3 out of 5

…And when the Ultimates version of Terror, Inc. shows up, you can feel Fiffe’s fanboy smirk and appreciate the all-or-nothing approach he was going for in his scattered run.

The last set of issues (again, sort of grouped together out of convenience – not sure if issue 12 is actually the last part of No Gods or meant as a stand-alone or it doesn’t matter) are an improvement over the in-and-out approach of the previous books, in part because of a focus as we gear up for an end game, which is assisted by the second part of having a point-of-view return in the voice of Bombshell as narrator, and in major part because of Amilcar Pinna’s return, bringing back the kinetic framing and B-movie zooms of the first six issues – although the ninety inkers that work on issues 11 and 12 don’t ink Pinna as well as Pinna does and certainly can’t help but make the finale a tad inconsistent.  (Giannis Milongiannis weren’t no slouch on art, but the minimalist style didn’t help those issues to not feel like fill-ins.)  Nolan Woodard also notably returns on colors; Pinna’s packed panels are blessed with the many hues Woodard offers.

We’re sort of at a culmination of events, but not really; as a fan of bygone comics, Fiffe seemed more intent on just finding a reason to bring every character he wanted to into this mix (god bless the Where’s Waldo cover of issue 12) and give ’em an Ultimates spin; the justification for such things maybe came after the fact via Roxxon and gang wars, hence the somewhat inconsequential feeling of the actual plot – which, spoiler, ends with the bad guys mostly going to jail and the good guys playfully squabbling as they reconfirm their appreciate for one another.  Mike’s run as a whole is pretty uneven, but the end game shows it was just a race to cram his fun in while he could – while making sure to stay pretty true to the teen team messiness of this era of the book.  With these final issues making that intent clear, we’re allowed to just soak up the good times and enjoy it, and I bet it’ll make an even stronger one-sitting read down the road.