PUNISHER'S COSPLAY and COMICS: ULTIMATE AVENGERS vs NEW ULTIMATES #1-6 review

ULTIMATE AVENGERS vs NEW ULTIMATES (DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN) #1-6

Writer: Mark Millar

Art: Lenil Yu

Published by Marvel Comics

Also available in collected edition paperback from Panini UK LTD

Review by Stewart Loud

Someone's been feeding the covert Avengers team and the Ultimates misinformation to turn them against each other and it results in one hell of a tear up! In the midst of all this confusion, someone puts a bullet in Spider-man and can you guess who pulls the trigger?

S.H.I.E.L.D. and the US government are still trying to clean up after the political fallout of what happened at the end of Ultimate Avengers 3 while Nick Fury is once again putting together a covert super hero strike force including War Machine, Blade and the Punisher who he has released from jail for the purpose of his mission. Mark Millar's Punisher really is one of the meanest I've seen. He doesn't just torture villains to get information from them, he does shit to wrong doers involving car batteries and trouser presses just for kicks.

Pretty much everyone who's anyone gets involved here with hero fighting hero as they all go after various people who they believe to be traitors. Fantastic art from Lenil Yu and great action. At one point Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Punisher and Blade all get Hulk powers before they wade into another fight, that's how heated things get.

I enjoyed this 6 parter from start to finish. More friendly banter and comradeship between the heroes than there was in Ultimate Avengers 3. Things get shaken up in the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. as characters reveal their true colours. Mark Millar adds some nice political under undertones with plenty of foreign countries and governments getting mentioned in the story, making events seem that little bit more real too. Definitely worth a read.

SCORE 8/10