All-New Ultimates (2014) #2

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Nina Perez in All-New Ultimates, Comics Reviews, Featured, Marvel NOW! // 1 Comment

Let’s get one thing out of the way, okay? I’ve never jumped into a pose like that, but I’m pretty sure that square gap is anatomically incorrect.

Anyway, the showdown that opens this issue was really well done. There are a lot of players involved, but each frame clearly portrays the action so that you have a clear sense of what’s going on and where. Our heroes find themselves between the cops and The Serpent Skulls and, of course, make it out alive - but just barely. Black Widow is injected with something that one of the Skulls later claims will kill her by noon.

The Skulls have already moved their lab equipment to a new spot, but they still need to teach the crew who tried to rob them a lesson. Since they don’t know who they are, exactly, they decide the best course of action is a kill sweep on all of the gangs in the area. Hey, at least they’re thorough.

Our heroes find themselves between the cops and The Serpent Skulls and, of course, make it out alive - but just barely.

The Ultimates lick their wounds, Bombshell stomps off, quitting the group because her powers didn’t work and she didn’t appreciate Spidey blaming it on her lack of practice and control. Meanwhile, mysterious figure goes about taking care of the ones they missed and Black Widow succumbs to the poison, leaving Kitty appropriately freaked the hell out.

Once again, being out of the comics game left me scrambling to connect characters and plot points. Who I described as a “mysterious figure” above turns out to be Scourge. And he, and his justice, seem to be the focus of the next issue, ‘Summer of Scourge.’ The best part of this issue was the resolution of the battle that ended the first one and the trippy, psychedelic frames that reveal Black Widow’s collapse. The jumping back and forth between 2 (and sometimes 3) points of action wasn’t my favorite method of storytelling in this issue - it typically plays better on television in shows like 24, and hopefully they’ll ease up on that next issue. I was tempted to Wiki Scourge to give me a hint at what’s to come, but I prefer to be surprised. Here’s to hoping his scary-ass intro pays off.