Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Ultimate Human #1
Marvel Comics
Ellis, Nord & STewart
The last time I dipped my toe into the Ultimate Universe for either the Hulk or Iron Man I saw a five issue series take nine or ten months to wrap up for Iron Man and I saw only two issues out of six ever even make it out to the stands for the Hulk. I have set the bar low on this series, but for an individual issue I liked it. I didn’t think it was special, but I was entertained.
Here’s the nice thing about the Ultimate Universe: anything goes. These stories aren’t beholden to the continuity and the nice thing is you don’t have to read four hundred previous issues to understand the character. It’s all new ground in these issues. The only problem with that is that we spent half of this issue getting to know Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. It was boring. I’m not saying we needed to Hulk-Out in the first two pages, but it would have been nice to get a flashback of the Hulk killing all the people mentioned in this story, no?
Anyway, we begin the issue with a bored Tony Stark drinking the day away in his office. He is interrupted by Bruce Banner. Banner looks homeless and beaten. Here we get the background on the Hulk and Banner. Banner, was to be a super soldier. The “Hulk Effect” was to make him into a stronger, smarter, faster and more feared warrior. Note I said smarter. Hulk is not smart, he’s dumb. This is to say that the “Hulk Effect” is a failure. No gamma bombs for this Hulk, he wanted to do this and it didn’t work. This is a great take on the Hulk character.
Banner asks Stark to cure him of the “Hulk Effect”. He feels this can be achieved using the same technology that allows Iron Man to control his suit with his mind. At least, I think. The technological explanation seemed a bit fuzzy.
Then we get some visuals of someone who apparently was affected by Stark. I take it that this guy is the real villain. He will wait his turn I guess.
Banner and Stark pour over the plans. They are going to put Banner in a controlled tank that mimics planet’s atmospheres. The idea being that when Banner Hulks-Out, the room can switch to Venus which will weigh down the Hulk and allow him to calm down and switch back to Banner. Sounds fool proof to me.
Banner Hulks-Out. Then he breaks out of the little control room and away we go. Stark (not in his suit) is watching his plans to sedate Hulk get washed away as the Hulk apparently has the new power to adapt to his environment. With it, any chemicals shot at him, his body fights and learns from them. The tease is that Stark is afraid that the Hulk is going to kill him.
A nice issue. The ending and the artwork bring this up to a good level. The slowness over the first half prevents it from being a great issue.
The artwork is really outstanding. When you consider that there is barely any action in this comic the artwork is above and beyond amazing. Just take a look at the reactions on the character’s faces. That is all you need to do in order to appreciate this comic. The visuals tell the story as well as the dialog.
The plot is a good one. Hulk looks for help. Stark screws the Hulk over. Hulk goes after Stark. Things look bleak. I’m a sucker for it every single time.
This being only a four issue mini-series I would think you need this first issue if you want to keep up with what is going on. It will be interesting to see how the Hulk is stopped when you consider his new powers. I know I will probably like the next issue more with all the throwdowns, so I can save the higher ratings for later.
3 out of 5 geek goggles.
Check out the upcoming issues..
