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10
Well, you already know, just more of that good stuff by Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee and Travis Lanham.
I was very happy to see this issue was narrated by Jim Hammond aka the Human Torch. It makes sense why Camp waited so to let us in the mind of the synthezoid. This specific mission could not have been told by anyone else from the roster.
I remember seeing the footage of the Punisher in the first issue and thinking g "Oh! The Punisher ran wild in the 70s in this world." And not give it any more thought. Then finally here, in the cover by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon we see the Ultimates going against a gang sporting the Punisher's and I thought "Oh! Frank Castle's endeavors inspire people 50 some years later, that's sort of cool, right?"
Boy was a wrong. Someone mentioned in this issue that symbols don't die. That's very true. However, symbols can also be corrupted, distorted, changed or stolen. Completely bastardize their meaning given the right (or wrong) people and circumstances. Not to spoil anything, but the metaphors here is practically a 1-for-1 representation of what happened with the Punisher's symbol in real life.
Back to Human Torch. He's assessment of the team was spot on and very revealing in the case of Hank Pynk the Ant-Man. It seems Pym can't get over the fact that his counterpart from the 616 was a wife beater. That must be lingering in the back of his head still. Which that would be brought up more instead of just making him the weakest link in the group. Confident wise of course, he's still very capable.
There are 2 major reveals here. Well 3 if you count the fact that Tony is on his way back to recover. But it's been mentioned in passing that Tony gave out those lockboxes to many, who passed on the opportunity to or just refused it all together. Here's an example of one of them folks that got a lockbox and things didn't turn out as planned.
The other and final reveal should've been quite obvious since it was right there on my face. That one for sure will be a problem... more
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10
So glad there's a writer at Marvel who knows the truth: there's no better Nazi than a dead Nazi!
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10
Plot
Human Torch/JIM HAMMOND reveals to Captain America, Giant Man, Wasp and Hawkeye that he was the one who killed Hitler by melting him with his heat while everyone gathers at a base of the RED SKULLS, a terrorist organization that follows the ideals of the Red Skull.
There is a brilliant explanation of how Hammond has to erase unnecessary memories so that his systems continue to operate well.
Tony Stark helps the team from a distance while they operate on his spine, he needs to keep busy.
Captain America leads the attack, where all the Ultimates are coordinated in their attacks (great ultra violent fight sequences), the objective was to rescue Namor, but they discover that the leader of this organization called GRAND SKULL, has him as a trophy. Namor died years ago in a revolt in Atlantis and Grand Skull has him on display, because Steve and Hammond fought by his side with Bucky.
The Ultimates give Namor a funeral at sea, while Jim Hammond discovers that the voice behind Grand Skull is that of .... BUCKY BARNES!!!
Interesting installment that takes us to a key moment in the past of the Marvel Universe that was terribly modified with painful consequences for Steve Rogers.
Art
It is organic and textured that offers a suitable dynamism and dramatic tone, with certain influences from Manga.
Summary
The Ultimates tried to recruit a new member from the clutches of GRAND SKULL, but in exchange they received disconcerting revelations from the past more
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9.0
This was another great issue. However, the main thing I'd like to talk about here is kind of a really big deal, in my opinion, and a major spoiler for the issue. So, yeah. I just thought I'd have that disclaimer before getting into it. Anyways, yeah. Man, Bucky being Red Skull is actually so crazy and I absolutely love that idea. I'm really looking forward to seeing whether or not it gets followed up on at some point in the future. I'm really hoping it does.
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9.0
One of the better issues of the run so far.
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8.5
Pretty solid issue. I liked the idea, the view of the Torch and the ending was pretty surprising.
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6.5
A decent issue.
For those who can't understand the interpretation of 'hero' in the Ultimate Universe...Did you read the first ever series by the great Mark Millar?
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4.0
I admit I don't know the ultimate universe characters but did they always act this way or is it just the fact they don't have their original history thanks the The Maker or is this just a Deniz Camp thing? If this is what passes for heroes in the ultimate universe then The Maker has already won. Cap delighting in killing??? I think this is just Camp's inner wanna-be antifa persona coming out in his writing. It kind of shows in past issues but is full blown here. Seems like the bad guys aren't the only ones with a Punisher fetish here. The good guys seems to ironically lean that way as well. This was not for me.
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10
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10
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10
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10
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10
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10
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10
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9.5
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9.0
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9.0
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9.0
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9.0
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8.5
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8.5
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8.5
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8.0
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8.0
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6.5
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6.5