REVIEW: Ultimate Human - 4 of 4

Weeeeellllll... This could have been a little bit better in my opinion.

I totally respect Warren Ellis as a writer and Cary Nord as an artist - but I couldn't help but feel that this issue just missed the mark. The series had a lot of potential (I mean, just think about the opening of Ultimate Hulk vs. Ultimate Wolverine, then think about how Iron Man's body can re-grow itself) - but as it went through, there was a feeling of confusion about the series.

Sometimes I would ask myself what was happening, and why any given issue (in this case, 3) was seemingly diverting down a strange (but albeit intriguing) path, taking itself out of the built up momentum.

Having reached the end of the series - were I not already buying Ultimate Iron Man II and The Ultimates 3 - I wouldn't be encouraged to pick up another Ultimate mini-series - which is a really sad thing. The Ultimate universe is one of those nice little 'experiments' that turned out quite well. People didn't really expect it to go all that far - but when quality shone through within Ultimate Spider-Man and The Ultimates - we all had a feeling that it was going to be around for awhile.

Now - perhaps I'm taking this a little to extremes - but I can't help but think that if there are more Ultimate universe books that come out like this - it could easily go the way of the 2099 heroes - now not much more than fond memories.

But what happened in the comic?

***SPOILER ALERT***

Well, we cut to the scene at the end of issue 2 (and 3) -  Tony and Bruce, tied up in a dark room, blood being drained from their bodies - Bruce filled full of nanobots keeping the Hulk at bay.

We all expected it - but it was still a little sad to see Tony turning off Bruce's nanobots. It wasn't so sad however to see him facilitate a head-butt fueled escape, and sic the Hulk on The Leader.

There was a nice plane crash moment, with The Leader literally bringing the heavens down on the Hulk's head - but the ending (Hulk bouncing off in the background) felt rushed.

Pete's Score: 3 out of 5
(sadly uninspiring - wouldn't make me want to pick up another Ultimate book)