ULTIMATES 3: RETURN OF MADUREIRA

Back in the 90s, JOE MADUREIRA was my favorite "current" comic artist of the time. His X-MEN run kept me on the book, even during the shitty dark times... Anyway, Joe Mad left comics in the late 90s/early Tweens to pursue a career in Gaming, which he was successful at. But now he has returned to comics pencilling the new mini-series ULTIMATES 3. I impatiently picked up the book to check out new Joe Mad art!!!!

Before I tackle the art, I wanted to throw in that I think putting Joe Mad onto ULTIMATES simply does not make sense. The Ultimates were pretty much "Marvel Movies", taking a more film/tv approach to storytelling and using "realistic" visuals. Joe Mad is known for his over-the-top style and anime influence. His art does not feel "right" for an Ultimates book. Now onto the art....

The art is fucking abyssmal. Wow. I mean, this is fucking BAAAAAAD. However, I think most of the blame goes to the coloring. The coloring of this book just muddy-ups the pencils into this blurry, bland, confusing mess on every page. Check out the comparisons below of Joe Mad's inked pencils and then the muddy mess coloring overtop. Ugh. This is some of the worst coloring I have ever seen. Apparently the colorist only knows of one kind of light source and one level of highlighting. Its like a cheap filter was applied to the pencils.

MORE COMPARISON PICS POSTED HERE.

Coloring aside, some of Joe's pencils are nice while others look very amateurish and rushed; not the Joe Mad that made me giddy years ago. Not only am I disappointed and unimpressed, but I will unfortunately not be picking up future issues of Ultimates 3..... unless a new colorist is brought in, then I'll give it another glance.