The Ultimates, Vol. II was like a gigantic superhero action movie in comic-book form. It was great.
Polter-Cow, I *just* read that. And, well... I don't know. I have a whole rant about how the Ultimates don't work.
I think the reason I don't like the Ultimates, or much of current Marvel, is that they spend too much time skewering old-fashioned Golden Age heroic stereotypes by making all the characters incredibly dysfunctional and messed-up, and not enough time making them, you know, sympathetic or even heroic. The Ultimates are just kind of annoying as people, and reading Vol. II I wondered why they even became superheroes in the first place. They seem so enmeshed in their own problems that the fact that they're supposed to have dedicated their lives to protecting humanity has become secondary.
Maybe I'm missing the point, or misreading it. But what I thought they were trying to do was cast the Avengers-- and superherodom in general-- in a new light by exposing their flaws, and they kind of missed the mark. They wanted a superhero team that's just as petty and bicker-y and has as many problems as any other group of people, right? But, you know, they're superheroes. Making Captain America into, basically, a bully, and Hank Pym an asshole, and Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch into bored, bratty Eurotrash-- it made me wonder what these people are even doing being superheroes in the first place, when they abuse their powers this much.
Is it just me? I mean, aren't these people supposed to have a higher calling? At least the DC crowd has the courtesy to repress their massive psychological problems, so they stay bottled up where they belong and mostly don't interfere with fighting crime.
Oh my god, I'm geeky. And pedantic. What have you people done to me?