(Panini, �12.99)

WELCOME to a different Earth, one struggling to rebuild in the wake of a devastating global attack by mutant terrorist Magneto, who sent the so-called Ultimatum Wave to wreak unprecedented destruction upon New York.

The Ultimate Universe is Marvel’s reimagined take on their familiar characters and concepts, as popularised in the long-running Ultimate Spider-Man series, but also in spin-offs like The Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men.

This new book, from creators Mark Miller and Carlo Pacheco, focuses on a black ops team of superpowered government operatives tracking down a rogue Captain America after the living legend of WWII discovers the existence of an illegitimate son he never knew he had.

Infused with the power of the Super Soldier formula which transformed his father, the boy mutilated his head to resemble a bloody red skull, murdered hundreds of government agents, and went on to become one of the world’s most ruthless assassins. Now he seeks the reality-warping Cosmic Cube, and only the newly-formed team of Avengers – Hawkeye, Nick Fury, War Machine, a new Wasp and a new Black Widow – have any chance of stopping him…

Whilst lacking some of the freshness and sheer bombastic story-telling verve of Miller’s original Ultimates run, this new series succeeds in taking real world events and giving them a harsh superpowered twist, upping the stakes with every chapter, and further developing his chosen roster of characters.

It remains to be seen where he plans on taking the Avengers of the Ultimate Universe, but whatever he has in store for them, you can be sure that Miller will deliver one hell of a ride.