Yep, more Bruce Lee. Shameless. After the so-called fairy tale recaps, sort of, we get right back into it.
Some collar on that shirt.
This is a very Bendis speech. It’s one of his weaknesses. It’s too long, it doesn’t tell us too much we didn’t know, and it just doesn’t feel too natural from a writer known for his natural dialogue. Sometimes, he’ll have a character just start monologing like this, doubling back on things (“wants him back. Back and alive. Alive, but broken”). It kinda feels like vamping for time, which is especially egregious in a book ostensibly trying to tell you who Ultimate Shang-Chi is, despite him not actually saying a word so far. Speaking of, Shang-Chi is taking out the trash when he’s warned by the old man he works for that he heard what’s comin’ down, and he should flee. The old man also explicitly names Shang’s dad as Fu Manchu. Almost dodged that bullet! A page of the fairy tale thing talking about how the prince found himself surrounded by warriors, then a 2-page spread of Shang-Chi surrounded by warriors as he was attempting to leave town.
Fightin’ continues for 4 pages, including a moment when Shang-Chi sort of makes his shirt explode? I think maybe he’s supposed to be ripping it off, but that’s not how it looks. Anyway, we were promised a team-up, so…
Rick Mays only seemed to have, like, 4 facial expressions in his repertoire, and one of them is “4-year old who saw a dog” used to mean surprise. And what’s with Spidey’s hand there? Why cop out on the webbing just there? You won’t believe it, but these are the following 2 pages.
Yeah, man, 3 pages wasted on that lady babbling at unnamed goons and then this book literally runs out of pages. I wonder if that was Mays going off book. Wouldn’t be the first time Bendis had that happen to him. What an awkward, abrupt ending. And that, even more abruptly, is the final issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up. Really. Not exactly a huge finale, but don’t worry, they got that covered.