Friday, March 5, 2010

New Ultimates #1

It was baseball manager Casey Stengel who famously opined, "Can't anybody play this here game?"

That's how I feel about comics these days - at least in terms of publishing. Both Marvel and DC have been guilty of publishing comics "out of order" in recent months.

At Marvel, we see the conclusion of Captain America: Reborn after the resurrected Cap has already appeared in a half-dozen comics. At DC, the Justice League talks about the finale to Cry for Justice months before the final issue arrives.

Here's another one to add to the list. Ultimate Avengers is still chugging along with at least one more issue to go, and here's the next comic in line - New Ultimates (apparently the team is having trouble settling on a name).

Here we have the old Jeph Loeb dilemma - his writing has been shaky of late, but the story is drawn by Frank Cho, an outstanding artist I'm happy to follow. I decided (obviously) to give it a shot.

As first issues go, it's actually pretty good (I know, I was shocked, too). The best thing about it is Cho's art, starting with the impressive cover fold-out, which is six pages wide. He's playing on a big scale here, and his art is powerful, dynamic and sexy as all get out.

The story's not bad, especially considering it's by the guy who wrote Ultimatum (ptooey). Here we see the team picking up the pieces after that holocaust and dealing with a surprising and powerful enemy.

Parents should be warned that the content is on the mature side, as more than one adult situation is depicted (or implied).

But there's actually a story going on here, with character development in evidence and a big battle looming.

So, pretty good so far. But it would all be a lot less confusing if these companies could get their publishing schedule figured out.

Grade: B+

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