The Ultimates #11 Review: Five Against The Mad Titan

They are the Ultimates, and the impossible is where they start. But can even Marvel’s smartest super team hope to survive against Thanos, the Mad Titan?

The Ultimates #11

Writer: Al Ewing

Artists: Kenneth Rocafort & Djibril Morissette

Colorist: Dan Brown

More from Comics

The first incarnation of The Ultimates came from Marvel’s Ultimate imprint in 2002. They were essentially that universe’s version of the Avengers. The entire Ultimate imprint ended last year, but their team name lives on. Comprising of Captain Marvel, Blue Marvel, Ms. America, Black Panther, and Spectrum, they seek to use super science and cosmic power levels to tackle intergalactic threats to Earth and reality. They proved it by “fixing” Galactus on their first mission.

Image by Marvel Comics

Yet Civil War II has brought with it their greatest challenge. The fact that not all of the Ultimates entirely agree with Carol Danvers’ notions of “predictive justice” via Ulysses’ visions is only half of it. Their home base of the Triskelion houses one powerful prisoner from the start of Marvel’s latest crossover. That prisoner is Thanos, the Death-worshiping “mad Titan.” He’s manipulated events from his cell, as well as fellow prisoner Conner Sims, to escape and continue his rampage.

As Thanos himself summarizes, he has spent most of his long life literally worshiping the embodiment of Death herself. But ever since the reality realigning events of Secret Wars, he got a taste of sheer oblivion. Now, Thanos seeks to bring that to the entire universe, one person at a time if need be. The Ultimates have to pull themselves together from their infighting to take on a villain who has easily shrugged off the greatest heroes of space.

Image by Marvel Comics

Thanos May Love Death, but Don’t Call Him a Goth!

The last time Carol Danvers led a team against Thanos in Civil War II, she had advanced foreknowledge thanks to Ulysses. She also had backup from not just the Ultimates, but the X-Men, Avengers, Inhumans, and A-Force. It was a battle that was won, but not without a heavy price. Carol’s lover War Machine was killed, and her friend She-Hulk was rendered comatose. Now, Thanos is even angrier and more eager to unite Carol with the previous Captain Marvel in death.

Fortunately, what the Ultimates do better than fight is think. Although their sheer power levels are impressive, they’re also a team which includes super scientists like T’Challa and Adam Brashear, and energy expert Monica Rambeau. When force proves ineffective against Thanos, the team resorts to brains and ingenuity. Not even a mad Titan stands a chance against some of the most brilliant minds of the Marvel universe.

Image by Marvel Comics

Rocafort and Morissette share art chores for this issue. For Rocafort, this is his last issue. He handles pages focusing on Thanos monologues or psychic sequences, while Morissette handles the combat. The divide is a bit awkward in spots, but effective in others. Both are effective artists individually, their styles merely clash at times within this issue. Al Ewing’s script, on the other hand, it up to the same high standards as most of his work for Marvel.

Thanos is used effectively as easily the greatest single adversary the Ultimates have ever fought. He’s been the lead villain in several crossovers throughout Marvel history, such as Infinity Gauntlet or the Thanos Imperative. Ewing capitalizes on rarely used psychic powers to allow Thanos to manipulate Conner Sims (a “frenemy” of Brashear’s). He strikes the right balance of showcasing Thanos as a nigh unstoppable threat while also allowing the Ultimates’ intellect to shine.

Image by Marvel Comics

Get a Glimpse Into Captain Marvel’s Civil War Argument!

As this is a comic starring Carol Danvers, she gets to present her side of the “liberty vs. security” argument of Civil War II without immediately being wrong. Her argument has been consistent through most of Marvel’s comics, including A-Force. She acknowledges the slippery slope of “predictive justice” but claims that the only alternative would be to ignore Ulysses’ visions, which would endanger people. She also wishes superheroes would be reasonable and not hit each other.

Carol’s second point is an understatement. I genuinely wonder if Marvel have realized how dry their “heroes vs. heroes” well has become over the past decade. Professional wrestling events usually have more reasonable characters. Unfortunately, Carol’s primary argument is a straw man. In real life, law enforcement and the military get tips from learned sources all the time. They still cannot arrest someone without direct evidence or action. The most it can do is steer them.

Image by Marvel Comics

In fairness to Carol, Iron Man’s initial hostility towards her in Civil War II was misplaced. While using Ulysses’ visions to arrest American citizens for crimes yet uncommitted is horrible, visions which involve responding to direct disasters or obvious space monsters (like Thanos) are valid. War Machine died in a response to an aforementioned space monster, and Carol would have been a fool to ignore that tip. Sadly, nuance doesn’t get superheroes hitting each other for shock value.

This Is One Team Book that Lives up to Its Name!

The Ultimates builds on previous work Al Ewing has done on previous team books, such as two volumes of Mighty Avengers. In particular, he has taken great interest in Blue Marvel, a terrific creation by Kevin Grevioux (Underworld) with endless potential. The team also serves as a solid replacement for the Fantastic Four, who usually fill the role of superheroes using science to battle space threats at Marvel. The series is set for a relaunch, and readers would be wise to get aboard.

Home/Comics