Rating:  -
This story is very complicated and for fans who haven't read any Ultimate Spider-man or Ultimates books, don't get this one. There is a little background information that you'll need to understand this. First, Spider-man is about sixteen and has faughten each of the villains he is up against: Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven, and Sandman (note: thats only five villains!) The Ultimates are a super-team to help fight mutant terrorists. They're just improved Avengers. They include Captain America, Giant Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Man, and Thor. Ok, now the story starts with Ultimate Spider-man #46 where Spider-man fights the Sandman. Later, the story branches out to a SHIELD contaiment prison for the five Spider-man villains. They team up and break out of the prison. They then kidnap the young teen and threaten to kill his aunt if he doesn't cooperate. The team becomes....The Six! The showdown with the Six and the Ultimates begins! Which side will Spider-man fight on???
Rating:  -
This graphic novel is listed as #9 in the Ultimate Spider-Man series, but really only contains one Ultimate Spider-Man comic in it with the other six being Ultimate Six comics.
I grabbed it eagerly hoping for more Ultimate Spider-Man, but the storyline picked up more of the convoluted typical comic fare than the simple-sweet personal style of Ultimate Spider-Man. The art after the first issue isn't typical of that series either, and is made up entirely of the more "realistic" art of Ultimate Six that leaves something to be desired if you're a fan of Ultimate Spider-Man's style up to this point.
Overall it's #9 in the list of these graphic novels, but if you were to skip it there's only a minor detail leading into what will be in #10 that you will have missed (and will pick up soon from there anyway). Since my interest is much more toward Ultimate Spider-Man than what Nick Fury and the Ultimates are up to these days, I found this graphic novel to be very disappointing both in story and art when all I wanted was more Spidey.
Aside from the first issue in the book and its action introduction of The Sandman, the rest is forgettable and not up to par with the eight that preceeded it.
Rating:  -
This is a great story, but I wish the whole thing had been drawn by cover artist John Cassady. Trevor Hairsine is definitely not a bad artist, but sometimes his art seems a little rushed and inconsistent. And also.... why the hell can't the Ultimate Six be in full costume? Yeah yeah yeah it's more realistic that way but I'd choose entertainment over realism anyday, as far as comics go. So basically if this thing had been drawn by Cassady and the villians had their costumes on (except for Sandman - I'd let that slide) I'd love this collection 10 times more. And for crap's sake, Spider-Man, put on your damn mask.
....but yeah, the story is good. Cheers!
Rating: -
In 1964 when Stan Lee and Steve Ditko did the first annual for "The Amazing Spider-Man" they came up with a story called "The Sinister Six," which had the web-head going up against Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, the Vulture, Electro, Mysterio, and Kraven the Hunter. In order to rescue Betty Brant and find Aunt May, Spider-Man has to tackle six of his greatest villains working together and to make things really interesting he has to do it while he has apparently lost his powers. Also appearing in the book in the most minor of roles are Dr. Strange, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, the X-Men, Giant Man and Wasp, who have really nothing to do with our hero defeating the villains (one by one it turns out, with Ditko getting to do a splash page of each battle) and saving the day.
"Ultimate Six" is a seven part miniseries that brings together the Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man from Marvel's (you guessed it) Ultimate line of comic books, and it seems to me that scripter Brian Michael Bendis, penciler Trevor Hairsine, and inker Danny Miki are doing an updated version of that first "Spider-Man" annual. In keeping with the mission statement of the Ultimate universe to do things with a twist in a bigger way whenever possible, the Ultimate Six have two key rosters changes. Gone are Mysterio and the Vulture to be replaced by the Green Goblin and (surprise) Spider-Man himself. After all, Norman Osborn knows that Spider-Man is really Peter Parker and threatening Aunt May is enough to get our young hero (who is about 16 at this point) to do anything to make sure she stays alive.
The other big change, as you would expect, is that the Ultimates (the new and improved Avengers) do not sit on the sidelines and show up to save the day. The roster assembled at this point consists of Captain America, Giant Man, Iron Man, Wasp, Thor, Hawkeye and the Black Widow, under the direction of Nick Fury, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Note: If you have not been reading either "The Ultimates" or "Ultimate Spider-Man" you are going to be woefully lost with this trade paperback.) The super villains were all being held at a S.H.I.E.L.D. containment center and when they escape Fury sics the Ultimates on them (Thor vs. Electro is a neat idea). But the bad guys manage to destroy the Ultimates' stronghold, the Triskelion, and kidnap Peter Parker. The big show down comes on the lawn of the White House as the battle comes down to the Green Goblin and Spider-Man, although not exactly the way you would expect. It seems Norman thinks of Peter as the son he never had (which will be interesting news to Harry to be sure).
This mini-series will appeal to fans of the Ultimates more than Spider-Man, although it has obvious consequences for the Ultimate Spider-Man story line. After all, Bendis, Hairsine and Miki are correct that Spider-Man is not going to be able to handle these five "mutant" villains (yes, one of them gets a power upgrade), especially if they fight as a team, which, this time they do. One of the key elements of the Ultimate universe is the government's concern with illegally obtained super powers and the idea that the next big war will be fought against mutants (Peter is going to be drafted into the Ultimates as soon as he turns 18). In dealing with the flip side of this, "Ultimate Six" also gets into the distorted psyches of the villains. Once I got used to the idea that Spider-Man was going to be a spectator for most of the action I was able to get with the program. Besides, I like the idea that Spider-Man really is in way over his head at this early stage in his superhero career. The scene were Captain America confronts Spider-Man is a good indication of how far over the rainbow we are in this story from the traditional Marvel universe, which is a main part of the appeal of the Ultimate titles.
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