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Agree my friend. Your taste is exceptional as always.
THE FATE OF THE ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR!
Doom's years of torture at the hands of the Maker finally catch up to him in this secret history of the real Reed Richards! And tensions rise among the Ultimates when Doom might be more fixated on re-creating the life he should have had than the life he's got...
Rated T+
Combining the layers of craft makes this exercise in structure and formal application a compelling read that pushes this into the single best issue of the Ultimate Universe so far. The harmony in which Camp and Noto operate in this issue is beyond fantastic, setting a precedent for formal innovation after the narrative leaps made in the previous issue. The Ultimates #4 is the crowning jewel of the line, and quite possibly the best Marvel comic of the year (and maybe even the decade). Anyone interested in what is possible for Big 2 comics should read this issue and walk away with a compelling story, beautifully haunting art, and a real sense of tragedy that speaks to the fundamental importance of the Fantastic Four to the Marvel Universe. Read Full Review
Camp and Noto craft a tragic, melancholy story in The Ultimates #4. Doom can neither hold onto his past nor grab this lost future. And Doom must decide whether he will try to live up to the Reed Richards he was meant to be or be the Doom that the Maker crafted him to be. I am reminded of Number Six in The Prisoner “I am not a number, I am a free man!” as Doom struggles with his internal chains. Even with the Maker locked up, he still feels trapped and forced to embrace the metal mask of Cain on his forehead. His armor essentially making his body a prisoner. Read Full Review
The Ultimates #4 fully defines Reed Richards' Dr. Doom, revealing the tragedy of the Fantastic Four in this universe and the motivation to defeat The Maker at all costs. This issue strengthens the anticipation of The Maker's return while we gain further insights into the nuance of one of the Ultimates, Dr. Doom. Read Full Review
Seeing the whole truth of what was done to turn this innocent man into Doom is harrowing stuff, made even worse by revealing the fates of the rest of the FF. It's a chilling issue full of literal torture, done very skillfully. Read Full Review
Noto delivers beautiful art throughout the issue. I really enjoyed the brighter visual moments of Dooms past and the darker tone of his present. Read Full Review
Ultimates #4 is a must-read for fans of complex storytelling and compelling character development. The shocking revelation about the Maker and the exploration of Reed Richards' tragic past elevate the series to new heights. Overall, Ultimates #4 is a powerful and thought-provoking installment that solidifies the Ultimates as a must-read series. Read Full Review
Deniz Camp tells a masterful story that takes well established characters that have been around for almost 63 years and turns what you think you know about them on their head. This issue is going to be point you're going to come back to in future issues as a moment to reflect on why Reed/Doom does what he does. And it is going to be incredible to see that play out. Read Full Review
The Ultimates #4 is an excellent origin story for Ultimate Reed Richards. The tragic fate of the Ultimate Fantastic Four makes Reed Richards' Doom one of the most fascinating characters in this Ultimate Universe. Unfortunately that investment in Ultimate Doom is at the cost of the rest of the characters in this series take a backseat in a title that's supposed to be about a team. Hopefully we see Deniz Camp find balance between telling personal stories that also develop the greater team as a whole. Read Full Review
The Ultimates #4 addresses Doom's attempts to recreate the Ultimate Fantastic Four using a unique narrative structure and storytelling flow. The reading experience is certainly unique but in Deniz Camp's quest to do "something different, several plot questions are left unanswered. Likewise, Phil Noto pulls off a minor miracle in making Camp's script work visually, but the visual pop and creativity suffer as a result. Read Full Review
This series is the best thing coming out of this universe, and unlike tradition, it's not because the rest of the Ultimate line is trash. Deniz Camp is fucking killing it.
A masterpiece of story telling. In my list of greatest stories of all time.
Plot
This comic tells the story of Doom, who is actually Reed Richards and how his life was altered by the actions of The Maker, showing how the experiment to analyze the cosmic radiation rain failed and the Fantastic Four are not born, but rather they die and it is all Reed Richards' fault.
The Maker is Reed Richards from an alternate universe, so he dedicated himself to torturing and making the Reed Richards of this world become Doctor Doom.
Iron Lad listens to part of Doom's tragic story and asks him to calm down, but Doom makes it clear that his experiment with cosmic radiation is not over and when he manages to cure the negative effects on humans, it will be the rebirth of the Fantastic Four, he makes it very more
Superb. A fascinating and unsettling look into Doom Reed.
Jesus, how terribly grim. Doom is the most interesting character in this series, and there’s a lot of interesting characters in here. I really enjoyed the four timelines on each page, it was a unique storytelling device.
Phenomenal. Fantastic even.
just amazing
Wow.
Excellent storytelling, good art, this was an epic issue. Very cinematic. Can't wait to see where it goes.
I love Noto's art. I thought this was a well told story with how it was set up and extremely interesting.
A haunting story about how Reed Richards became this universe’s version of Doctor Doom told across 4 timelines.
The very emotional beats of Deniz Camp’s script are held back by equally emotionless visuals from Phil Noto. Noto is an amazing artist, especially for individual covers, but full issue assignments expose the limits to his style. His characters’ facial expressions, or lack thereof, made me think I was looking at mannequins being posed on a set and took away from the overall impact of the issue.
Art: 3.5/5
Story: 3.5/5
Total: 7/10
It's not bad but everything felt too out of order for me.
While the Maker psychologically torturing Reed is definitely something that he would do, I unfortunately felt lost at times with how much the narrative jumped around. Additionally I'm tired of seeing the Fantastic Four being brutalized even though I'm sure
Camp didn't do it with malice. Not a terrible comic, just not one I had a lot of fun reading.
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