Review of The Ultimates Issue #2

The Ultimates #2, by Marvel on 7/10/24, kicks up the action when the new Avengers launch an attack on the White House to confront the President and uncover a powerful secret he’s keeping in the basement.

When last we left Iron Lad and his fledgling band of Avengers in The Ultimates #1, they battled the Maker’s Council’s forces in NYC while trying to convince Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne to accept the mantle of the heroes they were always meant to be. Janet jumped into her new identity as the Wasp like a glove, but Hank took prodding. Ultimately, the new Avengers gained two new Ultimate members to form the Ultimate team.

In The Ultimates #2, Deniz Camp cranks up the action and the soapboxing for an unclear mission with surprising results.

We begin with the new Ultimate Avengers storming the White House to confront the President. No context is given surrounding why a full-on assault is warranted. Interspersed between moments of action, we see the newly revived Steve Rogers getting a holographic crash course on the history of America since he was trapped in ice. Witnessing the Maker’s influence over world events shakes the Captain to his core.

The Avengers make short work of White House security while Captain America and Iron Lad break into the Oval Office. There, they find the presence decked out in the classic Iron Man Mark II armor, waiting for the Avengers with an air of superiority.

When Cap demands to know if they’ll be allowed to reach their destination “with or through” the President, what follows is an overly long diatribe about the glories of capitalism, the true freedom offered through money, and a redefinition of America as a country run by commerce and power rather than borders or ideals.

When Cap has heard enough, a fight begins by Iron Lad activating a repulsor beam that sends the group into the chamber below the Oval Office. There, they find America Chavez held in a chamber that feeds off her energy, providing power to the surrounding states and the President’s armor. During the second round of the fight, Cap breaks the President’s neck (non-fatally), giving the Ultimate Avengers a window to escape with the rescued America.

What’s great about The Ultimates #2? Deniz Camp delivers more action, drama, and tension over the previous issue for a more emotionally engaging issue. Putting Captain America in the position to try and save America by attacking its leader creates conflicting emotions that practically crackle off the page.

What’s not great about The Ultimates #2? File this issue under “The writer’s barely disguised activist fetish.” Camp uses the never-unmasked President to spew a pure litany of leftist talking points, platitudes, and invectives that encompass every annoying statement from “America was built by slaves” to “Governments are withholding the cure for cancer for profit.”

Sure, you could say Camp is saying those statements through the voice of the villain because he believes they aren’t true. If you truly believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I’m trying to sell at bargain prices.

Second to the obvious soapboxing is the complete lack of context or setup. How did Iron Lad know something was in the White House basement? It appears the Avengers knew something was down there but not exactly what, so why did they feel the need to commit a full-on assault in broad daylight when they could have sent a miniaturized Wasp in at night to find out unnoticed?

In short, Camp sent in the Avengers to pick a fight with the President for no clear reason, only to justify it later. Again, this supports the observation that Camp was simply looking for an excuse to deliver a villain monologue with a clear ideological bent.

The Ultimates #2 cranks up the action but leaves sense at the door for a lengthy confrontation and villain monologue that reads like a barely disguised activist fetish about the evils of capitalism and America. The art is good, and the ending gets the team where they need to go, but readers will likely be annoyed rather than entertained.