Why is it that no matter how much I may like a story at the beginning it can still disappoint me in the end? That was the case with this issue of Ultimate Avengers. The story starts off on a high note with a fight between Captain America and Nick Fury’s new Avengers. The fight takes up the majority of the issue and is completely entertaining. We get to see War Machine and the new Black Widow in all out action against Captain America, which in itself made the issue a fun read. I, also, enjoyed the introduction of the so-called Nerd Hulk. I do have to wonder what War Machine was actually shooting at Cap though. I mean after Cap gets control of one of War Machine’s guns he blast Black Widow full force right in the face yet just four pages later she is right as rain. Hex, her costume doesn’t even seem to be damaged.
After the fight the story goes down hill a little. The whole thing about the bad guys being forty-eight hours away from having the ultimate weapon was just lame. SPOILER WARNING First off, it’s just hard to believe that AIM or anyone else on Earth for that matter could build a Cosmic Cube so quickly and easily, even with Mr. Fantastic’s blue prints. Secondly, it is just such a tired device for heightening the tension and putting our heroes on a clock. END SPOILER WARNING Even at this point the story is still enjoyable.
It is not until we cut to AIM headquarters in Alaska that things really turn ugly. SPOILER WARNING I mean, as soon as I saw the Red Skull with that AIM guy, I knew the Skull was going to kill him and take the Cosmic Cube for himself. This plot twist is straight out of an old James Coburn movie. END SPOILER WARNING
All in all, it was still an enjoyable read, so go right ahead and pick up a copy. It was, however, a step down in quality from the level of the first three issues of the series.
Keith Forney