Alternate Cover: Ultimate Comics - the relaunch issues

So. Ultimatum, a comics crossover event that managed to be the absolute worst of its kind (and in a year that included both Secret Invasion and Final Crisis, that's some feat) is over. The Ultimate Universe has been relaunched as Ultimate Comics in the aftermath, with two new series: Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man and Ultimate Comics: Avengers. So what does that mean to readers? Let's have a look...

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1

Resident writer Brian Bendis picks up Spider-Man six months after Ultimatum. The city is rebuilt, and Spider-Man - although he appeared to be dead at the end of the crossover - is alive. And despite the teases from the creative team, he's still Peter Parker as well. In fact, so little has changed as a result of Ultimatum, one wonders whether it's actually going to be properly acknowledged at all.

That's not to say things haven't changed a bit - in the 6-month gap since Ultimatum, Peter and Gwen Stacy have started a relationship - something that hasn't previously been the case in the Ultimate Universe (understandably, since she spent 80+ issues dead.)

Art on the series comes from David Lafuente, whose manga-influence style makes him the perfect choice for a youth-oriented book like Ultimate Spider-Man. Ultimate Spider-Man has set an impressive pedigree for artists in the past, so it's encouraging to see someone with as much energy as Lafuente take the reins, and makes the end of Stuart Immonen's fairly truncated run feel much easier to accept.

The introduction of a new hero - The Shroud - and Ultimate Mysterio as a Kingpin-beating crime-boss means that Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man is feeling more energised than it has in years. It's a good thing, but it doesn't really justify Ultimatum - when you get down to it, there's absolutely no reason these changes couldn't have happened without the crossover. Which is good, because it means readers can justifiably ignore it!

Ultimate Comics: Avengers #1

Fans of The Ultimates aren't in such a good position, though. Between Jeph Loeb's third volume of The Ultimates, which lead directly (and incomprehensibly) into Ultimatum, a lot of the cast members have either died or been severely damaged. Is the return of Mark Millar to the title likely to reverse that?

Well - to some degree. Ultimate Comics: Avengers #1 picks up a more conservative three weeks after Ultimatum, and the Ultimates' home - the Triskelion - is just being rebuilt following the events of the crossover. Millar takes a different approach to Bendis - rather than ignoring Loeb's work outright, he seems more determined to make it work, but on his terms. The dead characters stay dead. The characters who received a personality transplant in Ultimates 3 aren't back to their pre-Loeb state without explanation. Things are, however, looking a bit more...well-written.

A large part of the credit should also go to Carlos Pacheco, who turns up giving the performance of his life. Although always a very good superhero artist, Pacheco has embraced Hitch's character designs and melded them with his own style, retaining the title's distinctive look without trying to emulate Hitch directly. The results are stunning, and lend further credence to the idea that the Ultimate Universe is back on track.

It's sort of funny, actually, that almost ten years after they launched the imprint, Millar and Bendis would be the first writers of the relaunch. It makes you wonder whether the relaunch was ever needed at all. Certainly, based on these titles, the universe-ending Ultimatum crossover wasn't, so let's hope that the universe can get back to what it's good at from now on - simple stories and strong creative teams. After all, that's what made it great in the first place.

James writes Alternate Cover every Monday at Den Of Geek. His previous column can be found here.