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ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM UP #9
(Best of the Week!)
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Jim Mahfood
Colors: Transparency Digital
Letters: Sharpefont
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
In a year that has included new Barry Ween and "Rex Mantooth, Kung-Fu Gorilla," it's hard to definitively state that this is the funniest comic I've read all year. But it's definitely in the top five, and though it's a complete change in tone from the previous issues of Team Up, the level of craft and entertainment remains high. Bendis is doing a
great job tuning the stories to the sensibilities of his artists, and the
artists, all skilled professionals, are turning in work that reminds us why they
earned their reputation. This issue features an off-beat take on the Marvel
Universe that blends independent comics style with the Bullpen wackiness of Stan
Lee and company, and it may be considered heresy by some of the more devoted
fans of the Marvel Universe. But you see, that's part of what makes it so damned
funny.
Peter Parker's scientific acumen has been played up in the Ultimate universe, as he idolizes and gets to meet famous scientists like Tony Stark (in a previous Team Up) and Reed Richards (in this one). It's a
perfect setup for the meeting, and I love that things go hilariously wrong on
the first page, as Peter's secret is blown, and only gets worse as he wanders
where he shouldn't and finds his dream day turning into more of a nightmare.
While we definitely get a feel for the Fantastic Four of this universe, the
story really does belong to Spidey, who is our point-of-view character into all
this weirdness.
Weirdness is the order of the
day, and that fits well with both the Fantastic Four and Mahfood's art. Subtle
changes to the origin keep up with modern day mores and technology, shifting
their journey into space into a journey into the extradimensional Negative Zone
and making Sue Storm less a hanger-on and more a scientific equal of her
husband. There's room here for a straight approach at the characters, but Bendis
and Mahfood take one that's a bit more esoteric, reminiscent of work by Mahfood,
Shannon Wheeler or other independent creators more than Marvel comics. The
characters make fun of their own tag lines, work on building ridiculous devices
and generally come off as goofy versions of themselves, albeit versions that are
self-aware of their own goofiness.
Things really hit their
stride about midway through the book, though, when Peter accidentally unleashes
a band of chaotic invaders on the planet. The stage is set for a mad chase
throughout wild locations, including the offices of Marvel Comics, and this lets
Mahfood just go wild. The book features background art gags aplenty, as well as
gentle (but hilarious) pokes at Joe Quesada, Ralph Macchio and Bill Jemas. I'm
not exaggerating when I say that I can't imagine anyone but Jim Mahfood who
could have carried it off, and certainly no one who could have done it while
being this wickedly funny.
Although it began as my least favorite of the Ultimate books, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up is quickly showing itself to be a gem in Marvel's line-up. The last
few issues felt like an 80s crime book ala Miller, and this one seems like
something you'd see at Oni Press rather than Marvel. The ability to shift tones
and styles so quickly is not to be underestimated in a mainstream super-hero
comic, and with the talent lined up to work here, I don't see a disappointing
issue on the horizon.
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