All-New Ultimates 1, What If? Age of Ultron 2

All-New Ultimates 1
Fiffe (w) and Pinna (a) and Woodard (c)

Spider-Woman, now going by Black Widow, Spider-Man, Cloak, Dagger, and Bombshell meet up at the secret Hell's Kitchen hideout of the All-New Ultimates (which is pretty much all of them with an open invite for Kitty Pryde). From there, Black Widow gives them all special communicators (formerly used by the now-defunct SHIELD) and they decide their next target will be a drug lab manufacturing drugs from Roxxon. While Black Widow tries to talk Kitty into joining up with them, Bombshell stumbles on to a drug deal gone wrong. She calls in the Ultimates and they team up to try to take down the enhanced drug dealers. Cops show up as the fight is happening and prepare to take everyone into custody before reinforcements for the drug dealers come, led by the mysterious Diamondback.

Spider-Man's team back from ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN regroup here as a brand new full-on superhero team, set to battle Roxxon particularly, as they had been just before CATACLYSM shook the Ultimate Universe. Also making a seemingly obligatory appearance is Ganke Lee, Miles' best pal. The first issue is something of a long read, explaining a lot and checking in on every character. There's a feeling of wanting it all here, hoping to infuse humor and lightheartedness with a dark story and some dark situations. Hopefully it's something that settles in but at current it doesn't totally work for me. Also, Spider-Woman changing her identity and her look makes sense to me but I don't think her new look or name necessarily work right now. We'll see as things go on. As with any number one, it's hard to judge now. Let's let the team settle in a bit and then see how we're feeling.

What If? Age of Ultron 2
Keatinge (w) and Villalobos (a) and Redmond (c)

Because of the ripples caused because of dealing with the Ultron problem, we take a look into another universe where we see an alternate future based on a different outcome to the famous Armor Wars Iron Man storyline. In this world, Stark succumbs to his alcohol addiction at the hands of Obadiah Stane and Stane wins the Armor Wars, powering up incredibly and even trying to get his hands on real Stark armor. Wolverine wants to take Stane down and destroy the Master Mold in the Savage Land that's spitting out new armors regularly. He joins up with a new Ghost Rider and tracks down the retired Peter Parker before both go to enlist a meditational Hulk. They go to the Savage Land together and, while Hulk tries to beat up the Master Mold, they see that a Stark armor is powering everything as well as a descendant of Bolivar Trask (a Trask descendant is needed to power the Master Mold), a young girl used against her will to power things. Spider-Man wastes no time sacrificing himself to shut down the Master Mold and Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider leave with the girl, the mission complete.

I just do not get this story. On the one hand, I don't understand why this is under the AGE OF ULTRON umbrella. I understand it in the sense of "oh, timelines all shifted because the timestream was all sorts of messed up during AGE OF ULTRON so now we can tell a story from ANY time" but I don't understand it in that I'd be MUCH more interested in reading a book that was called WHAT IF? ARMOR WARS (pretty sure that already exists but WHATEVER) than WHAT IF? AGE OF ULTRON that then goes on to have nothing to do with Ultron or his age. On top of it, I have a lot of trouble following the story (and why does Captain America end up dead in like, every single possible future ever? The guy lived through WWII, doesn't that give him any sort of respect?) and it really feels like this one had a solid premise and then needed to be finished on a deadline. I don't know. This one's not for me. I like Villalobos' art, though. Very different than normal comic art these days but definitely something interesting to look at. Why is AGE OF ULTRON still haunting me?

Venom 42, Ultimate Spider-Man 28

Venom 42
Bunn (w) and Coelho (a) and Loughridge (c)

The final issue of Venom ends as Venom and Mania summon Mephisto to discuss the Devil's Mark that has apparently passed from Venom to Mania. Mephisto reveals that the symbiote appears to have cloned itself and pushed the Mark out with the clone, the crafty guy. Mephisto still will not remove the Mark, meaning that Mania is now the possible successor to Mephisto, as the Mark was attached to the symbiote, not to Flash. Flash, feeling fatherly, attacks Mephisto on behalf of Andi, though it has no effect on the devil. Mephisto waves if off, allowing Flash to live and act as a guardian for his possible successor, keeping her safe until her number is called. They, along with a little help from Mephisto, fight back Crossbones and his team, and end the current threat. Mephisto withdraws and Flash promises Andi he'll find a way to get the Mark off of her, to save her.

It's a nice final issue for Flash and it highlights a lot of the themes he's gone up against throughout the run on this book. Obviously his father was a really big theme and it kind of comes full circle here as he takes on a father's role for Andi (who just lost her father in the midst of all of this) and dedicates himself to her protection. It's also an introspective and retrospective time for Flash, who remembers all of his dreams throughout his life, becoming an all-star, a hero, a soldier, and realizing that, through all the hardships and all of the setbacks, he's really been able to do it all. Whether it's all he wanted it to be or not is still up for debate but there's no denying that his life has had some aura of greater purpose to it. It's a nice last issue with more impressive art by Coelho and really nice colors by Lee Loughridge (one of the times it stuck out to me was just flipping through the issue to get to the last page to remember exactly what had been said there and kind of zoned out as I flipped, just watching the colors go by, very stark, very different, very defined, great colors). Sad to see this book go, definitely one of the good, longer-running books. Surprised it lasted this long and certainly happy it was able to.

Ultimate Spider-Man 28
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)

Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Bombshell, Cloak, and Dagger make their strike against Roxxon with fairly sound success. Mr. Roxxon himself is every bit the jerk you'd expect him to be and the kids act accordingly. He's not dumb, though, and he has his science team (all of whom, of course, have some level of power to themselves) come to his aid. He's also figured out Miles' true identity and flaunts the information over Miles as Miles, for several pages, keeps him dangling from the side of the building. There's a lot of info there, about the creation of this Spider-Man and Roxxon's place in the world and about Miles' family but it's not really stuff Miles is terribly interested in at the moment. The kids beat the science team and Jessica calls in SHIELD to clean up, though it's a little complicated because SHIELD has had contracts with Roxxon. As Monica Chang grills Jessica Drew, Jess reveals that she'd like to start up some sort of ongoing team with this group (hint number one that maybe Cataclysm won't, as advertised, destroy the Ultimate Universe).

Not a bad issue, which is certainly good considering where I tend to stand on certain Brian Michael Bendis books these days. There's still perhaps a little more back-and-forth jokey-joke dialogue for the feel the book wants. Actually, maybe that's part of the problem. It's hard to place what feel the book wants if you have these intense fight scenes as a result of this outrageous moral behavior but have people quipping and bickering playfully throughout. It's not always off-center as you have a bunch of teenagers working this case but it certainly doesn't help the flow of the book. Regardless, the story is pretty good and the art is phenomenal. Making the decision to have Roxxon dangle off the side of the building, webbed up by his feet, with Spider-Man sitting above him for a few pages works pretty well. We get a fair amount of information in a way that, while feeling kind of over-exposition-laden, makes sense because we see Roxxon panicking and freaking out a bit, no matter if it's out of fear or rage or parts of each. Keeping Miles silent through it all, only to end by saying "you're under arrest" after Roxxon explodes for a few pages, is another solid call, giving us a nice side of Miles and letting us watch Roxxon deteriorate. As I said, fine art helps carry the issue as well, making the fight scenes more entertaining and the exposition more interesting. Pretty good issue.

Scarlet Spider 21, Ultimate Spider-Man 26

Scarlet Spider 21
Yost and Burnham (w) and Barberi, Baldeon, Pallot, and Olazaba (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Kaine has returned home from his trips to Westchester and New York City only to find himself afflicted with the degenerative disease he had thought gone long before. It's driving him a bit mad and he's snapping under the pressure. Meanwhile, each of his friends is hunted down and attacked (hunted down, that's a clue). While Kaine webs around the city, looking for some sort of relief, he's attacked by Ben Reilly, the original Scarlet Spider and the first successful Spider-Man clone (a. Kaine was the first clone but had the degenerative problem at first so Ben was the first one to be a complete success and b. that guy has a bunch of clones, geez). Kaine isn't prepared for the fight and finds himself quickly on the losing side. He escapes to gather his mind. He's convinced the attacker isn't really Ben Reilly, who he thought dead, but has no way to prove it. Reilly catches up with him (hunts him, almost) and rips off the mask to reveal that it is indeed Ben Reilly. Kaine puts up a good fight but his powers are degenerating and he eventually gives up again. This time, though, Reilly reveals that, psych, he's not actually Reilly and Kaine is just seeing things because of the heavy hallucinogenic dart he was hit with back at the airport and his attacker is actually Kraven the Hunter (Kraven's daughter has been attacking Kaine's friends one by one).

I wasn't sold on how fast Kaine decided he was losing his powers because I felt like there would be more skepticism to how fast the disease returned, with no warning, and how quickly it affected him. However, I think now that it works out pretty well as it leads to a bit of a breakdown on Kaine's part, which all works together to show how tightly strung Kaine is and how he's only barely managing to hold things together. In that respect, I think this plot works pretty well and it's a solid build for the arc and the character. Kaine has developed a decent little life for himself and if you remove Prey and the incident that caused it, he's been really very successful at turning his life around. But you can't remove those incidents and you can't remove his recent shake-up with Spider-Man and Jackal so he's understandably on a bit of a precipice here. It's certainly not going to help that he's up against the Kravinoffs, the family who killed him during Grim Hunt (guys, he came back, no big deal). Should be an interesting arc.

Ultimate Spider-Man 26
Bendis (w) and D. Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)

Miles is back on the scene as Spider-Man and he and Jessica Drew team-up to find Bombshell after her fight with Cloak and Dagger. The story is interspersed with Bombshell's origin story and the goings-on at Roxxon as a result. Bombshell's mother had been in prison for armed robbery when Roxxon got her out in order to use her as a test subject in their attempts to create a new super soldier. She consents and they begin testing. It doesn't result in a super soldier like Cap was but does grant her the power to create explosions with her hands. Immediately after the first successful test, a scientist reveals that she's pregnant and Bombshell's mother breaks out of the facility. Seemingly she went on to live her life and give birth to her child without Roxxon nearby, though it seems they've been keeping tabs because Bombshell's name appears on a list of Roxxon test subjects, a list that Cloak and Dagger got a hold of in the hopes they could take down Roxxon. Meanwhile, Roxxon has hired a bounty hunter of sorts, codename Taskmaster, to track and bring back Bombshell and Cloak and Dagger. The issue ends after Bombshell's told her story to the Spiders and Taskmaster manages to knock all three unconscious.

There's plenty going on here and there's a lot to like about this issue. I do think there's still a bit of that back-and-forth dialogue that gets in the way of the good stuff but it feels a little more at home in this issue, as there's less fighting and fewer characters, meaning that it doesn't feel as excessive as it does when five or six people are doing it in one scene. Still, apart from that, the story is interesting enough and there are nice touches here and there to help build character. There's a joke that gets played out twice (which is the perfect amount, it will get annoying if it comes around again later) as Spider-Man misses Bombshell with his web and has to frustratedly explain to doubters that he's out of practice. There's also a scene between Cloak and Dagger which is good in explaining their motives a bit more and expressing their concerns with their own plan, though it does get a little weakened by its cutesy back-and-forth. Still, overall a good issue with some really good art and a solid plot to build on.