Ultimate Fallout #3 – Review

Hey there wall crawlers, Nathaniel here to give you the low down on Ultimate Fallout. What did Tony Stark inherit after his brother’s death? Can Jean Gr – er, I mean Karen Grant, control the Hulk? And what is the fate of the “Amazing Friends” now that Peter is no longer with us? All this and other… stuff.

Ultimate Fallout #3

Writers: Jonathan Hickman & Nick Spencer
Artists: Steve Kurth, Eric Nguyen & Carlo Pagulayan
Inkers: Jay Leisten & Jason Paz
Colorists: Antonio Fabela & Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterers: VC’s Cory Petit & Clayton Cowles
Cover: Andy Kubert & Frank Martin

Story: Tony Stark – Hickman, Kurth, Leisten & Fabela
While attending Peter’s funeral, Tony has a flashback to four days ago when he was at Gregory Stark’s funeral service. Tony is met by Jonathan Blackhaven of Blackhaven Pharmaceuticals who wants him to finish his brother’s work. Stark is introduced to a group of other smart rich people that Gregory was a part of.

Thoughts
This is Hickman’s second time writing a story for this mini and yet to me this felt weak. Yes, it’s interesting to see what Tony will do but then again, Jonathan Blackhaven just bore me with his speeches of “were rich and awesome, come join us”. Was nice to see the Ultimate Universe version of Contessa Valentina but everyone else in the group I just didn’t care for. It was nice to see Steve Kurth draw Tony Stark again. He does a solid job on these pages.

Story: Kitty Pryde – Spencer & Nguyen
In the middle of Peter’s funeral, Kitty couldn’t take it sitting there anymore and storms out of the church. She eventually makes her way into Central Park where she runs into Bobby crying as he sits on a bench. Bobby tells Kitty that he can’t go back to the Parker home as he says Aunt May has been through enough already but he doesn’t know where he can go that is safe and won’t be hunted by the government. Kitty tells Bobby that she knows a safe place but tells him that the only way he can come with her is if he quits “the super hero stuff”. When she asks Bobby if he’s in, Bobby looks over to see Johnny Storm and asks her if he can come with them.

Thoughts
Nick Spencer remains consistent on how Kitty behaves since Ultimatum, an angry person. Without an actual leader role for the X-Men like we see in the regular universe (Xavier, Cyclops or even Wolverine), it’s up in the air on how the upcoming book will actually function. Clearly we see that Kitty is not interested in being a “super hero” so it’ll be interesting to see how they will all react when they meet Jimmy Hudson, Wolverine’s kid. (Whom Kitty has met once). Bobby’s head is almost drawn as if it was a baby’s head. The sudden appearance of Johnny in the last panel was random and I was lead to believe that all three of them were at Peter’s funeral, dressed up. The way Kitty is dressed kind of annoys me. Who in their right mind dresses like a Goth for a funeral? I know, funerals are depressing, but you’re supposed to dress up in respect. And no, teenagers at her age do not dress like that for a funeral. Besides that, Eric Nguyen’s art easily stands out in this book as it’s the most colorful and most cartoony. I did like how Kitty was portrayed here and I nearly agreed with the character’s voice with everything she said/thought.

Story: Karen Grant & the Hulk – Hickman, Pagulayan, Paz & Rosenberg
Karen plays the role of therapist in this story for Bruce as she starts with a simple question of “do you remember the first time you lost control of your temper and became something else?” Eventually, Karen triggers Bruce’s transformation and lets him turn into the Hulk while still in control. Nick Fury enters the room and when Karen informs him that it takes twice as long as the time before to control his mind, Fury pulls out a gun and points it at the Hulk’s head, saying he needs people that he can actually use. Karen tells him that she can control the Hulk.

Thoughts
I enjoyed this part more than I did Hickman’s other stories so far in this mini. For those who haven’t read Ultimate X, this may be a bit confusing as the reader wouldn’t get why the Hulk is here and why Jean Grey changed her name to Karen Grant. I’m zoned in on the idea of a group of mutants and the Hulk secretly working with S.H.I.E.L.D and I actually look forward to see how this group and Kitty’s group will meet one another (as eventually Jimmy will be leaving Jean’s team to join Kitty’s as depicted on the cover of Ultimate Comics: X-Men #1). And it’s weird but I feel as if a Karen/Bruce relationship is almost in the works but I’m almost all for it.

The NEW Ultimate Spider-Man *Spoiler Free, don’t worry*
I know by now that Marvel has spoiled who will be the new ultimate webslinger. I personally have not looked at any of the spoilers and don’t plan to until I’ve read the next issue for myself. If you guys have already spoiled the identity for yourself, that’s your business and I’m not going to tell you otherwise. I’m guessing I may have been right on who it is on the Ultimate Spider-Man #160 recording with Brian Bradley but I’ll just wait and see for myself. After reading the next issue, I will be examining the new Ultimate Spider-Man and giving my own personal lowdown on the character.

Rating
So far in this mini this has been the weakest issue but it’s still a decent read. Ultimate fans shouldn’t feel that they’ve been disappointed yet, because I haven’t. 3.5 out of 5 smart people. Wait, what?

Look forward to my next review as I examine the new Ultimate Spider-Man!