Vol 1: Ultimate Nightmare
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Trevor Hairsine and Steve Epting
2005
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
Vol 2: Ultimate Secret
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Steve McNiven and Tom Raney
2006
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
Ultimate Galactus TrilogyVol 3: Ultimate Extinction
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Brandon Peterson
2006
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
I can't be certain - but I'm fairly sure that the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy (am resisting the urge to write that all in caps with several exclamation marks: ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY!!! - oops - oh well) was the very first "Ultimate" (ULTIMATE!!! - great now I can't stop) book that I ever read (it was either that or Mark Millar's The Ultimates). Looking back and re-reading it for what? the third time? I don't know if I could have chosen a better place to start. An epic retelling/rebooting of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's The Galactus Trilogy (which took place in the pages of The Fantastic Four way back in 1966) - this is Warren Ellis (whose name I reckon was the thing that made me pick it up in the first place - seeing how back then (and still now) most mainstream superhero stuff just ends up giving me a headache) doing a big superhero epic and featuring not just the Fantastic Four - but also: Captain America, Nick Fury, Captain Marvel and some of the X-Men (amongst others) all in their slightly alternative updated Ultimate Universe forms [1].
You haven't read it? Well - let me try and sell it to you: it's doesn't really start like your typical superhero book - but instead mixes in end-of-the-world stirrings (crazy transmissions from outer space!) with covert semi-spy espionage stuff - except you know: the guy leading the mission is Captain freaking America - so it all feels kinda cool (yeah - it's an over-used word - but it fits - so there). I didn't really recognize all of the characters (in fact - still don't - who's the guy with the wings? And the guy with the metal arm?) - but that doesn't really matter. There's big outlandishly over-blown concepts like nuclear land-mines, freaky Soviet Russian experiments and new crazy methods of space travel (not to mention a nice little Day The Earth Stood Still joke for all you Robert Wise fans).
So you know: because this is Ultimate Galactus and not just - erm Normal (?) Galactus - his appearance is kinda - different to what you might expect (what do you mean you don't know what Galactus looks like?) and - yeah - after all that build-up the ending is just a little anti-climatic (and the third book's computer generated art left me a little - disconnected). But all-in-all: lots of rollicking superhero hi-jinks with a Roland Emmerich vibe - and seasoned with Warren Ellis' insane ideas of fun (and sharp eye for telling details).
Woop.
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[1] I end up saying something like on practically every entry for the Ultimate books - but for those of you that don't know: The Ultimate Marvel Universe is just like the Marvel Universe - but rebooted and made more modern and *cough* cool. (with varying results).
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Links: Comics Should Be Good Review, The M0vie Blog Review, PopMatters Review.
Further reading: The Ultimates, Iron Man: Extermis, The Authority, The Astonishing X-Men.
Profiles: Warren Ellis.
All comments welcome.
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