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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh. My. God!, August 19, 2007
I was never much of a Fantastic Four fan, but was impressed enough by the first two (hardcover) installments of the Ultimate Fantastic Four series to take a chance on volume 3, especially once I heard Mark Millar and Greg Land were at the helm. I had no idea that when I was done reading it, I would rank it just below the Ultimates volumes 1 and 2 as the best Ultimate Marvel storyline ever.
In this volume, Reed Richards open a gateway to a parallel universe, this one populated entirely by Marvel heroes turned zombies! The zombified (and highly contagious) version of the Fantastic Four (rightly termed the Frightful Four) follow Reed back home in order to set up the Ultimate Earth as a buffet for the rest of their undead cohorts. Along the way, we're introduced to Sue and Johnny's long lost mother and the Ultimate version of Namor the Sub-Mariner, who instantly claims the title of biggest jerk in the Ultimate Universe. In the second half of the book, the Frightful Four break loose, Reed makes a deal with the devil (in this case, Dr. Doom), and the Ultimate Super-Skrull nearly annihilates the entire planet.
Millar's incredible run on this series is the stuff of legend, combing innovative storylines with clever dialogue in a manner that fans of his Ultimates series will find very familiar. His Frightful Four are absolutely terrifying, and he makes the Ultimate Dr. Doom far more compelling a character than his predecessors did. It doesn't hurt that his storytelling is so ably augmented by Greg Land's gorgeous artwork. If Millar ever comes back to the Ultimates and Bryan Hitch is busy, he definitely needs to bring in Land. The Fantastic Four haven't been this fascinating, or looked this good, in a long long time.
This is easily the best Ultimate Fantastic Four storyline, and one of the very best Ultimate storylines as well (and we already know how much better the Ultimate line is than the plain old Marvel Universe). If you loved the Ultimates, you must buy this book. I just feel sorry for the creative team who has to follow this run. Talk about an uphill battle!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't judge a book by it's really gross cover, September 22, 2007
I hold myself to only reading a few comic book titles, lest I fall into the collection craze that consumed my time (and money) back in the 80s when I was a kid. Ultimate Fantastic Four is one of them.
So Ultimate Fantastic Four vol. 3 came out and, having vol. 1 and 2, I just naturally ordered it off of Amazon without reading about it or even looking at the cover. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I saw it. It looked... really gross. I read the back, and it talked about the birth of the "Marvel Zombies". Now, I had seen some Marvel Zombie stuff when I visited the comic book store with my kids, and I always thought it looked gross and stupid. I hate horror/blood and guts stuff in general. Now I was going to read about how Marvel super heroes I really liked became flesh eating monsters. Not cool. I wished I had read more about it before I ordered it, and even wondered if I could return it. But I was already committed to the title, so I gave it a shot.
And all I can say is... Marvel Zombies rock.
I mean, seriously. They are very cool. It sounds stupid saying it, but this was the best comic book I've read in a long time. It was brilliantly written and incredibly well drawn. I read it a few times, in fact. And when I wasn't reading it, I've been thinking about it. Color me surprised.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating!, February 7, 2009
Mark Millar pulls out all the stops on his return to the Ultimate Fantastic Four. This hardcover version contains the 12-issue run that Millar did on the book. I was fascinated at the beginning when our young Reed Richards keeps secret the fact that he's managed to contact an alternate version of himself in another dimension. And Millar is sly about his story, spinning a hanging curveball over the plate while I was watching in wide-eyed amazement.
I've heard of the Marvel zombies, but I haven't read any of their books despite wide acclaim from readers and friends. I just didn't care for the idea. However, when Millar delivers the story, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the zombies. Now it looks like I'm going to have to go out and pick up more graphic novels. But it's a small price to pay for the wonderful story.
The scenes where Reed wandered around a desolated world were great. I kept waiting for things to jump out at him, and I wasn't disappointed, but I was surprised. There's something just inherently gross about the idea of heroes turned into zombies. But the juxtaposition of young, innocent Reed Richards facing them while bereft of his companions was striking. Even though I knew he would be rescued or save himself, I couldn't help but anxiously turn the pages as the story developed.
I had to laugh when I saw Ultimate Thing take on Zombie Hulk, then take out the undead green giant with a single punch. It was perfect, a good way to lighten the overall somber story line. Millar continues showing this young Fantastic Four still breaking rules laid out by the adults. Just as any teenagers and twentysomethings would do, Reed keeps on challenging himself and those rules. He's drawn into the science and the unknown like a moth to a flame.
Even though the zombie Fantastic Four get locked up at the end of this arc, one knows they're not going to just fade away. Zombie Reed is cunning and malicious, and Millar shows some of his best dialogue when writing the confrontations between Ultimate Reed and his undead adult version.
The second arc really pulls rabbit out of the hat when Johnny and Sue's mother puts in an appearance. They believed their mother has been dead for the last 15 years. Not only is she alive, but she's also discovered the lost remains of Atlantis. And she needs the help of the Fantastic Four to help her explore those remains.
The fact that they find Namor the Submariner there isn't a really great surprise. What is a surprise is how he is so much different than longtime readers expect him to be. The story is tense and there's a lot a conflict between Sue and Reed in this one. One of the funniest bits that occurs is when Reed imagines Sue's mother nearly nude at a very inopportune moment.
Greg Land pencils all of these 12 issues. I've loved his art on other things, but it looks almost too finished here. Maybe it was all those years of looking at Jack Kirby's artwork, and the fact that Andy Kubert draws with a savage looseness of his own, but I didn't feel comfortable with what I saw. I think Land did a fantastic job on the zombies and on Sue's mother's Victoria's Secret cameo.
The next part deals with the return of Dr. Doom and the zombie Fantastic Four breaking out of their prison. I have to admit that I knew how they were going to break out from the minute zombie Reed started in on his tirade. I couldn't believe the security teams weren't trained any better than that. But that's a small flaw in an otherwise wonderful story packed with action and suspense.
In the final story contained within the volume, the Ultimate Super Skrull puts in his first appearance and we get a story about time travel as Reed tries to go back and change the event that altered himself and his friends. I knew how the story had to end, with them being unable to change the events. Instead, Millar goes even further by allowing them to change them. I really liked what he did with the potential future world he dreamed up, as well as how he resolved the whole time travel conundrum.
In my opinion, this hardcover collection is the best so far and will be very hard to beat. These stories offer all the cutting-edge technology, relationship issues, and nostalgic feels that any longtime fan could wish for, and it covers a lot of interesting and fun territory for the newcomer.
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