Reviews 28/1

BOOK OF THE WEEK: Ultimate Spider-Man #130 by Bendis/Immonen

Ultimatum, the biggest story yet in the Ultimate universe finally takes effect on the lines premier title, with this issue. Although I have not been reading the aforementioned story I have been keeping up with the events unfolding via the internet, and it sounds like a typical Jeph Loeb shockfest. Despite little actually occurring, this issue is one of the more tense issues of Ultimate Spider-Man in its run so far. The books impending cancellation (and probably relaunch) gives a sense that anything could happen, perhaps even the death of the title character, hinted at by the recent soliticiation for issue 133. However, this does not take away from the fact that this is basically a filler issue. The aunt May getting arrested plot goes nowhere, as the tidal wave allows her to escape, and the rest of the plot in the issue basically retells Ultimatum #1. Although it is nice to see most of the supporting cast, they are given nominal page time and little to do. A solid start to the storyline, but improvement is needed to reach the heights of many previous arcs.
B

Captain America #46 by Brubaker/Epting

Since Ed Brubaker took over Captain America with #1 of this volume, it has been one of the most constently acclaimed titles published by Marvel. For the most part I have agreed with this assesment, however, since Brubaker wrapped up his first major storyline a few issues ago I feel it has lost a lot of steam. Brubakers entire run has so far relied on revisiting past history, and has heavily involved Cap's World War II adventures. Although the book is still consistently well written and enjoyable to read, he needs to start moving on and making his own history, rather than exploring Bucky's past. That is not to say that this isn't a good issue, Brubaker's dialogue is excellent as ever, and the pacing is superb, however it lacks the tension and surprise factor that his earlier run brought to the table. There is no doubt that Brubaker is still an excellent writer, but the title needs a bit of a shake up to maintain by interest.

C+