Ultimatum #1-5

You can't be serious. I've heard all the bad press about Ultimatum, and I'm shocked to admit that everyone was right. This was terrible. Why bother setting up a complex new continuity just to allow Jeph Loeb to come and tear it apart. I don't have an issue with where things end up, since all the deaths and cataclysms will lead to the Ultimate U being very different from the Marvel U.

But Loeb's wholesale slaughter is just lazy. Drowning 3 X-Men off-panel is lazy. Describing the remote deaths of the Hellions is lazy. Using Dormammu and Hela in essentially their Marvel U interpretations is lazy. The deaths where Loeb actually showed more creativity went from effecting, like Magneto's snapping of Xavier's neck, to ridiculously unnecessary.

This series had the Blob eating Wasp's innards, Yellowjacket blown apart by a horde of suicide Madroxes, and Sabretooth ripping off Angel's wing before snapping his neck with a kick. Hell, even after Magneto was dealt with, Cyclops had his head blown off while making a speech? This was a hot mess. I mean, Thor taking Valkrie's place in Hel? What does that serve? This whole series felt like a bunch of barely controlled chaos. The heroes just run around and die for awhile, then take out Magneto when the series is about to end. There was no real rising action or normal story arc, just a bunch of choppy scenes followed by a "shock" ending.

There are too many pages spent dealing with the recovery of Nick Fury from the Squadron Surpeme universe too. I never understood why Fury's absence enabled Doom to kick things off by killing the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Hell, part of my problem with this series is that I never read Ultimates 3 or Ultimate Secret, so I felt like I didn't understand anyone's motivations. I've read a ton of Ultimate comics, but this didn't even have a consistent feel.

The choice to have Spider-Man disappear is an odd one too. What did it serve taking him out of the story? My only rationale is that sending him along on the strike mission would darken his character too much.

Avoid this. In fact, this might be so bad it will keep me away from Mark Millar's Ultimate Comics' Avengers. I mean, with Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, and so many more dead, why bother reading about the Avengers? Isn't it a 3 man team now (Hawkeye, Cap, and Iron Man).
David Finch's art was hyper-gory and dark. I will admit I'm amused at his hot ladies, especially the super-endowed Valkrie. I suppose I can't blame him for the story, and his gory panels looked shocking, there is no doubt. That panel of Blob eating Wasp is one I'll probably never forget.

Poor