Ultimate Six #7 Review

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Reviewer: Iain Burnside
Story Title: N/A

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciled by: Trevor Hairsine
Inked by: Danny Miki
Colored by: Ian Hannin
Lettered by: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Publisher: Marvel Comics

I can’t be certain how it came to pass but the fact is the weakest title I have read this week is this, a freakin’ Brian Michael Bendis comic. And Bendis never writes bad comics! He’s Brian freakin’ Michael freakin’ Bendis! Even when he is bad he is good and that is the rather perplexing case here. You see, as much as he may try to deny it, the simple truth is that Bendis is irreplaceable for Marvel Comics these days. Nobody can possibly come close to matching the quantity or the quality of his work. Hell, the second most prolific writer on Marvel’s payroll at the moment is probably Chuck Austen. Worrying, isn’t it? If DC ever managed to land Bendis on an exclusive deal then panic buttons would be sounding all over 10 East 40th Street, New York. Apart from some assistance from Joe Quesada and Mark Millar, Bendis inherited the Ultimate Universe concept and has run with it for four highly successful years. Marvel has used it as a catalyst for various ventures that may never have seen the light of day otherwise. Some have been successful (Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, the Bendis influence spreading to Daredevil), some have missed the mark (the Epic and Tsunami lines) but at least Marvel was once again creatively and financially secure enough to try something new. In that respect Bendis has become just as important as fellow Marvel legends Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Frank Miller and the Romitas. So when such a visionary creator falters in his stride I am prepared to cut him some slack.

That is exactly what has happened with Ultimate Six. The previous Ultimate Universe crossover mini-series was Mark Millar’s Ultimate War, which seemed to be nothing more than a warm-up for Magneto’s return to the pages of Ultimate X-Men and an excuse for some cool little fight scenes with The Ultimates and the X-Men. Unfortunately, the return of Magneto could quite easily have been handled in the main title and the cool little fight scenes were not that cool and were not that frequent. Bearing that in mind, Marvel commissioned that this six-issue mini would be extended to seven issues primarily so that some proper action scenes could be included. That went down last issue when – if you can remember that far back – the Ultimates went toe-to-toe with the Ultimate Six on the lawn of the White House. One particularly memorable highlight was The Wasp’s method of taking Dr. Octopus down. If you don’t remember it then let’s just say that it was one nasty way to find out if the good doctor had gingivitis. Also, with Thor and Electro tearing the skies apart, Sandman tearing Iron Man’s suit several thousand new holes and Captain America trying every trick in the book to bring down the Green Goblin, it is safe to say the action portion of this series has been brought to the front quite satisfactorily for even the biggest fanboy. There’s not a lot of it in this issue specifically, but the Goblin is brought down in a rather haphazard manner. It does seem a little odd to have the US government’s premier task force acting in such an uncoordinated, amateurish manner but then I don’t read The Ultimates (still waiting on that HC collection, Millar!) so perhaps it is par for the course with the team. Besides, given some of the recent real-life incidents involving the US armed forces it may be closer to the truth than many people would like to think…

Regardless, this is indicative of the numerous nagging little flaws that have plagued this series since the very beginning. First of all, there is no clear reason for this series to be made distinctly separate from the ongoing Ultimate Spider-Man series. It is exactly the same complaint made about Ultimate War and its ties to Ultimate X-Men. Marvel seems to have failed to learn from their mistake on that front and the cynical answer is of course that they want your cash and they want it now. Still, as most of the plot threads here tie into Peter Parker’s life it would certainly make more sense that way. Harry Osborn witnesses his father’s latest Goblin escapades and has a mental break? That’s going to affect Parker. All five “evil” members of the Ultimate Six and The Ultimates themselves now know Spider-Man’s civilian identity? That’s going to affect Parker. The only thing that could possibly affect The Ultimates is the delicate condition of Hank Pym, injured in Dr. Octopus’ escape from the Triskelion holding centre. Given the current solicitation troubles however, this will probably be dealt with in The Ultimates at some point in 2008, so we’ll let that one go for now. All in all, it certainly does not help the reader to become emotionally invested in the series if the company publishing it appears to do so almost as an afterthought.

Thankfully there does seem to be something more to this series than there was to Ultimate War, however. Yes it still feels like nothing more than a commercial for Ultimate Spider-Man at times, but there has been a sinister undertow to this series that is perfectly encapsulated by the conversation between Captain America and Nick Fury at the end of this issue. If Bendis or whoever is brave enough to take over from him manages to correctly reap what has been sown here in Ultimate Six then we are in for some very interesting times indeed. As the good Captain points out, the next war will be a genetic war. Being the embodiment of the very experiment that kicked off this series of tragedies is surely taking its toll on him and this is reflected in the artwork here. As he stands in the spiteful rain addressing Fury his eyes show a vacant sadness. It looks as though the horrible reality of this situation has clicked, as has the recognition that his role in it has always been beyond his control. Would he have refused to participate in the Super Soldier project had he known what would happen? Probably… but it would only have delayed the inevitable. As he says, “In a sense, really, these people of power will the war into existence” Captain America here is the first nuclear bomb. He is the dream conjured up by naïve men with too much power and, even if that dream can be contained there is nothing they can do to stop other naïve, powerful men from dreaming too. And every so often a dream will become a nightmare. More specifically, it may become a Goblin. It may become a Hulk. Sometimes the dream is actually the reality, as represented by Magneto and the mutant terrorists populating the Ultimate Universe.

Make no mistake about it; the threat of genetics being manipulated by the wrong people for the wrong reasons is a horrific prospect. It also raises the moral dilemma of whether it could ever happen for the right reasons, but that’s an entirely separate debate. What Bendis has accomplished here is to not only make a threat that looms over the Ultimate Universe but to make it something relevant to our society. Much like racism and fear of change sparked the original Marvel Universe into life back in the ‘60s, what Bendis is doing here and what Morrison did with New X-Men was to re-imagine this threat as something people are genuinely scared of. Perhaps if the New Universe had some such similar point to it then that one would have stuck around too. It bodes well for the future of the Ultimate line but it is essential that this be followed up on. Such a damn powerful plot deserves a slow build, and it certainly cannot get any slower than what we saw here, but the real problem is going to be the release schedule of The Ultimates.

The conflict between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the US government – in particular between Fury and the President – over just how many of the Super Soldier experiments have been legally sanctioned and how many have been the whim of agents acting of their own accord is still unclear. The involvement of Norman Osborn and his relationship with the President’s administration also needs to be expanded. How this can be done when The Ultimates is running so far behind schedule that it had to be cancelled is going to be a bit of a puzzle. Far be it from me to suggest Bendis takes over the mantle of yet another book, but something certainly has to be done with the current creative team on that title if we are ever to get some resolution to this.

And let’s just pray that we do. Let’s hope that this does not end up like the supposed war between mutants and humans that the 616 heroes are still anticipating. If built up slowly over the next couple of years, perhaps with another dedicated mini-series to compensate for the lack of Ultimates action, then blown off with a gigantic crossover that covers all bases then it could be one of the greatest moments in comic book history. Similarly, if left to rot then all that Ultimate Six has achieved is to piss me off. It is hard to judge this book fairly, as all the important developments are kept in the background and what little occurs in the foreground is not worthy of the hype placed on this book. If followed through correctly then this could prove to be the launching pad for a truly memorable run. If not, well, at least The Wasp had a moment of utter coolness at long last.