THE ULTIMATES 2 #8
Writer: Al Ewing
Penciler: Aud Koch
Colorist: Dan Brown
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Release Date: June 21, 2017
Price: $3.99
Plot: In The Ultimates 2 #8, we get a microscopic focus on the life of the great and powerful Galactus. Prior to the start of this series Galactus was one of the universes most feared foes. The only survivor of the previous iteration of the universe, Galactus was known as the devourer of worlds. That means he literally eats them. Granted, he goes through a process of breaking the world in question down into cosmic energy and consumes that, but he is still, essentially eating the planet. But The Ultimates, being the ultimate team of preventative measures, undertook “fixing” Galactus’ hunger problem as their first mission.
Galactus is now the Lifebringer. He uses his cosmic powers to grant life as opposed to destroying worlds. This is what makes him coming into contact with Ego this issue, so interesting. Ego is the living planet and a being a great power. In the past, Galactus had attempted to devour him multiple times. This is cause for great skepticism when Galactus informs him that his new role in the universe is quite different from what it was before.
Story: What I enjoyed most about The Ultimates 2 #8, is how Ewing finds a way to take these massive universal constructs and bring them down to a level we as humans can relate to. Getting a story from the perspective of Galactus is amazingly compelling, much less his conversation with Ego, another cosmic level being. Furthermore, we find in this book that Galactus is putting together a cosmic super team to fight alongside the Eternity against the First Firmament. This issue was mainly a set up for that.
I’d like to further elaborate on how big this book is in terms of cosmic Marvel. There is nothing larger than this. As far as the Marvel Universe is concerned, there is nothing above Eternity and the First Firmament. The First Firmament was the first cosmos to ever exist and it has been waiting to exact its revenge on Eternity. For years Galactus has been one of the most powerful beings in the Universe, but when fighting against the universe itself, in fact, a different iteration of it, we find that he is just another (albeit powerful) soldier in a much larger war. With a line up like the Psi-Hawk, The Infinaut, and the Shaper’s Ghost, in a team dubbed Eternity Watch, how much more powerful can one get?
Art: The cover of this book is gorgeous. I can’t remember seeing Ego on a book cover in the last 10 years at least, and I know I haven’t seen him like this. The colors are to die for. The medley of reds and blues on a wise, aged face and eyes glowing with power fits the context of The Ultimates 2 series beautifully. It’s also especially exciting to see after the debut of Ego in the Marvel cinematic universe. On the pages, the art is still not exactly what I want in that it’s not quite awe inspiring all the time but it does fit the book. The colors definitely fit the bill as well. I commented in previous reviews that the large and fantastic cosmic stuff really does look as it should under Koch’s hand, and Brown’s colors resonate well with that, but I’d still like to see more detail.
Verdict: This was a good issue. We didn’t get to see any of the Ultimates but given the events of Secret Empire, this was more or less to be expected. Getting a comprehensive background on both Galactus and Ego is something that should be a necessity for cosmic Marvel fans. This series is all about learning the nature of the Marvel Universe and Al Ewing is telling that story splendidly. This has been an amazing read thus far, and I recommend getting this and the next book when it comes out.
Star Rating: 4 out of 5