Ultimate Extinction #3 Review

Ultimate Extinction has been pretty good so far. So, we were psyched to see #3 in our comic pull this week. All that was needed was some cana to chew on while we lounged on the love bed here at the Bunker and read Ellis’s entertaining story.

Creative Team
Writer: Warren Ellis
Penciller: Brandon Peterson
Inker: Brandon Peterson

Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 5.

Synopsis: The issue starts with Captain America and the Falcon attacking the mysterious character that looks like the Silver Surfer. A pretty cool fight ensues and the mysterious silver character escapes. Then Misty Knight engages in some pretty standard racial slurs that are always allowed like “Captain Whitey” and calling the Falcon “Stepin Fetchit.” We will address this later in the comments, believe me. Cap wants to arrest Misty. She tells him to contact her buddy Tony Stark.

We then cut to Reed Richards and Sue Storm talking about that Reed has given Nick an ultimate weapon that may even be able to kill Gah Lak Tus.

We then hop over to the Triskellion and Tony Stark is vouching for Misty as a good trustworthy cop. We then see Prof. X getting ready to be hooked into a machine to try and communicate with Gah Lak Tus. Prof. X makes contact and Gah Lak Tus rejects him as if Prof. X had desecrated it by touching it. A SHIELD agent then runs in and tells Samuel Jackson, I mean, Nick Fury that a missile has been launched by Gah Lak Tus and is heading for the Triskellion.

Captain Marvel powers up and Tony suits up into his armor. They see the missile which is a silver egg-shaped object. Out from the disc morphs the Silver Surfer. His body is pretty much like the liquid metallic Terminator in T2. Iron Man can stop him. Captain Marvel can’t stop him. And the issue ends with the Silver Surfer grabbing Marvel and opening his mouth to bite him showing off his 4 ROWS of teeth!

Comments: All right, we here at the Revolution are a little hungover and have only had one cup of Café Bustelo today so we may be a little more cranky than usual. Let me first say that I really like Warren Ellis’s writing. I think he is very talented and puts out a lot of great comics.

I thought Ultimate Extinction #3 was great. I am really enjoying this mini-series a lot more than I expected. As a matter of fact, it blows away House of M. I only have one complaint and Ellis is definitely not the only writer guilty of this. For some reason to give a black character some street cred, the writer feels the need to make them look like an uneducated racist.

Misty calling Captain America “Captain Whitey” and Falcon “Stepin Fetchit” was totally unnecessary, but more importantly, didn’t even fit with the story. Cap and Falcon failed to capture the mysterious silver character and then wanted to arrest Misty Knight since she was involved in the fight with the silver character.

I have no idea how this warranted an outburst of racial slurs. It just makes Misty look like an Al Sharpton-Louis Farrahakan racist. Yet, this happens often in comics. It is as if white writers can’t make a character be “black” enough unless they have them act like George Jefferson.

Also, I find it curious that it is OK to use racial slurs against a white character, but it would never be allowed for a rebellious white character like Hawkeye to call Samuel Jackson, I mean, Nick Fury, “General Darkie.”

The only time a racial slur is used on a black character is if they are being an “Uncle Tom” or a “Stepin Fetchit.” These usually apply to black characters that are intelligent and don’t have any urban “street cred.” I just think it is entirely the wrong message to send to readers. That a black character is only “truly black” if they act like an idiotic racist. That black characters that don’t act “urban” are “white” and are “Stepin Fetchit” characters. And, hey, you can always racially slam a Blanco! We know that here at the Revolution! Viva la Revolucion! (It is required by law, that all rants are ended praising our Revolution.)

Ok, I have just downed another delicious cup of Café Bustelo, so I think I’m over my rant. Now, I have nothing but praise for the rest of the issue. Ellis is a very talented writer and I love his work. Ellis is doing a great job creating the Ultimate Universe version of Galactus and his first contact with Earth.

The pacing of the story is perfect. The dialogue is well done. The plot is solid. There is a perfect blend of action and dialogue. As a matter of fact, the scenes without much action may be even more interesting than the scenes with action. Marvel wishes that House of M could have been even half of the mini-series that Ultimate Extinction is.

This mini-series effectively conveys the feeling of the end of the world and a cosmic threat on a universal level. House of M was just a bad dream. Ellis does a great job getting the reader to feel what it is like to face what could be the end of the world. House of M just made us wish that it was only 3 issues instead of 6.

The Revolution gives a huge thumb up to the Ultimate Silver Surfer. I like the liquid metallic body and the nasty multiple rows of teeth just like a shark. The Surfer is much more of a primal force in the Ultimate Universe. I would prefer the Ultimate Captain Marvel to be more like the 70’s Jim Starlin Captain Marvel rather than the current Kree soldier version. Of course, I love Ultimate Captain America who is much more of a militant ass-kicker than the regular 616 Captain America. And, Ultimate Tony Stark is always entertaining.

Brandon Peterson’s art is fantastic. He does a wonderful job with the pencils and inks. His Silver Surfer is one of the best looking versions of that character I have ever seen. Peterson’s great art makes this solid comic even better. Great writing and great art, such a rarity in comics. Peterson’s art also has a nice realistic edge to it that has been a staple of many of the Ultimate titles.

This is definitely a mini-series worth reading. It wasn’t overly hyped like House of M, but it surely delivers the goods. The Revolution says to start reading this mini-series immediately. Or, at least wait for the Trade Paperback version to be released.