So i just completed the full initial run of Ultimate Marvel, from Ultimate Spider Man #1 to Ultimate End. And ive got some thoughts.
First of all. I started collecting phsycially when i was a kid, around Death of Spiderman. The only ultimate comic i read was Ultimate Comics X-Men, which was one of those "your book got canceled heres this other one" for my X Men Legacy subscription. That quickly became my favorite book, despite hating Kitty, i really loved the reservation concept, the sentient seed. That whole piece, which makes it a crime that it really only lasted about 4 issues. Having read the entire series now. Hot damn were they obsessed with Kitty.
I wont go through the whole of Ultimate, other than that the transition from Vol 1 to Vol 2 of Ultimate spider man was horrible.
I will say, folks the cracks were there. All New Ultimates finished in 2014 and it is top 3 worst runs of any book ive ever read. Packed full of the "teenies angsting with shit art" the sitcom "oh hey im actually gay" lets break up for no reason oh were back togehter for no reason soap opera fest.
"Right wing" militia as a stomped villian that even the Scourge hates because "im not racist! I just kills criminals, and suggesting theres a demographic there is racist!"
The evil corporation is messing up the usually totally fine drug trade by POSIONING it. Yeah thats how you run a business, murder your customers.
I hate cloak and dagger, bombshell is the stupidest fuck after "black widow," and miles... it really shows you how much the writer matters. Miles' first run is as enjoyable as any other book ive ready. In All New Ultimates he reminds me why im racist.
I especially hate bombshells whiny drug dealer boyfriend drama. Its supposed to be totally radical, and its "real" in the sense thay yeah ive met people like her. But they were stupid retaded fucks, and i hated them too.
/rant
Yeah, and things really ramped up from 20% to 95% garbage over the whole 2006-2014 period.
Psych started out (mid-late '00s?) as a pretty decent whodunnit? with lots of variety in the villains and interesting characters.
It finished (mid-'10s) as a predictable "white guy did it, and all the other guest characters are super competent unless there's another white guy that is the misdirection."
Oh, and my favorite character Gus, went from a nerd with a lot of hobbies (who happened to be black) to blackity black black let's find a way to mention that he's black.
Psych was a rough one. Really hit its stride after season one, then torpedo’d hard down the stretch. As per usual, any resolution of sexual tension between romantic leads lets the air out of the whole show.
Y'all saved me a watch, thanks. Chuck is the only show I've seen that stuck the landing with the romantic leads (though the final episode slightly undermines that).
First couple of seasons are genuinely good, and it just kind of tapers off after that. If you like mysteries and semi-juvenile guy humor, I'd recommend watching at least seasons 1-2, and then as far after that as you can tolerate the downward spiral.
Leverage is another one that is pretty good. Reverse mystery. Figure out how the good guys did it. Slightly more 'mature' humor.