Broken Frontier

Late, lamented, but finally here. The Ultimates 2 packs a punch literally, figuratively, and quite frankly, perfectly.

What was once scheduled to be the final issue of The Ultimates 2 shows, using more pages than normal, our favorite heroes doing what they do best—defending America no matter what. The tide began to turn in issue #11 (it came out about four months ago in case you forgot) when Captain America escaped and began to rally the troops. In #12, Hulk tries to redeem himself in the eyes of the American public by taking down more than one Liberator. Furthermore, Captain America, Wasp, Quicksilver, and Iron Man show us why they are Ultimates.

Though I have to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait for every issue of The Ultimates (1 and 2), Mark Millar’s stories are satisfying enough to make me unconcerned—at least for the time it takes for me to read the issue. Though his politics, based on what I have read about him and by him on his website, are a far cry from the right, Millar seems to be able to see the merits of people with personalities like Ultimate Captain America and Ultimate Nick Fury. These two gentlemen are conservatives. One is a hawk and the other is a 1950s throwback, but they are both Republicans. And I want to dislike them. I really, really want to. But I can’t. With Millar writing their dialogue and behavior I have to love them.

It doesn’t hurt that they are pretty to look at. Thanks to Bryan Hitch, everything in this comic is shiny, from the stoic Captain America to the savage Hulk, the effeminate, metro-sexual Quicksilver, and of course the gorgeous Wasp. The destruction of America is a frightening possibility that Hitch captures with a deft hand. The shadows are dark, the explosions are cataclysmic, and the action is fluid. The scenes that are supposed to be grotesque—and there are a few—are terribly grotesque. The scenes that are supposed to be moving and symbolic of modern superheroism—i.e. the double page spread of Ultimate Thor—are exactly what they are supposed to be. But that should be expected since this comic is exactly what comics are supposed to be.

I’m told it takes awhile to perfect a thing, no matter what that thing is. I guess Millar and Hitch attest to that statement because this comic, rife with political messages and moving images, though it took forever and a freaking day to come to the stands, is perfect.