Ultimate Iron Man II

Ultimate Iron Man II collects Ultimate Iron Man II #1-5.

Written by Orson Scott Card with art by by Pasqual Ferry and Dave McCaig.

The Ultimate Iron Man series continues with a new artist and a new direction. Ultimate Iron Man took a long time to build up the plot, but finally, when it reached its climax, we were impressed. Kind of. The Iron Man suit might have appeared here and there through the volume, and when we finally got to see it in action, within a few panels and pages, it was blown to hell.

This is an allegory for Ultimate Iron Man.

Ultimate Iron Man II, however, is the complete opposite. The Iron Man suit makes a lot of appearances from the very beginning and is usually flanked by War Machine, a suit that seems to exist for the sole purpose of making Iron Man look pretty and new. That and it punches things.

Howard Stark, father of Antonio Stark, has been jailed for a crime he didn’t commit… perhaps… maybe. His ex-wife went and married his industrial competitor and the two joined in foul union and bore a blob of cruelty named Obadiah Stane. Tony, along with his good friend James Rhodes, have created the aforementioned Iron Man and War Machine: metal suits of armour that contain rocket boots, weapons and all manner of nifty gadgets. The US Government want the technology, as do a plethora of other companies, most of whom are willing to use less-than-legal means of doing so, namely, terrorism.

So Tony and Rhodey, who have no formal training in anything remotely dangerous, but happen to be super-smart, go and kill a bunch of terrorists and-

The true horror of terrorism.

Guh?!

-okay, we’ll gloss over that for the time being. So, they go and murder people, make it back and through a bizarre series of events, fight someone but they don’t know who and Tony lets lots of little bugs in his blood make the shape of a little tiny computer.

Okay, so the plot, written by Sci-Fi supremo, Orson Scott Card, is a little hard to digest or recite. In the previous review, I complained that it was hard enough to take the story seriously when he created powers for Tony to have (he can regrow limbs, yeah, just like Wolverine) for seemingly no reason at all, other than an excuse to put him in dangerous situations and have his body parts fly off here and there. This time, it’s not confusing as much as it’s convoluted. There are a lot of twists and turns, and that’s nice, but it doesn’t necessarily make it interesting to read. That, and Obadiah is annoying as hell, his rambling diatribes were probably meant as a Bendis-style conversational comic relief, but it just ends up being infuriating.

Obadiah Stane.

Andy Kubert, who was the artist in Ultimate Iron Man, has been replaced with Pasqual Ferry, who has a softer, less realistic style, and later, for half an issue, Dave McCaig takes over. The reason for Kubert’s replacement and then Ferry’s is not known to me, but their art reflects the story quite well, with Kubert’s realism reflecting Tony’s early years and Ferry’s smooth, graceful strokes personifying his boozier later years.

Speaking of, in the previous volume, Tony had a few drinks, and in this volume, it’s alluded to that he also gets sloshed a lot, but it never really adds to anything or is particularly relevant to the story. The story is convoluted enough without adding in extra layers, but as alcohol plays a big part in Iron Man’s persona, you’d think that the seeds would be sewn when they have the chance. Alas.

Ultimate Iron Man II is great, but suffers the same faults as its predecessor, namely that it cannibalizes itself in science and doesn’t accurately portray the characters we later meet. That said, the ending is quite awesome.

BREAKDOWN:

Plot: Much the same as Ultimate Iron Man: Silly, but understandable. 7/10

Writing: Obadiah should shut up. 6/10

Art: Very, very beautiful. Each page is a delight to look at. 10/10

Continuity: Only really connects to Ultimate Iron Man, but the whole regenerative-brain-thing annoys me no end. 6/10

Enjoyment: Most of the characters are disposable, but the story will keep you entertained, if not gripped. 7/10

Total: 36/50

Verdict: A fine sequel and prequel, even though it spends too much time talking about this:

Cool. Way cool.

Ultimate Iron Man

Ultimate Iron Man collects Ultimate Iron Man #1-5.

Written by Orson Scott Card with art by Andy Kubert.

Origin stories are always quite hard to write, I’ve found. They have to not only explain a characters’ powers or abilities, but also why they use them. It’s all great showing how Captain America became the Super Soldier, but without that drive to do the right thing, it’s useless. I’m sure it’s equally hard to show origins retrospectively, with Tony Stark and Iron Man having been shown in a variety of other Ultimate Marvel comics, including The Ultimates, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Marvel Team-Up (the less said about the latter, the better.)

Ultimate Iron Man tells the story of Howard Stark, who creates a biological armour, one that can withstand ice picks and baseball bats, until the bacteria in the armour eats away the skin of the wearer after a short period of time. To counteract this, he hires Doctor Maria Cerrera, who is working on human regeneration. The relationship becomes less professional and soon, the two marry and within a short period of time, Maria becomes pregnant. Meanwhile, Loni Stark, Howard’s harpy of an ex-wife, gets in contact with Howard’s competitor, Zebediah Stane, and gives him an offer he can’t refuse because he is fat and greedy.

Zebediah, you so faaaat.

Whilst working on her regenerative virus, Maria has a workplace accident and is infected with the virus. The virus not only regenerates her skin cells, but also her brain, to the point where she’s in constant pain, having seizures as her brain grows too big for her skull. The unborn child also becomes infected, but the embryonic tissue is affected differently: neural tissue will grow all over their body, to the point where every synapse, every neurone fires off lightning fast. Also, they can’t really be killed.

Just like this man.

Wait, what?

Yeah, Ultimate Iron Man suffers from that Mad Science thing that comic books usually do. And while we’re on Tropes, let’s add a second one that the child now has due to the regenerative virus. Anyway, the child is born, Maria dies, Howard names the kid Antonio and goes into hiding. Zebidiah Stane has a child with Loni (one that, thankfully, is mortal) attempts to torture Tony and spends the rest of his time in jail for being a giant jerk.

The plot moves quite quickly, skipping years here and there in order to tell as much of the story as possible. Tony is shown growing up quickly, attending school, where he begins to create his own form of armour, and also builds nanobots from a bunch of filthy metallic scraps he finds on the ground. He then places the nanobots inside his body. For a child genius, he forgets that you should boil things before inserting them into your body. Unless, you know, you’re into that sort of thing.

"How did I get here? Damned unsterilised metal shavings!"

Tony meets James Rhodes and the two of them become friends, building and testing out Tony’s prototypical suit of armour. After a bullying session displays Tony’s ridiculous plot-hole-sealing powers of growing back his legs after they are burnt to the bone, the two, along with Rhodey’s love interest Nifara, are placed into the Baxter Building along with Zebidiah’s sociopathic son, Obadiah, to be trained to become geniuses.

Orson Scott Card is primarily a science fiction writer (although Wikipedia tells me that he also wrote dialogue for The Secret of Monkey Island and The Dig, which raises him to almost superhuman levels) and this is evident in his writing. It’s not bad, of course, he just spends a lot of time explaining how things work, most of it having nothing to do with the plot. It’s nice though, it’s comforting and it makes you feel smart. I like it.

I am unaware of any of Andy Kubert’s work, however, I found the art to be gorgeous. He integrates subtle use of colour and perspective that always draw the eye. At one point, when Tony is being fed into a furnace, he utilises only shades of red and yellow for a number of pages without it becoming boring or painful on the eyes.

As stated at the beginning, origin stories are hard to write, but both Card and Kubert have taken the information from other sources and have created something unique that is unlike any other origin story, either from Iron Man himself or any other comic book character. Ultimate Iron Man is an excellent read, if filled with retcons and has little relevance to the Iron Man shown later in the continuity. Still, excellent, and followed directly by Ultimate Iron Man II, which continues the tale.

BREAKDOWN:

Plot: A little silly, but these are comic books that we are reading. Well-crafted and intelligent, if a little too caught up in it’s own peculiar brand of homegrown science. 7/10

Writing: Very little in terms of humour, but excellent story-telling, even if it, like the bioarmour shown in the story, occasionally cannibalises itself. 7/10

Art: Standard fare. Very pretty and detailed, although the best parts are the covers. 8/10

Continuity: A lot of retroactive continuity involved, but otherwise fits in with the preceding storylines, although why no one decided to mention that Tony had a healing factor eludes me. Any why doesn’t it eat away the tumour in his head? And if he has a brain tumour and he is all brain does that mean that he has a tumour in his everywhere? 8/10

Enjoyment: You love the good guys and hate the bad guys. Excellent. 9/10

Total: 39/50

Verdict: It’s like Jaws. You wait the whole movie and then the shark turns up at the end and gets blown up. It’s exactly like Jaws. Except that the shark is the Iron Man suit. Other than that, it’s exactly the same. Really.

The Ultimates – Volume 2: Homeland Security

The Ultimates – Vol 2: Homeland Security collects The Ultimates #7-13.

Written by Mark Millar with art by Bryan Hitch.

As shown in my previous review on The Ultimates Volume One, I am a huge fan of Millar’s writing and Hitch’s art. Their ability to mix the cinematic and the fantastic is breathtaking and their storytelling skills are unparalleled.

It is then slightly disappointing that The Ultimates Volume Two seems like it was tacked on at the last minute. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a fantastically well-woven romp and hugely entertaining, but it leaves that Star Wars taste in your mouth where you sit back in your chair, face contorted into a semblance of a wince and raise one eyebrow before saying, “Really, guys? Really?”

This might seem a little harsh, of course, but it will be all explained in due course. The Ultimates are reeling from the tragic plot twists that took place in the previous chapter: Tony has cancer (“I’ve got a brain tumor, boys about the size of a golfball, right here at the back of my head and the doctors seem to think it’s inoperable.”); Bruce Banner is in a lot of trouble for becoming the Hulk and mass-murdering people left, right and centre; Hank Pym sends an army of ants after his wasp-sized wife, Janet, after they have a domestic to end all domestics. As The Ultimates piece together what is left of their team, they also take on four new recruits: Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, an Olympic archer-turned-assassin who has a realistic-cum-pessimistic outlook on his life and occupation; Natasha Romanova, AKA The Black Widow an ex-KGB agent filled with fun implants (the neural kind); and twin mutants Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, the children of Magneto who have abilities that are vaguely alluded to and share a close connection. Added to this update to the roster are the Machiavellian alien shapeshifters known as the Chitauri, who play a role similar to the classic Skrull and are even mentioned as such by the Big Bad, Herr Keiser.

The foreshadowing of the new members is mentioned in the previous volume of course,and it would be only a matter of time before The Ultimates crossed over with some of the other big Ultimate Marvel titles, but the revelation of the Chitauri comes as a slap in the face. Their involvement seems shoehorned and if they had been mentioned or shown earlier in the series then it would seem like a callback and, thus, very smart, however their race is shown (in full human form) a single issue before their official introduction and it cleanly cuts the entire thirteen-issue series into two halves, which is frustrating and reminds me of the TV shows that were affected by the 2007-2008 Writer’s Strike.

To make things more complicated, the Chitauri aren’t just new characters, as Captain America had an altercation with one during World War II. I know that it’s a comic book and we are expected to suspend our disbelief, but this seems like too much of a coincidence. The Cap turns up and the team’s first real foe happens to be against a guy he almost killed over half a century previous? Although it is mentioned that Captain America, whilst systematically tearing the Third Reich limb from limb, went on several dangerous missions for Uncle Sam, you’d expect the connection between them and now to be something stronger, like The Red Skull instead of this tenuous link. Millar may as well have had Cap fight Mandarin in the past or Apocalypse, or even said that the Chitauri were the field commanders involved in the almost-fatal nuclear bomb attack that froze Steve in time. I’m going on about it a lot, and I swear I will finish now, but this type of reference to earlier material doesn’t work when the material in question is invented at the same time as the revelation. It’s like Vader telling Leia that they are father and daughter in the first scene of A New Hope. Who cares?

I digress.

As a self-contained story, the plot is pretty good. It’s a standard good-vs-bad affair, with an awful lot of twists and treachery, but, like a good episode of Columbo, you know who the bad guys are and the fun comes from watching The Ultimates figure it out. Millar did not go the easy/lazy way and make the readers wonder if any of The Ultimates were members of Chitauri, which is good, seeing as it has already been done in Secret Invasion and would seem rather trite to reveal that and effectively murder a member of the team so early into the series (as an after-thought, however, this would be rather interesting as no one would expect that a big character such as Thor or Iron Man could be so easily written out of the series, but the fans would be upset that they would lose out on such a big player. As an appendum to the above after-thought, the Chitauri mention that in order to impersonate someone, they must devour them, so there wouldn’t be two copies running around.)

The art is, as usual, incredibly cinematic and beautiful, especially the fight scenes. Hitch’s ability to use symbols and traits to differentiate between otherwise bland characters is amazing, especially considering that many of the characters don’t wear signiture uniforms. Hawkeye, for example, wears a simple leather suit and is shown to have a shaved head and earrings without any specific motifs. Captain America, on the other hand, is easy to see in a battle due to his armour. This is shown particularly well in scenes where the characters are out of uniform without any distinguishing features. I am continually impressed by this.

The writing is, as usual, outstanding, and features several witty throwbacks to the classic Marvel series, including Captain America’s terrific line, “You think this letter on my head stands for France?!” which is referenced in jest later by Nick Fury, further pointing out its ridiculousness. The only problem with the writing is the lack of elaboration on certain lines, but this is forgiveable as most seem throwaway until they are explained later. The Black Widow mentions a “moment” that her and Iron Man shared before the mission, which cleverly leads onto a vital plot point in the second series, but that, at the moment, is neither here nor there.

As far as characters are concerned, time is given equally to all of them. Captain America is still disillusioned, although his super-soldier exterior cracks a few times, which I found to be brilliant. Iron Man is beginning to feel the pressure of his situation and the Pym’s marriage has a final nail driven into the coffin. Bruce Banner returns as The Hulk in the most epic of ways (“Permission to traumatize Banner, sir?”) and Thor shows that he a pacifist with a big scary hammer and Nick Fury watches it all unfold with a cross between despair and admiration etched on his lined face.

All in all, a fantastic adventure, if a little disconnected when combined with the first volume.

BREAKDOWN:

Plot: Treat it like a new series and you’ll enjoy it. 7/10

Writing: Some fantastic references and repeatable lines . 9/10

Art: The apparent lax attitude to missed deadlines have not dulled Hitch’s skills. 9/10

Continuity: Fits in perfectly with the first volume of The Ultimates, its sequel and the rest of the Ultimate Marvel universe. 9/10

Enjoyment: Very, very enjoyable and lives up to the first volume. 9/10

Total: 43/50

Verdict: If I used my copy to kill a spider, I would send the soiled book to the spider’s family and gratefully buy a new one.

The Ultimates – Volume 1: Super-Human

The Ultimates – Vol. 1: Super-Human collects The Ultimates #1-6.

Written by Mark Millar with art by Bryan Hitch.

Mark Millar is known for a number of things: he is a proficient liar; he has a habit of using celebrity likenesses in his comics; he is profoundly Scottish. However, one thing that Mark Millar certainly is is a weaver of tales. Both Kick-Ass and Wanted have both been given the Hollywood treatment and made into rather big movies. There is no doubt that he is a terrific wordsmith and this is shown in his Ultimate reimagining of The Avengers, The Ultimates.

For those of you not familiar with The Avengers, they are a superhero team consisting of various members that fight crime around the US and beyond. They have had many dozens of colourful characters in their roster, most notably Captain America, Thor and Iron Man. They are also the subject of (yet another) movie.

The Ultimates, however, are not just an analogue for The Avengers, a point that Millar skillfully introduces right at the very start. Like other Ultimate series such as Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four, the group is given a completely new storyline and set of circumstances, however, I won’t bother with relating back and forth the differences between the classic Avengers and the reimagined Ultimates and will just jump straight in.

Steve Rogers was a soldier in World War II who signed up for a highly-experimental Super Soldier Program. Through rigorous training and chemical enhancements, he became a glorified superhero who used his brutal strength, ability and cognitive skills to not only give the Allied troops morale, but also almost single-handedly complete several missions through Europe to destroy the Nazi war machine. Using his signature shield and unique uniform (covered in stars and stripes, naturally) he led the attacks in Europe under the name of Captain America. The Nazis, however, were tough little beggars and attempted to send a nuclear warhead all the way to the White House in a last-bid attempt to cripple the United States. Steve successfully disarmed the bomb but was flung by the explosion into the ocean where he was presumed dead.

Fast forward half a century and a government body known as SHIELD (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate) has just been given billions by the president to create a task force designed to curb further attacks by supervillians (a reference to the earlier Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men titles). The team, consisting of Janet and Hank Pym, two married scientists who become The Wasp and Giant Man, billionaire playboy Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man and disgraced scientist Robert Bruce Banner (who recently messed up his attempts to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that created Captain America and inadvertently transformed himself into The Hulk) are supposed to be America’s first line of defence against supervillian terrorists, but are lacking in a certain je ne sais quoi. That is, until Captain America’s body is found frozen in suspended animation.

The plot moves steadily forward from there and deals mostly with the characters’ interactions with one another. SHIELD director Nick Fury is desperate for his unit (who were christened the titular Ultimates) to receive the widespread attention and adoration from the American public that they deserve if for no other reason other than to justify their enormous drain on the tax-payers money. He even gives them their own base called The Triskelion and they spend a good portion of the time lounging there, looking bored or working furiously on their own projects to justify their place on the team. Captain America is disillusioned at the state of the world of the future and refuses to let go of his 1940’s outlook on life. Iron Man is slowly sliding from alcoholic to full-blown basket case as his is split between his passion for making a difference in the world and his empire, Stark Industries. The Wasp and Giant Man begin to show cases of marital conflict and no one loves Bruce Banner at all, blaming him solely for the murders he inflicted upon the world when transformed into The Hulk. Added to this is an oddball hippie from Europe who claims that he is Thor, Norse god of thunder, who the team desperately want in their ranks even though their politics clash. Time is split amongst each character and we can empathise with their emotions and motives.

When Bruce Banner’s on-again-off-again girlfriend Betty Ross (who happens to be The Ultimates’ PR manager) spurns him once again for a date with Freddie Prinze Jr, Bruce doesn’t take it well at all. His constant failure to recreate the Super Soldier Serum and whispered bullying from his teammates cause him to snap in the only way that he can: he becomes The Hulk and terrorises New York.

This leads to a climatic battle where all members of the group (including Thor, who decides to help only if the government gives into certain demands) work together to take down the raging beast. The fight scenes are outstanding and could easily double as storyboards for an action movie. Mixed in is the excellent dialogue and storytelling where Millar can really show off his skills. Although I haven’t mentioned him so far, Bryan Hitch, the artist is extraordinarily talented and really compliments the characters, scenes and settings.

The Ultimates Volume One is, of course, only six issues in a thirteen-issue series and it ends with such a terrific cliffhanger that changes your feelings for characters instantly. Therein, however, lies my only gripe with the series. Ultimate Marvel dances between being an alternate and, in some places, updated version of classic Marvel stories, and being a complete reimagining. With the series set in a post 9/11 world, it’s easy to see the parallels as they try to cope in an America where the threat of attack is omnipresent and although the X-Men are usually the best example of political analogies shown through the medium of comic books, The Ultimates does a fine job as well. With this updated and entirely adult premise, some classical character traits continue to raise their heads either as loving homages or plain laziness. Janet and Hank do not enjoy the most perfect of marriages and never have in any continuity (in the Marvel Zombies alternate universe, it itself a spin-off of Ultimate Marvel, Hank actually bites Janet’s head off when she is in wasp form) but there are many other ways to show this other than him knocking seven shades out of her during a domestic. Furthermore, Tony Stark’s alcoholism plays no part in the story other than allowing him to say several outrageous things without incident. If Nick Fury can become Samuel L. Jackson, then surely Tony Stark can take heroin to ease his pain, or become addicted to Prozac just like the aforementioned Giant Man.

Gripes aside, the series is set up to be a complete winner from the get go and does not disappoint for one single frame.

BREAKDOWN:

Plot: Exciting, interesting and always imaginative, if occasionally lacking in originality. 9/10

Writing: Millar is excellent, as always, and has several chuckle-out-loud lines that are deliciously tongue-in-cheek. 9/10

Art: Hitch is terrific and shows off his mastery on almost every single page. 8/10

Continuity: As one of the première Ultimate Marvel titles, it creates its own continuity, although occasionally clashes with references to other series, especially Ultimate Fantastic Four. 7/10

Enjoyment: Outstanding. Could not put it down. 10/10

Total: 43/50

Verdict: I would gladly buy two copies and keep one in a safe buried underground for future generations to find and enjoy.