Broken Frontier

Hank Pym tries to get his life back on track by joining a new vigilante group intent on becoming rich and famous: Ultimate Defenders!

Out of all the Ultimate line titles, The Ultimates has been the most successful in realigning Marvel Universe characters in an Ultimate framework. I hesitate at calling the Ultimate line more realistic because its cinematic artwork and gritty character updates are simply an artificiality to which we are more accustomed these days. Stories that highlight the practical difficulties of superheroics are nothing new – check out Batman: Year One for such a tale. Comics that comment on world events are also nothing new. Much of Marvel’s Silver Age creations were born out of cold war anxiety and the social and political bigotry of that time. When The Ultimates is examined, the key team-genre elements remain, including the inevitable traitor-in-the-midst revelation of the last few pages. The key superhero elements are here too; fear of failure, identity issues and the potential misuse of power. What the Ultimate line has allowed and which is used most effectively in The Ultimates is a sort of meta-narrative that takes its cues not so much from the history of comics but from the newer trends of TV serials.

Hank Pym is down on his luck and hooks up with a new group of costumed vigilantes, The Defenders, who count on their roster the Ultimate Power Man and Ultimate Hellcat. These Defenders are rather lacking in specific skills and are thrilled to have a team member, Hank, who has actual powers. Meanwhile Hank is fuming over the use of his technology by the Ultimates without credit to him and wants to be properly thanked for his genius. When he thinks he has nothing left, he is contacted by an Ultimate traitor, the one who’s really been causing all the group’s troubles.

Millar and Hitch give us an excellent Ultimates issue here which is self contained, entertaining and yet highly constitutive of the ongoing series. Millar presents Hank as a deeply flawed person. We start to feel sorry for him, then we remember what he did to Janet and realize that this is how guys like him live with themselves. Abusive and violent men use their pathetic self-loathing to fish for sympathy in others – especially those they have abused. Millar reminds us early what Hank is really like when he petulantly says that if there was an ounce of justice in the world he would still be on the team. Yeah…whatever. The Ultimate Defenders are a good and humorous idea in this issue; superheroes who have to take cabs to emergencies. The conclusion of their story is both surprising and yet logical within the logic of The Ultimates.

Hitch’s artwork is mostly quite excellent throughout, although there are times when his tendency to over-pencil character’s faces leads them to look grubby and smudged. The inking is also a little heavy-handed, especially in the night scenes when much of the effect could have been handled better by the colourist. I was also a little confused by the final page. It is supposed to be a big reveal moment but it only succeeds in confusing me. It is a dramatic image that is easy on the eye but what the hell does it mean narratively?

The Ultimates is the ultimate Ultimate book which makes it, ultimately, one of the best books Marvel has to offer.

-Matthew Clark