Ultimate Annuals, Volume 2

The Ultimates 2 (Single Issues) #Annual #2

by Charlie Huston (Writer), Mike Carey, Brian Michael Bendis

In Ultimate Fantastic Four, something strange has happened at Nursery Two, the Baxter Building's Think Tank counterpart in Oregon. It's disappeared, seemingly swallowed up by the earth itself And if you think that heralds the return of the macabre Mole Man, go to the head of the class.
In Ultimate X-Men, Dazzler has awakened from her coma only to discover her life is in deadly peril And even her former fellow X-Men may be powerless to save her as a betrayal within the ranks has left them shellshocked.
In Ultimate Spider-Man, Punisher and Daredevil return While Foggy Nelson offers Spidey some legal advice, Police Captain Jean DeWolfe gives him some other advice - on how to take down the Ultimate Kangaroo
And in The Ultimates, as the Ultimates clear the wreckage from the recent attack on the United States, a monstrous evil from the past rises from the ashes to launch an attack when America is at her weakest. And with the ranks of the Ultimates severely depleted, all that stands in the path of the long-thought-dead bio-fanatic Arnim Zola is the indomitable Sentinel of Liberty, Captain America, and Sam Wilson, the high-flying Falcon.

Collecting: The Ultimates Annual 2, Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual 2, Ultimate X-Men Annual 2, & Ultimate Spider-Man Annual 2

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fiction, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2007

About the author

Charlie Huston is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer known for his genre-blending storytelling and character-driven narratives. His twelve novels span crime, horror, and science fiction, and have been published by Ballantine, Del Rey, Mulholland, and Orion, with translations in nine languages. He is the creator of the Henry Thompson trilogy, beginning with Caught Stealing, which was announced in 2024 as a forthcoming film adaptation directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler. Huston’s stand-alone novels include The Shotgun Rule, The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death, Sleepless, and Skinner. He also authored the vampire noir series Joe Pitt Casebooks while living in Manhattan and later California. Huston has written pilots for FX, FOX, Sony, and Tomorrow Studios, served as a writer and producer on FOX’s Gotham, and developed original projects such as Arcadia. In comics, he rebooted Moon Knight for Marvel, contributed to Ultimates Annual, and penned the Wolverine: The Best There Is series.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was when the Ultimate books were good.
https://youtu.be/wbSOdcWJe5Q

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though most of the Annual issues collected in the Ultimate Annuals trade paperbacks will likely appear in the trades/hardcovers of their respective titles, I still think collecting them in one book is a neat idea, especially for those who don't read the entire Ultimate Marvel line. Here's what you get in volume 2:

Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #2 - The not so triumphant return of the Mole Man, featuring artwork by series regular Stuart Immonen and Frazer Irving (doing his best Matt Wagner impersonation). The Fantastic Four seemed like secondary characters here, and I wasn't wowed by the story until the end, which should prove interesting down the road a bit.

Ultimate X-Men Annual #2 - This issue puts the spotlight on Nightcrawler, and I don't think anyone could have seen this one coming! It's very disturbing, and should have long-term consequences for Xavier's students. Leniel Yu's artwork, as always, is exceptional. They need to get him on board for a run on the ongoing series.

Ultimates Annual #2 - Captain America and the Falcon take on Arnim Zola, a WWII-era foe that Cap thought was long dead. Aside from the focus on the issues of race and progress in America, this could have been a "regular" Marvel Universe tale. It just doesn't have that Ultimate feel to it. It's definitely not as edgy a story as I'd expect in an Ultimates issue.

Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2 is the best of the bunch, bringing together Spider-Man, Daredevil, Moon Knight, and the Punisher to take on one of Kingpin's rivals. This is a very well-written story with a lot of angles, and the focus on so many characters is reminiscent of Bendis's work on Daredevil. In fact, I kept imagining what the story would have looked like with the trademark Alex Maleev artwork.

If you already collect the trades of each Ultimate Marvel title, you may want to skip this collection. If not, then it is definitely worth checking out. It would also serve as an ideal introduction to anyone unfamiliar with the Ultimate Marvel Universe, as it gives a nice preview of each title in one inexpensive volume.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

C. Spike Trotman once mentioned that her husband is a fan of Marvel Comics and STILL needs to have a wiki open to keep track of what's happening in the comics. I think about that every time I read one.

Speaking of, four (and one short) stories from the Marvel Universe, which I can sort of follow if I remember some of the basic lore:

Ultimate Fantastic Four: Confusing, since there are some pages before the "Previously in Ultimate Fantastic Four" bit. Not sure why they didn't start with that, since as is it made me wonder if I was starting a new story ALREADY.

By itself, having not read any other installments, it's sort of easy to follow if you have a general idea of the Fantastic Four. Actually, all you really need to know is they're superheroes, and a supervillain is doing something bad. So, on that count, this story works. Almost all the characters important to the story are new, so there's no prior information to be missed that would take away from the story. I actually also kind of like the twist ending, since that feels both subversive and hopeful in that the kids decide to stay underground and do science in safety, without others trying to make them build scientifically violent weapons.

Ultimate X-Men: Breaking Point: I guess that's the title, Breaking Point? Fantastic Four story didn't have a title that I saw.

Nightcrawler takes point here, though with the current background of having been a "Weapon X" and thus not the more happy-go-lucky type I remember him being, and also Gambit is dead and Rogue has his powers, which... okay, I guess that happened, sure. Already the two characters I liked most are ruined, thanks!

I don't know. I don't like where this story went, and I don't like Rogue's bit at the end, which just seems to emphasise how this story is definitely not the version I like.

Bonus Feature: Why Xavier's Cat is Named "Mystique": ...I don't get it.

The Ultimates: Captain America gonna Captain America. Always reminds me of the retorts against comic books getting political, when Captain America has ALWAYS been political:



That said, it's not exactly easy to follow. I can't really even summarise it, because it jumps around between ghost-zombies(?) to rescue missions to disaster recovery and all over the place.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Bizarre crossover with Daredevil AND The Punisher AND Moon Knight AND what is even going on in this story beyond let's you and him fight. Total mess.

The first story was a little slow to start but overall I kind of liked. The others? Ehhhh. Probably pass unless you're a HUGE fan of at least one of these.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Computer just ate my review. Here's the short version:

Ultimate Fantastic Four: Army think tank, Mole Man, kidnapping. UFF, underground ancient abandoned city, rescue. Decent story, but the art and the color and the plot and the dialog (except Ben Grimm) all fall short of the usual UFF Marvel-ous standards.

Ultimate X-Men: Dazzler, Nightcrawler, kidnapping. X-Men, underground hideout accessible only by teleport, Rogue rescue. I found the plot lame (mutant with PTSD kidnaps love interest, lies to her, won't surrender and defeated when Rogue steals his power, mutants are at odds over what to do, as always). Art and color not bad, but not glorious, either -- seemed more 1985 than 2005, more 'standard' than Ultimate.

The Ultimates: Captain America, the Falcon, Dr. Armin Zola in flashback. Zola evolved, lots of kidnappings, road trip, explosions, hordes of villains, moral lessons. I thought this one, well, sucked. Some charming dialog, but the dark, shadowy art lacked clarity, and the colors only rarely enhanced the work. The lesson was pretty heavy handed and the stuttery plot plot had holes or shortcomings galore.

Ultimate Spider-Man: This was goo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ood. The all-too-brief return of NYPD Captain Jeanne De Wolfe (unknown to Spidey and her department, a dirty cop in the employ and bed of super-crimelord The Kingpin). Spider-man vs. (fifth-time loser) the Shocker. Spider-man vs. (gangster version) the Kangaroo. Daredevil vs. the Kangaroo. Daredevil vs. Spider-man. The Punisher vs. the Kangaroo, Daredevil AND Spider-man. Moon Knight vs. Punisher. Spider-man vs. Moon Knight and Punisher.
You'll think all this mayhem is resolved when the NYPD shows up to find Daredevil has beaten the Kangeroo and Spiderman tells De Wolfe the Punisher is webbed up on the roof.
But it's not over yet.

So. I'm pretty sure that three of these annual issues were also collected in volumes of Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Spider-man, and Ultimate Fantastic Four. If the only reason you have to read this is the Ultimates annual, well, consider yourself warned that it ain't much of a reason.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those collections that I read happily enough, but will forget within a few days. The four stories within were all Annuals, so slightly longer stories, and are a pretty good snapshot of what you get with the Ultimate characters.
If by chance or design, the stories run in the order of best to worst.
The Fantastic Four story by Mike Carey is entertaining enough, followed by a decent Robert Kirkman X-Men tale, an ok Charlie Huston Captain America and Falcon team up, and a slightly disappointing Bendis Spider-Man closer, which doesn’t make good use of some good characters.
Nothing hugely bad to say, but neither particularly good either. It’s ok.

[Robert Noll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll go 3.5 stars. Interesting origin story of the Mole Man (another misguided and misunderstood genius, never seen that before in the Marvel Universe). Nightcrawler goes crazy in an X-Men tale, the gang tries to help him and he naturally responds with violence. Captain America and Falcon save the world from Arnim Zola, creepy as always, as Zola attempts to create a zombie army. However, the best story is Spider-Man, Daredevil and the Punisher being in a situation where an informant for the Kingpin meets her untimely demise.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ultimate Annuals have turned out to be some of the better stories in the Ultimate Universe. In this volume my favorite by far was the Spiderman Annual, as it starred Daredevil, Punisher and Moon Knight, as well as the Kingpin. This was basically "The Death of Jean DeWolff", but much different than the version in the regular Marvel Universe.

Overall a strong volume.

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ultimates 2 (Single Issues) (#Annual #2): 5 stars.
Ultimate Fantastic Four (Single Issues) (#Annual #2): 3 stars.
Ultimate X-Men (Single Issues) (#Annual #2): 3 stars.
Ultimate Spider-Man (Single Issues) (#Annual #2): 5 stars.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

no substance - 1.5 stars. 2 stars to the cap America/Falcon has merit, cap grows as an individual, a lot has happened since the 50s... but not great all the same.

[Frans Kempe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annuals picking up from the main storylines

[heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better-written Marvel books in the deluge of so-so offerings of late. I chuckled at the one-liners of Ultimate Fantastic Four - very entertaining! Also delighted in the refreshing portrayal of Kingpin as a human being capable of grief in Ultimate Spiderman. Oops. Must stop here lest I give the plots away!

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the previous volume, and I have to say this one is getting better. These anthologies collect annuals of various comics in Marvel's Ultimate series. For casual readers like me, they are pretty good because they allow a reader to sample a bit of everything. Definitely a good read.