I don’t think it would be controversial to say that the ultimate universe was originally a success.
Regardless of your preference, Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men attracted new readers and reinvigorated the interest in comics among many. It can be argued that approaches updating old stories, or fully telling familiar characters and stories of alternative universes, can sometimes be confusing, but generally the stories tended to be interesting.
And later books like The Ultimate proved to be the basis for how the Marvel Cinematic Universe merged. I will not deny the book’s impact on the film. (Even if I personally don’t like the series. The art is great, but you can see that all the characters are pretty scary jerks who behave suspiciously. I think this is probably part of the appeal for many people too.)
But as years went by, the ultimate universe of some people’s eyes became another universe. I think many of the creators who continued to work on the series told good stories, but I think the quality of the ultimate Spider-Man wasn’t specifically soaked, but I think some people have questioned the purpose. And they shook the universe in a devastating way, producing what is considered to be one of the worst comics Marvel has published.
This is not about that. I won’t do that to you. probably. I don’t think the original ultimate universe could have fully recovered from that series, but it still produced some good stories. There are multiple endings as it continues to branch from the main 616 universe.
“We are at war with our hidden enemies. Attacks are alien and biological in nature.”
Ultimate Doomsday by Brian Michael Bendis, Rafa Sandoval, Roger Bonet, Jordi Tarragona, Matthew Wilson, Joe Caramagna, and Clayton Cowles picks up some of the pieces after the devastation of Magneto destroying New York, of Reed Richards’ implication in destroying the Supreme Power universe, of Jessica Drew’s problem with Roxxon, the fallout of the Fantastic Four falling apart, and even Gah lak Some of the things spin from the Tus trilogy.
This story was originally published as three independent miniseries (cultivation enemy, ultimate mystery, ultimate fate), but it really is one big story. It begins when mystical attacks begin to occur in various places, with the appearance of unknown aliens, explosions begin to occur. They follow the two parallel tracks significantly as Spider-Man and Spider-Woman investigate the following broader attacks by Roxxon Angle, Shield, Sue Storm and Ben Grimm. It’s a lot of people screaming at each other, and some heavy Bendis dialogue is a habit of Roxon’s brain trust and explosion.
And those explosions look great. It is interesting to see art at this stage, compared to his more recent work in the absolute Superman. Here his linework is more simplicity, but a bit similar to Stuart Imonen, with some angular and exaggerated faces remaining shading and contours to the left. Both Roger Bonnett and Jordi Tarragona maintained a smooth line of ink (in the final issue), and Matthew Wilson brought out the texture and contours in his colour. Also, the series of bright fluorescent colors for explosion and use of power has a great glow.
This is also one of the few books other than the first year or so of the Ultimate Universe, and when they haven’t decided on style yet, it doesn’t use mixed cases. Joe Caramagna’s letters here are in every cap.
“He’s Dr. Doom more than Dr. Doom… and Dr. Doom was pretty good at becoming Dr. Doom.”
What you think of the ultimate universe, or even more specifically in this story, I think I have achieved one big thing the ultimate ending with Bendis, Sandoval, Bonnet, Tarragona, Wilson and Cowl.
It’s not yet named the maker, but all the pain and heartbreak, all the accusations and deaths, all the bad decisions Reed Richards made came to my mind here. And he finally broke. Sets the stage for the emotionally immature, functionally immortal, Super Genius’ horror of an evil version of one of the brightest heroes. He still thinks he is doing good and trying to save the world.
Classic comic summary: The ultimate end
The ultimate end
Author: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Rafasandoval
Inkers: Jordi Tarragona and Roger Bonnett (Ultimate Destiny #4)
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letters: VC’s Joe Cara Magna and Clayton Cowles (Ultimate Destiny #4)
Publisher: Marvel Comics – The Ultimate Comics
Release date: May 18, 2011
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