 |
|
Title: The Ultimates, Vol. 1
ISBN: 0785110828
Author:
Mark Millar
Publicate Date: 2004-10-27
Publish: 2004-10-27
List Price: $29.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $19.79
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $16.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $19.79
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: Easy way out.
Making Super Heroes into anti-heroes and injecting "realism" through tragedy is not great storytelling imho. At least not in an Avengers book(?). Try doing what Waid and Garney did to Cap. Inspire people make them say wow, regardless of age. This kind of deconstruction is meant to appeal to a group of older fans that wanted to see a Marvel version of The Authority. Disappointing.
|
2: Who are these people and what did you do with my Avengers?
I was excited to get this book. Most people rave about it so I figured I would give it a try. After flipping through it at the store I figured it was worth the price simply for the artwork. Well, that is the only thing I liked about the book. I understand that there is an attempt to make Marvel super heroes more real, but does that mean making every character dysfunctional, deranged or damaged in some other extreme way. Every one of my favorite Marvel characters was turned into a scum-wad in this book. There is no way the Captain America I hold dear would kick a beaten man in the face in sadistic glee. And Thor as a bleeding heart anarchist? I don't think so. Basically I think that this book is extremely left-leaning and the author loved taking a big dump on the Marvel Universe's favorite sons (and daughters).
Yuck...but at least the art was nice.
|
3: AWESOME
I was never a comic fan until I read this and Watchmen. For a noob in the comic world, the Ultimates changed how I saw comics and now I'm a huge Mark Millar fan. I highly recommend this trade! Just beware that vol 2 book 2 fell short for me in the series. There was so much build up in vol 1...but then again this is a review for vol 1 which is AWESOME!
|
4: Unexpected
The reason Im not giving this book a perfect score is because I still
feel it is not at the same level as Watchmen,DKR,V for Vendetta etc.
with that said this is an incredibley well written and drawn graphic novel
which is really saying something coming from me since Im not really into
the "mainstream" comic scene and with the exception of the incredible Hulk and Ironman, I've always found these characters to be cheesey. Fortunately The re-imaged characters here are not cheesey at all in fact
I was impressed by how Mark Millar managed to make all six main characters
three dimensional and engaging , wich is quite a feat since most comics tend to focus on one main character,the supporting cast was also exellent. The main conflict in the story has been done a million times before but was well executed and the art work while not a master piece
was solid and consistant. I guess my main complaints about this book have
already been stated by the previous people who have been more critical about this book ; the radical personality changes, pop culture references,
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (which didn't really bother me in fact it made it easier for me to imagine what this Fury was like character wise).
Purist will and do hate this take on the avengers mainly due to the fact that this is not the black and white tale of good versus evil from the golden ages. Instead this tale humanizes these extraordinary classic characters which makes you appreciate their original source. All in all
I suppose I will recommend this book to people who don't know much about the avengers or those who were not very fond of them but are now curiuos
enough to pick up one of their titles.
Enjoy.
|
5: The Modernized Avengers
Growing up pretty much all I read in comics was Marvel, although I was not a fan of the Avengers. The X-men were my preferred super team. However, I became aware of this new incarnation through the animated Ultimate Avengers movies. The movies were ok, and had some decent action but these novels are really where its at. It gives you so much more story and character development than any 2 hour movie ever could.
I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, but Mark Millar's writing is pretty consistant, giving us a decent amount of action when necessary but never letting it overshadow the story. Captain America is a good lead with Tony and Fury as excellent supporting characters. I didn't really like Giant Man and Wasp in the movies and that's no exception here.
The update includes a lot of pop culture references and even cameos from some of today's stars. This both helps it to feel more modern but also will eventually hurt it as in a few years time will date it as well. But a good way to help it feel fresh either way. The art work here by Bryan Hitch is fantastic. Seems very Jim Lee inspired to me. As of this review I am already most of the way through Vol.2 and I can tell you it gets better so read this first and then you'll get to the good stuff later. At this point the movie pretty much sticks to what's in here but by Vol. 2 it really branches off.
|
|
|
|
|
