| |
|
 |
|
|
Ultimate
War
Ultimates vs. Ultimate X-Men
2 /FEB/2003
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Chris Bachalo
Inks: Tim Townsend & Andy Owens
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Price: $2.25/R29.50 SA |
The Ultimate crossover continues along its course to war, but does
it still warrant all the hype so far? Join me as I take a look into
the ongoing saga that is… Ultimate War!
As the X-Men hide away in their safe house at the
docks in NYC, the Ultimates continue their ongoing search for the
missing mutant team. Magneto raises his ugly head and attacks the
Ultimates on their home turf, with some startling results.
I’m surprised that Millar continues to write a set-up piece
at the beginning of this issue, with just two issues left I struggle
to see where the ‘War’ is going to fit in. It seems
like Millar started with a few too many sub-plots and hasn’t
continued them in this issue. Iron Man and his search for the X-Men
is left hanging and the pursuit and capture of the rest of the Brotherhood
of mutants seems to have taken a back seat. I am certain we will
see these loose ends eventually tied up but with too many of these
loose threads the story may well suffer and lose some impact if
it gets rushed through.
On another note it was nice to see a bit more of the two headlining
super-teams in this issue and I personally can’t wait to see
the X-Men get thrown into some of the action. This mini-series promised
us action and finally we see some in this issue. The first battle
in the ‘War’ is finally fought and it has definitely
been worth the wait.
Magneto attacks the Ultimates and someone pays
dearly for their actions against him. I loved Magneto’s characterisation
during this scene, he comes across as a ruthless dictator with a
really mean ‘Darth Vader’ like streak. The special effects
produced by Paul Mounts in this issue are nothing short of startling.
He manages to bring Magneto’s magnetic abilities to life and
bring a real ‘power’ to the big battle scene.
Bachalo illustrates Magneto’s powers deliciously during the
aforementioned battle sequence. His detailed and somewhat cluttered
style fits Magneto’s powers perfectly. Shards of metal and
bullets not to mention people and guns are rendered marvellously
as they are manipulated by the master of magnetism, Magneto.
I was glad that some action was finally thrown into a title that
I was expecting to be a lot more exciting than it has turned out
to be so far. Although set-up is always important, I expected a
lot more action scenes and with Bachalo and Mounts on the art team
it’s the dynamic and fast paced action that really shows of
their talents. A beautiful book from the artistic standpoint which
is finally warming up and getting going from the action-based story
side.
Score 7/10
Reviewed By:Iain Duncan
|
|
|
|
Comic Reviews
