The Ultimates, Volume 1 is a re-imagining of superhero groups within the Marvel universe. It’s also thievery. 

And it is crap, utter crap that they repackaged to sell to children and hardcore collectors who can’t resist any comic with “Issue 1” on the cover. It’s crap, from the hackneyed dialogue to the shameless display of super powers, when the heroes prance around and test out how strong or big or small or generally powerful they have become following the experiment/accident/crash/whatever. The team is anchored by Captain America, one of my childhood favorites and the reason I bought the book and read it. But the majority of members are simply a regrouped pile of persons who couldn’t carry a title on their own.

To be fair, I’m not the target audience. The “Ultimate” titles, The Ultimates, The Ultimate Spider-man, The Ultimate X-Men, etc., are designed to let a new generation read “updated” origin stories. Unfortunately, the handful of titles I’ve read aren’t very good and aren’t very re-imagined, with the semi-exception of The Ultimate Iron Man (to be reviewed at a later date). Instead they are a shameless imitation of the original work with current era artwork and dialogue. I fell for this gag with the Ultimate X-Men, which showed a hovering Wolverine on the cover and delivered a regular Wolverine in a different suit.  After 11 issues I gave up, stashed the comics in a drawer, and moved on with my life.

The reason these rehashes irritate me are the “essential” compendiums. Most comics of note have one or more anthologized histories that are bundled together, generally called “The Essential (hero’s name or regular title).”  There are generally a handful on a Barnes and Noble shelf, but any reputable comic shop will carry most if not all of these books. The art and dialogue reflect the period of original publication — an important part of comic history! 

In some ways the subtlety and artfulness of proper literature is preserved by protecting an era. The same is true of comics. It’s best to leave the past alone.

 

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