Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand #1

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    inferiorego

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    Edited By inferiorego  Staff

    The Good

    Galactus has made his way to Earth! Miles Morales does what he can to save the people of New York City while The Ultimates encounter Galactus for the first time!

    This issue, much like CATACLYSM #0.1 did, established the fact that the 616 heroes are much tougher than their Ultimate counterparts. This is a pretty hopeless story, right off the bat. Fans are going to notice that this won't be an easy battle for the behemoths of the Ult Universe. They'll be compelled to read on because writer Brian Michael Bendis made this event engaging as well as intriguing. It's a page-turner, and fans are truly going to want to know what's going to happen next. There's no way Galactus will destroy this universe that easy, right?

    The book is pretty split between Galactus' arrival, the Ultimates taking him on, and Miles being more of a street-level hero. These three aspects really come together to make a very solid story that gives the reader a larger scope of how this is affecting New York City. Not only is the reader seeing this actual battle, but they get to see how the normal people who live in the city deal with this, mainly through the use of Miles trying to save those caught in the crossfire.

    It's really nice to see Mark Bagley working back on an Ultimate book. For the most part, he really shines on this issue. On pages three and four, we are treated to a gorgeous spread of Galactus landing in New York City as Ganke and Miles look up at him. He uses a lot of different perspectives to show the reader just how large and immense Galactus is. Personally, one of my favorite things about Bagley's work on here, along with the inks of Andrew Hennessy and colors of Jason Keith is the use of the cosmic bubbles that many people associate with Jack Kirby's work. It's a cool effect and a very nice way to tie the 616 and Ultimate universes together in this cross-over.

    The final page here isn't some sort of giant reveal, but it is a page that's really going to get the reader interested in the continuation of this event. The art team's work here is pretty stunning and I can't wait to see how the Ultimates deal with this in the next issue.

    The Bad

    Bagley's art was a bit of a mixed bag (no pun intended). At times, it really hits its mark, but in more than a few cases, it was a bit of a let down. The biggest problem was that Ganke, Miles Morales' best friend from ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN, doesn't look like Ganke at all. Miles looks a bit older too. The "kid" part of these characters is lost a little. While it's true that a new artist is going to have his or her own style, the characters still retain a lot or the facial and style elements from the last artist. With the Ult SM-cast, it's a bit lost.

    The Verdict

    There's been a lot of hype around this book because it may or may not destroy the Ultimate Universe. That being said, this book does live up to the hype. It's an all out war and incredibly satisfying throughout the issue. We get a larger scope of what's going on here as the book splits its time between the Ultimates fighting Galactus and Miles Morales saving people on the ground. The writing and art are incredibly solid, for the most part. I did have one gripe about how Bagley was drawing Ganke and Miles because they looked quite a bit different, especially in Ganke's case, from their main-series counterparts, but overall, I was very happy with this first issue and you will be too.

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    Novemberx2

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    This isn't the ultimates, this is the final insult from marvel.

    can you imagine the ultimates from Mark Millar and Bryan hitch's "The Ultimates vol 1/2 fighting a giant purple man with a weird hat. judging by all the errors in Hunger im guessing the real ultimate universe ceased to exist and weird parallel joke universe started.

    Warren Ellis knew Galactus was one of many stupid elements of marvel's main universe, so he went out of his way to make it a believable threat rather than a joke.

    I Honestly don't know what's worse this or ultimatum

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    Smart_Dork_Dude

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    #2  Edited By Smart_Dork_Dude

    @novemberx2: First of all Galactus is an EXTREMELY powerful cosmic entity. He's on the level of Cthulhu like that. I mean you describe Cthulhu. Giant octopus headed man with dragon wings. Not that scary is it? See him in action and what he does and then things get terrifying. That's what Galactus is. Mock him all you want, but Galactus is by far one of Marvel's most powerful characters and is feared with good reason.

    Also the Gah Lak Tus? Yeah it's basically any other evil machine thing and could be swapped out with anything. Also the Ultimate Universe HAD potential to begin with, but after the first Ultimates series, everything else kinda went downhill very fast except for Ultimate Spider-Man.

    Really I blame people like you for the lack of fun in comics. Part of the charm of mainstream superhero comics is that you should be able to open one up and see something monumentally ridiculous........... Yet still awesome and it completely WORK within the story. Superheroes as a medium have always been a touch ridiculous and that's the point. It's escapism.

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    MixMastaMicah5

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    @novemberx2: First of all Galactus is an EXTREMELY powerful cosmic entity. He's on the level of Cthulhu like that. I mean you describe Cthulhu. Giant octopus headed man with dragon wings. Not that scary is it? See him in action and what he does and then things get terrifying. That's what Galactus is. Mock him all you want, but Galactus is by far one of Marvel's most powerful characters and is feared with good reason.

    Also the Gah Lak Tus? Yeah it's basically any other evil machine thing and could be swapped out with anything. Also the Ultimate Universe HAD potential to begin with, but after the first Ultimates series, everything else kinda went downhill very fast except for Ultimate Spider-Man.

    Really I blame people like you for the lack of fun in comics. Part of the charm of mainstream superhero comics is that you should be able to open one up and see something monumentally ridiculous........... Yet still awesome and it completely WORK within the story. Superheroes as a medium have always been a touch ridiculous and that's the point. It's escapism.

    Thank you for saying this, yeesh, some people

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    PeppeyHare

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    @smart_dork_dude: Well said.

    This was a pretty awesome issue. Excited to read the rest.

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    Smart_Dork_Dude

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    #5  Edited By Smart_Dork_Dude

    @peppeyhare: @mixmastamicah5: Glad to see some people understand. After all, if people want hyper realistic and edgy superhero comics? Yeah they make those. But they should leave out complaints about unrealistic beings/concepts happening in the mainstream books because it just makes them look like idiots when we're talking about universes where aliens can bench press a mountain and ancient gods walk among mortals.

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    GrenadeFlow

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    Great read

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    TheMantisShrimp

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    @smart_dork_dude,

    Your explanation is perfect, at the end of the day comics just need to be fun.

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    danhimself

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    @novemberx2: First of all Galactus is an EXTREMELY powerful cosmic entity. He's on the level of Cthulhu like that. I mean you describe Cthulhu. Giant octopus headed man with dragon wings. Not that scary is it? See him in action and what he does and then things get terrifying. That's what Galactus is. Mock him all you want, but Galactus is by far one of Marvel's most powerful characters and is feared with good reason.

    Also the Gah Lak Tus? Yeah it's basically any other evil machine thing and could be swapped out with anything. Also the Ultimate Universe HAD potential to begin with, but after the first Ultimates series, everything else kinda went downhill very fast except for Ultimate Spider-Man.

    Really I blame people like you for the lack of fun in comics. Part of the charm of mainstream superhero comics is that you should be able to open one up and see something monumentally ridiculous........... Yet still awesome and it completely WORK within the story. Superheroes as a medium have always been a touch ridiculous and that's the point. It's escapism.

    exactly....Gah Lak Tus was horribly dumb but when Miles looks up and sees Galactus standing there I still went "WHOA!"....just the concept of Galactus is scary....he's a giant, Celestial level being, who eats planets and only one thing can stop him but using it could destroy the planet anyway....he's scary....just look at the Joker...he's a clown in a purple suit and he's one of the most terrifying characters in comics

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    Smart_Dork_Dude

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    @danhimself: Expertly said. I actually did a tribute to Big G a while back, and 3 other high level cosmics, and it shows how scary they can be.

    Loading Video...

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    TheBlackHood

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    #11  Edited By TheBlackHood

    @novemberx2: First of all Galactus is an EXTREMELY powerful cosmic entity. He's on the level of Cthulhu like that. I mean you describe Cthulhu. Giant octopus headed man with dragon wings. Not that scary is it? See him in action and what he does and then things get terrifying. That's what Galactus is. Mock him all you want, but Galactus is by far one of Marvel's most powerful characters and is feared with good reason.

    Also the Gah Lak Tus? Yeah it's basically any other evil machine thing and could be swapped out with anything. Also the Ultimate Universe HAD potential to begin with, but after the first Ultimates series, everything else kinda went downhill very fast except for Ultimate Spider-Man.

    Really I blame people like you for the lack of fun in comics. Part of the charm of mainstream superhero comics is that you should be able to open one up and see something monumentally ridiculous........... Yet still awesome and it completely WORK within the story. Superheroes as a medium have always been a touch ridiculous and that's the point. It's escapism.

    And the point of the Ultimate Universe is to avoid some of the cheese of mainstream Marvel. So what you see as "Fun" some people see a dilution of the Ultimate Universe which was harsher and more realistic than Marvel. You would likely be unhappy if evil Reed Richards from the Ultimate Universe invaded mainstream Marvel and started screwing up continuity so you have to understand that this is the same thing.

    This isn't the ultimates, this is the final insult from marvel.

    can you imagine the ultimates from Mark Millar and Bryan hitch's "The Ultimates vol 1/2 fighting a giant purple man with a weird hat. judging by all the errors in Hunger im guessing the real ultimate universe ceased to exist and weird parallel joke universe started.

    Warren Ellis knew Galactus was one of many stupid elements of marvel's main universe, so he went out of his way to make it a believable threat rather than a joke.

    I Honestly don't know what's worse this or ultimatum

    I completely agree with you. One of the attractions of the Ultimate Universe for me was a harder look at the Marvel Universe without some of the cheesier elements. And don't let the insults get you down, its easy to see the style someone likes when they have a Dr. Who picture for their icon. I have never been a Galactus fan but understood his place in the main Marvel Universe. Crossing a giant cosmic douche in a dress into a Universe based on a harsher reality just makes everything silly.

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    Smart_Dork_Dude

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    #12  Edited By Smart_Dork_Dude
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    inferiorego

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    #13  Edited By inferiorego  Staff

    If you don't like the 616 Galactus, don't read CATACLYSM. It's as simple as that.

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    Ando123

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    #14  Edited By Ando123

    Really cool book but I need mre action looking forward to reading the next issue :D

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    frozenedge2

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    I really wanna know how the UU is gonna combat Galatcus considering the one guy who could possibly stop him has given up doing practically anything.

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    BattheMan008

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    #16  Edited By BattheMan008

    @novemberx2: First of all Galactus is an EXTREMELY powerful cosmic entity. He's on the level of Cthulhu like that. I mean you describe Cthulhu. Giant octopus headed man with dragon wings. Not that scary is it? See him in action and what he does and then things get terrifying. That's what Galactus is. Mock him all you want, but Galactus is by far one of Marvel's most powerful characters and is feared with good reason.

    Also the Gah Lak Tus? Yeah it's basically any other evil machine thing and could be swapped out with anything. Also the Ultimate Universe HAD potential to begin with, but after the first Ultimates series, everything else kinda went downhill very fast except for Ultimate Spider-Man.

    Really I blame people like you for the lack of fun in comics. Part of the charm of mainstream superhero comics is that you should be able to open one up and see something monumentally ridiculous........... Yet still awesome and it completely WORK within the story. Superheroes as a medium have always been a touch ridiculous and that's the point. It's escapism.

    While I'm not reading this comic, I love this comment.

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    BattheMan008

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    @smart_dork_dude said:

    @novemberx2: First of all Galactus is an EXTREMELY powerful cosmic entity. He's on the level of Cthulhu like that. I mean you describe Cthulhu. Giant octopus headed man with dragon wings. Not that scary is it? See him in action and what he does and then things get terrifying. That's what Galactus is. Mock him all you want, but Galactus is by far one of Marvel's most powerful characters and is feared with good reason.

    Also the Gah Lak Tus? Yeah it's basically any other evil machine thing and could be swapped out with anything. Also the Ultimate Universe HAD potential to begin with, but after the first Ultimates series, everything else kinda went downhill very fast except for Ultimate Spider-Man.

    Really I blame people like you for the lack of fun in comics. Part of the charm of mainstream superhero comics is that you should be able to open one up and see something monumentally ridiculous........... Yet still awesome and it completely WORK within the story. Superheroes as a medium have always been a touch ridiculous and that's the point. It's escapism.

    And the point of the Ultimate Universe is to avoid some of the cheese of mainstream Marvel. So what you see as "Fun" some people see a dilution of the Ultimate Universe which was harsher and more realistic than Marvel. You would likely be unhappy if evil Reed Richards from the Ultimate Universe invaded mainstream Marvel and started screwing up continuity so you have to understand that this is the same thing.

    @novemberx2 said:

    This isn't the ultimates, this is the final insult from marvel.

    can you imagine the ultimates from Mark Millar and Bryan hitch's "The Ultimates vol 1/2 fighting a giant purple man with a weird hat. judging by all the errors in Hunger im guessing the real ultimate universe ceased to exist and weird parallel joke universe started.

    Warren Ellis knew Galactus was one of many stupid elements of marvel's main universe, so he went out of his way to make it a believable threat rather than a joke.

    I Honestly don't know what's worse this or ultimatum

    I completely agree with you. One of the attractions of the Ultimate Universe for me was a harder look at the Marvel Universe without some of the cheesier elements. And don't let the insults get you down, its easy to see the style someone likes when they have a Dr. Who picture for their icon. I have never been a Galactus fan but understood his place in the main Marvel Universe. Crossing a giant cosmic douche in a dress into a Universe based on a harsher reality just makes everything silly.

    You must like Doctor Who to know that was from Doctor Who...cause I sure didn't.

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    Captain13

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    #18  Edited By Captain13

    I prefer the days when the Ultimate Universe was more serious as well. GAH LAK TUS > Galactus.

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    Ry Fryy

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    Need more Cthulhu references in my life.

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    AdmiralPetty

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    #20  Edited By AdmiralPetty
    @smart_dork_dude said:

    @novemberx2: First of all Galactus is an EXTREMELY powerful cosmic entity. He's on the level of Cthulhu like that. I mean you describe Cthulhu. Giant octopus headed man with dragon wings. Not that scary is it? See him in action and what he does and then things get terrifying. That's what Galactus is. Mock him all you want, but Galactus is by far one of Marvel's most powerful characters and is feared with good reason.

    Also the Gah Lak Tus? Yeah it's basically any other evil machine thing and could be swapped out with anything. Also the Ultimate Universe HAD potential to begin with, but after the first Ultimates series, everything else kinda went downhill very fast except for Ultimate Spider-Man.

    Really I blame people like you for the lack of fun in comics. Part of the charm of mainstream superhero comics is that you should be able to open one up and see something monumentally ridiculous........... Yet still awesome and it completely WORK within the story. Superheroes as a medium have always been a touch ridiculous and that's the point. It's escapism.

    And the point of the Ultimate Universe is to avoid some of the cheese of mainstream Marvel. So what you see as "Fun" some people see a dilution of the Ultimate Universe which was harsher and more realistic than Marvel. You would likely be unhappy if evil Reed Richards from the Ultimate Universe invaded mainstream Marvel and started screwing up continuity so you have to understand that this is the same thing.

    @novemberx2 said:

    This isn't the ultimates, this is the final insult from marvel.

    can you imagine the ultimates from Mark Millar and Bryan hitch's "The Ultimates vol 1/2 fighting a giant purple man with a weird hat. judging by all the errors in Hunger im guessing the real ultimate universe ceased to exist and weird parallel joke universe started.

    Warren Ellis knew Galactus was one of many stupid elements of marvel's main universe, so he went out of his way to make it a believable threat rather than a joke.

    I Honestly don't know what's worse this or ultimatum

    I completely agree with you. One of the attractions of the Ultimate Universe for me was a harder look at the Marvel Universe without some of the cheesier elements. And don't let the insults get you down, its easy to see the style someone likes when they have a Dr. Who picture for their icon. I have never been a Galactus fan but understood his place in the main Marvel Universe. Crossing a giant cosmic douche in a dress into a Universe based on a harsher reality just makes everything silly.

    Although I somewhat agree with some of your points, picking on someone else because they like Doctor Who is beside the point and adds nothing to the conversation when you are defending someone else.

    I understand as someone who used to love the Ultimate Universe that realism was kinda the point. But lets be honest, the Ultimate Universe became a joke when they let Jeph Loeb screw things up with Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum, bringing in some of the more comic bookey elements, and frankly treading all over established characterization for simple shock value. I can understand why someone might not like Cataclysm, but have you seen the Ultimate Universe lately? And there is no way at this point that Cataclysm approaches the awfulness of Ultimatum, it could get worse with more issues, but I highly doubt it will hit Ultimatum suckiness.

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    jwalser3

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    I enjoyed this issue, only problem was the consistent "He has a funny hat"

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    Zarathos_No_Daimaoh

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    @theblackhood: Thing , while i agree with the Ultimate U being its own thing dn set of "rules" . I didnt see Galactus's incursion as a breach and insult . Not the way it was handled Everyone was in awe and scared of Purple Hat , as such guys arent a common occurence .

    And he displays a brutality and level of power not often seen on Earth . in the 616 universe , while everyone acknowledge his power and use , he has been too often a failed bogey man and a bit ridiculous (to be fair in mean when on earth .. in space he is usally great ) . Here in the Ult U ? He is armageddon incarnated and fairly impressive once rid of the bees swarms

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    Novemberx2

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    #23  Edited By Novemberx2

    @smart_dork_dude:

    We all find different things fun, but its about the rules, The Ultimate Universe rejected the more silly ideas of 616, It offered a more realistic look at Marvel Universe (Which was then pretty more copied by normal universe) Ultimates didn't need a magic glove for the story to be exciting and fun, it just focused on the characters and presenting a world which the reader could associate with, a world where sometimes the toughest things are social or political based.

    The Ultimate Universe had its own set of rules that differentiated it from the regular universe, it was an alternative. it should be noted for a long period the only gimmick the ultimate universe had was Ultimatization, No Events, No Cross Overs, No spoilers been posted in National Newspapers.

    Some people are wowed by giant man who speaks perfect english with a purple hat coming to eat a planet. Some people are impressed with idea of superhuman arms race. The ultimate universe was for this audience. Galactus, the Infinity Gems and Magic cubes are for another audience. Marvel used to know this.

    Bill Jemas would never of allowed this.

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    AdmiralPetty

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    @novemberx2: However it must be noted that it has already been acknowledged that the two universes exist side by side. And lets face it, the Ultimate universe lost its ways when they let Loeb take the reins for a bit. We shall see how this event turns out, I am betting on this signalling the end of the Ultimate Universe, which I am fine with. As awesome as the Ultimate line was at the beginning, it is a pale reflection of what it once was, and it no longer presents simple continuity light tales like its original mission.

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    evilvegeta74

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    #25  Edited By evilvegeta74

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