Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist/Cover: Mark Bagley
Inker/Colorist: Andrew Hennessy / Jason Keith
CATACLYSM Part 1
Marvel universe Galactus has traveled the ultimate universe looking for substance and has found earth! It is up to the Ultimates and ultimate Spider-man to protect their universe. But how can they possibly defeat a being from another universe who has bonded with the Gah Lak Tus swarm?! The end is nigh!
After the events of Age of Ultron and Hunger, Galactus has reach ultimate earth. The cosmic heroes of Mar-Vell, Vision, and Rick Jones have failed to stop Galactus in space. On earth, Miles Morales and his best friend Ganke are the first to encounter Galactus. Galactus starts to feed which throws New York and New Jersey in chaos. Miles suits up for battle. Shield attack Galactus with no avail and the Ultimates are summoned. They have assembled to battle for their universe.
The Ups: Bendis won me over in this first issue. Unimportant spoiler: Galactus devours ultimate New Jersey! Horray! New Yorkers know that New Jersey is not a fun state(don’t worry I am joking) and is often the punchline of many jokes. Bendis is quite aware of this because he has New Jersey be the first tragedy of this event. The icing on the cake was Johnny Storm expressing his anger over the lost of his Jersey hometown. Bendis’ choses Miles as the main character for this issue. You seem him here going through the “How can I be a hero?” phase that makes him the inspiring and interesting character that he is in his own series. This is like an extension of ultimate Spider-man guest starring the Ultimates. Galactus is clearly a threat that they are not ready for. It is the compelling story of trying to do the impossible without knowing where to start. This issue is living up to the expectation of a great start. The art by Bagley is amazing. He is the reason I got into Spider-man in the 90’s and all he has done is gotten better with time. An issue that is mostly action pack and full of chaos he balances the sequences beautifully. Jason Keith provides stunning colors that make this issue more vibrant.
The Downs: My only issue was with Ganke. He apparently does not know his limitation. He almost gets killed by the disaster twice and is warned for several panels to get out of the area but he wants to stay. He can’t stand against Galactus…so why doesn’t he just go home?
Overall: Bendis and Bagley deliver a great start to the end of the Ultimate universe. It is only fitting that the creators of this universe are the ones to end it. The action is fast and hard hitting with beautiful splash pages. The threat to the ultimate universe feels all to real. You will pick up this issue and not be disappointed. It will only leave you with hunger for more.
Grade 4 of 5
ComicsRefueled 