minor to major).

Andy being that they are not simply "re-tellings" of thier pasts, there stories have a very new (fresh) dynamic feel to them. Your wondering what's next, because although there is a certain familiarity to the characters, at the same time, the characters and stories are new.

Now, I'm still refusing to pick up any X-titles, just because I'm sick of all the X-titles. I used to be a big X-Men fan from back in the day, but now, yeesh, everyone's a freaking mutant.

But, I believe I will stick with the Fantastic Four for a while, and I have the Ultimates Vol I on the way from Amazon. Vol II is supposed to be released soon, so I will pick that up as well. After that, I'm not sure if i'm just gonna keep picking up the TPBs or start collecting the comic, but either way, I think I will be following at least these two Ultimate titles for a while.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the Ultimate titles? Did you find yourself opposed at first, then getting won over later (like me). Or were you onboard from the get go? Or, are you still out on the subject?

BTW...Ultimate Cap ROCKS!!!!

[thugit]

I'm still kinda iffy on the whole thing. I am a "continuity buff", but if the stories are good, I can be suckered in. Ultimate Cap is pretty cool, and all in all the stories seem good.

The biggest problem I see is the name dropping and "hip" cultural references. They just date the book.........

[Cheng]

I've been reading Ultimate Spidey and X-Men from the beginning, but quit them both recently (they just got so boring). I picked up Ultimates a little late, but I love it! (The story finally ends next week). And yes, Ultimate Cap rules! So far the FF is good as well.

[Cheng]

Originally posted by thugit
The biggest problem I see is the name dropping and "hip" cultural references. They just date the book.........

Good point. I forgot all about the "Freddy Prinze Jr. stuff from the Hulk rampage in Ultimates (shudder).

[CyberVenom]

I'm still opposed to the Ultimate Universe, but only for a couple of reasons.

1. As much as Marvel says they won't do it, they are going to try and replace the "Normal" Universe with the "Ultimate" one. Look at the posters that are out in the mainstream stores. It shows the Ultimate characters, but just says "X-Men".

2. When it started, it was "just a retelling and retooling". Now it seems that they are changing characters (Cap is Hardcore!; Colossus is a Russian arms dealer), or killing them off (Psylocke; Hammerhead), etc. etc. etc., making it more of "What If?".

3. It's just an overall bad move, IMO. What's gonna happen when the Ultimate titles reach a couple hundred issues? Are they just going to Ultimatize it, to form and Ultimate Ultimate Universe?

Before I get jumped on, I do own some Ult. comics. I have the Ultimate War TPB, the Ult. Spider-Man, Vol. 4 TPB, the Ult. Spider-Man, Vol. 1 HC, and Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra (which, out of all of the Ult. titles, is the only one I was able to enjoy).

[JacinB]

I started picking up the Ultimate titles early on, mostly for the opposite reasons. I was sick and tired of all of the convoluted garbage in the regular Marvel titles. I was tired of all of the continuity issues.

I wanted a fresh start.

Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-men did just that. The characters, though familiar, were new. They were re-imagined into a universe that was modern. It had the same backstory as the universe that we live in. And that made the characters relevent again.

I picked up the first collected volume of the Ultimates when it first hit the stands and was immediately hooked on that series as well.

I've never been a fan of the Fantastic Four. They've just never appealed to me. But, I decided to give them a chance when the Ultimate Four appeared, and I've not been disappointed thus far.

I'd been a big Marvel fan when I first started collecting. I'd stopped collecting Marvel and switched almost entirely to DC about three years ago. The Ultimate series have drawn me back to Marvel.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm still not picking up any other Marvel titles. At least, not with any regularity. But I'll give anything in the Ultimate lines a chance ...

[Cheng]

Originally posted by CyberVenom
Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra (which, out of all of the Ult. titles, is the only one I was able to enjoy).

Wow, that's one you don't hear very often.

[blind_justice]

JacinB

I think you hit upon something that may have affected me as well, and that's the whole issue of being a little worn out on the subjects of the regular titles. Wanting a fresh start.

I was opposed at first as I am a bit of a traditionalist (and thus can easily respect anyones opinion of opposition to the Ultimates), but as I said initially, there is a feeling of freshness to the stories. A dynamic feel that the regualar titles often lack to me. I read it all before type a feeling. Same villians. Same plots. Same issues. Same dillemas.

Now, that's not neccesarrily a bad thing as long as one is enjoying the story, but when I finally broke down and read Ultimates, and the UFF, man, I found myself getting totally sucked into what was going on, because I didn't quite know (and still don't know) what the character are going to do or say or how they are going to react to a certain situation. At least not totally. There is a familiarity there to be for sure, the a "newness" that goes right along with it.

Now please, don't think that I am blindly accepting everything they do. I don't care for what they are doing with the Hulk. I like my traditional Hulk as a misunderstood monster, but still a hero at heart. I don't care for the savege "Mr. Hyde" monster they have turned him into. A hormone drive, testastrone filled animal. I can only hope eventually they plan on taking him in new directions. But one thing I will say for him, I did't expect a lot of the stuff he did.

Heck, I don't like a lot of things in the standard univerese for that matter either.

You just gotta seperate the universes when you read the Ultimates is all.

[blind_justice]

BTW, for give my ignorance, but who is FFreddy Prinze Jr?

I don't know that all the pop culture references really bothered me, but I have no idea who this guy is.

[CyberVenom]

Freddy Prinze, Jr. is an actor. In Scooby Doo (*shudder*), he's Fred. I agree with the pop culture jokes and insides as well. Anyone remember Shannon Elizabeth as an astronaut, just because she's friends with Joe Q.?

[JacinB]

Actually, I thought Tony Stark made Shannon Elizabeth an astronaut. You know, for her birthday. As a ploy to get her naked.

[CyberVenom]

Originally posted by JacinB
Actually, I thought Tony Stark made Shannon Elizabeth an astronaut. You know, for her birthday. As a ploy to get her naked.

Which is even weirder, as he could just rent "American Pie" and get to that result cheaper and quicker. LOL!

[blind_justice]

Have all the pop culture references and stuff lightened up since the first Vol (first 6 issues, right?). I'm gonna be ordering Vol II regardless, but just curious.

[Ignatz_Mouse]

I like the Ultimate line mostly, although not unconditionally.

X-men is so-so, but gives me some X-fix without hopping into the convoluted huge multi-title soap opera that the mainstream titles became back in the 80's. (A one-title soap opera is enough.)

Spider-Man is great. The plots are lame, but I love the characters.

Ultimates is really good, both for characters and plot.

Fantastic Four, on the other hand, completely undershelms me so far. I'm waiting to like the characters OR plot, and neither is interesting. Ben's reaction to becoming the Thing was just soem terrible, terrible dialogue. Reed as teen nerd is uninteresting. Johnny is still Johnny, and that's good. Sue hasn't much personality yet, except for her crush on Reed, which I like.

[Firebrand32]

I was an Ultimates reader from the very first issue, mainly because I wanted a good Spider-man title. When that book did so well, I picked up X-men and then Ultimates (and even Marvel Team-up that they now seem to discredit entirely--read Spider-man 60 introduces Punisher to the Ultimate universe). In a lot of ways, I still feel that the Ultimate Universe is the best series of comics on the market.

For example, the main Spider-man titles have either been ridiculously off base--Amazing with his mystical bend and involving Doc Strange at every turn--or too reinventive--Paul Jenkins reimagining every single villain as a completely new character. His Doc Ock and Venom were terrible and the Lizard looks to be in the same mold. The new Millar looks good though.

I guess my biggest problem with the regular Marvel Universe lately is that nothing matters anymore. Characters die, and no one cares for more than an issue. Colossus and Psylocke both died in relative obscurity and were barely mentioned again. Jack of Hearts is now dead. Villains are dropping like flies. And moreso than that, major changes don't impact the books like they did in Stan's day. There's a frickin' whole other realm floating over Manhattan and its barely mentioned. And in New X-men, Magneto destroyed most of New York, but no one's mentioning the clean-up or destruction. For all its talk about being the continuity universe, the main Marvel Universe has slipped a lot.

In that context, I don't see the difference really between the Ultimate and regular universe aside from years of extraneous back story (some of which is terrible). I think a good story is a good story, and while both universes have their flaws, I'll read the best of both. As I hope you do too. :)

[CyberVenom]

This has to be said:

I commend everyone that's posted on this thread so far. In most cases, an Ultimate vs. Current Marvel Universe debate topic goes overboard and overheated. This has been an intelligent, cool headed discussion.

Great job everyone!

[Spideysymb]

All right listen up the only ultimate universe is the one that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created. Nuff said!

[Summoner Geek]

Originally posted by Ignatz_Mouse
I like the Ultimate line mostly, although not unconditionally.

X-men is so-so, but gives me some X-fix without hopping into the convoluted huge multi-title soap opera that the mainstream titles became back in the 80's. (A one-title soap opera is enough.)

Spider-Man is great. The plots are lame, but I love the characters.

Ultimates is really good, both for characters and plot.

Fantastic Four, on the other hand, completely undershelms me so far. I'm waiting to like the characters OR plot, and neither is interesting. Ben's reaction to becoming the Thing was just soem terrible, terrible dialogue. Reed as teen nerd is uninteresting. Johnny is still Johnny, and that's good. Sue hasn't much personality yet, except for her crush on Reed, which I like.


I agree completely with your assessment on all the titles. I get all these titels and have the exact same take. As for Ult FF, it has been a real disappointment to me. It's almot golden age in it's plot and pacing. Not waht you usually get out of Bendis.

I understand how you verteran's feel, but I think Ultimate titles have been a great way to expand Marvel's market.

I hadn't read a comic since I was a kid until I stumbled across DotComics on Marvel's website 2 years ago looking for information about action figures for my young son. There I read the first few issues of Ult. Spiderman (my favorite character as a kid) and I was hooked. I liked it because it wasn't like to exisitng comics where you could be intimidated by all the history and the refrences to past events and characters that you did not know. Since then I've colelcted get all the ultimate titles and otehrs like Amazing, Daredevil, etc.

My wallet wishes I'd never heard of Ultimate Spider-man.

[blind_justice]

Hey All,

Concerning the upcoming Ultimates: Homeland Security TPB, does anyone know what issues of the Ultimates this book will cover? I've head 7-13. Is that right?

I am going to get the TPB, but I also want to start picking up the Ultimates, and I want to know what issue I need to start on "after" Homeland Security.

[Nickel97]

The Ulitmate Marvel line is pretty much the only Marvel stuff I buy any more. I've stuck with Xtreme Xmen since the beginning, and I read my friend's Fantastic Four, but that's about it. I think the ultimate universe is a bit more controlled in terms of it's own continuity (it almost reminds me of CrossGen's old shared universe in terms of titles being completely seperate but interconnected), and has pretty darn good storytelling. I like the pacing too.

It was also pretty easy for me to get caught up with the universe. With the exception of a few Ultimate Team-Ups, and about 5 issues of Spider-man (waiting for the 8th tpb), I've read every issue.

I've also always liked "new" takes on classic characters. I love DC Elseworlds.

[saghabashi]

I'm currently reading ultimate xmen and my only complaint is that they try to fit too much in. Some of the stories could have done with more build up.

[Gorodish]

i finally broke down and started to read some of the Ultimates titels. I bought the Ultimates TPB and the first two Ultimate Xmen TPB's. All in all, I'm not impressed. The Ultimates seems to be a deliberate atmpt to 'humanize' the Avengers, with a lot of real-world physics and psychology tossed in. Unfortunately, to be, it's a destruction of the idealized 'heroes' I'm used to. Not my cup of tea.

Ultimate Xmen, on the other hand, is even worse. To me it comes off as a readers digest condensed version of the last 30 years of the original books. It explores the same themes, uses many of the same plots and the same characters. But they seem to be in a hurry to introduce all of the popular mutants as quickly as possible and most of the characters dont even get thier own personalities. The scripting is very bland, so much so, that it's often difficult to figure out who is speaking at any given time. (Collosus sounds like Storm, sounds like Iceman, etc.)

Oh well, one man's poison...

[RevOnline]

Basically - if you can pick up everything in current Marvel continuity - every Amazing Spiderman, and Uncanny X-men then there is very little for you in Ultimate.

If you are just starting to read though, joining Ultimate Spidey 50 odd issues in is much easier than joining Amazing Spiderman 500 odd issues in.

Personally I love 3 of the 4 core Ultimate titles - Ultimates, F4 and Spidey. Six has been good too. X-men doesn't do anything for me though...

[Fat_Ninja]

We got into the Ultimates line fairly late in my household. I got some certified signed copy of Ultimate Spiderman # whatever from my mom for x-mas, but I thought nothing of it. Then I mentioned my love of Captain America to the kid at the comic shop....

WOAH! We got home, I read my copy of the Ultimates GN Vol. 1, and immediately asked my fiancee if she was done with it so we could talk about it. I think the direction that the Ultimates titles are going in is much grittier and it feels more real to me. You have to realize that I've been bouncing between Ultimates and Essential books lately. I think that alone plays a huge part in my enjoyment of the Ultimates lines.

My fiancee went ahead and bought the three Ultimate X-Men hardcover GN's one day. I read the first two before her and I was alternating between howling with laughter and saying "Oh my!". Again, I liked the writing, and there were enough surprises to keep me interested. I'm not neccessarily into the adolescent phase of heroics because I can't quite relate anymore, but it's a good read (to me).

Sometime in the near future, I'll start gathering up all the Ultimate Spiderman GN's. At least that way I'll stop myself from opening that really rather cool x-mas present with Venom on the cover. ;)

[DreadDormammu]

I like the Ultimate stuff generally. I agree with Gorodish that the pacing is somewhat rushed in a seeming attempt to get 40+ years of continuity introduced. But when they avoid that trap, the books shine. Convoluted continuity doesn't work very well and it's hard to imagine the number of adventures old comics characters have had without aging. Ultimates allows you to revisit these characters in a more believable storyline.

I agree Ultimate Spider-Man is about the characters and not the plot. It's been about the dialogue and character development. I thought his origin (TPB #1) was too drawn out and I thought the Venom storyline (TPB #6) was forced (see above re: rushing story elements), but I have enjoyed the rest. Spidey meeting the X-Men was especially good. Also, how is it 52 issues in and the characters haven't aged one single year!?

Ultimate X-Men is good, although again with the rushing: why Dark Phoenix already? I like Millar's approach of making superheroes more powerful. The telepath danger has been a good story element as well. One of the best things about Ultimate comics has been that Millar and Bendis have written everything; this gives the Ultimate comics consistency. This is the first core title to go to a different writer (starting next arc I believe) and I hope it doesn't fall apart.

Ultimates is more Millar and as such is much like X-Men. I wish it would come out faster.

Ultimate FF started well but has slacked off the last issue or two IMO. Warren Ellis is taking this over which is interesting... I hope it works well. Certainly his view of the Four in Planetary was intriguing. ;)

[I Am The Game]

Originally posted by RevOnline
Basically - if you can pick up everything in current Marvel continuity - every Amazing Spiderman, and Uncanny X-men then there is very little for you in Ultimate.

If you are just starting to read though, joining Ultimate Spidey 50 odd issues in is much easier than joining Amazing Spiderman 500 odd issues in.

This is what burns me about this argument. You don't need to have read all 500 of issues of Amazing Spider-Man to enjoy copies on the newsstand. How many of you pre-online comic readers started reading every title at the very beginning of the run? Most of us didn't have that luxury, we just picked up books that looked cool, and continued the ones that we liked best.

Until the relaunch, Captain America was my favorite hero. I started reading in Ron Lim's run at #368, where Cap fights at robot copy of Magneto controlled by Machinesmith. I didn't know who Machinesmith was, but I liked it just the same, so I dug around in back issue bins to see where the story came from. I was hooked. Having read a good chunk of Silver and Bronze Caps, I now enjoy the book even more, because I've read the past events that brought them to the fight.

I gather Ultimates has the same kind of appeal. If you've read the original stories, aren't you going to get more of a kick out of seeing the Ultimate Black Widow than someone who has never heard of her before?

All that to say, if a book is well written, you can pick up any random number, and jump right in, no matter how long it's been running. I can't stand the word "convoluted" anymore... if you've got the gist of the character, that's enough to appreciate it.

Take Absorbing Man, for instance. Do you have to read every issue he's ever appeared in just to understand what he's about? Nope, one or two, and you'll get it. My first Absorbing Man issue was neither his first appearance in Journey Into Mystery 114, nor any of his fights with the Hulk, Thor, or the 80's Avengers... it was Quasar #5. He bragged about his fights with Thor and the Hulk that I never knew existed, and liked it just the same...

[turdburglar47]

Originally posted by DreadDormammu

Also, how is it 52 issues in and the characters haven't aged one single year!?





Because story arcs lasting ten issues cover the span of maybe two days, sometimes. A month or two may pass between issues, but not for the characters.

[W10002]

I find it kinda funny that the Ultimate line is a fresh start to the Marvel Universe to attract new readers, but to me it seems that people who are reading the Ultimates line are already comic book readers before.

When they announced Ultimate Spider-Man, I knew the Ultimate lines were gonna be hot. Alas at the time there were no comic book store around, so I missed my chance to jump in when the Ultimate line started. So I really got into the line pretty late (well...around Ultimate X-Men #6 isn't THAT late).

As for my opinion on the Ultimates line... the Ultimates line seem to me as a re-introduction of Marvel to new generation of readers who never read comics. I don't think it's better (I'm nuetral on the subject)...I just think it's different. I like it for what it is, a new take on things. But I also like the old traditional stuff, with the exception of a few lame stuff....

[New Warrior]

#### It!! I want either my Ultimate Warriors or Ultimate Duck!

[TheUltimates]

I read Ultimate titles, not Spiderman, because I get my own Stories.

Also I don't have to read 400+ issues to get the basics down.

[Like]

I really enjoy the Ultimate titles because they're excellent to lend to your friends who have NFI about comics. Ult. Spiderman is particularly good, Ult. X-men is solid and Ultimates is fun and different. The orginal continuity still exists and I still by trades of my favourite but the Ultimate comics mean I don't have to explain where the symbiote costume came from or "what's the deal with Cable?" to an already confused newbie. Also, does anyone know why Ultimate Fantastic Four isn't called Ultimate Four? It just seems obvious s'all.

[Wasteland]

So far the only Ultimate title I am actually enjoying is the FF4 one. It has great art, great story, great everything. Everyone's complaining about the pacing, but I am really enjoying it. Each issue makes me want the next one even more. I am glad that it didn't go the way of the X-titles or Ultimates, etc. and have fast paced action for the sake of fast paced action at the expense of everything else. I hope it continues on the way it has been doing, and not becoming like the rest (and please, god, let the art stay the same, so that it doesn't become like those other god-awful Ultimate books, not to mention the regular universe)

So far on my reentry back into comics (I stopped collecting for a while...) I've picked:

Ultimate FF4 - Great
Ultimate Six - Eh. The art was terrible, but the story was okay.
The Ultimates - Eh. Again with the art. The only enjoyable part is Hulk
Agent X - Great.
Cable/Deadpool - Even Better.
Supreme Power - Very good. I like it more each issue.
JLA - kind of sucking right now w/ the Tenth Circle Story...maybe later...
JLA/Avengers - Alright. Very convoluted and messy though.
Conan - Amazing. I am so glad this is out. I missed Conan...
The Way of The Rat - Excellent Book
Iron Fist - Good Start
Devil May Cry (This one is just cuz I'm a sucker for the game :) )

I just grabbed a mix of different ones, some suggested to me (The Ultimates), others that I had to get (Conan). Over all, I like most of the ones I have, but I miss so many of my old titles that are cancelled or changed (Like the #### that is WildC.A.T.s now, or StormWatch). Where are the artists of yester-yore? The ones that were around during the Image/Marvel War? Did they all die? Because they sure aren't drawing anymore. It's sad to open up X-Men or Spidey and see that a ten year old kid could draw better than whoever's doing it. Actually, they probably have a ten year old kid doing it...hmmmm.

Overall, unsold on Ultimates, except for FF4. Love that one.

[Superfly]

Overall, I'm very pleased with the Ultimate line of comics, and I'll explain why. I really stopped reading most of the regular continuity Marvel titles back in the late '90's. What drove me away from them was the complete lack of regard for established continuity. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way, either. Marvel lost many fans in the '90's for similar reasons. I think that they eventually realized that this was a major turn-off to the majority of their readers and one thing they did to try to remedy this was the production of the Ultimate line of comics.

Around the time that I heard about the Ultimate line of comics and the concept of a retooling of classic characters without the constraints of hundreds of issues of continuity, I was down to reading only two Marvel titles: Iron Man and Hulk. I was not thrilled in the least about the Ultimate concept and figured it was a ploy on Marvel's part to try to bring back offended readers or new readers, and I shunned it for over a year.

One night while surfing the web, I stopped over at the Marvel site and noticed that they had something called Marvel.Comics - full readable issues of their new Ultimate comics and a few mainstream ones, as well. Now, naturally, as a comic book fan, I was not going to pass up on the chance to read ANY comic for free. I read everything they put up for the next year, and what I enjoyed most were the Ultimate universe comics. I told many of my friends about these Dot.Comics, as well, and they enjoyed them too.

Now, fast forward five years. I own every softcover Ultimate TPB that has been published (except Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra), as well as the Ultimate Marvel Team-up hardcover. Ultimate X-Men is losing steam, IMHO, and I don't enjoy it as much as I used to. I may not get any more of the TPBs. If they would just make it conclusively clear that Colossus IS NOT GAY, I'll stick with the title. If they make him out to be a closet homosexual, I'm gone for good, and will give my TPBs away.

Ultimate Spider-Man is the best comic I've ever read. I have to say that in 50+ issues, there hasn't been a single issue I didn't enjoy. Some people say it has too much characterization and not enough action, but I think it's terrific. I don't think there can be too much characterization in a comic book figure. I also think that this title would appeal to many more female readers than most Marvel titles. I always look forward to more Ultimate Spidey TPBs.

Ultimates is a good ride and a good read. True, there are certain things that I don't like, but I enjoy most of it immensely. The finale to the first major story arc was terrific, and I hope the folks at Marvel can cook up something equally as enjoyable for Volume 2. I'll be pre-ordering the hardcover of Ultimates from Amazon in another month or so.

[Superfly]

Overall, I'm very pleased with the Ultimate line of comics, and I'll explain why. I really stopped reading most of the regular continuity Marvel titles back in the late '90's. What drove me away from them was the complete lack of regard for established continuity. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way, either. Marvel lost many fans in the '90's for similar reasons. I think that they eventually realized that this was a major turn-off to the majority of their readers and one thing they did to try to remedy this was the production of the Ultimate line of comics.

Around the time that I heard about the Ultimate line of comics and the concept of a retooling of classic characters without the constraints of hundreds of issues of continuity, I was down to reading only two Marvel titles: Iron Man and Hulk. I was not thrilled in the least about the Ultimate concept and figured it was a ploy on Marvel's part to try to bring back offended readers or new readers, and I shunned it for over a year.

One night while surfing the web, I stopped over at the Marvel site and noticed that they had something called Marvel.Comics - full readable issues of their new Ultimate comics and a few mainstream ones, as well. Now, naturally, as a comic book fan, I was not going to pass up on the chance to read ANY comic for free. I read everything they put up for the next year, and what I enjoyed most were the Ultimate universe comics. I told many of my friends about these Dot.Comics, as well, and they enjoyed them too.

Now, fast forward five years. I own every softcover Ultimate TPB that has been published (except Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra), as well as the Ultimate Marvel Team-up hardcover. Ultimate X-Men is losing steam, IMHO, and I don't enjoy it as much as I used to. I may not get any more of the TPBs. If they would just make it conclusively clear that Colossus IS NOT GAY, I'll stick with the title. If they make him out to be a closet homosexual, I'm gone for good, and will give my TPBs away.

Ultimate Spider-Man is the best comic I've ever read. I have to say that in 50+ issues, there hasn't been a single issue I didn't enjoy. Some people say it has too much characterization and not enough action, but I think it's terrific. I don't think there can be too much characterization in a comic book figure. I also think that this title would appeal to many more female readers than most Marvel titles. I always look forward to more Ultimate Spidey TPBs.

Ultimates is a good ride and a good read. True, there are certain things that I don't like, but I enjoy most of it immensely. The finale to the first major story arc was terrific, and I hope the folks at Marvel can cook up something equally as enjoyable for Volume 2. I'll be pre-ordering the hardcover of Ultimates from Amazon in another month or so.

[Superfly]

Overall, I'm very pleased with the Ultimate line of comics, and I'll explain why. I really stopped reading most of the regular continuity Marvel titles back in the late '90's. What drove me away from them was the complete lack of regard for established continuity. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way, either. Marvel lost many fans in the '90's for similar reasons. I think that they eventually realized that this was a major turn-off to the majority of their readers and one thing they did to try to remedy this was the production of the Ultimate line of comics.

Around the time that I heard about the Ultimate line of comics and the concept of a retooling of classic characters without the constraints of hundreds of issues of continuity, I was down to reading only two Marvel titles: Iron Man and Hulk. I was not thrilled in the least about the Ultimate concept and figured it was a ploy on Marvel's part to try to bring back offended readers or new readers, and I shunned it for over a year.

One night while surfing the web, I stopped over at the Marvel site and noticed that they had something called Marvel.Comics - full readable issues of their new Ultimate comics and a few mainstream ones, as well. Now, naturally, as a comic book fan, I was not going to pass up on the chance to read ANY comic for free. I read everything they put up for the next year, and what I enjoyed most were the Ultimate universe comics. I told many of my friends about these Dot.Comics, as well, and they enjoyed them too.

Now, fast forward five years. I own every softcover Ultimate TPB that has been published (except Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra), as well as the Ultimate Marvel Team-up hardcover. Ultimate X-Men is losing steam, IMHO, and I don't enjoy it as much as I used to. I may not get any more of the TPBs. If they would just make it conclusively clear that Colossus IS NOT GAY, I'll stick with the title. If they make him out to be a closet homosexual, I'm gone for good, and will give my TPBs away.

Ultimate Spider-Man is the best comic I've ever read. I have to say that in 50+ issues, there hasn't been a single issue I didn't enjoy. Some people say it has too much characterization and not enough action, but I think it's terrific. I don't think there can be too much characterization in a comic book figure. I also think that this title would appeal to many more female readers than most Marvel titles. I always look forward to more Ultimate Spidey TPBs.

Ultimates is a good ride and a good read. True, there are certain things that I don't like, but I enjoy most of it immensely. The finale to the first major story arc was terrific, and I hope the folks at Marvel can cook up something equally as enjoyable for Volume 2. I'll be pre-ordering the hardcover of Ultimates from Amazon in another month or so.

[Tom1210]

The best way to enjoy the Ultimate line of comics is to buy the Trade Paperbacks. Ultimate Spiderman seems boring if you read it issue per issue, because Bendis style of storytelling is long. It would take him 6 to 7 issues to tell a story what other writers could do in 3 or 4 issues.

I suggest you buy the Tradepaperbacks. I colllect TPB's mostly. The only downside is that you have to wait 6 to seven months for the new volume to arrive

[Maniac_nmt]

Ultimate Spidey doesn't appeal to me, and I haven't really read Ultimate Xmen.

The Ultimates is pretty good though. Definately thinking outside the box in that title. The new Cap sooooo makes me think of John Wayne. Moral, upstanding, but not affraid to kick a little kiester. He's really the reason I enjoy the title. I wish Bendis had fixed Thor and given him red hair like he should have, but 'eh.

The new Hulk is fairly disturbing, but even more disturbing is Betty Ross, who gets turned on by canabalism, and threats of rape. Errr....

Tony Stark has some great lines throughout the book, especially when he's pulling the bomb out of the facility.

Nick is also pretty good. Less of a G-Man, and more military (sure it's comics military, I know, I'm a military brat, but he seems to go down better then the old G-Man Fury in spandex does).