Ultimate Invasion #2: Down the Rabbit Hole

[superboyprime]

"What made the Ultimate Universe originally really interesting was that it was a reflection of the world outside your window, in the moment that you were living in. What does it look like in the world we’re living in now? It’s kind of shocking how much the world has changed in that period of time. The idea of what it would be like to see the genesis of Super Heroes in a brand new world is a really fascinating exercise." - Jonathan Hickman

Comments

[nyadnar17]

I am so sick of this idea. This idea that a glorious future awaits us if only a few singular individuals could get over themselves long enough to give it to us.

That's not how it works, that's not how it has ever worked. Even if Elon Musk wasn't a fraud and an asshole he was never going to deliver on the "great leap forward" him and his ilk always promise. Central planning, central planners, technocrats, the talented tenth, whatever. Different names for the same type of asshole that believe the collective ingenuity of a select view is more effective at delivering a better future than the collective ingenuity of a species free from coercion.

I hope this storyline ends with the 616 Ultimates stomping a mudhole in this entire theology.

[huntleyhaverstock]

Considering that this is the world the Maker, a sociopathic engineer, built to be "perfect," I suspect that Jonathan Hickman is not exactly endorsing his world view. But we'll see. The Ultimates, in whatever universe, are certainly good at stomping mudholes in things!

[donnblake]

Also the fact that one of the Maker's sets of guests gets introduced with "Fear and infamy precede them."

[thehood]

Right, the story does not portray Maker as the good guy in any way. On a different note, i like this Ultimate Hulk more than the original, but anything is a step up from cannibal Hulk.

[super_fly]

It looks like he got to stay at the monastery he was in during Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk long enough for it to do him some good

[cainofdreaming]

Or they could just have Wanda say "No more bullshit."

[knight_moves]

Well, once you accept omnidisciplinary comic book superscientists who could redo the entire Manhattan Project while sitting on the can, the idea is at least possible.

And the alternative is Lex Luthor trying to kill Superman with the power of being really, REALLY good at web design or something, so realism is probably never going to make its way to this particular trope.

[superfangirl1]

Wow. The Maker is an absolute evil monster. So every universe in the multiverse is out for The Maker, not just 616 earth?

I like buddha hulk design.

[scorntx]

Judging by the issue and the solicits, not exactly.
It's people from this Earth (possibly named Doom) who aren't happy with Reed's mucking around with their world's history, and are doing some counter-mucking of their own.

(The whole "a Maker is every universe" thing seems to have been quietly forgotten.)

[lordultimus]

No, the future of this particular Earth keeps sending people to stop him.

[shakalooloo]

Well, he hasn't just killed all these future-bombers, so he's not PURE evil, I guess?

Sure is odd that every future just has slightly-differing versions of the core Ultimates to send back, though. No X-Men? No Cable?

[cainofdreaming]

"We've sent the Ultimates to stop him for a dozen times and failed... So the last thing he expects is for us to send an another batch of Ultimates! It's genius!"

[scorntx]

"Maybe next time we could send a slightly different bunch of Ultimates? And not just attack him in broad daylight? ... I'm fired, aren't I?"
"Oh, yeah."

[blues32]

No, he killed them all. Made Howard watch. It's just not in these scans. It was in an earlier upload.

[super_fly]

To be specific he rounded up their ancestors and had them killed, erasing them from existence

Which somehow does not undo the damage of their initial attack which it really should according to the rules of time travel that he *just* demonstrated!

[blueprintstyles]

I'm trying to figure out the appeal of bringing back the Ultimate Universe. What are they going to do? Miles is in 616 now, so that's their biggest card off the table. Donny Cates had an idea that took the Ultimates to space, but he seems to be not involved with the relaunch.

[morallyambiguousscience]

Donny Cates isn't involved with any writing right now, he had a serious car accident last year that involved major head trauma, he's still in recovery.

That's why he vanished in the middle of his Hulk and Thor runs and why they were hastily reshuffled.

[scorntx]

Leaving a database of the origins of every superpowered being in the world lying around where his alternate can get at it with no means of stopping him.
(where "lying around" has the definition of "existing at all", especially when your archnemesis is someone like Doctor Doom.)
Typical Reed Richards.

Also, Sue's threat level is less than Jack Monroe?
Bull, Reed.

Assuming that each page of Reed's database contains the same number of entries, that's six thousand, nine hundred and ninety two.
Which for the number of heroes, even for Marvel, seems disproportionately high, so is it counting all the villains as well?

He kills all the other FF but keeps other Reed alive.
Narcissism or a reflection of his character development from Ewing, admitting that the universe needs idealists like Regular Reed? Hmm.

Truth be told, I don't think this issue had enough datapages.
... that's not sarcasm, just so we're clear. Actually could've done with one or two more.
Maybe next issue?

(Bob Greyson is an odd name drop. Really stands out among the A-list names and Jack Monroe...)

[beyondthefringe]

Bob Grayson gets the Quantum Bands into play, pre-Wendell Vaughn, so that’s understandable.

Weird how some characters have middle names listed and others don’t. It grates on a consistency level. It’s an AU… just make up a few names if necessary…

[scorntx]

Technically it was Thelius, an Eternal who'd been given Bob's memories and the Bands by the other Eternals as part of a slightly overcomplicated scheme.

... maybe one day a sufficiently demented writer is going to sit down and give a miniseries properly hashing out the whole deal with Bob and the bands and the various retcons surrounding it, because right now the whole thing's at least a 4 on the Hawkman Scale of continuity headaches.
(... sorry. Rambling.)

[beyondthefringe]

I think we’re all better off not remembering that complication… lord knows I’d forgotten.

[akodo_rokku]

So Al Ewing.

[scorntx]

Or Jeff Parker, wherever he's gotten to.

[akodo_rokku]

Apparently he's been writing Ninjak for Valiant.