That's what really bugged me at first. "Where is the anger?"
And then I realized Ultimate Ben just isn't angry. He's not dark and brooding and ... angry. He's just a cool guy, who part hopes everything will come to a good end.
As for puppet master:
du you guys realize, that Alice masters is far more central to the ff than her father. She's THE girl in the life of one of the main characters, the puppet master is just another pretty boring super villain.
Don't forget, Millar is the guy who doen't like writing about super villains, whe finds them mostly boring and who has managed a full year of ultimates without a single classic villain so far. So, my bet is on Alica without her dad, the super villains.
Ricky