Speaking of spectacularly misunderstanding what makes an "adult" comic book, Jeph Loeb and David Finch's Ultimatum event - coming hot on the heels of Loeb's equally execrable Ultimates 3 - is superhero comic as torture porn. Instead of piecing together a cohesive narrative, or giving the reader relatable characters to root for, the pair simply aim to produce the most shocking and/or sickening imagery they can. With superheroes. Countless heroes died in a tsunami, whilst others were shot, decapitated, and - in the case of the Wasp - were partially devoured by X-Men villain, The Blob. It's an awful, awful series of comic books, and the fact that the Ultimate universe was aimed at new readers (including many who had come from the burgeoning success of Marvel's films, which took cues from the Ultimate incarnations), makes it even more inexcusable. Imagine if this was your first comic book, after enjoying Iron Man. Ugh.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
