THE ULTIMATES #7

By: Tony Whitt
Review Date: Thursday, November 07, 2002

Fans of THE ULTIMATES might be a tad disappointed that Book Two of the ongoing saga opens right where Book One left off in the last issue. With an astounding cliffhanger like that, Mark Millar and company would have been forgiven for opening the next chapter several months down the road, once the aftereffects of Hank Pym's attack on his wife Janet had blown over. But once that initial disappointment fades away, you'll be right back in the action - which, unfortunately, is the other disappointment, as there's none in this issue.

There is, however, a lot of nice tension-building here - if you can ignore several niggling little points. Jan has survived the ant attack coordinated by her husband, but her condition is touch-and-go, and meanwhile Hank is MIA. As the city recovers from the Hulk attack, Steve Rogers delivers the eulogy for those who have fallen and catches up with old (and I do mean "old") friends, but Hank's behavior towards Jan isn't sitting well with him. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner gets some disturbing news about his DNA, news which could affect his chances of ever being free again.

As usual, Millar sets up some wonderful plot possibilities, ones which will keep us coming back for more - but this time there are a few bloopers that almost manage to pop us out of the story. Jan is brought to the hospital, for instance, because she's managed to grow to human size and call for help. There, Fury and the others are told that she in a state of anaphylactic shock, presumably brought on by all the ant bites she sustained while at wasp size. Now, think about this for a moment: anaphylactic shock is a severe and sometimes fatal systemic reaction to a specific antigen, such as a bee sting. Jan would obviously suffer such a reaction at wasp size, since the antigens in the ant bites would be more than her body could take - but why would they continue to affect her at human size? Is the antigen in an ant bite as fatal to a human as that in a bee sting? It's one of those things that sounds fine until you think about it for a while.

And while we're at it, why does anyone, including the doctor who delivers Banner's bad news, think that Hank has "disappeared" if all Steve has to do is go down to the Satellite Room and ask the computer to look for him? Are we meant to think that everyone else is so worried about the potential media fallout of the attack that they wouldn't immediately start looking for him? Especially when that's the first thing that Fury's personal assistant does when Cap doesn't show up to a meeting, in the same building? Millar is usually a much more careful writer than this, so it's a bit odd that these things should be happening.


Apart from that, it's a great character-building issue, as we watch Steve's emotions building up to a climax that can't be good news for Hank Pym, Thor's excusing himself for being late for a meeting because he's been battling the Midgard Serpent and Loki, and Betty Ross telling the others that this isn't the first time Hank has attacked his wife. Even the lack of action and few bloopers can't cramp the relative realism of this series, nor can it take anything away from how well Hitch and Currie carry off the artwork this time out. Book Two may be a slow build so far, but if it's anything like Book One, the climax will make the wait worthwhile.

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