Writer: Ron Zimmerman
Artist: Duncan Fegredo
Publisher: Marvel
Why is Ultimate Adventures still being print? I mean, why do they even bother? Born in the U-Decide debacle as Joe Quesada's piece of the challenge (when he has very little to do with it in the first place), Adventures, which should be in about its fourteenth issue, has just come out with #5. And it's not like it's worth picking up. Despite being a Batman clone, the series was really off to a great start in Ron Zimmerman's character of Woody. Over time though, he managed to bring the Ultimates in out of nowhere, and set up a worthless conflict involving Woody's principal that I don't even remember how that got started. Apparently, he was so fed up with his unruly school that he resorted to violence in his job as principal. He also ends up injuring Hawk-Owl, where this book ends on a cliffhanger. I suppose it will now be up to Woody to save the day.
It's not poorly written, it just doesn't seem to make sense after all these months. While Tolliver and Lee were supporting characters by their own right, all mystery and originality was stripped of them this issue as they were basically shown to be trained in the way Hawk-Owl was. This doesn't leave the reader with much of a clear distinction, especially since I don't even remember "Lee" being in the book before. Of course, it's been so many months. What little poorly-constructed conflict there is has been going on for way too long now, and I think it's time to move on, but as I hear, this will not be published much longer. It's a bit of a shame, as I do think this title had some potential, and will be quickly forgotten, but at least Ron Zimmerman writes it well enough that it will go out in style.
Last issue, Duncan Fegredo got an inker other than himself which left the art with a softer, more definite quality. This time, he's back to embellishing his own stuff, leaving a very gritty and somewhat inconsistent feel. Mr. Fegredo still delivers the scenes well, especially those containing action, making some good use of the conflict. A lingering artwork problem remains the ridiculously cartoonish cover art by Kaare Andrews, in which this month, Woody has an uhh, obvious, *coughs* "woody".
I can't see anyone picking this up, unless they've read the story up until this point, and want to see what's going to happen. But I think we must all face the fact that Adventures has worn out its welcome, and will fall into all the better projects that could have been. It's the "New Universe" of '03.
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