The introduction to this issue, the inaugural issue of the 9 issue limited series, might be one of the things that confuses me the most about the entire series. We begin, smack dab in the middle of a giant brawl between the Fantastic Four and the Serpent Squad. The only way I could rationalize the Serpent Squad's presence in this issue after reading the entire series is that Land likes to "trace" supermodels, and the Squad is an all hot, all women team of villains. Other than that, their insertion into the storyline makes no sense.
I realize that some will say it was one of the Serpent Squad's members calling Thing a freak that triggered all of the events of ultimate Power. Personally, I think that is a little weak! I recognize Ben is portrayed as the tormented soul in the Ultimate Universe (more so than 616 anyway), but is he really so thin skinned?
All throughout the issue Reed Richards struggles with how to help his friend Ben Grimm, whom he feels responsible for. After asking and being denied funding from S.H.I.E.L.D., Richards goes against Fury's orders and sends probes into parallel dimensions.
This is one of the few issues where I felt as though Greg Land's art worked. Sure all of his material seems to be "appropriated" from fashion magazines, but he seems to have carefully selected his poses or altered them to suit his storytelling. This is something I find you see much less of from Land currently. Now this in not Land's earliest work at Marvel, but it was near the beginning of his career with the company (2006).
Ultimately (ha, I crack myself up!), aside from the random opening panels, this is a good introduction to a series. It piqued my interest, and left me wanting more.