THE ULTIMATES #1

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Thursday, January 31, 2002

Having already established a new version of the classic Marvel characters with the ULTIMATE line of titles, it was inevitable that just as the original Marvel Universe eventually spawned a team of superheroes drawn from various solo series, the ULTIMATE Universe too would gain its own team. Now the Avengers are about to arrive, but unlike other ULTIMATE translations, this title won?t be using the same name. The Ultimates will feature a similar line-up when all is said and done (although given the Avengers? history, just which line-up the Ultimates will be based on is anyone?s guess), but for now, we spend most of the premiere issue learning quite a bit about the man who has always served as the moral center of any Marvel Universe ? Captain America!

In the waning days of the war, Cap infiltrates a secret German base containing a frightening secret. It turns out that the Axis forces have managed to develop a rocket-based weapon that could turn the tide of the war, and of course, only Captain America has the strength and the guts to stop them before it?s too late. But when the rocket launches, sealing the fates of the Allies, Cap refuses to give up, even if it means sacrificing himself for freedom. What a guy?but is he truly dead? Flash forward to Mount Everest, the present, as a man named Tony Stark stands at the summit and ponders the future of his ?Plan.? ?A brand-new chapter in our lives? is about to begin, he tells his companions. Can this be the dawn of the ?new? Avengers? And where is Captain America?

Mark Millar really knows how to script wartime tales, and kudos too to Bryan Hitch and Andrew Currie, who deliver the kind of gritty, rough and tumble artwork that suits the militaristic mood of this debut issue. You can feel the vibration of the fuselage and hear the roar of the propellers as you take to the skies with Cap and the rest of the squadron, and the acrid smoke virtually wafts from the pages. Never before has Cap seemed so much a part of the war, no longer a primary-colored champion apart from the army but a functioning member in a logical and well-developed way. Even his battle suit now takes on added significance, incorporating the familiar iconography while transforming into something far more realistic, more suitable to combat. This is a very well planned re-envisioning of the character and his history, and even the old chestnut about his ?final battle? in the war and his plunge into the icy waters of the deep is retold with a new twist. This Cap is a tougher sort, not the soft-spoken boy scout of old but a battle-hardened vet who knows how to get the job done. I don?t know how the rest of the story will shake out, but I can?t imagine a better C.O. to take on the challenge of guiding a new team of Assemblers, whether they call themselves the Avengers or the Ultimates. But what will their rallying cry be?

THE ULTIMATES

Grade: A

Issue: No. 1

Authors: Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $2.25