- Written by: Deniz Camp
- Art by: Juan Frigeri
- Colors by: Federico Blee
- Letters by: VC’s Travis Lanham
- Cover art by: Dike Ruan, Neeraj Menon
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: August 14, 2024
The Ultimates #3, by Marvel Comics on August 14, 2024, sends Iron Lad, Thor, and Sif to a radiation-saturated island to find out what Banner is hiding.
Is The Ultimates #3 Good?
The Ultimates #3 gets down to the business of adding a Hulk to Earth-6160’s roster in a setup issue that introduces readers to Lejori Joena Zakaria, aka She-Hulk. Writer Deniz Camp gives readers a look into the callous machinations of Dr. Bruce Banner and how his experiments have killed or mutilated scores of Pacific Islanders, leading to the creation of the Marvel equivalent of Un-Men and a super-strong woman who may be the instrument of Banner’s downfall.
When last we left Earth-6160’s Avengers in The Ultimates #2, the team suddenly decided to storm the White House and attack President Midas while he lounged in the Oval Office wearing a gold Iron Man suit. After a bizarre and heavy-handed tirade about capitalism from the President, Iron Lad smashed through the Oval Office floor to find America Chavez strapped to a rig that siphoned off her powers to be converted into energy for the local power grid. No explanation was given as to how America got there, how the Avengers knew she was there, or why the President was using her as a living battery. The issue ended with the Avengers carrying America off.
In The Ultimates #3, we learn how Dr. Bruce Banner, a member of the Maker’s Council, willingly exposed Pacific islands to the deadly fallout from his Banner-Ulam Gamma Bomb experiments. On one such island, populated by over 400 people, the radioactive dust resulted in death, grotesque mutations, and more. Plants grew to unheard-of sizes, lizards and wildlife became monstrous aberrations, and the surviving villagers experienced horrific side effects.
Without making any overt connections to historical events, Deniz Camp appears to be using the real-life nuclear bomb testing near the Marshall Islands from 1948 to 1958 as a source of inspiration for the story here. Exposing the Pacific Islands to cruel Gamma Bomb experiments works as a perfect setup for a “new” Hulk while elevating Banner as a cruel, malicious villain.
Iron Lad, Thor, and Sif teleport to the island. They marvel (no pun intended) at the variety of mutated life, almost all deadly to one degree or another. After a brief run-in with a kaiju-sized lizard, the trio runs into a humanoid beast with an Abomination-like vibe, massive strength, and little to say. When the Abomination attacks, the trio is outmatched at every turn, until a Hulk-sized woman intervenes.
The fight is brutal but slightly odd. Thor and Hulk have fought more than once, but we’ve never seen Hulk easily deflect Mjolnir thrown at him with full force. Either Earth-6160’s version of Mjolnir is much weaker than Earth-616’s, or Deniz Camp forgot that the Hulk and gamma-related beings are not stronger than Mjolnir. Either way, the fight is energetic but rings untrue.
The Hulk-sized newcomer soothes the Abomination long enough to make it stop fighting. The beast reverts to human form – an infant child. The newcomer introduces herself as Lejori Joena Zakaria, one of the few villagers who survived radiation exposure as a small girl. She explains what happened to her island and people to Iron Lad. Tony Stark is quick to suggest that an island of Hulks could be the tipping point the Avengers need to confront the Maker and his Council, but when Lejori shows him the debilitated state of her fellow villagers, an army of Hulks is out of the question.
The issue ends with a bargain struck and a Banner angry.
What’s great about The Ultimates #3? At the risk of making a backhanded compliment, this is the first issue from Deniz Camp that isn’t heavy-handed, weird, or off-putting. If you’ve ever wondered what a completely new take on the Ultimate She-Hulk would look like, this version is as far away from the original as possible while still feeling Hulk-like and making sense within the Ultimates Universe.
What’s not great about The Ultimates #3? Deniz Camp’s relatively action-free issue is emblematic of a series whose pace and plot have yet to find solid footing beyond mildly engaging odds and ends. The series feels cobbled together without the requirement of telling a fully realized story. You get the impression Camp is coming up with ideas as he goes without mapping out the journey from the beginning to the eventual confrontation with the Maker.
Yes, the Avengers need a Hulk, but acquiring her character should be a side effect of a larger narrative, not as part of a hastily assembled checklist.
How’s the Art? Juan Frigeri’s art is a consistent high point in this issue. The kaiju-sized monsters look monstrous (naturally), the Un-men are pathetically grotesque, and She-Hulk looks like a decidedly different kind of She-Hulk, which perfectly sets this version apart from her Earth-616 counterpart. In short, I like this take on She-Hulk.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Final Thoughts
The Ultimates #3 delivers a stand-alone issue that gives readers a full history of Earth-6160’s version of She-Hulk. Deniz Camp’s setup is thorough and engaging, with just a palatable hint of commentary about the real-life inspiration for this issue, and Juan Frigeri’s art looks great. The overall series is still slow and treading water, but this is a solid one-off issue to introduce an interesting new variant character.
6.5/10
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