Customer Reviews

Ultimate Iron Man, Vol. 2 (v. 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To be honest, I found reading this book to be a bit of a chore. The first volume of "Ultimate Iron Man" didn't win me over, but I was willing to follow up and see where the story went, and now I think I'm done.

UIM is probably the weakest book so far in Marvel's "Ultimate" universe -- the big differences between this an the regular Iron Man are that this Tony Stark is a kid (maybe 20 years old), that he personally has a super healing factor (ala Wolverine, but not as fast) and is semi-unkillable as a result and that the book just isn't that interesting. This volume's subplot -- of inventor Tony Stark being manipulated by a mysterious, menacing government agency into using his super-tech in their gruesome fight against Middle Eastern terrorism -- was tiresome and repetitive. Iron Man fans have been there, done that, and seen it done much better about a bazillion times before. Mostly, this book just never hits a good rhythm -- the pacing seems clunky and awkward and the dialog and plot are fairly mediocre. Can't say as I'm all that impressed with Orson Scott Card, the sci-fi author who was brought in as a celebrity scriptwriter for this series...

One particularly glaring point came when Card posited that the bad guy's design for a nuclear weapon would not work because the half-life of plutonium would render the device inert within a month. Since the actual half-life of plutonium-239 is 24,100 years, it's hard to see why this would be the case. (Plutonium-240 is much more volatile, but is not used for weapons production for this reason.) Anyway, the book's science seems to be as weak as its overall presentation; can't say as I was impressed. (Axton)

As disappointed as I was with Orson Scott Card's initial Ultimate Iron Man, Vol. 1 (v. 1) series, I wasn't able to resist reading the sequel. Part of that was wanting to know how the story ended, and part was the hope that the second installment would be a dramatic improvement over the first. I already reviewed the first Ultimate Iron Man collection, so I won't rehash that, but most of my objections to that series carry over to the sequel.

I'm sure Orson Scott Card is a talented writer, but I really dislike what's going on here. This is a perfectly average sci-fi/mystery story that Jerry Bruckheimer would no doubt turn into a summer blockbuster, but has nothing to do with either the classic Iron Man or Mark Millar's version from the The Ultimates, Vol. 1. It's as though Card had a story he wanted to tell and any character would do, so he added the Iron Man elements after the fact. I will give him credit for making both Jim Rhodes and Obadiah Stane very compelling characters, and the Iron Man/War Machine raid of the terrorist camp was a very cool sequence.

The artwork is once again the series' only saving grace. Pasqual Ferry's manga-inspired style is perfect for this kind of story, and his Iron Man and War Machine are truly impressive and dynamic. Unfortunately, as with the first Ultimate Iron Man series, he is unable to close the deal, leaving the final issue to Leonardo Manco. Manco does a perfectly decent job, but it wrecks the continuity of the artwork to have such a different style for the closing chapter.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions, such as the ultimate fate of Howard Stark and whatever happened to Rhodey/War Machine. I wouldn't mind seeing these questions addressed in a future Ultimate Iron Man series, but I really hope someone else is at the helm.

Let's get one thing straight: this story breaks with the Iron Man canon. It's great, but if you're a hard-core purist you'll probably hate it. Other than that, the artwork is well done and the writing is excellent (though I am an unabashed Orson Scott Card fanboy).

It's a bit expensive for what is essentially a single issue of a comic, but it comes in a GORGEOUS hardcover binding that you'll be proud to have on your shelf. Definitely worth buying in my opinion.

It should be noted that Ultimate Iron Man I and II tell a fictitious Japanese TV series about the origin of 1610 (Ultimate) Iron Man, which was revealed in Ultimate Comics Avengers vs. New Ultimates. It isn't the true definitive origin story. Ultimate Iron Man II is again written by Orson Scott Card with a different artist, Pasqual Ferry. Ferry's art isn't bad, but it doesn't come off as good either. Sometimes characters heads are too big for their bodies and vice versa. The first issue is great and then seems to spiral downward in quality. It felt like Card was losing interest in this project, and started putting less effort into his work. This second miniseries is almost purely political and action. The story felt extremely rushed, ending in a disappointing conclusion. The plot of this series is Tony Stark being manipulated by a mysterious, menacing government agency into using his super-tech in their gruesome fight against Middle Eastern terrorism. While this creates a miniseries more centered around Iron Man in action, I couldn't help but ask myself, "If Tony Stark is a genius, why couldn't he tell he was being manipulated?" Overall this second volume is step down from Card's excellent first entry, it is still worth checking out.

Ultimate Iron Man is a great character. More or less he is an updated, more streamlined character of the Iron Man we all know from the original Marvel Universe, just like all the other characters in the Ultimate Universe. The HUGE problem with these Ultimate Iron Man Books is that this is NOT the origin of Ultimate Iron Man. They have nothing to do with the character that is a part of the Ultimates team. This origin story has been retconned to have nothing to do with the Ultimate Iron Man/Tony Stark. In essence, its a big waste of money. What we have here is a Tony Stark who has natural blue skin, a brain distributed throughout his entire body, and has the ability to grow back limbs and recover from damage as if he were Wolverine. I don't know why Marvel would even allow these books to be published under false pretenses. Why they thought this would be a good idea is beyond me. Some of the writing is ok, which is the only reason I give it two stars, but overall the whole thing is a mess.

I really would like to know what exactly Marvel's plan was regarding this storyline. They had to know in advance that this was not only a bad story, but bad business for false advertising. From the title to the design of the suit (the Ultimate version), they have you believe you are buying one book, but getting something else entirely.

The fist volume was weak and this book does not tie into the Ultimate Universe. Whats the point then? Not even a good book for the most die hard of Iron Man fans.

With "Iron Man" in movie theatres, Marvel decided to release volume 2 of Orson Scott Card's "Ultimate Iron Man". Why? Movie fans who may have picked this up instead of the "real" Iron Man title are bound to be confused.

The "ultimate" version of Tony Stark bears little resemblense to his regular Marvel universe counterpart--his father is still alive and runs Stark Industries, and he's fueding with another teenager for most of the book. (The evil kid is Tony's dad's ex-wife's son, if you can keep that straight...). There's a shadowy government operative, a Middle Eastern weapons dealer, a hackneyed plot involving suitcase nukes...etc. etc.

You will enjoy this book a WHOLE LOT more if you just realize it's not an Iron Man story and treat it as if it were an entirely new character, called maybe "Neuro-Mutant-Armored-Guy" instead of Iron Man. Card's re-imagining of the Iron Man character is as far from the spirit and intent of the original as it would have been if Bendis had made Flash Thompson the Ultimate Spider Man instead of Peter Parker.

BUT, if you treat this as a story completely unrelated Iron Man, it's actually outstanding. If it were presented as a new hero and not labeled Iron Man I would rate this book 5 stars. It's the fact that it is a non-Iron Man story shoehorned into the Iron Man mythos that brings it down to 3 stars for me.

By comparison, plotting, pace, development are all better done than Ultimate Iron Man, Volume 1, but still a far cry from the much superior Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate Fantastic Four series.

The Ultimate Marvel universe isn't what it used to be (which Marvel has become more than aware of), but one of the few titles to stand out to me besides Warren Ellis' Ultimate Hulk VS Iron Man mini was Ultimate Iron Man. Written by Ender's Game author Orson Scott Card, Ultimate Iron Man was a surprisingly good re-invention of Tony Stark's past, and the path laid out before him that lead him to becoming Iron Man. Well, Orson Scott Card returns with Ultimate Iron Man II, which finds a growing conspiracy involving Tony's father Howard, as well asmany other elements that Card introduced the last time around. Pasqual Ferry provides some solid artwork to boot as well, and his renderings are a nice touch. The only real drawback to Ultimate Iron Man II is that it's too short, and over before you know it. Not to mention that there's another installment just begging to be unleashed, of which there no doubt will be. All in all though, Ultimate Iron Man II is a worthwhile trip, and if you enjoyed the first mini, you'll dig this too.

Orson Scott Card to SciFiScanner on this book:

"I really hate superhero comics. Then Marvel comes to me with this character, and when they told me what it was I said, "Wow, that is even dumber than most superhero comics." This guy is the head of a multi-million dollar international corporation -- that's a full-time job. He is also a scientist-inventor-engineer -- that's a full-time job. And he wears a suit and goes out and save people? But then I found out I could give him a childhood -- that's what I do. So that worked for me. I literally can't write a story I don't believe in. I sit there staring at the screen and nothing happens. I have to wait until I believe in it."

This isn't Iron Man. The character is unrecognizable and this is a badly written story by a notable author who just wanted to make sure the check cleared without too much fuss. Ultimate Iron Man has achieved a legendary status as the worst Ultimate Marvel series ever (keyword: nanomonkeys), and the beginning of a "dark age" that ushered in lower standards of quality throughout the entire Ultimate Universe line. With this volume, you too can see just why it this series is so reviled and why Card's competence as an author was called into question by people unfamiliar with his body of work. Even diehard OSC fans will be horribly disappointed.

If you want to read up on Ultimate Iron Man, you're better served by checking out "Ultimates 1," "Ultimates 2," and "Ultimate Human." This one's not worth the minutes of your life that could best be spent watching paint dry.