Home :: Books :: Comics & Graphic Novels  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels

Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $10.17
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lots Of Fun!
Review: I always loved the old Marvel Team-Up book from the '70s; It was my favorite book when I was a kid. When I heard that Marvel was going to dust off the concept and make it an "Ultimate" book, I had two reactions: Yay! and Hmmm...The Ultimate universe is so new that this might just clutter up things with tons of new heroes and villains. The truth is a little of both.

I still feel that they moved too fast to populate the Ultimate universe, but at least they delivered a hum-dinger of a book in the meantime. Writer Brian Michael Bendis does a great job of making each story accessible, and the artists really do a great job with their chapters. The trade-paperback reprints issues 1-5, and include appearances by Wolverine and Sabretooth (with art by Matt Wagner), The Hulk (By the Green Arrow team of Phil Hester and Ande Parks), and Iron Man (By Madman creator Mike Allred). The stories are quick and to the point, with the two-part Hulk story just a big chase scene, albeit a VERY well-done one. Bendis, Hester, and Parks deliver some stunning action, and manage to drop a few cryptic clues as to the TRUE reason all of these people are suddenly gaining super-powers. (I hope the Ultimate books pick this ball up and run with it!) Fans looking for a good (FUN!) read will love this book!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not up to par
Review: I don't know how fans of Ultimate Spider-man or X-Men can rave about these stories. If you like Bagley or Kubert's art from the mentioned titles, you will surely be turned off by the weak artwork in these stories. The stories are ok, though incredibly simple. Ok for someone just getting into the Ultimate universe because the stories are easy enough to understand, but it really offers nothing for long time fans.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not up to par
Review: I don't know how fans of Ultimate Spider-man or X-Men can rave about these stories. If you like Bagley or Kubert's art from the mentioned titles, you will surely be turned off by the weak artwork in these stories. The stories are ok, though incredibly simple. Ok for someone just getting into the Ultimate universe because the stories are easy enough to understand, but it really offers nothing for long time fans.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bad.
Review: I was very disappointed with this TPB. The art and writing are both sub par. Especially the Ironman story which looks like it was written by a twelve year old and penciled by his kid brother. Really bad.
I think the Ultimate spider-man series is one of the best comics I've seen in years but this doesn't belong on the same shelf. The by-line says Bendis, but I don't believe it for a minute. I've read Bendis, I really like and respect Bendis. This is no Bendis (lol).
Seriously, do yourself a favor. Skip this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not bad, but not good either.
Review: Okay, in true Marvel form, Spider-Man goes around teaming up or fighting any super-powered person that stumbles through the city. Great concept, not so great product. The Wolverine story is good, and the way they show Spidey sort of looking up to Wolvie is cool. Hulk and Spidey fighting, well what's not to like? Spidey is ridiculously outclassed, as always, but manages to survive a good thrashing. Spidey and Iron Man, well it makes for alot of "huh?" and "what?" All in all, the first two stories are good, the last is a little lame. My main complaint with the work is the art. Offhand I forget who drew this, but with the quality of the other two Ultimate series, you yould expect more. I give it 1-2 stars for art, but it gets 4 for the first two stories.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A must for any comic fan!
Review: This hardcover edition of "Ultimate Marvel Team-up" encases the entire run of the series along with the "Ultimate Spider-man Super Special". If you want to see the artwork of a bevy of today's top comic talent, you have to buy this book. Ultimate Marvel Team-up was an anthology series, the artist changed with each story-arc, while the ever-dependable Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-man, Powers, Daredevil, Jinx) wrote each issue. Here's a quick outline of what to expect and why this book only get 4 stars from me:

THE GOOD: Everything after the 5th issue/chapter. Specifically issues 6-8, which contain the amazing Daredevil/Punisher story drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz. One of the best stories of the year and the real reason a comic fan has to own this book. Another huge highlight is the Jim Mahfood drawn Fantastic Four issue, it is hysterical, some of the funniest dialogue Bendis has ever written. The roster of artists for the "Ultimate Spider-man Super Special" is a who's who list of top artist's in the field today, and touches on nearly all the Marvel heroes not involved in the 16 issues of Team-Up.

THE BAD: Issues 2-5 are far from remarkable. When these issues originally came out, Bendis kept talking about a bigger picture, about these stories all going somewhere. Well, issues 2-5 were a setup for The Ultimates. 2 and 3 deal with the Hulk. 4 and 5 deal with Iron Man. The Hulk story isn't terrible, the art from Phil Hester(Green Arrow) is pretty good, but it doesn't live up to the stories following it. My biggest complaint with the Iron Man arc is that the art from Mike Allred(Madman, X-Force/X-Statix) was digitally colored, and Allred's retro style does not work with digital coloring. Why Laura Allred didn't do the coloring here is beyond me. The story's alright, but the coloring is beyond distracting.

THE UGLY: The first issue is awful, terrible, and every other negative word you can come up with. The story stinks and the art is wretched. Just skip it. Don't even read it. It's the one true eyesore in this beautiful book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: it was ok
Review: This was ok. It was really a Spider-Man collection. The first story teams him with Wolverine fighting Sabertooth. It was pretty good. The second story has Hulk in it. They fight--more or less evenly. It was a good story. The third story teams him with Iron Man. It's not such a good story. And it is drawn kind of cartoony.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Read For Spidey Fans!
Review: Ultimate Marvel Team-Up is the comic equivalent of a summer blockbuster movie- Lots of action, bare-bones plot, quick, hard-hitting fight sequences....

This beautiful book reprints Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #'s 1-16, featuring the young hero's meetings with Wolverine (Vs. Sabretooth), The Hulk, Iron Man, The Punisher and Daredevil, The Fantastic Four (Vs. The Skrulls), Man-Thing (& The Lizard), The X-Men, Doctor Strange (Vs. Xandu), The Black Widow, and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu. The art is by a wide variety of comic superstars, including Matt Wagner, Chynna Clugston-Major, Rick Mays, Terry Moore, Mike Allred, John Totleben, Ted McKeever, Bill Sienkiewicz, Phil Hester & Ande Parks, and many more. Writer Brian Michael Bendis continues his winning streak with some truly absorbing stories; How many writers can do a story where Spider-Man and the X-Men sit around in a mall food court TALKING and still make it a must-read? Truly superior stuff, highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Read For Spidey Fans!
Review: Ultimate Marvel Team-Up is the comic equivalent of a summer blockbuster movie- Lots of action, bare-bones plot, quick, hard-hitting fight sequences....

This beautiful book reprints Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #'s 1-16, featuring the young hero's meetings with Wolverine (Vs. Sabretooth), The Hulk, Iron Man, The Punisher and Daredevil, The Fantastic Four (Vs. The Skrulls), Man-Thing (& The Lizard), The X-Men, Doctor Strange (Vs. Xandu), The Black Widow, and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu. The art is by a wide variety of comic superstars, including Matt Wagner, Chynna Clugston-Major, Rick Mays, Terry Moore, Mike Allred, John Totleben, Ted McKeever, Bill Sienkiewicz, Phil Hester & Ande Parks, and many more. Writer Brian Michael Bendis continues his winning streak with some truly absorbing stories; How many writers can do a story where Spider-Man and the X-Men sit around in a mall food court TALKING and still make it a must-read? Truly superior stuff, highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: With the Good, comes the Blah...
Review: Unlike what some reviewers have written down, this is NOT the trade paperback. It is the hardcover book that includes ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP #1-16 as well as ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1. It is basically a collection of Spider-man being "teamed-up" (or in some cases fighting against) other Marvel superheroes/characters in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. If you remember Marvel Fanfare from back in the 80's then that is what this book is like. Now there are some stories in this collection that are wickedly awesome and funny, and others that are just blah. Let's break them down, shall we? ^_^

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up:

#1) This one is one of my favorites. It features our favorite web-slinger and Wolverine of the X-Men. They're kind of thrown together when Sabertooth starts a fight with Wolvie in Time Square. The ending makes you laugh!

#2 & 3) These two feature Spidey and Hulk. The big green guy has lost it and is rampaging through New York, so of course Spidey to the rescue! This one's alright.

#4 & 5) Features Spidey and Iron Man. These two have retro kind of art, anyone familiar with Mike Allred knows what I'm talking about. The story is ok, it goes into Iron Man's past and his IronTech technology; but the art is kind of distracting.

#6, 7 & 8) These feature Punisher, Daredevil, and Spidey. It's by far the darkest story in the series. It's about Punisher going after the men who killed his family, who ironically were his fellow cop buddies. This one's a must read!

#9) The Mahfood issue! Very comical! Basically, Peter Parker goes to visit the Baxter Building where the Fantastic Four are, and accidentally opens a portal unleashing thousands of Skrulls! The dialogue is hilarious and Mahfood's art has funny details that are fun to look at. One of the best!

#10) Spidey meets Man-Thing and Curt Conners as his lizard self. This is an ok story, felt kind of sad for Dr. Conners though.

#11) I LOVE THIS ISSUE!!! The art looks like that of a manga and makes the characters look so cute! Anyway... this one's titled: Peter Parker's Day Off. Very reminiscent of "Ferris Bueler's Day Off". In this one, Peter and the gang play hookie on Senior Skip Day. They go to the mall and bump into the X-Men, where they all start to have a very enlightening conversation about mutants.

#12 & 13) Spidey meets Dr. Stphen Strange. Spidey helps stop some guy from stealing some mystical artifact from Doctor Strange. This is a pretty good story, the art fit's the story very well.

#14) Spidey meets The Black Widow! Very good story! Shows how Natasha Romonov uses her skills as well as her sexual appeal to get what she wants. Also, a quick cameo by General Nick Fury!

#15 & 16) Spidey meets Shang-Chi, MASTER OF KUNG FU! These two are VERY action packed. Spidey learns a thing or two from Shang-Chi as well.


Ultimate Spider-man Super Special #1:

This is an all-out special including:
Blade
Elektra
Daredevil
The Ultimates
Fantastic Four
Doctor Strange
Black Widow/S.H.I.E.L.D.
X-Men
Punisher

Overall, if you're a fan of the Ultimate Marvel comics, you would most definitely like this collection. If you're more into the main 616 universe you might be turned off by it. Either way, it's worth a read!!! Hope this was helpful! ^_^




<< 1 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates