A Man With An Agenda

I had the urge to splurge right through this the way I usually do with comic books, but I restrained myself two thirds through and promised myself I'd finish my other book first.

Mark Millar seems to be a love him or hate him figure in comics, but I've always appreciated his high-octane, sand-in-the-face modern stories, which I consider synonymous with the Ultimate universe. Still, I was a little leery of his take on the Avengers at first.

Red Skull, a legendarily cruel mercenary, has been hired by AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics, a radical ideological organization first mentioned in Ultimate Vision) to steal a set of plans from the Baxter Building in ruined post-ultimatum-wave Manhattan. In the wake of that confrontation, Captain America has gone rogue, so Danvers has no choice but to call the disgraced Fury back into action to form a black ops team to take him down and prevent a new crisis. He's loaned Hawkeye (still equipped with the super-lame purple and red outfit from Ultimates 3) "the only cool one anyway" and, with the help of Tony's hitherto unmentioned older/twin brother Gregory Stark, forms a team including Nerd Hulk, Red Wasp, and a new Black Widow, who's also Fury's ex-wife, and War Machine.

So, essentially, knock-offs of the original Ultimates line-up. But it starts to work. Working against time to find Captain America and also prevent Red Skull and AIM from recreating the most terrible weapon ever invented.

The story arc is tight and revelations of back story fit perfectly into the extended universe. My imagination failed to be inspired by the new characters and there wasn't time to develop their interactions with each other until the last couple issues, where it all pulls together. The Avengers haven't reached the height of characterization and story that the Ultimates did, yet, but if Millar stays with it, it might happen.

Ultimate Marvel

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