Review: Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #30
Written By: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Pencils By: Carmine Di Giandomenico / Inks By: Lorenzo Ruggiero / Colours By: Jim Charalamapadis / Letters By: Clayton Cowles
Price: $3.99
In comparison to Ultimates #1, Ultimate Comics Ultimates #30 is a pale shadow in both its art and writing. Gone are Bryan Hitch’s wide screen panels and detailed splash pages. In its place are cluttered panels that try to rush the story along in time for the “Cataclysm” event. Ultimates #30 has some epic moments, a few humorous bits of dialogue, and wraps up the story arc well, but it definitely isn’t a great issue of Ultimates.
Ultimates #30’s biggest problem is Carmine Di Giandomenico’s art. The fate of an entire universe is at stake, and heavy hitters like Thor, Hulk, Thing, and insane Reed Richards are duking it out, but their fights are very hard to follow. A few panels are clear and visceral, like Thing punching Hulk in the face or Iron Man hitting Reed with his repulsor beams, but these scenes are exceptions, not the rule. There isn’t even that much dialogue so the smaller panels don’t serve a purpose in the storytelling. The combination of small rectangular panels and shifting character POVs makes this comic a chore to read and hinders the effectiveness of Joshua Fialkov’s script.
Fialkov uses the character of Sue Storm in both her present and future form as Kang to wrap up all the threads of his run and Ultimate Comics Ultimates as a whole. Her and Kang’s actions and conversations also play a big role in leading up to Cataclysm. A flashback scene establishes her and Kang’s motives perfectly and reveals how the Ultimates and Reed Richards fell short of saving the universe through their various actions. Even though the book is mainly actions, there are a few scenes which touch on her broken relationship with Reed, and the sacrifices she has made to save the Ultimate universe.
Despite his strong characterization of Sue Storm and some genuine jaw dropping moments from the other heroes, the majority of Ultimates #30 is like a giant game of “Capture the Flag” with the remaining Infinity Gem as the flag. The matchups between different characters (Iron Man vs. Reed, Hulk vs. Thing, Punisher/Hercules vs. giant robots) probably looked good on paper, but the art team fumbles the opportunity for one last big superhero brawl in the Ultimate Universe. However, the last few pages act as an emotional coda to Ultimates as a series and do a great job leading into “Cataclysm” with a beautiful cliffhanger page from Di Giandomenico.
As a conclusion to the “Disassembled”, Ultimates #30 is unsatisfying. The plot is predictable, and the art does a poor job fleshing out the action scenes and showing the impact the result of the fight between the Ultimates, Kang, and Reed Richards has on the Ultimate Universe. However, the ending pages of the comics and the humor that Fialkov sprinkles in keep Ultimates #30 from being a complete bomb.
Score: 5.5
Logan Dalton
@SexyGingerNerd
MARVEL Disassembled 