Ultimate Fantastic Four Volume 1 The Fantastic

Everything I know about the Fantastic Four I know from the movie so I was intrigued to visit the ultimates version of the team.

The Fantastic is the origin story for the new team. They're younger than the classic tale so Bendis and Miller have to massage things some for them to be where they're supposed to be. Reed and Sue are easy. They're both geniuses so it makes sense that they'd be together at a special school. Johnny (my favourite by the way) is Sue's brother so he'd be with them because he has to stay with his dad who's also at the special school. Ben? Ben's a bit different and I didn't really believe that they'd let him attend the test of Reed's machine but I'll go with it.

I liked seeing Reed grow up and I liked how the authors chose to give their version their powers. I also felt very stupid for never noticing that the team is essentially the four elements. Fire and Air are easy (Johnny and Sue) but I never really thought of Ben as Earth because he never really looked as if he were stone before and Reed elasticity is certainly akin to Water.

I enjoyed the story. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume so I'll give it a 4.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 16 Deadpool

What happens when superheroes date? According to Deadpool they get kidnapped and forced to star in reality television.

There's actually a lot of team-ups in Ultimate Spider-Man. This one has him with the X-men, Moebius (the vampire) and Daredevil. Some of them are treading the same ground, especially the Daredevil/Punisher/Moon Knight story but the X-Men arc that starts the volume is fun. I sort of wish Bendis spent more time writing Peter and Kitty dating rather than Spider-Man and Shadowcat fighting bad guys but he gives hints that there is something going on behind the scenes. Because there could have been so much more I'm only giving it a 3.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 9 Ultimate 6

I can see why it was recommended to read Ultimates before reading Ultimate 6. It reads more like The Ultimates than it does Spider-Man.

The five major villains that Spider-Man has fought so far (Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, Sandman, Kraven and Electro) are being held by S.H.I.E.L.D and manage to escape. They take Peter with them because Norman is convinced that he's part of them for some reason that really never made sense to me. I guess it's because he's insane but it never really came across very well.

Even the art takes a shift towards the Ultimates. While it works in that series, it just doesn't seem to fit in this one. I can only give this one a 2.