Cataclysm - Ultimates 2, Cataclysm - Ultimate Spider-Man 2

Cataclysm - Ultimates 2
Fialkov (w) and Di Giandomenico and Ruggiero (a) and Quintana (c)

Hulk has been infected by the Gah Lak Tus swarm and now leads the charge against the Secret Warriors in Belarus to consume and infect them. Hercules fights him and buys the others the time they need to keep moving through the swarm. However, it's ultimately futile as the swarm goes on to infect Emil Blonsky and, through the already infected Abigail Brand, Stature, giving the swarm an incredible advantage to what was already an incredible advantage. As everything rather falls apart, Falcon has entered Reed Richards' fallen City of Tomorrow to talk with its new head, George Tarleton (GUYS, that's MODOK), who is not a part of the Gah Lak Tus swarm but is clearly running the show in Belarus to some extent. He tells Falcon that he's going to offer up himself and this city, which he's made mobile, to Galactus and become his herald, worshipping him and finding new places for Galactus to feast. He sets the city in motion with Falcon still onboard and rushes to meet Galactus. Meanwhile, Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, and Danny Ketch find themselves surrounded and Fury uses an untested teleportation device on them, deciding any outcome is better than what's coming. They successfully teleport but they find themselves not that far away and facing a swarm-infected Punisher. Back in the main kill box, Hercules is still running rampant, throwing Hulk into Stature and demanding more.

Definitely a viable threat here for the Ultimates and the Ultimate Universe as a whole to face. It's an incredibly scary concept, working off the same sort of principles as zombies but all the while being entirely more impressive than zombies. They infect, they brutalize, they, well, they swarm. It's a big enough threat to base an event around and to base an event that incorporates all parts of this universe around and Fialkov isn't doing a bad job showing off some character here and there, particularly where the Secret Warriors are, by and large, newer characters to this universe. The threat is very real and, like the best threats to the Marvel Universe, it comes with no easy solution. The upside of the Ultimate Universe, too, is that a threat with no easy solution may well end with the death of everyone here. Pretty interesting stuff, good hectic and chaotic art from Di Giandomenico and Quintana's colors are appropriately dreary. Nicely done.

Cataclysm - Ultimate Spider-Man 2
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)

Back in New York, everyone is panicking in the face of Galactus and what he's done to New Jersey. People are running rampant, Galactus is leisurely blowing up bits and pieces of the city, and there are injuries and lost people and really too much to focus on. Cloak and Dagger teleport right to the face of Galactus, where Dagger throws some...daggers...into him, doing absolutely nothing. They bail before Galactus strikes at them. With the Ultimates spread out trying to help things while Iron Man comes up with a plan, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman go out in search of people to help, which isn't hard to find. They find a group of school children who were abandoned by their teacher and promise that they'll get them home. Spider-Man takes a young child screaming for his father and delivers him successfully home before getting a lesson in the importance of sons to their fathers. Miles heads home to try to help Jefferson who shoves him away in his continuing hatred for all things super-powered before Miles pulls off the mask and reveals himself.

The Galactus threat continues seemingly unimpeded and the heroes of the city are left to deal with the more personal problems in the city. The issue is presented alongside memories of ULTIMATUM and the tsunami in New York two years previous. Universally, the kids who were affected by that are older now and are dedicated to helping people where they couldn't the last time a disaster of this scale hit. I don't know, necessarily, that the juxtaposition of the two events is necessary; obviously it's a meaningful parallel and it makes sense that it would be on the mind of the people in the city, but to shape it like this makes it feel like they're only helping because they weren't able to help last time or because they regret not helping last time. One of the ongoing traits of superheroes, though, is that heroes jump in when they're needed, not out of regret or anything along those lines, so it's just as meaningful if they swing into action here without the prodding of the memories. Still, not an awful issue, though occasionally marred by some back-and-forth dialogue that continues to illustrate a somewhat lighter mood in the midst of all of this horror. Miles' reveal at the end is clearly what we're there for, though, and it's a long time coming, something that will show Jefferson's true colors next time out.

Hunger 2, Deadpool Kills Deadpool 2, Daredevil Dark Nights 3

Hunger 2
Fialkov (w) and Kirk (a) and Aburtov (c)

Galactus and the Gah Lak Tus swarm have merged into one being, far more powerful than either individual entity and it's making its way through the Ultimate Universe. On the plus side, Rick Jones now isn't the only super powerful entity in the universe who is aware of its existence as the Ultimate Universe's Silver Surfer is also on the case, showing up just in time to save Rick from the swarm. This Surfer, like the 616's, prefers nonviolence where he can get it and begins to attempt to talk Galactus down. Galactus is amused that there's a Silver Surfer in this universe too but, of course, doesn't listen to him because that would end the series right now and also would be a bit silly. With their powers combined, will they be enough to stop the Galactus swarm?

No, not yet, anyway. But you probably knew that because we just talked about how it would be a little silly if the four issue series actually ended in the second issue. Rick Jones and Silver Surfer, though, are teamed up now and have been transported to Earth, along with one of the swarm. The writing in this series has been pretty solid so far and I'm always a fan of Silver Surfer showing up (pretty darn excited that he's going to be in the next Daredevil issue, if the cover is to be believed). The two of them are pretty powerful and nicely aligned here but they'd have to be powerful or else putting them up against double Galactus wouldn't be much of an interesting fight. Leonard Kirk's art also continues to be pretty astounding and the colors for the book are really nice. It's a grand story for the Ultimate Universe, which Fialkov is already working on a different grand story for. It'll be interesting to see how Earth intersects with this story if indeed it does. If it doesn't in this story, I'm a little more worried for our protagonists here. Never get too attached to characters in the Ultimate Universe and particularly don't get too attached if they're characters who are facing a seemingly insurmountable foe and who haven't appeared in the universe any time recently. The thing about the Ultimate Universe is that insurmountable foes tend to remain insurmountable for quite some time.

Deadpool Kills Deadpool 2
Bunn (w) and Espin (a) and Gandini (c)

The summary of the series is broken down a bit more by our Watcher here as he explains the last couple Deadpool Kills series and how it ultimately led to certain Deadpools believing that, if they couldn't destroy the universe through killing all the heroes and all the ideas, maybe the universe is, in fact, in his mind. As a result, these Deadpools are tooling around the multiverse killing Deadpools who are not trying to kill other Deadpool. Talking about this series is going to get confusing, hm? Our Deadpool accompanies his band of Deadpools to a Deadpool hideout where they find out that their Deadpool comrades were ambushed by evil Deadpools and the evil Deadpools are lying in wait for them and this sentence might have broken a record for number of Deadpools invoked. Turns out the Watcher is a sort of double agent in that he's playing both sides of Deadpools because he's such a fan of the character that he wants to help them both out. Our Deadpool loses a couple of his crew though gains a couple more but it might be too late for them. The evil Deadpools, including the Deadpool made up from parts of our Deadpool, admit that they're here on a suicide mission as Galactuspool shows up.

The series is silly and better for it. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe lost a bit in the way of Deadpool silliness (though that was a parallel dimension's Deadpool), sacrificing it for far worse jokes and more gore. I liked Deadpool Killustrated but that was based mostly on the idea behind it rather than the writing in it. I like that we're back with our Deadpool who is a little more familiar to us. The story itself is equally silly and seems almost to be more an excuse for the team to come up with more Deadpools to draw and characterize (there are Deadpool equivalents for just about every hero, including a Captain Marvelpool and a Wolverinepool, as well as many other silly ideas, like the now-dead Beard of Beespool). Still some interesting ideas in here but I'm not sure if people are reading this for its complicated and meaningful plot and its complicated and meaningful characters. The book's called Deadpool Kills Deadpool, if you're looking for complex and meaningful probably best to look elsewhere.

Daredevil Dark Nights 3
Weeks (w) and Weeks, Cariello and Palmer (a) and Loughridge (c)

Daredevil has been brought back to a shelter by the woman he saved from the mugger before passing out last issue. He's been out about twenty minutes and the man who runs the shelter, who purportedly knows Daredevil's mission of saving the little girl's heart, has set off to finish the job for him. When Matt awakens, he instantly follows the man, not knowing if he's actually planning to deliver it and knowing that, even if he is planning it, he won't make it to the hospital in this weather. The man has indeed run into a few problems himself, finding himself on the short side of addition debts and accosted by the gang he owes them to. Daredevil manages to track the heart and save the man, escaping with him and the heart before the gang members can regroup. In turn, Daredevil is helped by a SHIELD patrol that has been keeping abreast of the situation themselves. The heart is successfully delivered and Daredevil kicks around the hospital until he hears the girl's heart beating.

This was a nice little story for Daredevil as he has to cope with memories and an overwhelming and unbeatable enemy in the snow of the city. Daredevil is a pretty introspective character and he has a lot going on in his head most of the time. Weeks was smart to focus on that aspect of the character and to force him into a situation where his mind drifts into memories more easily, given the strain his body is facing. There are a couple of somewhat strange turns that put Daredevil in the frame of trying to save the girl to make up for his sins in the world but I'm not sure I love that idea. On the one hand, Daredevil certainly is motivated by his failures, like many other heroes, but on the other, that makes it feel like he wouldn't try to save this girl unless he was trying to absolve himself and that's kind of a crappy hero. I know that there's some level of that to plenty of heroes (Spider-Man is constantly trying to make up for the fact he caused Uncle Ben's death) but I think that it weakens the story a bit here, especially as it only really comes up this issue. By and large though, pretty good story with really good art. If you're on the fence about picking up this series, the art alone should push you to do it. Excited to see what the next story and creative team will bring us.

Hunger 1, What If...AvX 3

Hunger 1
Fialkov (w) and Kirk (a) and Aburtov (c)

After the events of Age of Ultron, the time and spacelines are split a bit and everything is wonky. Issue 10 of Age of Ultron showed Galactus popping into the Ultimate Universe (where he "exists" in the form of a swarm of robot drones and flesh eating viruses called Gah Lak Tus) and that's what this four issue mini-series is focusing on. To start, it focuses on Rick Jones, who is far more powerful in the Ultimate Universe than he is in the 616 and has been tasked by the Watcher to protect the Universe and who is currently trying to take something of a break from that life. He's unable to when he's thrown through a portal by the Watcher that sends him to a battlefield where the Kree and Chitauri (the Ultimate version of the Skrulls, pretty much, which are now also in the 616 thanks to The Avengers and Bendis' Guardians of the Galaxy, among other things) are attacked by the Gah Lak Tus swarm. It's here that the rift in the time opens up, depositing the 616's Galactus in the middle of the fight as well.

The Gah Lak Tus swarm and Galactus are obviously already huge threats on their own but this mini-series introduces the idea of two versions of Galactus teaming up and wreaking unbelievable havoc, among other worrying things about the rips in time and space. The decision to focus this, at least for now, on Rick Jones is an interesting one as I believe he's been rather inactive for rather some time (well, by his own admission, he's been incredibly active but we've not seen him in some time) but he's a wonderfully powerful entity and therefore is a good gauge for how strong the Galacti are. At the same time as this giant disaster, Fialkov is writing the giant disasters ongoing in the Ultimates at current and he's fresh off a startlingly good Alpha mini-series. I don't read a ton outside of Marvel and a handful of  other indies (and Scott Snyder's Batman which I have to admit is a pretty awesome book, even if I won't recommend it here lest it ruin my Marvel cred) so I hadn't seen Fialkov prior to this set of Marvel comics but he's certainly a capable writer with a good eye for character and a story to tell. He was recently on the Nerdist Writers Panel podcast and said that one of the approaches he likes to take is to tell the story of a character on their worst day, which is a nice frame for a lot of these stories and which tells a good amount about the character in the way he or she reacts. Solid start here. It'll be interesting to see how this resolves as I find it hard to believe the 616 will be lacking a Galactus permanently.

What If...AvX 3
Palmiotti (w) and Sandoval and Tarragona (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Quick note again: Marvel has to get their credits together. This is another in a series of issues I've seen recently where the credits on the cover don't match up with the credits on the interior. The interior is claiming Gerardo Sandoval is the main artist but the cover claims Jorge Molina, as does the shipping list I check. I went with Sandoval because I've seen more Molina art and it doesn't really look like his style. I could be wrong, of course, but I'm sticking with it. Anyway, glad this took up so much space because there's not a whole ton to talk about with this issue. Hope was, at the end of last issue, possessed by the Phoenix in the company of Magneto and Emma Frost and the Avengers space strike team was in hot pursuit. They get there only to find Hope controlled by the Phoenix and starting to be manipulated by Magneto, which doesn't bode well for the humans on Earth. On Earth, everyone is getting pretty antsy about the reports from space and the Avengers and X-Men put their differences aside to try to stop Magneto. It won't be that easy, though, to stop the master of magnetism teamed up with the impossibly powerful Phoenix. They have one more issue to try to do so.

I'd be interested to hear how someone who prefers comics and stories for their plots is reacting to this What If series. I like plot and a good plot can certainly carry a comic sometimes but it would have to be an insanely good plot to make up for weak characters. I care mostly about characters and think the best characters can easily hoist up a bad plot and make you forget all about it. This story is not about the characters. That much has been clear from the get-go. Events sometimes have trouble doing that because there are so many pieces to the story. It's why I liked the Age of Ultron tie-in stuff more than Age of Ultron (well, that and other reasons); I preferred to hear how these events impacted the characters I care about rather than how the story would settle itself out. Civil War was pretty solid for defining character because it was such a morality question and just choosing a side told a lot about character. Here, though, the character doesn't really impact the story. It's good that it doesn't, though, because every character continues to be either written exactly the same, in the case of any backgroundish character, or to their basest elements, in the case of the characters most in the foreground. Everyone is simply saying whatever best advances the plot and no one seems to have a personality to them except for the personality foisted on the stars of the book, like Magneto (hates humans), Cap (soldier), Cyclops (X-Man) and Iron Man (Avenger). On the other hand, pretty much anyone else could be swapped with any other character and it would all look about the same. Nova, here Sam Alexander, talks like he's been a superhero for years and is maybe actually Richard Rider under there instead of a 15 year old who just got powers. Black Panther literally says, in conferring with Tony about a scientific weapons device, "From what you told me, this thing packs a wallop!" which ignores the fact that the Panther we know would already know the exact scope of the tech he's using, would never say "wallop," and likely hasn't had an exclamation point anywhere near him in decades. These may sound like nitpicks from someone who's a little too into comic books (if that's what you're thinking, why are you here? That's pretty much ENTIRELY what this blog is supposed to be), but they really do break the flow and the weight of the book by making it feel like the writer didn't care about the characters, so why should I? I adore Black Panther, he's in my top five superheroes, and it couldn't have mattered less to me that he died in this issue (he died in this issue, btw). Sure it's a "what if" so I know it's not in continuity anyway, but I still should have felt something: I knew he wasn't actually going to be dead at the end of Age of Ultron and I was still legitimately mad when he got killed off (though that was largely because he got killed by a bad fall, the dude with maybe the best reflexes in the world). Here, it didn't matter. He was just words on a page. And that's an ugly thought to be left with when your job description boils down to "words on a page."