3 out of 5

For the most part, I only find myself buying Marvel or DC titles due to a particular writer (and moreso Marvel, as DC seems to stick to their Vertigo pool); with All-New Ultimates, I’m following ‘Copra’ creator Michel Fiffe.  This is also one of the few author ‘appearances’ I was really excited about. as Fiffe’s ‘Copra’ – a team hero book that’s essentially a recreation of an era of Suicide Squad Mike loves – could pretty easily translate to a Big Two book, unlike a lot of other indie creators who have to shift creative gears when suddenly writing X-Men or Cap or etc.

This didn’t make me approach Ultimates without tempered expectations: I’ve been in the comic-readin’ game long enough to see how editorial directions can squeeze a lot of life out of books.  Although, Fiffe would be working in the Ultimate universe, which generally allows for a bit more freedom while, in its original incarnation, celebrating what made these mutants and misfits so fun and appealing (a concept Michel credits in his first issue editorial)…  Yeah, back and forth.  But I’m happy to report that this first arc on Mike’s first Marvel book winks at my tempered expectations, and manages to outclass a lot of the Big Book pros with its scripting smarts.

The ‘All-New Ultimates’ consist of the Miles Morales Spider-Man, Peter Parker clone Spider-Woman (who renames herself Black Widow within this arc), Jubilee-with-explosions Bombshell, Kitty Pride, and Cloak and Dagger.  Thankfully, we’re past the “here’s the reason we’re becoming a team” issue (which must’ve happened in some other Ultimates event) and we can get right to the teens on patrol, trying to clean up their streets which have lately become congested with Serpent Skulls peddling some new dangerous drugs.  As with ‘Copra,’ Mike doesn’t waste time trying to blow us out of the water with deep dialogue or crazy concepts, he just focuses on giving us a good comic book, and he succeeds.

There were four things that really sold this to me: 1. For a teen book, Fiffe forgoes the petty arguing norm.  The kids have concerns with boys, and money, and school, but we don’t fall back on soap-opera for the drama.  When Bombshell gets pissed and leaves the group early on, it’s a more internal struggle with her powers than it is some silly misunderstanding that every hero book and TV show abuses at some point.  Otherwise, the team is concerned about being a functional team – is everyone okay?  How else can we help? – and it’s a refreshing and simple tone switch that allows the book to feel like it’s continually moving forward.  2. Details.  There’s not one a’wasted.  Several times a character would reference an event I didn’t remember and I’d flip back a few pages and, sure enough, there’s a panel depicting that event.  This might be a carryover from Fiffe having to maintain a crazy schedule for his own book; whatever way he came to the writing method, the commodity of page is a rarity.  Which leads to 3. Bang for your buck.  I couldn’t just flip through the book and get the gist; I couldn’t read one issue in a couple minutes.  This isn’t all talking heads or anything, but I really felt like I had read each issue, and it took enough time that my 3.99 felt well spent.  4. Personality.  Teens are… stereotypes, and it’s easy to write them all pretty similarly, with maybe one angrier or one studier or one sweeter, etc.  (I’m looking at you, X-Men.)  These kids talk like teens – and without the old-men-trying-to-write-like-teens embarrassment of a lot of modern books – but they also all talk like individuals.  6 characters are hard to individualize in one story arc (with other things happening, even), but it happens.  This is especially clear in a beach scene where all the Ultimates ladies are taking a break; instead of feeling like filler, the scene was enjoyable because you felt like you were witnessing a pretty real conversation.

Of course, all of this is greatly assisted by artist Amilcar Pinna and Nolan Woodard.  Nolan keeps the book wonderfully colorful (the expressiveness paying due to Copra, in a way) while still keeping it grounded.  There are cues with coloring lighting – daytime, nighttime – that make a huge difference to scene interpretation, and Woodard makes that happen.  Meanwhile, the personality in the writing is literally visualized by Pinna.  Not only do these teens speak with unique voices, but they hold themselves in a similarly unique fashion.  And the action scenes manage the balance of chaos and coordination that’s befitting a relatively inexperienced teen team.

So… why only three stars with all of this praise?  I’m asking myself as well.  …I tore through Copra.  I didn’t tear through Ultimates.  I could have stopped at any given issue.  I guess Copra just felt like it was fueled with endless imagination, whereas Ultimates is, still, limited to the Marvel U.  The energy of Fiffe’s story and art is what propelled it into the stratosphere; even though this book looks great and has all of these pluses to the writing, it feels like a side-story.  Fiffe can’t change the world with these characters, so it’s assumedly going to be a one-and-done run, and then they’ll reboot the Ultimates again, probably.  An unavoidable consequence of the Big Two, and something that can only really be sidestepped when you’re a Universe-defining author like Morrison.  But to be fair, that’s not what Mike’s going for.  Still, look past the three stars – which says this is a good book – and realize the most important thing here is I’m not regretting my purchases.  I’m entertained, and I feel like Mike has done right by his first Marvel appearance.