VERY FINE/NEAR MINT Written by JEPH LOEB
Pencils & Cover by JOE MADUREIRA & CHRISTIAN LICHTNER
Gatefold Variant Cover by JOE MADUREIRA & CHRISTIAN LICHTNER
The countdown to Ultimatum begins here and when it's over, the Ultimate Universe will never be the same! And when we say that in the Ultimate Universe, you know we ain't fooling around! A year later, who are the Ultimates? After going through the tumultuous events of the past two volumes, the Ultimates find themselves operating out of Tony Stark's mansion in New York where, no longer working for S.H.I.E.L.D., they have to make it on their own. But, a terrible secret is about to tear them apart and bring about a murder at the mansion! One of Earth's greatest heroes will die and there'll be plenty of suspects! New Members! New Adventures! And New Secrets! All this and Ultimate Venom too! Join Eisner winner and Emmy-nominated writer Jeph Loeb (TV's Heroes, FALLEN SON) and the superstar team of Joe Madureira & Christian Lichtner (UNCANNY X-MEN, Battle Chasers) as they take the Ultimates on their wildest ride yet!
"THIS is what we’ve been waiting all this time for? The brand new Ultimates is here, and it is a train-wreck. Is that two words? Or should it be hyphenated? I’m sticking with hyphenated. Anyway, Ultimates 3. First, let’s focus on the story. I’ll be quick, ‘cause there’s barely any story to talk about. Picking up an indeterminate amount of time after Ultimates 2, this incarnation is basically Ultimate Avengers. Some of the characters wear masks, for some reason. Some have new girlfriends, for some reason. Some, like Black Panther, are new, have no dialogue, and appear for exactly six panels. The bulk of the issue is meant to show, I assume, how ‘superhero action’-y this arc is, so here’s Venom, inexplicably (I’m sure Jeph Loeb would prefer ‘mysteriously’) attacking the Ultimate Avengers in their new headquarters at Stark Mansion (I guess? Maybe they’re just hanging out there?) while ranting ‘TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!’ Wow, are you psyched to find out who ‘she’ is? What? No?! But why not?! That’s Venom who said it! So what if you’re given no clues on whom he’s looking for! So what if the Ultimate Avengers barely care about it! That’s VENOM! You should totally be on the edge of your seat, counting the minutes ‘til you find out what he was after! The rest of the issue seems content to take every coy reference or subtle innuendo from Mark Millar’s run and proceed to beat you over the head with it, reducing 25 issues of, by comparison at least, nuanced writing to forced, expository dialogue about what each character Is All About. So, yeah, the writing? Pretty atrocious. As for the art, the best way I can describe it is this. Imagine if, in Photoshop, someone took out the layer with all the inks and outlines, leaving only over-colored pencils. That’s what this looks like. If you REALLY really star at a page, you can more or less figure out what’s going on, but it’s rarely worth the trouble. For all the haters out there dreading what Jeph Loeb and Joe Mad were going to do to their beloved Ultimates, well… you were right."
THIS BOOK GETS 4 GRAHAMS OUT OF 10
