So things are really starting to become unglued in the world of the Ultimates. Apparently, the constant ripples in the time stream caused by our heroes has created a hole big enough in the Ultimate Comics universe for Galactus to walk through. I don’t mean the bug collective Gah Lak Tus, the world eater the Ultimates have run up against before. No, I’m talking the man with the purple dome, former master of the Silver Surfer, the ayatollah of rock n rollah!! Galactus is coming to Ultimate Earth, and he’s famished.
Meanwhile, on Ultimate Earth, chaos reigns supreme. In the aftermath of Mr. Fantastic’s mental breakdown, a new slew of weird happenings is hitting the world. A.I.M., who are still bad guys in this universe, have taken over the cult who serves Gah Lak Tus. These disturbances have been caused by the coming of Galactus, but blamed on Gah Lak Tus. The human bug-worshippers have been infected by something via A.I.M., and now they are a bug-worshipping zombie horde.
Trying to maintain control through all of this is Nick Fury and SHIELD. The world is literally coming apart at the seams and none of the superheroes, agents, or weaponry is stopping it. The Gah Lak Tus zombies are killing people, but SHIELD is wary to try weapons of mass destruction, since it’s more insanity than evil. Suddenly, without warning, every single SHIELD air carrier plummets out of the sky. Fury and his gang are not used to being powerless, nor are Tony Stark and Sam Wilson, who is not just the Falcon on this world but also a resident mechanical genius.
What nobody seems to realize is that the electric surge bringing down the SHIELD team is a pulse from Galactus. He’s arriving on Earth, and about to lay the smackdown on the Ultimate Universe. SHIELD and the rest think they’re looking at another Gah Lak Tus invasion, which is the least of their troubles. Writer Joshua Hale Fialkov does a nice job of holding down the multiple story lines. He also does a solid job of designing the tension of Galactus’ attack. Fialkov also introduces the Hulk Bomb, a last chance attack that backfires horrifically.
Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1 ushers in the end of the Ultimates, and succeeds on a story level. The failure here is with Carmine Di Giandomenico’s art. There is zero consistency to what he’s doing. Some points look great, as though time and effort were put into it, but others look rushed. Several of the Fury panels give the character an oblong skull. Giandomenico’s proportions are off, and his faces look too inconsistent to be interesting. The end of the Ultimates deserves better than slapped-together art like this.
(4 Story, 2 Art)
