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Ultimate Fantastic Four (2003) (Collected Editions)
Ultimate Fantastic Four, Volume 4: Inhuman
A classic Fantastic Four villain makes the debut here in Ultimate form, turning the Baxter Building into a virtual trap set to capture and eliminate the fledgling adventurers. And what of the other denizens of the skyscraper, including Johnny and Sue's father Dr. Storm? And who has the power to outthink even the most brilliant man alive, Reed Richards? Wait and see Plus: the first appearance of the Ultimate Inhumans From a hidden race, she came to steal the heart of the FF's youngest member. She's the beautiful elemental called Crystal.
Collecing: Ultimate Fantastic Four 19-20, Annual 1
Collecing: Ultimate Fantastic Four 19-20, Annual 1
96 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
12 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Mark Millar
1,521 books2,570 followersMark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.
His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.
Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.
His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.
Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
June 29, 2021
This contains issue 19 & 20, plus Ultimate FF #1.
So, it's a pretty short volume.
The 1st two issues are some weird chick with a lump on her head who has set out to prove that she's better than Reed. The Mad Thinker, apparently? I have no idea who that is, but I'm woefully behind on my Fantastic Four lore, so that's not surprising.
The annual introduced the Inhumans, and Johnny's newest love interest, Crystal.
Again, I liked the twist on these guys. Medusa actually looked like the mythological Medusa with a head full of snakes. And the Inhumans didn't look kindly on the humans who shared the planet with them, so this had the Ultimate origin for why they moved their shit to the moon.
Jae Lee is the artist for these issues. While I normally like his art, it worked better for the Inhumans issue than it did (for me) with the regular Fantastic Four stuff.
Recommended for Fantastic Fans.
So, it's a pretty short volume.
The 1st two issues are some weird chick with a lump on her head who has set out to prove that she's better than Reed. The Mad Thinker, apparently? I have no idea who that is, but I'm woefully behind on my Fantastic Four lore, so that's not surprising.
The annual introduced the Inhumans, and Johnny's newest love interest, Crystal.
Again, I liked the twist on these guys. Medusa actually looked like the mythological Medusa with a head full of snakes. And the Inhumans didn't look kindly on the humans who shared the planet with them, so this had the Ultimate origin for why they moved their shit to the moon.
Jae Lee is the artist for these issues. While I normally like his art, it worked better for the Inhumans issue than it did (for me) with the regular Fantastic Four stuff.
Recommended for Fantastic Fans.
June 12, 2023
A short volume, this one, but a good one. The first half, written by Mike Carey, chronicles an attack on the Baxter Building by the Ultimate version of the Mad Thinker; an interesting gender-swapped reimagining that is seriously creepy. I enjoyed this story quite a bit.
The second half of the book, written by returning original writer Mark Millar, shows the Ultimate FF’s first encounter with the Ultimate version of the Inhumans. I enjoyed this one, too, despite not being much keen on the reimagined versions of Gorgon (gender-swapped again) and Medusa (who now has snakes for hair; a little too on-the-nose for my tastes). There were some major changes in this story (Dr. Storm’s cancer, the team referring to themselves as the Fantastic Four for the first time, the team using code names for the first time, the first incidence of them having the FF logo on their uniforms) none of which had any explanation. It makes me think this story is supposed to happen later in the chronology than where it’s placed in these collected volumes. If that’s the case, that’s rather annoying.
What really makes this volume great, though, is the beautiful artwork by Jae Lee. Every page is a near-perfect piece of graphic design. My only criticism of Lee’s artwork is his overuse of silhouette. It mostly works well, but every now and again I feel like he’s putting something in silhouette because he doesn’t want to draw it, rather than because it’s the best choice artistically. (I may be over sensitive to this fault, as it’s one that Paul Neary made of my artwork the first time I submitted samples to Marvel many, many, many moons ago!)
The second half of the book, written by returning original writer Mark Millar, shows the Ultimate FF’s first encounter with the Ultimate version of the Inhumans. I enjoyed this one, too, despite not being much keen on the reimagined versions of Gorgon (gender-swapped again) and Medusa (who now has snakes for hair; a little too on-the-nose for my tastes). There were some major changes in this story (Dr. Storm’s cancer, the team referring to themselves as the Fantastic Four for the first time, the team using code names for the first time, the first incidence of them having the FF logo on their uniforms) none of which had any explanation. It makes me think this story is supposed to happen later in the chronology than where it’s placed in these collected volumes. If that’s the case, that’s rather annoying.
What really makes this volume great, though, is the beautiful artwork by Jae Lee. Every page is a near-perfect piece of graphic design. My only criticism of Lee’s artwork is his overuse of silhouette. It mostly works well, but every now and again I feel like he’s putting something in silhouette because he doesn’t want to draw it, rather than because it’s the best choice artistically. (I may be over sensitive to this fault, as it’s one that Paul Neary made of my artwork the first time I submitted samples to Marvel many, many, many moons ago!)
July 4, 2022
I always find Jae Lee's art to be hit or miss but here the story plays to his strengths and both the Inhumans and this version of Mad Thinker and Amazing Andy come across as otherworldly and menacing.
Definitely recommend if you've enjoyed Our Story Thus Far.
Definitely recommend if you've enjoyed Our Story Thus Far.
January 24, 2022
This was a weird volume.
You have a new enemy introduced here in the form of Rhona and yeah she was jealous that Reed took her place in the think tank and so she attacks the team in their team by becoming some sort of robot and all and also has her own mind-controlled army and auctions are taking place now that she defeats the F4. Honestly its a very confusing story and the worst thing I have read from this run so far and I highly recommend skipping it.
The other story is about Crystal and how she escapes from her royal family and we get the reimaginings of Inhumans and its the worst thing I have seen like its terrible design and the story is quick after a quick fight between the two teams, they leave for a new sanctuary and all the stuff like that happens.. weird and boring. The art was terrible. Jae lee's art is real bad here.
You have a new enemy introduced here in the form of Rhona and yeah she was jealous that Reed took her place in the think tank and so she attacks the team in their team by becoming some sort of robot and all and also has her own mind-controlled army and auctions are taking place now that she defeats the F4. Honestly its a very confusing story and the worst thing I have read from this run so far and I highly recommend skipping it.
The other story is about Crystal and how she escapes from her royal family and we get the reimaginings of Inhumans and its the worst thing I have seen like its terrible design and the story is quick after a quick fight between the two teams, they leave for a new sanctuary and all the stuff like that happens.. weird and boring. The art was terrible. Jae lee's art is real bad here.
February 20, 2015
OK so we've got 2 stories here: Think Tank, by Mike Carey (which is the weaker of the 2) and Inhumans (The Annual, by Mark Millar).
I guess the Mad Thinker Ultimate form is this girl in the story Rhona, who was rejected from the Baxter Building, and found out Reed got her spot instead (because her Psych consult was off the charts and she was a nutter). She is nuts because she lobotomizes her brother and then turns him into a robot or some shit? So she sets some trap in the BB...Reed figures it out, it's kinda boring, and compared to the high quality the series was on so far, this was kind of a let down...the only interesting thing is the cliffhanger reveal where Reed is contacted by an alternate dimension...Reed!
I also didn't love the art by Jae Lee.
The Mark Millar piece, about the Inhumans, was a bit better, introducing them to the Ultimate Universe. Johnny falls for Crystal, who's being pursued by guards from Attilan. He tries to save her, gets his ass kicked, but she fixes him...because apparently the Inhumans are 10K yrs ahead of us, and avoid us because we're like howler monkeys to them.
There's a funny bit where Crystal gets taken back, and Johnny's like "Oh no, how will we find her?" and Ben's like "boy you're really dumb aren't you?" and then points to Lockjaw (the gigantic telepathic transporting Dog...) So they crash Attilan, we meet the Ultimate versions of Medusa, Black Bolt, Gorgon, and the others (including Maximus, who seems exactly the same).
A stupid fight ensues, and as such, Attlian must be abandoned, as the FF have ruined it. So Black Bolt levels it and they leave...the end.
Really, this was a big let down after Warren Ellis' last 2 volumes...I just feel like it jumped all over the place, and the story really didn't interest me much at all, nor did it explain anything, and the stereotypical caricatures of each member returned...
Rather disappointing, but not quite low enough for 2 stars...a generous 2.5+ rounded up?
Skippable.
August 7, 2016
It's three issues. Worse, it isn't even three good issues. At best, they're dull. I liked some of the stylized elements of the artwork, but... Comic book artists: please give your female characters more than one face. Because Johnny's new love interest? The one he falls in love with at first sight? Who looks exactly like his sister? That isn't just annoying, it's creepy. To recap: boring story, and the art accidentally implies that Johnny has feelings for Sue he hasn't dealt with. Great.
March 25, 2015
SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!!
I've recently gotten behind on my reviews. But when I read something that makes me this upset... It takes precedent.
Jae Lee. First of all: how did you get this job on this particular title? Second of all: WHAT THE FUCK? I have never been so enraged by artwork, and I read Astonishing X-Men Xenogenesis. Here's the thing... If the job description read:
WANTED: Artist to draw the major characters in shadows and silhouettes for 40 out of the 44 pages of two issues. When they are actually drawn and featured in the annual make sure that the main female character is identical to her brother's new love interest. Because that isn't creepy as fuck AT ALL. Seriously, if you are this artist WE NEED YOU ASAP!
If that was the description then Jae Lee was the prefect candidate in every single way. But in the real world, this doesn't usually happen. Also, when faces are drawn, they're done so in a way that I just can't get behind. All of the women have the exact same face, except for the Thinker, because of her man-made deformations.
The Thinker could have been a decent story line, albeit one that has no longevity. Two issues covered everything for her in my opinion, though she somehow escapes and I'm assuming we'll sadly see her again. But with the artwork dragging down an already short-lived villain with no real purpose other than insanity, it is squashed in the ground pretty much from page one.
Touching on the annual... I was expecting more. Instead I got a story about arranged love, and how Crystal wants out of it in spite of her superior society. And let me reiterate: SUE AND CRYSTAL LOOK ONE THOUSAND PERCENT THE EXACT SAME. Way to go, Johnny. I guess you'd fuck your sister, too. I know I should have paid more attention to the story line, and honestly I can see how Attilans could turn into a pretty awesome story line considering they all hold supernatural, kick ass abilities. But seriously, according to Jae Lee, Johnny has a boner for his sister's hottie mchot-hot bod, and I cannot look past that.
Just draw the characters like they are different people. Because they fucking are.
Luckily the first three volumes were super legit. I will continue with series for sure. And thank god there are different artists in the next volume.
I've recently gotten behind on my reviews. But when I read something that makes me this upset... It takes precedent.
Jae Lee. First of all: how did you get this job on this particular title? Second of all: WHAT THE FUCK? I have never been so enraged by artwork, and I read Astonishing X-Men Xenogenesis. Here's the thing... If the job description read:
WANTED: Artist to draw the major characters in shadows and silhouettes for 40 out of the 44 pages of two issues. When they are actually drawn and featured in the annual make sure that the main female character is identical to her brother's new love interest. Because that isn't creepy as fuck AT ALL. Seriously, if you are this artist WE NEED YOU ASAP!
If that was the description then Jae Lee was the prefect candidate in every single way. But in the real world, this doesn't usually happen. Also, when faces are drawn, they're done so in a way that I just can't get behind. All of the women have the exact same face, except for the Thinker, because of her man-made deformations.
The Thinker could have been a decent story line, albeit one that has no longevity. Two issues covered everything for her in my opinion, though she somehow escapes and I'm assuming we'll sadly see her again. But with the artwork dragging down an already short-lived villain with no real purpose other than insanity, it is squashed in the ground pretty much from page one.
Touching on the annual... I was expecting more. Instead I got a story about arranged love, and how Crystal wants out of it in spite of her superior society. And let me reiterate: SUE AND CRYSTAL LOOK ONE THOUSAND PERCENT THE EXACT SAME. Way to go, Johnny. I guess you'd fuck your sister, too. I know I should have paid more attention to the story line, and honestly I can see how Attilans could turn into a pretty awesome story line considering they all hold supernatural, kick ass abilities. But seriously, according to Jae Lee, Johnny has a boner for his sister's hottie mchot-hot bod, and I cannot look past that.
Just draw the characters like they are different people. Because they fucking are.
Luckily the first three volumes were super legit. I will continue with series for sure. And thank god there are different artists in the next volume.
March 7, 2024
Score: 2 out of 5
Grade: 40% (D) | Forgettable
Reed and the gang go toe-to-toe with some big-brained Karen lady. The art was definitely disappointing, although the art for the annual was much better. None of these stories did it for me though, just a very forgettable volume.
Grade: 40% (D) | Forgettable
Reed and the gang go toe-to-toe with some big-brained Karen lady. The art was definitely disappointing, although the art for the annual was much better. None of these stories did it for me though, just a very forgettable volume.
July 1, 2024
My Ultimate Year #12
Read for a very damaged Mad Thinker, and a dark reboot of the original Inhumans debut, including a very literal take on Medusa.
Read for a very damaged Mad Thinker, and a dark reboot of the original Inhumans debut, including a very literal take on Medusa.
November 2, 2019
Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Mike Carey are some of the top writers in Marvel's 21st century pantheon. Between them, they've made Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, and The Ultimates really interesting modern takes on the classic Marvel stories, condensing their history, while still expanding character mythos and tweaking important Marvel historical moments. More recently, Ed Piskor has started The Grand Design series, where he condenses a decade worth of story into one collection by giving you only the very essential bits of story and character development, drawn in a very retro style.
Ultimate Fantastic Four seems to ask the question: what if you took The Most Important Moments in Fantastic Four's mythos, drained all of the interesting parts out of them, and gave them to entirely the wrong artists.
While Kubert's art saved the otherwise dreadful Volume 3, Jae Lee's art, here, doesn't make any sense. He's a very atmospheric artist who doesn't do backgrounds well, and therefore, often doesn't do backgrounds at all. Putting him on this book is a disservice to both the title, and his art.
I don't recommend this book, except as a cautionary tale.
Ultimate Fantastic Four seems to ask the question: what if you took The Most Important Moments in Fantastic Four's mythos, drained all of the interesting parts out of them, and gave them to entirely the wrong artists.
While Kubert's art saved the otherwise dreadful Volume 3, Jae Lee's art, here, doesn't make any sense. He's a very atmospheric artist who doesn't do backgrounds well, and therefore, often doesn't do backgrounds at all. Putting him on this book is a disservice to both the title, and his art.
I don't recommend this book, except as a cautionary tale.
August 18, 2024
(Read in 2007, review from 2024)
Read this one in middle school while in my Fantastic 4 period. This one was pretty "eh" I recall. Almost filler. The most interesting part was the tease that the Ultimate Mister Fantastic was contacted by someone looking like the main Mister Fantastic before the twist of the following volume.
Read this one in middle school while in my Fantastic 4 period. This one was pretty "eh" I recall. Almost filler. The most interesting part was the tease that the Ultimate Mister Fantastic was contacted by someone looking like the main Mister Fantastic before the twist of the following volume.
September 8, 2019
A much more enjoyable read than the previous runs in the series and the zombie arc is lots of fun. Sadly I don’t feel like this in ever really capitalises on what makes the Fantastic Four unique or special (although this collection fares better than others). The storylines feel as though they could apply to any given heroes.
August 1, 2025
Quite poor.
June 26, 2016
Ugh. This volume was horrible. For one, there is a massive change in art here. While the other volumes were bright and realistic, with a very slight cartoony look, the art here is dark, drained of color, and mostly void of detail. The faces of the characters looked like potatoes. It's that bad. The art in the annual section of this volume is a little better but it still doesn't fit the fun, colorful vibe of Fantastic Four. It's just too dark.
Also, the story is by far the worst in this series so far. I had no idea what was going on. That might be because I'm unfamiliar with Inhumans, but considering this series is supposed to be a good place for comic book beginners, I shouldn't have felt so lost.
Also, the dialogue didn't help. The aliens (were they even aliens??) spoke with their words mashed together, so it was like reading gibberish. This volume was just bad in every sense of the word. I'd give it no stars if I could.
Also, the story is by far the worst in this series so far. I had no idea what was going on. That might be because I'm unfamiliar with Inhumans, but considering this series is supposed to be a good place for comic book beginners, I shouldn't have felt so lost.
Also, the dialogue didn't help. The aliens (were they even aliens??) spoke with their words mashed together, so it was like reading gibberish. This volume was just bad in every sense of the word. I'd give it no stars if I could.
February 21, 2015
Collects Ultimate Fantastic Four issues #19-20 and Annual #1
I was expecting way more out of this, and it was just not that good. The first two issues featured a story about a super smart female villain that is still mad at Reed because he took her spot at the Baxter Building. Does that sound interesting? No, and it wasn't.
The third and final issue of this very small collection featured the introduction of the Ultimate Universe's Inhumans. Again, another lame story in which the Inhumans come off as super villains.
As if the stories weren't bad enough, the artwork did not fit the mood of this series. I really didn't like it.
I was expecting way more out of this, and it was just not that good. The first two issues featured a story about a super smart female villain that is still mad at Reed because he took her spot at the Baxter Building. Does that sound interesting? No, and it wasn't.
The third and final issue of this very small collection featured the introduction of the Ultimate Universe's Inhumans. Again, another lame story in which the Inhumans come off as super villains.
As if the stories weren't bad enough, the artwork did not fit the mood of this series. I really didn't like it.
June 11, 2025
Basic Plot: The FF deal with a new villain and are introduced to the Inhumans.
I bought/read these books as they came out, so it's been a hot minute since I read them. I remember the book feeling fresh and very accessible to me, a person unfamiliar with FF lore, and still learning about the Marvel universe at the time. The art and storytelling were both very solid, for the most part. I've always found the Inhumans to be more than a bit confusing, so their introduction here feels just a bit much.
I bought/read these books as they came out, so it's been a hot minute since I read them. I remember the book feeling fresh and very accessible to me, a person unfamiliar with FF lore, and still learning about the Marvel universe at the time. The art and storytelling were both very solid, for the most part. I've always found the Inhumans to be more than a bit confusing, so their introduction here feels just a bit much.
April 23, 2011
Good, but I can't believe they put so little into a bound volume--two comic issues and an annual? That's seriously on the slim side. Also, after the previous two volumes, which featured some great art, this time we've got art by Jae Lee, not one of my favorites. The man can draw, but the characters all look strangely misshapen, etc.
March 16, 2022
I refuse to believe Marvel actually paid people for this trash. Everyone involved should have been fired at the spot. Jae Lee commits crimes against humanity with his art and the story is also a stinker.
September 9, 2012
1 start for the art.
Ultimate FF started very well, but vol 4 is really, really disappointing...
Ultimate FF started very well, but vol 4 is really, really disappointing...
April 16, 2015
Mostly nonsense.
January 6, 2016
My biggest wish is that the stories were a little longer here.
April 2, 2019
Not as good as vol 3. Artwork is a little scratchy and weird.
December 7, 2023
Golly! was this atrocious and didn’t go anywhere.
September 9, 2019
[Written: January 25, 2006] | [Edited: September 09, 2019]
I picked up "Ultimate Fantastic Four, vol. 4: Inhuman," at my local library yesterday, and though many may think what I did was premature, I borrowed it and read it anyway. The paperback is pretty thin, only containing issues #19 (Think Tank Part One), #20 (Think Tank Part Two - Finale), and #1 Annual issue (Inhuman). First off to get this out of the way: The cover art is probably the biggest mislead for me. Being someone who is an avid follower of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (who artist, Mark Bagley does some amazing work for the comic book overall) I took one look at the cover and expected some of the same excellent art work. Instead I am welcomed with pencil thin drawn art by artist Jae Lee, which was less than impressive.
His art technique failed to capture any real emotion displayed in the dialogue of the characters. Most of the time the characters were straight faced or angry-faced for too long, or just deadpanned in one too many scenes (notably Sue).
Johnny's "flame on" scenes were horrible: They looked like computer graphics overlapped over the pencil drawing. And then throughout most of the "Think Tank" storyline, I found myself staring at black blobs that were supposed to be the characters (this art style is carried on into #1 Annual) doing various things in the supposed dark, via incoherent and poorly drawn action scenes that had me re-looking at the panels twice. The storyline for all three issues were weak and uninspiring.
Issue 19 is simply a start up for the FEMALE Mad Thinker, Rhona Burchill who proceeds to capture the soldiers and the teen-Fantastic Four once they reach the heart of the so-called Baxter Building, which is in no way booby-trapped. In issue 20, for some reason the reader is given a horrible excuse for a backstory to Rhona Burchill in issue #20, and then are supposed to believe that she somehow "beat Reed Richards" and Reed has a moment of "Brain Evny," (they insult my intelligence to no end).
The first Annual issue is probably the weakest story of them all: It starts off with plot-starter characters who are mountain climbing in a snowy mountain region. The pair barely discover a guarded city which belong to the ULTIMATE Inhumans before being carried off to be mind-wiped. Elsewhere Ben and Reed are somewhere inside Sue and Johnny's father, ridding the old man of cancer cells and other invading viruses while Johnny is out hopping through clubs, picking up fast women.
He then proceeds to attempt to rescue a damsel in distress but is pummeled into a broken mess by her hunters instead. In the next panels: She is suddenly in the Baxter Building (no scene on how she got there or a simple "on the defense moment" from the trio at the BB), speaking to the UFF-teens.
She is introduced as Crystal - one of the Inhumans that control the power of all elements. She complains to the quad-team that she was bored of her perfect life, escaped an arranged marriage and came to NYC for excitement. Ben laments, "Yeah, just what New York needs... more freakin' weirdos." Crystal, as well as the other Inhuman's backstories, are never explored at all.
Instead Crystal is "kidnapped" by her fellow peers and taken back to the secret city. Johnny proceeds to call her "the love of his life" but Sue rightfully puts him straight and quad go after her with the help of her teleporting bull-doggish creature, LockJaw. From there disaster strikes the moment the UFF are found out by a Tien-type character named Tri-clops.
From there The Thing starts fighting and the others follow suit. If anything Annual was a poor attempt at introducing the INHUMANS to the ULTIMATE MARVEL universe; Nothing was properly explained about these characters and if anything, "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 1" was a better constructed story. Many people complain about Chris Claremount or Brain Michael Bendis' tendencies to drag storylines out to the point of boredom (I don't think in such a manner, properly explained stories are probably my favorite as long as their not TOO DRUG OUT), but at least they give you time to adjust to the characters/story.
Mark Millar (writer for the normal FANTASIC FOUR continuity) and Mike Carey throw them on you and expect you to accept them because they were something special in the normal MARVEL COMMUNITY. Lastly, throughout all three issues Reed is less of a leader -more of a chicken- than he is in the original FF series and behaves to the point why I remembered I didn't like him.
He spends most of his time telling the others to "Look out for Sue! (whose character is non-existent in this volume)," and dodging enemy attacks most of the time. Ben grumbles and complains, Sue huffs at the male attention she gets when in a dangerous situation, and Johnny acts pretty much like a brash hothead. Basically, they all act like teenagers to a point only more annoying.
All in all, it wasn't horrible, it was great either. I seriously think a change of writers is in serious need for this title series.
I picked up "Ultimate Fantastic Four, vol. 4: Inhuman," at my local library yesterday, and though many may think what I did was premature, I borrowed it and read it anyway. The paperback is pretty thin, only containing issues #19 (Think Tank Part One), #20 (Think Tank Part Two - Finale), and #1 Annual issue (Inhuman). First off to get this out of the way: The cover art is probably the biggest mislead for me. Being someone who is an avid follower of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (who artist, Mark Bagley does some amazing work for the comic book overall) I took one look at the cover and expected some of the same excellent art work. Instead I am welcomed with pencil thin drawn art by artist Jae Lee, which was less than impressive.
His art technique failed to capture any real emotion displayed in the dialogue of the characters. Most of the time the characters were straight faced or angry-faced for too long, or just deadpanned in one too many scenes (notably Sue).
Johnny's "flame on" scenes were horrible: They looked like computer graphics overlapped over the pencil drawing. And then throughout most of the "Think Tank" storyline, I found myself staring at black blobs that were supposed to be the characters (this art style is carried on into #1 Annual) doing various things in the supposed dark, via incoherent and poorly drawn action scenes that had me re-looking at the panels twice. The storyline for all three issues were weak and uninspiring.
Issue 19 is simply a start up for the FEMALE Mad Thinker, Rhona Burchill who proceeds to capture the soldiers and the teen-Fantastic Four once they reach the heart of the so-called Baxter Building, which is in no way booby-trapped. In issue 20, for some reason the reader is given a horrible excuse for a backstory to Rhona Burchill in issue #20, and then are supposed to believe that she somehow "beat Reed Richards" and Reed has a moment of "Brain Evny," (they insult my intelligence to no end).
The first Annual issue is probably the weakest story of them all: It starts off with plot-starter characters who are mountain climbing in a snowy mountain region. The pair barely discover a guarded city which belong to the ULTIMATE Inhumans before being carried off to be mind-wiped. Elsewhere Ben and Reed are somewhere inside Sue and Johnny's father, ridding the old man of cancer cells and other invading viruses while Johnny is out hopping through clubs, picking up fast women.
He then proceeds to attempt to rescue a damsel in distress but is pummeled into a broken mess by her hunters instead. In the next panels: She is suddenly in the Baxter Building (no scene on how she got there or a simple "on the defense moment" from the trio at the BB), speaking to the UFF-teens.
She is introduced as Crystal - one of the Inhumans that control the power of all elements. She complains to the quad-team that she was bored of her perfect life, escaped an arranged marriage and came to NYC for excitement. Ben laments, "Yeah, just what New York needs... more freakin' weirdos." Crystal, as well as the other Inhuman's backstories, are never explored at all.
Instead Crystal is "kidnapped" by her fellow peers and taken back to the secret city. Johnny proceeds to call her "the love of his life" but Sue rightfully puts him straight and quad go after her with the help of her teleporting bull-doggish creature, LockJaw. From there disaster strikes the moment the UFF are found out by a Tien-type character named Tri-clops.
From there The Thing starts fighting and the others follow suit. If anything Annual was a poor attempt at introducing the INHUMANS to the ULTIMATE MARVEL universe; Nothing was properly explained about these characters and if anything, "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 1" was a better constructed story. Many people complain about Chris Claremount or Brain Michael Bendis' tendencies to drag storylines out to the point of boredom (I don't think in such a manner, properly explained stories are probably my favorite as long as their not TOO DRUG OUT), but at least they give you time to adjust to the characters/story.
Mark Millar (writer for the normal FANTASIC FOUR continuity) and Mike Carey throw them on you and expect you to accept them because they were something special in the normal MARVEL COMMUNITY. Lastly, throughout all three issues Reed is less of a leader -more of a chicken- than he is in the original FF series and behaves to the point why I remembered I didn't like him.
He spends most of his time telling the others to "Look out for Sue! (whose character is non-existent in this volume)," and dodging enemy attacks most of the time. Ben grumbles and complains, Sue huffs at the male attention she gets when in a dangerous situation, and Johnny acts pretty much like a brash hothead. Basically, they all act like teenagers to a point only more annoying.
All in all, it wasn't horrible, it was great either. I seriously think a change of writers is in serious need for this title series.
April 4, 2024
When this Millar run came out I read it gleefully, loving how Millar’s bag of edgelord tricks took the decency of the FF and tried so desperately to up antes when throwing zombies and an overpowered Namor at the screen.
And shock value has some play when written to the expectations of old-time readers who had certain expectations of these characters locked in their “always take the high road” straitjackets.
But it fades pretty quickly, leaving you feel empty and demanding the ideas build to an ever-higher crescendo. Which Millar fails to do. It’s like once the zombies have eaten someone, what’s left except “what if they retained their minds and were EVIL versions of themselves?”
Book six, the latter half of Millar’s brief stop in Sincerity Town, probably cribbing some plots from better comics and movies, at least gave us a minor worry that we didn’t know how Reed would get out of this mess - but instead of Reed outsmarting Doom, we inexplicably endure Yeah, that’s the million dollar arm and the ten-cent brain at work. This is the brains behind Netflix’ Millarworld eh? They deserve each other.
Not to mention pairing these stories with Greg Land’s devotion to collage (I’m sorry, I mean “layouts inspired by his favourite dozen poses and clipart“) and tracing (apologies, “facial expressions pulled from only the finest spank bank that Greg’s mom didn’t delete off his hard drive”). Talk about the inartful leading the terrible.
Turn of the Century comics, glad we’ve grown beyond you.
And shock value has some play when written to the expectations of old-time readers who had certain expectations of these characters locked in their “always take the high road” straitjackets.
But it fades pretty quickly, leaving you feel empty and demanding the ideas build to an ever-higher crescendo. Which Millar fails to do. It’s like once the zombies have eaten someone, what’s left except “what if they retained their minds and were EVIL versions of themselves?”
Book six, the latter half of Millar’s brief stop in Sincerity Town, probably cribbing some plots from better comics and movies, at least gave us a minor worry that we didn’t know how Reed would get out of this mess - but instead of Reed outsmarting Doom, we inexplicably endure Yeah, that’s the million dollar arm and the ten-cent brain at work. This is the brains behind Netflix’ Millarworld eh? They deserve each other.
Not to mention pairing these stories with Greg Land’s devotion to collage (I’m sorry, I mean “layouts inspired by his favourite dozen poses and clipart“) and tracing (apologies, “facial expressions pulled from only the finest spank bank that Greg’s mom didn’t delete off his hard drive”). Talk about the inartful leading the terrible.
Turn of the Century comics, glad we’ve grown beyond you.
April 21, 2025
Think Tank (#19-20). This re-invention of the Mad Thinker is exactly what the Ultimate universe was good at. Except that the whole student-who-didn't-get-into-school-seeks-revenge trope is kind of cliched. (Maybe less so in 2005?) And it also turns out that it's a pretty dull story: two issues of action-action-action, muddied by Jae Lee art that more often depicts silhouettes than characters. (Why???) It's not encouraging that this was all by Mike Carey, a usually great writer, but not here, and also the author of the back half of the UFF series [3/5].
Inhuman (A #1). Millar's back! Sadly, without Bendis' scripting, but still it's great to see the UFF's creator getting to take over the reins for a year. Here he offers an Ultimate look at the Inhumans, and they're another worthy reimagination, dark and gloomy and actually in-tune with the continuing Jae Lee artwork. A fun story, but probably a pretty skippable one. Oh, and the cover? Greg Land porn art? Not great, and he's unfortunately going to be the interior artist for the next year [4/5].
Inhuman (A #1). Millar's back! Sadly, without Bendis' scripting, but still it's great to see the UFF's creator getting to take over the reins for a year. Here he offers an Ultimate look at the Inhumans, and they're another worthy reimagination, dark and gloomy and actually in-tune with the continuing Jae Lee artwork. A fun story, but probably a pretty skippable one. Oh, and the cover? Greg Land porn art? Not great, and he's unfortunately going to be the interior artist for the next year [4/5].
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October 11, 2018Sorry Mike Carey - I love you I really do! But this isn’t for me.
I love everything Mike Carey and his FF is the only thing I haven’t yet read... I have to say that I am not a FF fan... I’m in the green corner, wearing a big foam finger and flag with ‘Doctor Doom’ written in it and a big robot looking novelty mask. 🤖
Yes, I’m completely on team Doom, I’m always hoping that that sanctimonious c*nt Reed and his smug fan-buds will somehow get his / their comeuppance in the most gruesome way, tales from the crypt style.
So, okay, I don’t get FF and I really don’t get this volume either...not even MC could make FF happen for me 🤷🏻♀️
The only thing I remotely enjoyed FF was Brubaker’s Books of Doom (go figure) and maybe Millar’s Ultimate FF (which was kind of fun).
So this is not for me and I decided not to rate it as it wouldn’t be fair as it’s just not for me.
I love everything Mike Carey and his FF is the only thing I haven’t yet read... I have to say that I am not a FF fan... I’m in the green corner, wearing a big foam finger and flag with ‘Doctor Doom’ written in it and a big robot looking novelty mask. 🤖
Yes, I’m completely on team Doom, I’m always hoping that that sanctimonious c*nt Reed and his smug fan-buds will somehow get his / their comeuppance in the most gruesome way, tales from the crypt style.
So, okay, I don’t get FF and I really don’t get this volume either...not even MC could make FF happen for me 🤷🏻♀️
The only thing I remotely enjoyed FF was Brubaker’s Books of Doom (go figure) and maybe Millar’s Ultimate FF (which was kind of fun).
So this is not for me and I decided not to rate it as it wouldn’t be fair as it’s just not for me.
June 8, 2024
Two issues and an annual is not enough content for a TPB.
I liked the Think Tank two issue arc. The art was fantastic and fit the tone of the story (the same goes for the annual that follows).
The annual is all right. It’s a good introduction for the inhumans in the ultimate universe. The art works really well and the inhuman designs are amazing.
I hated the way Millar immediately made Johnny a huge dick/douchebag. He had a pretty boy attitude but Millar took it to the extreme. Saying things like “Yo, sis. How’s it going, baby?” to his sister when answering the phone.
As I’ve complained in reviews for his other works, Millar has the nauseating habit of ending his dialogue with a name or nickname (old boy, dear friend, sis) and that trend continues here. I hate it. Passionately.
I liked the Think Tank two issue arc. The art was fantastic and fit the tone of the story (the same goes for the annual that follows).
The annual is all right. It’s a good introduction for the inhumans in the ultimate universe. The art works really well and the inhuman designs are amazing.
I hated the way Millar immediately made Johnny a huge dick/douchebag. He had a pretty boy attitude but Millar took it to the extreme. Saying things like “Yo, sis. How’s it going, baby?” to his sister when answering the phone.
As I’ve complained in reviews for his other works, Millar has the nauseating habit of ending his dialogue with a name or nickname (old boy, dear friend, sis) and that trend continues here. I hate it. Passionately.
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June 23, 2019Mike Carey’s two-part “Think Tank” is terrible. He introduces The Thinker, who speaks in an annoyingly unpunctuated dialogue that I was skimming by the end. She’s given a cliched and uninteresting backstory, captures the FF because reasons, and guess if they break out or not?
The annual by Mark Millar isn’t much better. We meet the Inhumans who are just... dull. Crystal shows up in New York, Johnny likes her, she gets taken back to Atillan, the FF and Inhumans fight. Yawn. I have yet to read a good Inhumans story, and this doesn’t assure me that any exist.
What a huge step down from the first three volumes. The epitome of filler.
The annual by Mark Millar isn’t much better. We meet the Inhumans who are just... dull. Crystal shows up in New York, Johnny likes her, she gets taken back to Atillan, the FF and Inhumans fight. Yawn. I have yet to read a good Inhumans story, and this doesn’t assure me that any exist.
What a huge step down from the first three volumes. The epitome of filler.
December 31, 2023
ISSUES 19-20
Un espanto, no me gustó el arte, no me gustaron los diálogos, fea la trama, horrible todo
ANNUAL 1
Tampoco me gustó mucho.
Es la introducción a los Inhumans de este universo. Como siempre, Johnny ve a Crystal, se enamora, la quiere ir a buscar y blah blah blah.
Pero otra vez el arte no me gustó, aunque sí me gustó un poco más que en los dos issues anteriores. Mi mayor problema es lo mucho que se parecen Sue y Crystal, tanto que la primera vez que vi la portada pensé que Crystal era Sue. Así que se imaginaran que no me encantó que Johnny se enamore a primera vista de alguien igual a su hermana.
La trama tampoco me gustó mucho.
En general, un volumen bastante meh
2☆
Un espanto, no me gustó el arte, no me gustaron los diálogos, fea la trama, horrible todo
ANNUAL 1
Tampoco me gustó mucho.
Es la introducción a los Inhumans de este universo. Como siempre, Johnny ve a Crystal, se enamora, la quiere ir a buscar y blah blah blah.
Pero otra vez el arte no me gustó, aunque sí me gustó un poco más que en los dos issues anteriores. Mi mayor problema es lo mucho que se parecen Sue y Crystal, tanto que la primera vez que vi la portada pensé que Crystal era Sue. Así que se imaginaran que no me encantó que Johnny se enamore a primera vista de alguien igual a su hermana.
La trama tampoco me gustó mucho.
En general, un volumen bastante meh
2☆
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