I came to this final issue with a lot of negativity, primarily a result of the borderline dishonest marketing campaign for the series (borderline may be a little kind actually).  Unfortunately the issue did nothing to redeem the situation.

To my knowledge this marks the end of Mark Millar’s steadily less interested involvement in the Ultimate characters.  When he first created this book ten years ago it blew the barn doors off the comic industry and most of us sheltered readers.  Yes it owed a lot to Stormwatch/The Authority, but a lot of those series success owed much to Millar’s run (and moreso Ellis’ earlier work, but never mind that).  Ultimates was essentially his attempt to do something in the same revolutionary vein with established icons.  And it was special, it was fresh, it was very, very 21st century.  What a shame though that it degenerated over the decade to be dull, repetetive and perfunctory.  Here for the paycheck you might say.

The story itself has gone through incredibly familiar beats.  These being a traitor from within, the dismantling of the hero characters before they manage to pull themselves together for the win, the dubplicity and resourcefulness of Nick Fury, the one liners that unfortunately no longer feel even remotely clever.  The original 12 issues (and even the second 12) still stand up incredibly well.  There are a few pop culture references that date them, but otherwise they still stand out with what made them such a positive shock to the system.  These final 6 issues, and indeed the two series before, will fade in the memory before too long.  In fact I think they already did.

Even Leinil Yu, a usually dependable artist, feels flat here.  He’s had to rush a little I fear, as he started work on this around the time he was starting Superior as well.  I admit I jumped off the Millar train quite some time ago, but I was intrigued to read the series for a sense of closure to what could almost be considered his magnum opus.  In the end though, it ends in the exact opposite manner of it’s beginning…no one cares.

Oh and if you haven’t read it and wondered if it ever actually tied itself to the death of Spider-Man?  No, it really didn’t I’m afraid.