If you haven’t read something before, it’s new.

Doesn’t matter if it was published yesterday or 100 years ago, doesn’t matter if no one has read it or a million people, if you haven’t read it, it’s new.

“The Ultimates,” Marvel Comics alternative universe, was first created about 20 years ago. I’d read a few of the books through the years but not the original source material by the writer-artist team of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. 

After reading “The Ultimates: Super-Human,” I moved straight to the second collection, “The Ultimates: Homeland Security.”

Here, the Avengers-like superhero team and SHIELD deal with the repercussions of the Hulk attack on New York. Jan/Wasp is recovering from the ant attack caused by her husband, Hank Pym/Giant Man; Cap copes with being a man from the 1940s awakening into the 21st century; Thor becomes a team mate through friendship rather than joining what he views as an extension of the military-industrial complex; and Tony Stark deals with health issues in his own genius/hedonistic way.

They must also face the return of an alien invasion that had been stymied by Captain America during World War II.

With the set-up established in the first story arc collection, “The Ultimates: Homeland Security” is free to further explore relationships and this familiar but different Marvel Universe. All great fun, whether it’s 20 years old or a year old, it’s all new to a first-time reader.

One warning: The storyline does not conclude in this second volume, and apparently is considered already concluded in the subsequent volume.

Second warning: “The Ultimates” are not suitable for younger readers.