Cataclysm - Ultimates' Last Stand 2, Daredevil Dark Nights 7

Cataclysm - Ultimates' Last Stand 2
Bendis (w) and Bagley and Hennessy (a) and Keith (c)

CATACLYSM keeps on rolling as the Ultimates try to figure out what Galactus is and what it is he's doing there and, most importantly, how they're going to try to stop him. Iron Man has figured out that he seems to be made of cosmic energy and is using whatever power they have against them and taking it into himself to make him stronger. He's also figured out that the readings on it bear a striking resemblance to the reading on Peter Parker from the 616, taken when Peter came to the Ultimate Universe during last year's SPIDER-MEN event. Stark and Chang go down to the holding cells to ask Mysterio (also the Mysterio from 616) what Galactus is and he points them to Reed Richards. There is an active portal that can potentially bring them to the 616 but no one is quite sure what that portal will do. Stark insists on going in himself but everyone talks him down, knowing that they can't afford to lose him. Spider-Man steps forward and offers himself, saying that he's crossed through the portal before (SPIDER-MEN again) and knows it won't hurt him. The crazy Reed Richards also offers to go, which is met with much resistance but he makes a compelling argument about the best way to contact the 616's Reed. Meanwhile, the X-Men have noticed that Galactus is trouble.

Plenty still happening here though I can't help but notice Bendis' back-and-forth dialogue continues and people continue to quip in the absolute darkest of times. There's an element to the quipsters, like Spider-Man, that they quip when they're facing their worst moments because they have to in order to stay sane and I kind of buy that (really I think it was just because comics were so different when Spider-Man was created and Stan Lee wants nothing more than to quip non-stop) but there are times when I think it's fine to do that and there are times where I think it ruins the mood and the tension by throwing quips in. Spider-Man can quip at Rhino all day long while the two of them fight but put Human Torch up against Galactus as New Jersey burns away beneath them and I think something isn't really working. That's in addition to my problem of it making every character sound exactly the same. Maybe, with that out of the way, I can stop saying the word "quip." Plenty still happens here and there's enough plot-related dialogue that the story keeps moving relatively well and the event itself still hasn't lasted too long to overstay its welcome. Should be interesting going forward to see if it does hit that point.

Daredevil Dark Nights 7
Palmiotti (w) and Silas and Decastro (a) and Fabela (c)

Daredevil and Misty Knight fly their helicopter down to Cuba to find King and try to save Nestor, as the narration ham-fistedly relates in massive detail to start the story. Their helicopter gets shot out of the air but they manage to abandon and inflate a raft quickly enough to make it to the mainland. Matt naps the entire way to the disappointment of Misty who is all over him this arc (which seems out of character, far be it for me to imply that Jimmy Palmiotti is a bad writer). King has surveillance on them the whole way and, after a chase through the Cuban markets, his psychotic henchwoman Carmen Alvarez shoots a rocket launcher at the building Matt and Misty are trying to get off of. It collapses, burying Daredevil and allowing Alvarez to take Misty, who was King's target all along as Misty is...his ex-girlfriend! Dum dum duuuuuuuuuuum.

I'm not going to go out and say that this series has been comprised of some of the most thrilling tales about Daredevil we've ever seen but I will say that there have been definite highlights all around. The first arc had some really great Daredevil moments and some outstanding art from Lee Weeks. The second art felt a lot like a somewhat sillier version (though still pretty interesting and character-driven) of Waid and Samnee's incredible run. This arc, though, the final arc to leave this series with, is pretty awful. Bad writing (though there are somewhat fewer unnatural lack-of-contractions here), bad characterization, and an overall uninteresting story make even the somewhat interesting art seem weak and kind of exploitative. It's just a really ugly arc all around and it's unfortunate that this will be what we leave the series with, after an impressive (or, at its worst, somewhat slow) first two arcs. I do remember back to Lee Weeks' arc with really fond memories particularly after seeing this one. We just didn't know how good we had it.