ULTIMATES 3 #2 Review

[tomtravers]

Thanks for the cool comics, Joe. You know far more people are enjoying them than hating!

[mrc]

i just got my copy 2 days ago and i gotta say so far im loving it....it has what a lot of comics today lack.....Action! the artwork is great,the colors have been improved drastically....and the storytelling is clear....at least it makes sence to me. As far as the splash pages are concerned i found the brotherhood and wolverine pages to be a little boring compared to the overall energy of the rest of the book........and one thing i foun a little off was the page of spidey on the tree looking down at hawkeye as he shots like five shells into the snow?as though he didnt see spidey shot webbing and swing away..........thats just a nitpick though.....overall the book has improved from issue one and i cant wait to see what happens in the next 3 issues!

[sully]

I think it's a little funny calling the guy a hater. When talking to him about his review, I got the distinct impression that he disliked the coloring and storytelling far more than he did Joe Mad's art. In fact, by the end of the convo he actually said that. "I love Mad's art, but I didn't think it fit the book." So yeah, don't call him a hater; he clearly didn't want to come across as such.

Frankly, he, and most of the people I've talked to about the book, is right. This book is a huge disappointment. This is taking Lawrence of Arabia and turning it into a cartoon miniseries. Sure, it may look fantastic (and U3 is GODLY gorgeous IMO), but you just can't do that to something so epic, especially when you've got terrible writing.

Widescreen Storytelling defined. Mad's art fits action/adventure (Battle Chasers ftw, luvs) far better than it does something like the Ultimates.

U3 has gone from being a witty social commentary into a B-movie action flick, and even Joe Mad's art can't save it. Loeb needs to stop writing comics, period. His obsession with murder and death (find a series he has not included a murder in and I will find you ten that have) needs to end. Mad, on the other hand, needs to draw Spidey moar! That's my personal opinion.

Also, do you have any idea how sales work? Just because a book sells out doesn't mean it's popular. Here's what happens: Comic book sales are based on orders, and orders are based on anticipated sales within stores. Ergo, if my store buys 100 issues of the Ultimates 3, since I sold out before on the Ultimates 2, then that is counted towards the book's sales. It does not mean that I will sell 100 issues. In the case of the Ultimates 3, all reports indicate that the books simply aren't being sold out in the stores. So for Ultimates 3.1 and 3.2, the sales are going to be a bit higher for a book that frankly doesn't hold a candle to what came before. The preliminary numbers are orders, not actual sales.

What most people are saying about the Ultimates 3.

My only complaint about the art in Ultimates, other than "eh" coloring throughout, is that Janet does not appear to be Asian, when she most certainly is Asian, and has been shown with black hair throughout almost every issue of any Ultimate-Universe comic. (Ultimate Fantastic Four is the only one that comes to mind where she has brown hair).

[maverick1104]

sully, I agree with you on some of your comments but I do have to say, this is Loeb's, Mad!'s, and Lichtner's take on the Ultimates. Its not going to be like Millar's and Hitch's first two volumes. With that said, I have to admit that I have never read the first two volumes. I personally don't like Hitch's artwork all that much so I was not drawn to it. I have to like the art to really get into a story. Story wise, it probably is a good story and since I am reading Ultimates 3, I'll eventually read the first two volumes. So far with this new volume, I am not too impressed with the story as it'll only be 5 issues long and has not really intrigued me. I feel that it'll get better but I also feel that it is just setting up for Ultimatum. I was really happy when I heard Mad! was coming back to comics but kinda disappointed when I heard he was going to do Ultimates. I would have liked Mad! doing X-Men again or maybe as you mentioned, Spidey. But, he is doing X-Men again....kind of. Ultimates Vol. 3 has so many mutants from the X-Men series, so thats cool. Every new page I see, I literally have a grin on my face. It's just good to have Mad! back no matter what he decides he wants to draw.

[sully]

Like I said, this is like taking a brilliant movie and making a cart--Oh, here's an example. Remember Jim Carrey's "The Mask?" Remember its style? Great movie, wasn't it? (Most people seem to like it anyways) Then came "Son of Mask" or whatever, which was almost a direct to DVD movie, it was so terrible. Yes, it looked prettier, but it was nothing like the first story. They destroyed a classic, despite the fact it looked better (subjective term).

The only reason I'm reading Ultimates 3 is because I read everything in the Ultimate U and because of Mad! My only complaint with Mad's art is Hawkeye's asscape. Why does Hawkeye have an asscape? Supposedly Spidey exists in U3 (notice how terribly mistreated he was?) because Loeb allegedly tried to take the book from Bendis and couldn't get it, so he got mad at Bendis and went out and beat up spidey and left him out in the snow. Loeb's methodology is this:

1. Murder someone in the first issue. Make it shocking.
2. Cameos!!! (Magneto showing up for no reason, followed by the Brotherhood)
3. People pretending to be crazy.
4. Red Herring (someone you think who did it)
5. Revelation that it was someone else all along!

He did it in Long Halloween, he did it in Hush, he did it in Hulk #1, he did it in Ultimates, he did it in Superman/Batman, I believe... yeah. This book is unbalanced, talent-wise. On one side we have Joe Mad doing this insanely good job, and on the other, Loeb's terrible storytelling ruins it. :\ It seems like a slap in the face to him if anything. But, yeah... the initial reason I posted this was just to say that the reviewer in question doesn't hate Mad, and neither do I. Most people love Mad's art, but don't feel that it fits the book. That's what he told me personally, and that's what all the other fans I talk to on a regular basis say.

[paullavallee]

joemad said:

Thanks guys! Glad you enjoyed the 2nd issue. It seems to have printed quite a bit better than the first. Don't sweat the reviews. I usually just get a good laugh out of them at this point. Everyone blasted me on Uncanny X-men back on the day too, but now people point back to it like it's my best work ( and come on, it sucked!!!).

Stuck in the 90's is okay. Late 80's early 90's is widely acknowledged as having produced some of the very best comic artwork ever ( and alot of my favorites ) so I'll take it as a compliment.

Laying out the panels in an exciting way ( and not just what's inside them ) is one of my very favorite things about drawing comic pages. I literally cannot bring myself to have nothing but 'standard' perfectly straight panels on a page. Not that there arent some books I love reading that are done this way, I just cant get excited working like that. I probably put more thought in to how your eye will move across the page than just about any other aspect of the actual drawing process. The panel layout can have a great impact on the energy of a page, even before you place any art inside of it. So it's not something I'll stop doing any time soon

Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I'm working on this book for you guys--not the haters! -Joe

Yeah f*ck the haters. This issue rocked. Your panel work Joe is what I noticed big improvement from since your return. Great stuff. The printing quality seems to be largely improved as well. They colors are much more vibrant.

[maverick1104]

Well, the sad thing, sully, is that some people will take all criticism of the book as an attack on the artist himself. This was the reviewer's opinion of the book and he didn't like the story. Big deal right? Wrong. Some people will just read that review and interpret the review into how Mad! sucks and Loeb sucks and how they suck on Ultimates which is not what the dude was saying. And is not what you are saying either. I agree to a certain degree on your opinion. I have only read one other Loeb story and that was "Hush". That was a great story to me and I do enjoy Loeb's style. With that said, his style might not have been a good choice to have on the Ultimates. Anyway, my personal opinion is that this volume of the Ultimates is just a big set-up for Ultimatum so the story might be weak. It just seems like a filler for whats to come so Marvel/Loeb got a superstar artist to comeback so people would actually give a crap. Who knows though? I do however think that the story is getting better with each issue. It is grabbing my attention and making me want to find out what is going on and who is responsible. Besides, we've only seen two issues. It's bound to get better. I've never been disappointed with Loeb's writing but have not really dived into everything he's done. I really would have preferred Mad! doing a Spidey story or X-Men again. But as I've said before, as long as he's producing artwork, I'll buy whatever he chooses to draw. This is what HE wanted to do, so good for him and I'm glad he's back.

[maverick1104]

ps. "The Mask" kinda sucked but I get your drift. =P

[elmatto]

While I do agree that the dialogue for this comic is....kind of sub par....It's still a fun comic....and easy on the eyes as well!
Joe's artwork is in top form, and the colors are also, very very nice.
I think the reason this comic has gotten such bad reviews is that so many of our comics has become grounded in portraying our super heros in a uber realistic setting. People have grown a distaste for comics that indulge in what makes comic book story telling fun in the first place. Like, I'll give an example. It seems that if something technological is created anymore there has to be a long winded explanation as to how it works. They don't let us use our imagination anymore to fill in the gaps.
Everythings grounded in reality anymore. I mean yeah...that can be cool and all...but whatever happened to good ol' fashioned fun in comics?
Savage dragon is one of the few titles that still does this...why can't others?
Why so serious?
I dunno...All that is a bit of a stretch. haha. It might play a small part though in the larger scheme of things.
Anyways....Good work Joe.