Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #10
Story:
Art:

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by John Totleben, assisted by Ron Randall

Published by Marvel Comics
Price: $2.25

My Verdict: Weak.

Dr. Curt Connors, desperate to find a cure for the loss of his arm, and equally desperate to beat the clock when it comes to his research funding to be cut, submits to his own experiments. You can guess where that is going. Meanwhile, for no real reason except to have his name on the cover, Man-Thing inexplicably walks the sewers of New York City.

Of the three Ultimate titles currently for sale, this is certainly #3 on my list. The fact that Bendis is writing it is probably the only reason I'm still even receiving the title. The problems with the title start with the fact that, well, it's so un-Bendis you'd think it was somebody trying to pass as BMB and doing it badly. It's mostly been a place for Bendis to introduce Ulty versions of classic Marvel characters. Which is all well and good, but characters who show up here are already shown in The Ultimates in ways that seemingly ignore what was setup--and this universe is, what, less than a year and a half old? That, and the fact that--well, honestly, if you're just going to introduce characters in the book, why the hell call it Marvel Team-Up? Spider-Man normally doesn't get to do anything interesting within these pages, since the majority of the book is establishing back story. Why was Spidey even involved in the last Daredevil/Punisher arc? Especially if his dialogue is going to consist of such jewels as "I...oh. Oh my god..." and "Oh my..."

Which brings us to the latest. Sure, Ulty Lizard looks cool. But why is his whole story crammed into one issue of this magazine when Bendis has shown he's a pro when it comes to building up characters slowly in Ulty Spidey's real title? And for a book that purports to be "reader friendly", i.e. you don't have to know Marvel lore in order to enjoy it--how the hell are they going to know why Man-Thing is? Okay, fine, there's a paragraph at the beginning of the book that explains who he is--but, seriously, does anyone read those? He's big, he's green, he looks like anthropomorphic cabbage, and stuff that's afraid burns when he touches them. That's...really, really exciting. No, really.

At to this an ending that's inexplicable--not to mention boring--and this book is not long for my pull list.