Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary
Marvel
oi! finally! not being satisfied with an issue #12 ending, they had to make a #13 ... and it took them 100 years to finish it. i was already expecting Blohan to O.D. before they came out with this.
and you know what? for all the time it took, it seems too forced and hurried and anti-climactic. i guess Mark Millar's attention wandered in between issues, and he just went ... "hmmm, how do we finish this storyline off? oh i know! let's toss in the Asgardians and trolls and frost giants and Bifrost and all the crazy Norse mythological crap and make it a big all out slugfest! let's tax Bryan's so-called 'widescreen' art talent!"
Bryan: "what the fuck?!"
like there's still real estate to tear up in the D.C. area after the Ultimates-Liberators slugfest. but apparently there still is, as Thor finally goes to toe to toe against brother/mischief-maker Loki, and plays can-you-top-this to the detriment of us mere mortals.
looking as threatening as Mac shill Justin Long, i can't believe Loki brought all this misery to our Ultimate heroes. but i guess that's a manipulator for you. when it comes to getting hands dirty, he pisses in his pants.
that actually reads like something Stewie Griffin might say. don't you see how clever that is??
a little bit harder to swallow is this Jesus Christ pose that Thor's character has been growing into. does this mean the Devil was his half-brother? (put down that scepter, Pope Benedict!)
the best - and hardcore, by the way - part of this finale, is the resolution of the Hawkeye-Black Widow combo. those who have been reading this series would have been awed, like me, when they took down Wall St. and all those alien stockbrokers. and when it turned out Natasha was the traitor (and ultimately responsible for the death of Hawk's family), i was waiting for this inevitable shoe to drop.
or this inevitable arrows to fly. and can you imagine Tony Stark bangin' that chick? now she's so f-u-u-u-gly. nothing brings down your hottie factor like getting beat up by friends that you sold out.
and what about Mr. Playboy himself? Pepper finds his boss despondent and sad over his latest breakup. but never underestimate the power of a buxom blonde bombshell. not bad for an insanely-wealthy genius ladies' man with a tumor.
with all the time they had to finish, Messrs. Millar and Hitch fail to do that with a flourish. in the first place, it was more exciting to have the Liberators get manipulated and beat the crap out of the Ultimates. bringing in Asgardians in an epic fight should have lasted more than 14 pages. what about the Hulk? we see him fighting alongside his ex-buddies, and seems to have reconciled with Betty. and then what? nothing. Cap decides that the team is disbanding and would be better off not being under US supervision. at least some things don't change (Cap's overbearing tone, Wanda's flirting with robots). but overall, i feel they could have put in a lot more material here. and the widescreen art we've come to grow and love from Hitch took a beating. i don't know, i seem to remember the times the guy wasn't this hassled to put out a stellar book.
overall, Millar and Hitch had a great run. let's see if Ultimates 3, with Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, tops this, even at least for sheer fun.
