Damon Lindelof

Time-traveling survivors.

This is what television should be. Granted, I could do without the whole 10% of the show spent waiting for a character's name to be revealed thing, and I was pretty disappointed when A Certain Character didn't end up dying after all at the end of the finale, but whatever. Easily the best season so far.

Concept: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 3.9/4

Have to admit I cringed at the title--is it just me or is every SF franchise on the planet going "Dark" in the sequel? That said, I found this even better than the first one. Familiar characters continue to develop in familiar and unfamiliar ways, and the twists and turns in the "Wrath of Khan" timeline are simply brilliant, particularly the reversal of Kirk and Spock's roles near the end. Not much about this that isn't first rate, with the exception of Carol Marcus disrobing in front of a show more commanding officer she's just met--and as a living breathing male of the species, it would be pretty insincere of me to complain about that. Can't wait to see what happens next. show less

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would! I liked it a lot more than Year One, though that one was still good. I loved all the different art, the styles were so drastically different between each issue! The first issue’s art done by Jeff Lemire had some really interesting art choices that played around with the traditional “comic panel” form, which I enjoyed. That story certainly showed me a different side of Alfred I hadn’t seen before. The second story was a really neat show more look into how thoroughly Batman thinks out his plans and possible encounters. I also really enjoyed the story with Two Face as it delved more into how tragic Batman’s rogue gallery is and how Batman grows to understand them but still must continue to stop them, sometimes even saving them from themselves. Of course the Joker also has a prominent role in a couple of the stories, but being able to see Harvey Dent was nice. The story with Robin where they stop a crime before it happens was also really good. I loved how it showed off yet another side of Batman in wanting to instill fear as a deterrent and in wanting to actually help criminals turn their lives around because he truly understands what it’s like to come from a place of darkness. show less

I really didn't have high expectations for this trade; I only bought it because I really like Ultimate Hulk (really, the character of Hulk in any verse), and I wanted to see what had happened to him after he supposedly was executed for killing hundreds of people during a rampage in Manhattan (as seen in the Ultimates title).

Well, big surprise, the Hulk didn't die. Instead, he managed to survive a nuclear weapon and managed to make his way to France, then Ireland, then India, and finally show more Tibet. While in Tibet, he tried to find a way to quell the Hulk's anger and sort of succeeded...until Wolverine, who was sent by Nick Fury to "eliminate the threat" of the Hulk, tracks the Hulk down in his mountainside retreat. There's an epic battle - and the introduction of Ultimate She Hulk.

So, like I said, I didn't have high expectations, and I ended up loving this trade. The dialogue is witty, interesting, and really well-done, and there's a discernible plot that's actually quite good (which seems to be a rarity in the latter Ultimate books). The art is okay - rather sketchy at times, but I love some of the page layouts, which are really snappy and draw the reader's attention. I love the little nods to 616-verse - the biggest probably being that Logan is "Patch" for a little while - and Logan's scrapes (including ticking off a panda) are hilarious. Overall, a great trade from the Ultimate line.

Disambiguation note: This trade was released right around when the "Ultimate" line technically ended and the "Ultimate Comics" line started. So this trade is sometimes called "Ultimate Comics Wolverine Vs. Hulk." The book's spine says "Ultimate Comics Wolverine Vs. Hulk," while the book has "Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk" on the cover. They're the same book. show less