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Max Ride #2
Max Ride: Ultimate Flight
Author James Patterson's bestselling heroine Maximum Ride returns for a second sensational series! Max and her Flock are back - and more determined than ever to unlock the secrets of their past. But when a new stranger comes into their lives, she'll turn their whole world upside down! They're going back to school, but can the Flock hide their gifts and pretend to be regular kids? That might be hard for Max when classes are disrupted by an enemy invasion. Someone has been watching her...but who could it be? And as the search for the truth goes on, will it expose a traitor in their midst? Questions will be answered and mysteries solved, but will Max be able to save the world and her family? COLLECTING: MAX RIDE: ULTIMATE FLIGHT 1-5
136 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 27, 2017
The Good: The Maximum Ride novels have been a favorite of mine for years, and it's great to see them in comic book form. The production values--artwork, dialogue, etc.--were all great, and the content was just as clean if not cleaner than the original books.
The Bad: This manga adaptation reads like a Cliff's Notes version; it makes the story much less convoluted, and, therefore, not as interesting nor as intense. If the makers had stretched it out over more issues, it could have been epic!
Conclusion: I discovered Maximum Ride thanks to an Amazon recommendation after reviewing the audiobook version of the first Alex Rider book. Since then, I've read all of the MR novels, and even watched the movie after purchasing it from iTunes. While this comic book adaptation is good, it pales in comparison to the original series. Unless you can't bear to read anything that isn't illustrated, I suggest checking out the print novels first.
The Bad: This manga adaptation reads like a Cliff's Notes version; it makes the story much less convoluted, and, therefore, not as interesting nor as intense. If the makers had stretched it out over more issues, it could have been epic!
Conclusion: I discovered Maximum Ride thanks to an Amazon recommendation after reviewing the audiobook version of the first Alex Rider book. Since then, I've read all of the MR novels, and even watched the movie after purchasing it from iTunes. While this comic book adaptation is good, it pales in comparison to the original series. Unless you can't bear to read anything that isn't illustrated, I suggest checking out the print novels first.
April 15, 2021
Me? Giving a Maximum Ride book a decent review? The world must be ending.
No wait, that’s the ninth book of the original series, my bad.
As far as adaptations go, this was a good one. The art style vastly improved from the last installment and the plot actually follows the book it was based on pretty closely. Obviously, there isn’t a lot of time to cover everything given the format, but Max actually has a bit of a personality this time around and Fang actually behaves more like his original book counterpart, which is a relief. A good number of iconic wham lines were taken verbatim from the book too, which I loved.
Of course, the manga still did it better. But this was pretty enjoyable all around. One star is removed for the weird (lazy?) shifts in the art, and a handful of unnecessary changes that were a bit pointless.
No wait, that’s the ninth book of the original series, my bad.
As far as adaptations go, this was a good one. The art style vastly improved from the last installment and the plot actually follows the book it was based on pretty closely. Obviously, there isn’t a lot of time to cover everything given the format, but Max actually has a bit of a personality this time around and Fang actually behaves more like his original book counterpart, which is a relief. A good number of iconic wham lines were taken verbatim from the book too, which I loved.
Of course, the manga still did it better. But this was pretty enjoyable all around. One star is removed for the weird (lazy?) shifts in the art, and a handful of unnecessary changes that were a bit pointless.
July 1, 2018
The art was a bit better in this one. No Mr. Fantastic moments that I saw at least. Max Ride is just becoming blasé to me... If you liked it, and want to see a graphic representation, this is not a bad place to pickup. I will say none of these follow the books exactly, so if you want that I would recommend the manga instead, though both are good.
maybe-one-day
September 30, 2017Really?!? That's twice now that I thought this series was over. Talk about milking it!!!
November 17, 2016
Max Ride: Ultimate Flight is the second Maximum Ride graphic novel in the Marvel Universe that adapts Patterson's popular young adult series for a comic-book audience, following a similiar attempt done with the earlier Manga which followed the same story. Here Jody Hauser and RB Silva take the reigns in script and artistic duties from Marguerite Bennett and Alex Sanchez, who adapted The Angel Experiment into First Flight.
It's interesting to see Ultimate Flight tell the story of School's Out Forever in the comics medium and this approach is fun as it condenses the book down to five issues with a solid story from Hauser, even if everything feels a little rushed but then again, this may be in part due to Patterson's pacing style of the books, and in a limited series such as this one there's less room to work with. It's good to know at least that there's some semi-decent material with Max available to audiences in 2016, because you only need to look at the video-on-demand movie as an example as to how badly things can go wrong.
The artwork from RB Silva is effective at bringing Max to light. The colourists involved with Silva's pencilling work really well to bring a vibrant, bright and friendly Max Ride series that captures the fun tone of the comics. The characters all have nice designs even if there isn't really much time to flesh them out as much as you would in say, the book, but then Patterson seemed to stop caring about anyone other than Fang and Max from the original characters in the later series. I wonder how Marvel will approach this if they decide to keep adapting the books, it'll be interesting to see what happens. But for now both First Flight and Ultimate Flight have been fairly solid offerings.
In an ideal world we'd see Max become part of the Marvel Universe properly rather than just under Marvel ownership because this could be an awesome way of breathing fresh new life into the characters in comic format (you can imagine them going to the X-Mansion at some point) because the biggest problem with this series is the problem with all adaptions of fiction into graphic novels, there's nothing new. The book feels like it's over far too quickly and side characters aren't really given room to develop at all. The cliffhangers are cool and executed at just the right points but there's not enough there to make Ultimate Flight stand out either as a recommendation to new readers or returning fans, especially if you've seen read the books or the manga adaption.
And if you haven't, and you're looking to pick up this one then I'd recommend that you do read at least the first two books first before reading the Marvel graphic novels. Ultimate Flight may be a solid read but it doesn't exactly stand out as something that is likely to get new fans hooked on the series unfortunately.
It's interesting to see Ultimate Flight tell the story of School's Out Forever in the comics medium and this approach is fun as it condenses the book down to five issues with a solid story from Hauser, even if everything feels a little rushed but then again, this may be in part due to Patterson's pacing style of the books, and in a limited series such as this one there's less room to work with. It's good to know at least that there's some semi-decent material with Max available to audiences in 2016, because you only need to look at the video-on-demand movie as an example as to how badly things can go wrong.
The artwork from RB Silva is effective at bringing Max to light. The colourists involved with Silva's pencilling work really well to bring a vibrant, bright and friendly Max Ride series that captures the fun tone of the comics. The characters all have nice designs even if there isn't really much time to flesh them out as much as you would in say, the book, but then Patterson seemed to stop caring about anyone other than Fang and Max from the original characters in the later series. I wonder how Marvel will approach this if they decide to keep adapting the books, it'll be interesting to see what happens. But for now both First Flight and Ultimate Flight have been fairly solid offerings.
In an ideal world we'd see Max become part of the Marvel Universe properly rather than just under Marvel ownership because this could be an awesome way of breathing fresh new life into the characters in comic format (you can imagine them going to the X-Mansion at some point) because the biggest problem with this series is the problem with all adaptions of fiction into graphic novels, there's nothing new. The book feels like it's over far too quickly and side characters aren't really given room to develop at all. The cliffhangers are cool and executed at just the right points but there's not enough there to make Ultimate Flight stand out either as a recommendation to new readers or returning fans, especially if you've seen read the books or the manga adaption.
And if you haven't, and you're looking to pick up this one then I'd recommend that you do read at least the first two books first before reading the Marvel graphic novels. Ultimate Flight may be a solid read but it doesn't exactly stand out as something that is likely to get new fans hooked on the series unfortunately.
Read
September 24, 2019James Patterson's popular teen series, Maximum Ride, seems the perfect fit for graphic novels. Writer Jody Houser and Penciler R.B. Silva do a great job of capturing the family bond of, Max and the Flock, young people who have been the subject of cruel experiments that have left them with the ability to fly along with other powers. The friends face a host of problems and dangers, from everyday situations (fitting in at school) to the potentially fatal (being pursued by the evil Erasers and the scientists who want to return the kids to The School). It's quite a ride! –Louisa A
January 14, 2022
This volume was a lot better than the first, I felt that the art style suited the story more. It was still paced rather fast, and it did jump around like the first volume. I still think the Marvel comic editions of Maximum Ride are decent, but of course the original series and the manga adaptation are the better versions.
April 26, 2018
I haven't read this series in a long time but I'm pretty sure these kids don't have metal wings this early on in the story!!! (I never finished the series so I don't know if they ever get them.) This would have been so much more beautiful if the flock had beautiful avian wings.
November 22, 2018
The overall plot does not move. They start in a place and end in the same place. Characters do not grow or change. It was honestly a struggle to finish...
September 15, 2019
A faithful retelling of Schools Out Forever by James Patterson. Awesome illustrations and dialogue (though there was some mild profanity). Marvel did justice to this story.
Grades 6 and up.
Grades 6 and up.
October 2, 2016
Stiil läks konservatiivsemaks, millest mul on kahju, aga muidu endiselt - kobe teismeliskoomiks, mitte midagi supererilist, aga pole paha ka. Kahju ainult, et süžee selle volüümi ajal juba korduma hakkab, millest tegelased ise ka aru saavad (punkt nende kasuks), aga mis minu arust loole palju juurde ei anna, paarist laboratooriumisse sattumisest ja reetlikust vanemafiguurist peaks igaühele terveks eluks piisama, no need to drive the point home .
Lugesin kõik #1-5 läbi.
Edasi vast ei loe - järgmise osa #1 leidsin ka ja seal läks joonistusstiil veel tavapärasemaks ja, mulle vähemalt tundub, lihtsamaks/odavamaks (vähe detaile ja värvivarjundeid...), ühesõnaga just selline, nagu mulle eriti ei meeldi. Tähendab, need pole otseselt mingid kriteeriumid, ühevärviliste pindade jms-ga saab ka ägedaid asju teha, aga selle üldmulje on säärane tüüpiline multikalik, mida ma ei armasta. Kuna ka süžee läks selle osa jooksul nõrgemaks ja suurt pinget ei tekkinud, et mis edasi saaks, siis las ta's jääb. Eriti, et ma hakkasin seda M. Bennetti pärast üldse vaatama ja tema selles ja edasistes ei osale.
Pisut selline mulje jäi, nagu oleks esimeses osas otsustatud midagi uutmoodi ja ägedamat teha, aga ehk see ei müünud või midagi ja siis vahetati inimesed välja, mindi konservatiivsema pildi peale ja lasti edasi. Aga ma ei viitsi välja uurida, kas see tunne tõele vastab. Kas see on koomiksikunstis tavaline nähtus? Mulle meenub, et ka Rat queens läks, mida edasi, seda kunstiliselt nõrgemaks...
Lugesin kõik #1-5 läbi.
Edasi vast ei loe - järgmise osa #1 leidsin ka ja seal läks joonistusstiil veel tavapärasemaks ja, mulle vähemalt tundub, lihtsamaks/odavamaks (vähe detaile ja värvivarjundeid...), ühesõnaga just selline, nagu mulle eriti ei meeldi. Tähendab, need pole otseselt mingid kriteeriumid, ühevärviliste pindade jms-ga saab ka ägedaid asju teha, aga selle üldmulje on säärane tüüpiline multikalik, mida ma ei armasta. Kuna ka süžee läks selle osa jooksul nõrgemaks ja suurt pinget ei tekkinud, et mis edasi saaks, siis las ta's jääb. Eriti, et ma hakkasin seda M. Bennetti pärast üldse vaatama ja tema selles ja edasistes ei osale.
Pisut selline mulje jäi, nagu oleks esimeses osas otsustatud midagi uutmoodi ja ägedamat teha, aga ehk see ei müünud või midagi ja siis vahetati inimesed välja, mindi konservatiivsema pildi peale ja lasti edasi. Aga ma ei viitsi välja uurida, kas see tunne tõele vastab. Kas see on koomiksikunstis tavaline nähtus? Mulle meenub, et ka Rat queens läks, mida edasi, seda kunstiliselt nõrgemaks...
August 3, 2016
I love this artwork so much. The flock is so cute and this one is actually funny. I really like that they actually look like kids in this one whereas the NaRae Lee ones make them look a little older than they really are. Especially Max and Fang. (Though that is kind of the point because they are supposed to be taller.) Getting through this volume was a lot easier than First Flight. Can't wait for the next one.
June 11, 2016
Not bad
June 27, 2016
I liked it
August 24, 2016
I kinda like the Narae Lee version of Maximum Ride slightly better but this one wasn't bad either.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews