Ultimate Fantastic 4 # 18 (spoilers)

[René]

WOW!! Just wow! So Johnny did survived. Basically he was just shedding his skin and grew new skin cells. Like a snake, so basically he was just hibernating. Nihil is dead and the 4 are out.... This was so awesome. Cant wait to read the next arc to see how the people react to the FF.

 

[TheManWithoutFear]

I thought this issue was pretty average. Disappointing because I only got two reads this week (MY STORE DIDN'T HAVE ULTIMATE ADVENTURES ) Anyway, to the issue...

Felt like a rushed ending sorta. I'm really not too fond of "Johnny's shedding of the skin" and Annihilus' demise. The only thing that really got my heart rate up was the fact that they are now going to be public. But the issue was very average and no where near as good as the last.

 

[René]

I KNOW!!!!!!!! I hope that this is some how mentioned in the rest of the Ultiamte Universe. I liked it but the fights could have been somewhat more exciting. I didnt like Reed's little monologue at Nihil though, it was kinda corny, but overall I liked the issue.

 

[Caduceus]

I KNOW!!!!!!!! I hope that this is some how mentioned in the rest of the Ultiamte Universe. I liked it but the fights could have been somewhat more exciting. I didnt like Reed's little monologue at Nihil though, it was kinda corny, but overall I liked the issue.

I think the FF is sort of in its own little corner until MILLAR fixes the continuity issues like he claims he will.

 

[Patriot Mk2]

I think the FF is sort of in its own little corner until Bendis fixes the continuity issues like he claims he will.

Thought that was Millar's job?As in the point of "Crossover"?

 

[Caduceus]

Thought that was Millar's job?As in the point of "Crossover"?

Woops. I'm getting my wires crossed. I'll fix the original post

 

[ultimatedjf]

I thought this issue was pretty average. Disappointing because I only got two reads this week (MY STORE DIDN'T HAVE ULTIMATE ADVENTURES ) Anyway, to the issue...

Mine either.

 

[E]

A decent ending to a forgettable arc. FINALLY it looks like they are about to get their names and the 4s on their uniforms. I wonder if that will be the focus on Carey's issues.

I'll also be interested to see if anyone in the future has Johnny shedding his skin again. I kinda doubt it.

I'm actually kind of glad Nihil was killed. It's not a very good character and I don't think I'll be bothered that he most likely will not show up again.

I don't dislike Ellis, but I'm kind of glad he's off the book.

 

[Ice]

This issue was cool, but the only problem was sooo many splash pages. Other than that, I liked it. Defitnetly the ending. And Gen. Ross, too.

 

[E]

This issue was cool, but the only problem was sooo many splash pages.

This arc was especially bad for that.

 

[marvelman]

that was a great finish to an average arc.

Is that an Ultimate Nullifier?

 

[Nurhachi]

or Ultimate NIHIL-fier

 

[E]

or Ultimate NIHIL-fier

HA! :lol:

 

[ProjectX2]

Sounds like a nail file.

 

[Parthuman]

I kind of liked Reed's little rant after he killed the villain. I'm fairly new to UFF (the UU siren Sue Storm lured me in), but the fact that he vented at the smoking head of a guy he just annihilated actually salvaged Mr. F., until now my least-favorite ultimatized FF character.

It wasn't quite Hulk grumbling about Naked Guy as he was eating Naked Guy's intestines, or Ultimate Cap spewing bile while wedging a slice of wood under the collarbone of Ultimate Red Guardian, but the same it's-YOUR-fault-I-slaughtered-you spirit of the UU was there.

One of the things I like about this universe is that core characters seem seriously angry at being forced to kill people--angry at the people they kill. People lose control of their emotions. The best example of this was when Thor, after all his entreaties and appeals to the Ultimates, finally just lost it and started zapping the hell out of everybody. And the Widow grinding Thor's head into the ground and preaching maniacally after she sucker-punched him.

It's real-world anger: Somebody has forced you to lower yourself into a fight, and your anger explodes once you've beat them down. It's sort of an enraged regret. It's identifiable. Compare this to, say, the MU Wolverine #27, where he casually counts up the number of people he intends to kill for turning him into a Hydra-bot. Fifty-two thousand? Hey, no problem.

As for the art in this UFF, there was an awful lot of extraneous filler panels, I agree. And I've got some quibbles with the look of some of the characters (Sue Storm aside). Reed Richards looks like a member of the Little Rascals, Poindexter by way of Andy D*ck. And the Thing looks like D*ck Cheney. Johnny Storm is generic surfur dude.

I'm thinking Sue Storm is looking more and more like the movie's Jessica Alba (which gets back to DocStrangeFate's theory that "Secret" was shelved to clean up all FF comics to dovetail with the flick).

But I'll be picking this up again.

 

[TheManWithoutFear]

One of the things I like about this universe is that core characters seem seriously angry at being forced to kill people--angry at the people they kill. People lose control of their emotions. The best example of this was when Thor, after all his entreaties and appeals to the Ultimates, finally just lost it and started zapping the hell out of everybody. And the Widow grinding Thor's head into the ground and preaching maniacally after she sucker-punched him.

It's real-world anger: Somebody has forced you to lower yourself into a fight, and your anger explodes once you've beat them down. It's sort of an enraged regret. It's identifiable. Compare this to, say, the MU Wolverine #27, where he casually counts up the number of people he intends to kill for turning him into a Hydra-bot. Fifty-two thousand? Hey, no problem.

Good observation. I like your thoughts on that a lot. Although Peter Parker's seems a bit more whiney than the others. It's amazing how every UU writer shares this same element in their stories.

 

[Parthuman]

Yeah, very true. You know more about the Ultimate U than me, but Spidey seems like the one guy who's actually softer than his MU variations. Although that last issue, where he was hollering at Mary Jane and slamming Harry the Hobgoblin, there was just a hint that he may be crossing that line, too, you know?

 

[René]

I'll also be interested to see if anyone in the future has Johnny shedding his skin again. I kinda doubt it.

I was thinking about that too, and I think it would make for some good story arcs that he cant fight because to hibernate or he can go to big "hollywood party" cause of his skin cells. I do agree that this wasnt the best arc. But it wasnt that bad. I think.

 

[Patriot Mk2]

It's amazing how every UU writer shares this same element in their stories.

I believe the correct wording is "editorial mandate"

 

[Bass]

I think the reason that the UU characters get pissed off an blam someone is that the architects of this series said, "Let's make the Marvel U a bit more like Ellis' Wildstorm". I'm not saying they ripped him off, but they definately wanted to tap Ellis' style for the line - I believe someone like Bendis, Millar, or Quesada actually said this somewhere (I don't where, so I may be getting my wires crossed). This is because Ellis created the Authority which did (and his stories still do) make everything else look stale in comparison. Ellis is a very fierce man, and he gets pissed off with a lot of things - politics, science, culture - and superheroes vent that. So this generation of writers get pissed off with this world and use superheroes to express that frustration. It's probably something they've not really noticed, it's just the understandable effect of a group of like-minded writers designing a universe.

As for UFF, I'm gonna miss Ellis. I've really enjoyed the last 12 issues. They've all been so much fun.