I have to say, I really enjoyed it.
Lindelof is using the same formula he did for Lost - either out of laziness or because he felt it was appropriate or because it was expected or asked of him I don't know - but Wolverine wakes up after "insert trauma" and then we flashback to how he got there.
The thing is - Lindelof, first time writing the Ultimate universe - and he seems to have got each character consistent in their portrayal. Wolverine is Wolverine, Fury is Fury, Betty is Betty. Very impressed.
There were a number of things in the issue that actually kept it entertaining despite the fact that even though the issue opens with incredible violence, the rest of it is Logan talking to people and being given exposition. But Lindelof manages to handle that exposition quite deftly - as has been pointed out, the ingenuity of random disasters are actually the Hulk. That was one of those, "Why do I not see people talk about Hulk like this all the time?" It was a marvelous way to depict the Hulk's power and create a real gravitas to his threat level.
Yu of course, is superb. There's little more to be said about him. A truly amazing illustrator - though I'm curious as to the relationship between him an Travis Charest.
I was very pleased with this issue, which is surprising since I just stopped watching Lost as I realised that it was boring as hell. In fact, my distaste for Lost makes me worried if this series, at 6-issues is going to be too long. I can already imagine that each issue will be a boring, boring flashback fest. For example, I'm convinced #2 (perhaps #3) will be a flashback like this issue, but from Banner/Hulk's pov. We'll see why and how he ended up in Tibet. We'll see him create those disasters and so on. In fact, I can imagine #2 starting with Banner in the snowy mountains of Tibet, muttering to himself, throwing up, feeling so sick but he can't think why he feels so ill - then he remembers and we see him ripping Wolverine in half again and then Banner thinks to himself, and we go back in time and it ends in the same place as #1 did.
I had hope because the first issue very quickly moves through time to arrive pretty much where the story started chronologically, but then Lost episodes started with the character flashbacks being how they ended on the plane, then later on, we get flashbacks from all over the shop in their backstories and I can't help but feel that in #4 we're going to have a flashback about Wolverine's wedding or Banner's first date with Betty or something.
I dunno, I have this terrible fear of just being mind-numbling bored by this series halfway through, as I was with Lost.
That said, there does seem to be somethings already in the works for subsequent issues - Fury would seem to think that Wolverine is more powerful than a nuke? Perhaps Fury is trying to get Wolverine killed. Also, Jen seems to be the other super soldier brainiac and has access to two doses of the Hulk serum, and she seems interested in Wolverine's joints. Now, its possible she's hitting on him, it's possible she wants to replicate the admantium process, or it's possible she's looking for weaknesses because she's a kook and wants to be the next Hulk. Maybe. Maybe Abomination makes his debut - it's just the two doses of the Hulk serum... worry me.
But in any case, while I'm still trepidatious of the series, I very much enjoyed the first issue.
