This collection takes a break from the ongoing title to collect the seven-issue Ultimate Six mini-series, a take-off on Spider-Man’s traditional fights against the Sinister Six. Going in expecting something similar to that would be foolish, though. I remember this getting lukewarm reviews when it came out, but maybe it helps to read it all in one setting, because I really liked it. I can imagine the monthly installments felt slow, as there are some thin chapters. Reading it in one go, it’s an exciting story that really brings some new dimensions to the Ultimate Spider-Man world and a nice variety in story, tone, and character focus.
In fact the Ultimate Spider-Man issue that opens the collection is the weakest part of it. It’s a flashback story where SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter participates in a raid on Justin Hammer’s facility after the Doctor Octopus battle from volume 3. She finds Sandman, another human experimented on by Hammer. The whole set up is a bit of a rush job. I just don’t like this Carter character – there’s no flair or energy to her tough spy act. She’s just a dull, angry character. It seems like the whole issue is done to get another villain into the mix to fulfill the “Sinister Six” numerical requirement, and it’s rushed in doing so. However, there is a fantastic battle sequence here, with Spider-Man fighting Sandman. Bagely pulls off a great display of the latter’s powers and some striking panels of his face when powered-up. It does feel like a perfunctory set up issue to get one more player onto the board, but it’s an opportunity for Bendis to continue to build the tapestry of the Ultimate Universe (as Hammer’s experiments were competing for the same government contract to recreate the Super Soldier formula that Norman Osborn and Dr. Octopus were) and the battle scene is stellar.
We then move onto the seven-issue mini. It opens with a short piece that I guess may have been promotional material. Joe Quesada draws it, and it features Electro awakening in a hospital after the fight in volume 2, attempting to escape, and being recaptured by The Ultimates. I liked it. Quesada does a good job conveying Electro’s disorientation upon awakening and his unique style is a treat to see.
The mini-series then properly begins, and the first two issues are centered around an idea that is executed to near-perfection. SHIELD and Henry Pym have five villains hostage on the Triskelion – Doctor Octopus, Electro, the Sandman, Kraven, and Norman Osborn. In an effort to rehabilitate them, there is an experiment being conducted where they are trapped in a giant energy sphere and led through group therapy sessions. Some of them break down and show emotion, while Osborn tries to remain above it all. There is a wonderful atmosphere of oppressive captivity, with the tables turned on the villains, who are powerless in this set up and reminded of it regularly.
Their crimes relate less to their violent public attacks and more to the genetic experimentation they all participated in. It’s all tied to the US government’s bid to recreate the Super Soldier formula that created Captain America in the 1940s. Both Osborn (working with Ock) and Justin Hammer were working to win this government contract, experimenting on people (and, in Osborn’s case, on himself). There’s almost a hint of jealousy or anger in Nick Fury’s attitude towards this – a sense that he let this get out of government control and now has to clean up a mess he’s partly responsible for commissioning. The crime isn’t because these men are super villains, per se, but because they performed genetic experimentation on themselves and others. It’s very interesting territory to get into.
The story alternately gets underway, and stalls, at the end of the second issue, when Ock deceives his captors, gets access to his mechanical arms, and uses them to free his fellow prisoners. The third issue is a tour de force, with the villains’ escape and Fury and The Ultimates reacting and trying to hold the situation together. Bendis shows these heroes as soldiers, with Fury commanding them and trying to control the problem. This is where Spider-Man enters the story. Osborn has been mentioning finding his “son,” assumed to be Harry, but revealed to be Peter, and Fury moves to protect him. Bendis achieves a sense of excitement, tempered by the danger of Osborn and what he might do to Aunt May and Mary Jane. The third issue is a taut, compelling thriller and all parties pull it off wonderfully.
The problem at this point is that the villains don’t really have a solid plan or motivation. They basically just want revenge on Fury for holding them hostage. Osborn and Ock want to acquire Peter as a sixth member, as they created him (but, acquire him for what purpose, I don’t know). The villains are just hiding out, making threatening phone calls to the president. This bit didn’t really work. While I love the idea of Fury having to answer for his actions (was the villains’ imprisonment, without trial, lawful whatsoever?), it feels a little unconnected from the main narrative. Bendis gets a lot of points for keeping the action moving, despite the fact that the villains have no motivation. There is genuine tension around the fact that the heroes have no idea where the villains area and the call between Peter and May is a touching moment that reinforces the danger he puts his loved ones into.
Once Osborn does capture Peter, some sort of master plan still doesn’t emerge. He blackmails Peter into helping him by threatening his aunt and girlfriend and that’s about it. They then attack the White House and, as soon as Peter finds out May is safe from Captain America, he joins the fight against the villains. So the plan basically amounts to fighting Fury/the President. It just doesn’t have the weight that Osborn has brought to his previous conflicts.
The last segment of the book is
largely action-based, and, similar to the first Goblin fight and the main Venom fight, it’s where the narrative is kind of put on hold. The fight scenes, however well-drawn, just seem too thin to take up this many pages. Harry Osborn inexplicably shows up for the final issue to talk his dad out of fighting. Similar to his appearance in volume 4, he is wasted here. He makes a speech to his dad, the fight continues, the villains are defeated, and he disappears. The aftermath of the fight is rather good, though – each of the villains try and talk their way out of punishment, while Osborn lies half-alive. May and Peter are reunited, with her none the wiser as to what really happened.
The Ultimates make a strong showing here. I did feel like Bendis went too far trying to capture Mark Millar’s ‘kewl’ dialogue in some of the group scenes (like Janet casually mentioning her multiple doctorates), but the individual portrayals are largely strong. I like the use of Pym, at this point demonized in The Ultimates, trying to help SHIELD where he can. Cap and Fury have a strong scene where Cap reflects on his the Super Soldier serum in his veins that caused all of this trouble. This is ultimately more Nick Fury’s story than Spider-Man’s, and he holds it together well as the lead character.
Trevor Hairsine draws the mini 
and it’s certainly a departure from Mark Bagely. His figures resemble some other artists’ styles – Bryan Hitch, Whilce Portacio, Mike Deodato, even Greg Land’s tracing – but I liked the look overall. He created a lot more drama and grittiness than Bagely could have. The menace and tension as the villains escape and wreak havoc owe a lot to the mood and sense of danger his art creates. His faces and expressions are generally quite good. He makes the final action issues come to life, with expansive panels and splashes. It livens up those two thin issues and looks great.
Overall, Ultimate Six is a very 
worthwhile excursion from the main title. Even at seven issues, I still felt Bendis told a tight, exciting story, with tension and drama at the right points. I was expecting a mess due to the number of villains, which Bendis can struggle with, but that never happened. The lackeys are designated as such early on, and Osborn and Ock ascend as the main antagonists. There’s an odd bond between these long time friends that emerges in their quest to unite all genetically-modified people, and bring Peter, their joint son, into the fold. It is uncharted territory to position Spider-Man as the inadvertent creation of a much bigger project, but it allows him to interact with different corners of the Ultimate Universe in new ways. It’s an unlikely success from Bendis, and I hope some of the ideas here can make their way into the main series.
No comments:
Post a Comment