Ultimate Extinction has been a hit here at the Revolution. This is an example of writing an exciting cosmic scale mini-series that includes numerous characters from the Marvel Universe. It is pretty much the polar opposite of the House of M. Ultimate Extinction is well written and entertaining. Ultimate Extinction #5 is the final issue. I’m expecting it to be good.
Creative Team
Writer: Warren Ellis
Art: Brandon Peterson
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issues starts with the Moondragon clones attacking S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Triskellion. The S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers radio for immediate support. We see a window from the top of the Triskellion’s tower shatter. We see Captain America jumping out of the tower and fall through the air and land in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers. Captain America is their immediate support and he starts kicking ass. (I love the ultimate version of Captain America. He is such a bad-ass!)
We shift to Nick Fury talking to Professor Xavier. Iron Man and Captain Marvel join Captain America in the brawl with the Moondragon clones. Professor X and Jean Grey are talk about how Gah Lak Tus is revolted by contact with humans. Prof. X tells Jean Grey to initiate “support plan X.”
We shift back to the brawl at the Triskellion. The Falcon has now joined the fight. The Moondragon clones begin to overwhelm The Falcon and Captain Marvel. Suddenly, we see the X-Men arrive on the scene for back up. The brawl gets kicked up another notch.
We shift back to Prof. X telling Nick Fury that by using the Vision and Cerebro together he can access the human psychic wavelength. This will be their weapon against Gah Lak Tus.
We then cut to Reed Richards and Sue Storm getting Reed’s ultimate weapon set and ready. We then see Prof. X making contact with all the humans on earth. He asks all humans to think with him. That Gah Lak Tus is afraid of them. Scared of our love and imagination. Prof. X asks for all humans to give him their thoughts of love, fantasies and ambitions. That each thought is a bullet and their Cerebro radar dish is the gun.
We hop back to Reed and Sue. Reed tells Sue that his ultimate weapon is based on what Nihil told him how there are universes are stacked on each other and that the negative zone was an older universe than ours.
Prof. X then makes contact with Gah Lak Tus which is in a ring around Earth. Prof. X tells Gah Lak Tus that he has brought 6 billion friends with him. Prof. X tells Nick Fury that Gah Lak Tus is convulsing from the sheer horror of being touched by all of us. Prof. X says that Reed must strike now.
We shift back to Reed and Sue. Reed tells Sue that his weapon will access a baby universe way up the multiversal stack. This baby universe is about to experience its Big Bang. That Reed will be dropping the biggest H bomb through the gate. That he will be firing the Big Bang from a baby universe through the gate at Gah Lak Tus. Reed then activates the weapon. An incredible blast fires from the ultimate weapon and heads straight up into Earth’s atmosphere and blasts through Gah Lak Tus’ ring around the Earth.
Nick Fury is informed that 20% of Gah Lak Tus was destroyed. Nick Fury thinks that they have failed. We then see the Silver Surfer saying “No.” He then transforms into a silver oval and disappears.
Nick Fury is then informed that Gah Lak Tus has retreated at an incredible speed. We then see Sue and Reed in the aftermath of his weapon’s blast. Everything is destroyed around them and Sue has Reed and herself protected in one of her force fields. Sue comments “Now aren’t you glad I came?” Reed responds with “Oh, shut up.”
We then shift to Nick Fury meeting with Tony Stark, The Falcon, Captain Marvel, Reed and Captain America. Captain Marvel says that Gah Lak Tus is simply headed for another inhabited solar system. That all they did was doom someone else. Nick Fury tells Captain Marvel not to worry. That the Falcon is loading up the Vision with the records of the whole thing including Reed’s gun design and all the science. They will launch the Vision into space with the details of how to drive Gah Lak Tus off. End of issue.
Comments:
The Good: This was a good issue and a fine ending to a great mini-series. I liked the opening scene with Captain America joining the brawl. I love the ultimate version of Captain America. He is what the regular Captain America should be more like. Does the ultimate Captain America take an elevator? Hell no! He jumps out a freakin’ window of a skyscraper and lands in the middle of the brawl. Ultimate Captain America is a conservative, slightly fascist ass-kicker who doesn’t mind killing the enemy. This is a much more realistic version of Captain America than the regular Marvel Universe version that is a bit too much of a panty waist and a bleeding heart liberal.
I thought that Prof. X’s weapon of using the Vision and Cerebro to hook him up with the Earth’s population and then using the Cerebro radar dish as a gun for their thought bullets was awesome! I loved it! What a better weapon against a killer machine than human thoughts of love, fantasies and hopes. Ellis does a nice job showing that no matter how incredible or advanced technology will get it will always pale in comparison to the “Human Spirit.” That no matter what we may create, nothing will matter more than what is inside our souls.
I liked Reed’s weapon. It was nice to see Ellis using the story from Ultimate Fantastic Four when they visiting Nihil in the negative zone as the basis for Reed’s weapon. That is a good job of Ellis weaving older storylines to build a foundation for this current mini-series.
Overall, Ultimate Extinction #5 was a great read and a satisfying ending to an excellent and entertaining mini-series. Ellis is an incredibly talented writer and it shows in this mini-series. Ellis did a great job with the pacing of this story. It wasn’t too rushed, but it definitely was not slow. Ellis did a wonderful job with character development. Ellis had a good feel for the personalities of the different characters. The dialogue was well done. And, I liked the way that Ellis had our heroes defeat Gah Lak Tus.
I also think that Ellis did an excellent job putting a new spin on the Ultimate version of Gah Lak Tus and the Silver Surfer. I was totally satisfied with Ultimate Extinction #5 and this entire mini-series as a whole.
I liked the artwork. Brandon Peterson is very talented and did a nice job with the artwork. Some of his facial expressions are a little weak. And his artwork can be a bit inconsistent from panel to panel. But, on a whole, he creates a nice looking comic book than is enjoyable to look at.
The Bad: I have no complaints with Ultimate Extinction #5. It was well written and well drawn. If you missed out on this mini-series then be sure to pick up the Trade version when it is released. It is worth the money.