COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Ultimate Invasion
By The Masked Medic
I’m rather enjoying getting back into comic books, and with all the hype around DC and Marvel’s big screen endeavours, it was a perfect time to read something new. Now you guys know I love a good parallel world, and Marvel has returned to their Ultimate universe, rebooting it in a way. I wasn’t sure which character to start with, but it made sense to read the prequel novel to the entire thing!
‘Ultimate Invasion’ begins on Earth-616, which is the main canon universe of all Marvel Comics. In a complex prison, The Maker is trapped, who is a distorted evil version of Reed Richards. He’s been captured by all the heroes of this world, but somehow he escapes, only to create a device that lets him travel to another universe, Earth-6160. Here, he is able to change the outcomes of a number of scenarios, leading to a complete lack of opposition to him, as he creates this world the way that he wants. This involves stopping a number of superheroes from ever getting their powers, killing a whole bunch of them and then capturing the rest. The novel then shifts in its focus to the Howard Stark and Obidiah Stane of this world. Here, Howard and Obidiah have led the company to many successes and have already created the famous suits that the Stark family is famous for. One day, they are invited to an event that the Maker is holding. There, we see the multiple factions that rule the world, but just as the event is beginning, they are all attacked by a horde of enemies, consisting of clones of Thor, Captain America, Wasp, Giant-Man and Vision. In the chaos, Obidiah is killed, and Howard is distraught. As the Maker explains to him why this is happening and how it came to be, Howard has an epiphany. Will he join with the faction leaders to keep peace? Or can he find out why The Maker has created this world?
Errr, yeah, parallel worlds and all that. Let me start by telling you guys, I had absolutely no idea what was happening in this novel. Like genuinely, as soon as I thought, okay, I’m getting a hold on things, bam, something would pop off, and I’d be lost again. I get that obviously, this is supposed to set up a whole new universe, something I’m assuming DC is doing too with their “Absolute” line, but I felt this could have been done in a better way. There is no buildup of characters, and you’re not sure who you’re supposed to be rooting for. The Maker is such an interesting character, and I’d have liked to see more of what drives him. On the other hand, Howard Stark’s character development in the novel was fantastic!
The artwork was done by Bryan Hitch. I know that because I met him a couple of years back at a Comic-Con. Whilst I respect Bryan’s abilities to draw the wide landscapes of action scenes, he perhaps lacks the nuances for facial features. Overall, a very confusing novel, and not the greatest of ads for a new universe. Maybe I’ll have to jump into one of the individual character novels soon!
Favourite Panel:
I really hope one day we can see this on the big screen, it would honestly be one of those gasp moments!
Favourite Character:
It’s Howard Stark. Although not so different to his counterpart in the main universe, this guy steps up in a big way in this novel!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★
Character Development: ★★★
Artwork: ★★½
Enjoyability: ★★½
Re-readability: ★★
Level: Impossible