Official Ultimate Universe Thread

[buster00]

I haven't been to the shop in months...

Does Ultimates 3 suck as much as people have told me it does?

Cuz they're all like, "yeah, man, it sucks a lot."

[instant_karma]

I haven't been to the shop in months...

Does Ultimates 3 suck as much as people have told me it does?

Cuz they're all like, "yeah, man, it sucks a lot."

It really really does.

[DennisMM]

Even if Jeph Loeb were writing at the top of his form it would suck. The art is that bad. It bears no resemblance to that which came before. I know everyone can't be Brian Neary, but the new artist said in interviews that he wouldn't draw the big Iron Man suit because he didn't like it.

Why can't editors just tell the "creators" what to do anymore? It's all the fault of the Image punks.

[unikrunk]

The only Ultimate U. stuff I have read is, well, the Ultimates TPBs (1&2). I dug the hell out of all the books, but it sounds like I might as well give up on the series. The art was so exquisite and told so much of the story that having a crap artist on board (if he is crap) would be a huge let-down.

I was already hooked on the books; however Ultiamtes 2 #2 TPB is where I really felt it. I will steer clear of spoilers, suffice to say there is some vicious shit in that book, and the last third of it is 31 flavors of kick-ass, condensed onto the page for your reading pleasure.

Anyone have any suggestions for other Ultimate titles I may be interested in, keeping in mind that I wont read Spiderman?

FF I heard was good? Any truthiness to that?

[burlivesleftnut]

No.

[Leckomaniac]

Millar had a good run on Ultimate FF. BKV had a nice run on Ultimate X-Men.

But if you mean current Ultimate titles...not really.

[unikrunk]

Millar had a good run on Ultimate FF. BKV had a nice run on Ultimate X-Men.

But if you mean current Ultimate titles...not really.

Hrmm.

Any specific trade recommendations?

[buster00]

FF I heard was good? Any truthiness to that?

It sure used to be, but I haven't picked it up in a long time. I backed out during the "God War" storyline. So I can vouch for anything before that.

Shame ya won't read Ultimate Spidey. The first few trades of that one were pretty damn good.

[Leckomaniac]

Millar had a good run on Ultimate FF. BKV had a nice run on Ultimate X-Men.

But if you mean current Ultimate titles...not really.

Hrmm.

Any specific trade recommendations?

Ultimate FF vol. 3-6

The first few volumes of Ultimate X-Men and then vol. 9-11, which were BKV's run.

[unikrunk]

Millar had a good run on Ultimate FF. BKV had a nice run on Ultimate X-Men.

But if you mean current Ultimate titles...not really.

Hrmm.

Any specific trade recommendations?

Ultimate FF vol. 3-6

The first few volumes of Ultimate X-Men and then vol. 9-11, which were BKV's run.

Thanks for the intel; I will check some of these out.

[instant_karma]

Even if Jeph Loeb were writing at the top of his form it would suck. The art is that bad. It bears no resemblance to that which came before. I know everyone can't be Brian Neary, but the new artist said in interviews that he wouldn't draw the big Iron Man suit because he didn't like it.

Why can't editors just tell the "creators" what to do anymore? It's all the fault of the Image punks.

Just read issue 2 of Ultimates 3. Things have not improved. Seeing the red and gold Iron Man was very disappointing, since I really liked the Ultimate U version of the armour. There are plenty of other artists that have been able to draw it, so I don't get why they couldn't just get one of them to do the artwork if it was such a problem for Madureira. The cynic in me says that the real reason is that with the Iron Man movie on the horizon, Marvel don't want anything other than the red and gold suit out there at the moment.

Still, bad as that was, the new Hawkeye is even worse. As he's written now, he's just a lame Deadshot copy, complete with deathwish, and the new costume is just terrible. I don't know if Loeb could possibly have picked a more obvious reaction for the character to deal with his family's murder in Ultimates 2.

I find it strange how much of a departure from this feels from the previous two volumes. It's almost like the editorial folks don't actually know what it was about the Millar/Hitch run that made it so successful, so they cannot see wide of the mark this new version is.

Maybe only 2 issues in is too soon to start calling the series lost, but the early signs don't look good.

[burlivesleftnut]

I concur. This is big time crap. And then it got worse...

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE SHOWED UP.

[unikrunk]

I concur. This is big time crap. And then it got worse...

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE SHOWED UP.

What the hell is an Ultimate Wolverine? Does he have retractable sideburns? Sniktt.

Is he all emo'd out like in the movies?

/I don't really want to know the answers to these questions

[burlivesleftnut]

He's the betterest at what he does.

[unikrunk]

<evil laughter>

[bluebottle]

I just read Ultimates 3 #1 and #2.

Holy crap.

This is the worst shit I've ever read. The story is weak, the dialogue is horrible... The art is ridiculous.

WTF happened? How could they fuck this up?

[burlivesleftnut]

It's like 1994 all over again!

[bluebottle]

It's like 1994 all over again!

on glossier paper.

[Spifftacular SquirrelGirl]

I just don't have any desire to even read this after everything I've heard about this book so far. It sounds really bad on multiple levels.

I don't think it helps that it seems like Loeb is trying to be too shocking with the whole Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver incest thing going on... not to mention Tony Stark being in a sex tape.

The entire series almost feels like it's a nightmare-ish combo of early 90's machismo comics while trying to ape more adult themed superhero comics like the Authority. In a word. Blech.

[bluebottle]

i was stunned. i hadn't read any of this thread or reviews of the book... i had assumed, even with the new team, that it would be on par with the previous books.

i was glad to read this thread to see that i wasn't the only one who was disappointed.

it really is horrible.

[burlivesleftnut]

Wolverine's gonna save some shit. He's good at that.

[Chilli]

I don't think it helps that it seems like Loeb is trying to be too shocking with the whole Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver incest thing going on

Blame Millar.

[bluebottle]

Wolverine's gonna save some shit. He's good at that.

based on the 2 issues, i'm going to guess that wolverine will be written as a low class humorless thug... and they'll really push it in his dialogue...

"er don care bout you, jus' came ter fix der plummin, bub."

[burlivesleftnut]

My thoughts on Ultimates 3: I keep reading them, but I don't even know what it's about at this point. It's THAT bad. I am only sticking with it since apparently events from this spin out into Ultimatum next year.

THE END.

[instant_karma]

Damn. That sucks. I really hate it when a title I enjoy takes such a huge dive in quality.

You always expect there to be some changes when a new creative team takes over, but I was really shocked by how terrible those first couple of issues were.

Still, I read somewhere that Miller will be coming back to do Ultimate Avengers or something, so perhaps he'll be able to salvage something from the wreckage.

[TheButcher]

From millarworld: MILLAR BACK AT WORK TODAY, AFTER TWO MONTHS OFF!!!

And I got my first batch of mother-lovin' pages in from CARLOS PACHECO for ULTIMATE AVENGERS: THE NEXT GENERATION, which is the first arc on our new book launching early this Summer. This stuff looks truly, truly amazing and I think Wizard or somebody has a preview coming up very soon.

Nice to have you back, Mark. Looking forward to finding out more about Ultimate Avengers. I've kind of lost interest in Ultimatum and the Ultimate line in general right now, so hopefully you can bring me back. Is this first arc the one with the secret black ops group of Ultimates or something else? And can you tell us some of the characters that Carlos will be drawing in it?

Don't worry. I'll fix everything

And first arc has Cap, Iron Man, Hawkeye... that's all I'll say for now. But it's good and look out for a Newsarama interview in the next day or so where some plot details are going out.

MM

From millarworld: The Black Ultimate Hulk, Mark's addition to the Ultimates universe

FACT: ULTIMATE AVENGERS WILL INTRODUCE AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN HULK.

Other than that, I can say no more right now as I think Wizard have an exclusive preview on this and other stuff in the next couple of weeks. But keep thread open.

MM

From Newsarama:
Back to the Ultimate U - Mark Millar on Ultimate Avengers

From Millarworld:
BRAND NEW ULTIMATE AVENGERS THREAD
MILLAR TALKS NEW 'ULTIMATE AVENGERS' ONGOING!

[TheButcher]

From CBR:
CCC09: Ultimate Marvel Panel Report

Millar then took center stage on the panel, noting when Carlos Pacheco's cover art for "Ultimate Comics Avengers" #1 came on the screen, "This looks really good." Of his reason for returning the to Ultimate U, the writer said, "I really missed those characters...it was the best five years and 26 issues of my life. [And leaving the series] was kind of like breaking up with a whole bunch of friends, as pathetic as that sounds. I loved writing Ultimate Cap and Ultimate Thor and everyone. And equally in there too, I didn't like the idea of Jeph Loeb outselling me, so we had to come back and kick his ass. Basically, that's the high concept behind this."

The first arc in the series will feature the Ultimate Red Skull (with a villain variant by Lenil Fracis Yu being shown). "This character is freaking extreme," Paniccia said, with Millar saying of the villain, "He's Captain America's illegitimate son from the 1940s, and the scene that you've got in issue #2 is a sex scene with Ultimate Cap. Just the night before he goes off to war – before he goes off to go off to die – he sleeps with his girlfriend. They're not married or anything. They just think they'll never see each other again. And Cap dies, and she's left with Captain America's baby in her stomach...this happens in Scotland all the time. But she has to give up the baby to S.H.I.E.L.D. and this is the result...He's back, and he's got a lot of daddy issues." Millar added jokingly, "You do see Captain America's penis in issue #2...I drew it on myself. I draw penises on every comic I own." In seriousness, the writer said all of the second issue will be the origin of Ultimate Red Skull over the years of his life while Cap was gone.

McCann pointed out that the new makeup for the team leads to many new character combinations, clicking to a slide featuring Captain America and Hawkeye with a word balloon from the latter reading, "You think this Bullseye on my head stands for Scotland?" Millar slid in to say, "I love Ultimate Captain America because he hates the French" and adding that there would be a a five-page extended insult to the French in issue #5. Millar also said that the pairing of Cap and Hawkeye made sense because, "They're the only kind of hawkish superheroes. Cap and Hawkeye are great like that. They love a bit of action, they love to kick ass and they don't like people that talk a lot."

The writer spoke about his collaborators on the series (each new arc of "Ultimate Comics Avengers" will feature a new artist). In order to get full runs from artists who take a longer time with their work than a monthly schedule will allow, the book will function as "individual graphic novels that all link up. So the first storyline, the Red Skull story, is by Carlos Pacheco. I know he's Spanish, but he's very good and he works cheap. The second guy is Leinil Francis Yu, and I just wanted to work with a guys whose initials were 'F. Yu.' That's fantastic. Then we'll get an absolute superstar for the third arc who we have to keep a secret just now and literally the biggest seller I think this decade doing the fourth arc. It's a great lineup.

"I think the thing that made the Ultimate line really work at first was the A-list artists because really nobody gave a shit about me and Bendis. He was just a bald guy from Cleveland, and I was the Scottish guy that nobody could understand. Luckily we had Adam Kubert and [Mark] Bagley and [Bryan] Hitch come along. It was real A-list talent with A-list characters that pulled us up to the A-list to be in that company. What we've got again now is that there's no lame Ultimate books. There's no weak link in the chain. Everybody that's working on them is at the top of their game."

The official lineup for "Ultimate Comics Avengers" will be Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, War Machine, a new Wasp and Nick Fury, though Millar said that some of those characters would play smaller parts in certain stories and other stories would feature new cast members like the new Thor, the Russian thunder god seen briefly in "Ultimates 2." "We're creating a whole new wave of interesting characters, and I think part of what made the Ultimate line a success at the beginning was our redefinition of iconic names. So really, rehashing that could get a little dull. So we're creating a whole new bunch of characters. There's a new Wasp up there. There's a new War Machine you haven't seen yet. There's a character called the Spider who's like a Cannibal Spider-Man guy. There's the African American Hulk, who's Bruce Banner's mentor. So there's a lot of interesting takes on Marvel icons."

Other new characters featured in the series will include Tony Stark's brother and Nick Fury's ex-wife. "From the beginning, I always liked the idea of doing like five years worth of Ultimates stories, and to me that's 60 issues, but it became 26 issues...but I had those overhanging ideas. I love the idea of Tony having a tea-totaling older brother who despised him and always wore white suits instead of Tony's dark suits. And while Tony rules the northern hemisphere, this guy has his business in the southern hemisphere. They're massive rivals, and they hate each other. I like the idea of going a bit deeper into the characters. You meet Bruce Banner's teachers and Nick Fury's ex-wife. Just seeing what was going on in the background really."

Exclusive: ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS #1 VILLAIN VARIANT]Exclusive: ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS #1 VILLAIN VARIANT

[TheButcher]

From Millar World:

I JUST WROTE A DREAM SEQUENCE FOR BLADE...

...where he kills a very obvious analogue of Edward Cullen and wakes up with a smile on his face.

God, I love my job!

MM

[TheButcher]

Newsarama Presents The "Ultimate" MARK MILLAR Interview - Part 1

[TheButcher]

CBR ADVANCE PREVIEW: "Ultimate Avengers Vs. New Ultimates"

[TheButcher]

Millar Focusing On 'Millarworld' After DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN

Following the upcoming "Death of Spider-Man" arc in Marvel's Ultimate Universe line of titles, Mark Millar will step away from work-for-hire projects to concentrate solely on creator-owned endeavors, the writer told Newsarama.

“Creatively, for the next couple of years, really, I'm really planning on just doing creator-owned,” Millar said.

Millar’s early Marvel work includes 1996’s Skrull Kill Krew, which he co-wrote with Grant Morrison. The writer came to Marvel in earnest in 2000, with the debut of Ultimate X-Men.

"It has a real symbolism, when I came in 10 years ago to Marvel with the Ultimate line, and this is sort of my passing torch actually, this is me leaving, this is the end of my time at Marvel," Millar said via telephone interview. "I'm off doing Millarworld now, really."

Millar stressed that he was leaving Marvel "under the nicest possible circumstances," and indicated that he may return to the company's universe of characters in the future.

“I genuinely love the characters,” Millar said. “In October, when I was out there just sitting around the table with Bendis and everyone again, it was nice, it was like the Seinfeld reunion,” the writer said of a Marvel creative retreat he attended this past fall.

In his time at Marvel, Millar launched Ultimate X-Men, The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four, the latter co-written with fellow Ultimate Universe mainstay Brian Michael Bendis. Millar is collaborating with Bendis for the “Death of Spider-Man” storyline.

“It's quite nice to go out doing the characters I came in with, the Ultimate characters,” Millar said. “It has a real symmetry that it's back to Bends and I for the end of it.”

Within the mainstream Marvel Universe, Millar is best known for Civil War, the popular seven-part storyline that pitted Marvel’s heroes against each other over the issue of superhuman registration. Millar’s also written Fantastic Four, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, 1985, the “Old Man Logan” arc of Wolverine and Trouble.

Millar’s creator-owned line, “Millarworld,” launched in 2004 with titles including Wanted, Chosen and The Unfunnies. Wanted, released by Top Cow, beecame a feature film, as did Kick-Ass, a miniseries written by Millar and published by Marvel’s creator-owned Icon line.

“There will certainly still be a good relationship with Icon,” Millar said, continuing that future installments of Kick-Ass will be released through the publisher, and possibly more.

Millar stated that more news on his forthcoming creator-owned titles will be announced at his Kapow Comic Con, held April 9 and 10 in London, and that one series will be illustrated by Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons.

“Gibbons has only worked with Alan Moore and Frank Miller really in the past,” Millar said. “It’s hell of big shoes to fill.”

Ultimate Avengers Vs. New Ultimates #1, part of the Millar-written segment of “Death of Spider-Man,” is on sale Feb. 9.

[TheButcher]

Jonathan Hickman And Esad Ribic To Relaunch The Ultimates

t’s a title criticised for having lost its way. Its first two series with Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch seemed to set the agenda for superhero comics, but a third series by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madueira was critically panned, and when Mark Millar returned to the book with a number of high profile artists – and vampires – the book had lost its sure footing.

Well, as part of Marvel’s The Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn relaunching of the Ultimate line in August, Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates will launch as an ongoing series written by Human Torch killer and comples plot knitter Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Wolverine artist and human brickhouse Esad Ribic. In a press conference recorded online we learnt the following.

The cast will feature Nick Fury, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Woman, Hulk and others to be named. There will however be NO Captain America.

First arc is called “The Republic is Burning”

Following Ultimate Fallout, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been stretched beyond its breaking point and that will be explored here
Ultimates will set up a lot of things that will be used in the other Ultimate books we’ll be announcing throughout the week.

“We’re building a cohesive universe where all of the Ultimate books will be playing off one another very closely.” -Jonathan Hickman
Jonathan is excited to “rebuild and rebrand” the Ultimate Universe with the other writers and artists we’ll be speaking to this week
Esad talking about how he did a couple issues of Ultimate X-Men nearly a decade ago

“The Ultimate books need to have a very big scale. These are ultra high budget Hollywood blockbusters.” -Esad Ribic
Esad has been doing layouts already for Ultimates and working at adding scale.

Jonathan knew he was going to be working on Ultimates when he took the job doing Ultimate Comics Thor. It has always been one of his dream projects. He was a huge fan of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s original run. He was honored to be asked to work on it.
Editor Mark Paniccia talking about how Ultimate comics of the past were awesome, but they’ve always been on something of a staggered schedule. They will now be more cohesive than ever and designed to work together.

Ultimate Fallout, beginning this July, will be a bridge between Death of Spider-Man and this rebirth of the Ultimate Comics line. It will touch on all the prominent characters who will be featured upcoming and showing how Death of Spider-Man affected them. It will be written by all the guys working on the new books, including Jonathan.

Like with S.H.I.E.L.D., Jonathan looks at Ultimates as a book that can be “built with hydrogen,” meaning he can work from the ground up and not be tied down by decades of continuity

While Ultimates will in some way be the “core” book of the Ultimate Comics Universe and the books will be cohesive, there will still be an effort to make it so you can pick up any of the titles and enjoy it on its own, as has always been the Ultimate goal
Jonathan is not coming on this book as he did Fantastic Four or Secret Warriors where he had a long plan with an end point because he wants it to be “an event book,” but he knows what he’s doing for the next year

“I can’t promise, but I believe this series will come out more than 12 times during its first year.” -Jonathan Hickman
Esad is playing with technology a bit, making things look different than before, attempting to push towards the future a little.
Jonathan says Ultimates will be a super hero book, but he believes one of the things that made it great early on was the way it looked at current society. The first arc is a direct commentary on the decline and fall of the United States of America, though you should not interpret that to be necessarily the way he feels.

“The tone of society right now is one that can create a dramatic narrative and one that demands heroes.” -Jonathan Hickman
There will be both versions of classic Marvel characters making their Ultimate debuts as well as all-new Ultimate-only characters

They also confirmed this was to star the Bruce Banner Hulk…

[TheButcher]

Marvel Announces "Ultimate Comics: Ultimates"

Marvel held a press conference call Monday afternoon to reveal details of "Ultimate Comics: Ultimates," which follows the events of the "Death of Spider-Man" arc happening right now in "Ultimate Spider-Man" and "Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates" and the weekly July series "Ultimate Fallout." Marvel Junior Sales Administrator James Viscardi moderates the discussion, with Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic on hand to talk about "Ultimate Comics: Ultimates" #1, a new ongoing series. Editors Sana Amanat and Mark Paniccia are also on hand for the call.

The series will be part of the "Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn" banner, and other creators and series will be revealed in other calls.

Hickman began by saying that the Ultimates reflects the fact that the American military is stretched thin. The team will feature Nick Fury, Thor, Spider-Woman, Hulk and "other heroes" to be named, but no Captain America. The first arc is titled "The Republic is Burning."

"We're building a cohesive universe in that all the Ultimate books will be tied in pretty tightly, and we'll be playing off each other," Hickman said, noting that he and the other creators -- who will be revealed throughout this week -- look forward to working together.

"I've been a part of the Ultimate universe," Ribic said, though his experience of seven years ago "doesn't really count" as far as what's happening now. "These books need to have really big scale, like big budget Hollywood extravaganza," he said.

Hickman said he's always wanted to work in the Ultimate universe, and that his work on "Ultimate Thor" was an enticement to work on the full Ultimates team. "I think the 'Ultimates' should be one of the better and bigger books in the Marvel universe," he said, citing the example of predecessors Mark Millar and Jeph Loeb.

"What's different this time around is we've got a really tight, cohesive universe," Paniccia said. He said that Millar and Loeb put together massive stories, but schedules did not permit for a unified field. "Here you get a monthly book, or more."

Asked how the new "Ultimates" series follows on from "Fallout," Hickman explained that "Fallout" serves as a "bridge" to the books that will be announced this week. "We're all writing it together, I've read a bunch of the scripts. and I'm really proud of the work we've done on that series."

"This is the characters reacting to the death of Spider-Man, there's a lot of introspection but there's also a lot of set-ups," Paniccia said. "This is a miniseries you're not going to want to miss."

Hickman said part of the appeal of the Ultimate universe was that he'll only be working with a few other creators, and that he can "build stories with hydrogen" because they're not weighed down by excessive continuity. In this way, he said, it's similar to what he's done on "S.H.I.E.L.D."

Hickman continued, saying that the Ultimate universe has shifted away from being "a low-entry barrier" for Marvel comics, but "we're trying to get back to that here." Hickman added that Ultimates "should not be a direct reflection of the Marvel Universe." "With that understanding, we're going to go forward pretty aggressively."

Amanat said the other books will be influenced by Hickman's title, but "if somebody just wants to read the 'Ultimates,' they don't have to read the other books." She added, however, "I think the experience will be a lot more fun" if readers can see the connectivity between the series.

Hickman was asked whether he had a "master plan" for the ongoing, and said he did not have an end point in the way that he did for "Fantastic Four" and "Secret Warriors." "I know where I'm going to be for the next year, certainly," he said, adding that the first year would likely feature more than 12 issues. "I can tell you what the first five arcs are, beat for beat."

Ribic said that he did not want to change the costumes much. "I think design-wise most of the stuff works," he said, adding he would adapt it to his style and make the technology a bit more futuristic. The challenge, he repeated, "is to bring enough scale to it."

Asked if the series would be political, Hickman said "Ultimates" is "a super hero book," but noted its initial acclaim was based on its being a reflection of the real world. He said "The Republic is Burning" is about "the decline and fall of the United States of America," which he added "should not be taken to mean I feel one way or the other about it." "God knows, situations like that demand heroes," Hickman said.

Hickman said there will be Ultimate-version debuts, as well as "Ultimate universe-only characters." "We're changing the world; it's going to be a really interesting book."

Asked which Hulk (or which version of Ultimate Hulk) would appear, Hickman said, "Bruce Banner, man, Bruce Banner."

"Ultimate Comics: Ultimates" #1 ships in August.

[TheButcher]

From CBR:
Paniccia Oversees an "Ultimate" Rebirth

In 2000, Marvel Comics launched their "Ultimate" line of comics, a series of titles which re-imagined the long-lived publisher's classic characters in a contemporary and more realistic setting. In short, this meant the Ultimate Universe was a place where the impossible could happen; characters could die and stay dead and morally murky motivations could lead other characters down new and dramatically different paths.

It also meant large event storylines could rock the Ultimate Universe to its very core. In 2008, "Ultimatum" did just that when the villainous Magneto turned the world's weather into a weapon of mass destruction. Millions of people across the globe were killed, including a number of Ultimate heroes and villains. In the aftermath, the Fantastic Four and the surviving members of the X-Men disbanded, Reed Richards became a super villain and a number of heroes broke off from the team known as the Ultimates to form a Black Ops unit called the Avengers.

Currently, the Ultimate Line is in a grip of another event that will dramatically redefine its status quo once more. "Death of Spider-Man" is unfolding in the pages of "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man" by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley and "Ultimate Avengers Vs. New Ultimates" by writer Mark Millar and artist Lenil Yu. The crossover will lead to a six issue weekly miniseries titled "Ultimate Fallout," which begins in July.

Following the completion of "Fallout," Marvel will kick off their "Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn" initiative which sees the publisher launching three new ongoing titles and one miniseries. CBR News spoke with Editor Mark Paniccia about the initiative and the titles involved.

[TheButcher]

Marvel’s Ultimate Relaunch: Where Have We Seen That Before?

I swear, the people behind Marvel’s Ultimate Comics relaunch are just messing with me now. It’s not enough that Brian Michael Bendis’ press call about the second Ultimate Comics Spider-Man relaunch sounded just like his first two years earlier, now we have this from the press release about the covers for the new books, from editor Mark Paniccia:

With Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn, all of the titles will be tighter than ever, so when it came time to think up ideas and concepts for the covers – we wanted a sense of unity to tie the books together.

And the result of that thinking?

[TheButcher]

From CA:
Marvel's Ultimate Comics Reborn Under Kaare Andrews Covers [Art]

[TheButcher]

Warning: This article contains spoilers that some readers may prefer to avoid.

From Bleeding Cool:
Marvel Spoils The Death Of Spider-Man In National Press Today

[TheButcher]

Bleeding Cool Preview: Ultimates #1 By Jonathan Hickman And Esad Ribic Preview: Ultimates #1 By Jonathan Hickman And Esad Ribic

[TheButcher]

From ROBOT 6:
How Donald Glover finally secured the role of Spider-Man

[TheButcher]

From USA TODAY:
'The Ultimates' kicks off Marvel's Ultimate relaunch

Marvel Comics is relaunching its entire Ultimate line beginning with Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates on Wednesday. The universe — a tweaked version of the usual Marvel continuity — will continue to fill itself out in the subsequent Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye six-issue miniseries (in comic shops Aug. 31), as well as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man (Sept. 7) and Ultimate Comics: X-Men (Sept. 21).

The first The Ultimates series began in 2001 with writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch's contemporary take on the classic Avengers origin. The new series will star the likes of old favorites such as Iron Man, Thor, Nick Fury and others, but writer Jonathan Hickman says his Ultimates with artist Esad Ribic will be the center of the Ultimate universe with much tighter continuity.

For the past few years, Ultimates has been released as a series of individual arcs, but this time around "we're in full-throttle, ongoing-series mode," says Mark Paniccia, a senior editor at Marvel.

Like the original Ultimates back in the day, the new series will reflect the political and cultural time we live in on an international scale.

"There isn't a Cold War on between the U.S. and Russia. There are no white hat/black hat conflicts going on around the world, unless you count these overthrowing of dictators going on in some very isolated places in the world," says Hickman, who was the writer on Marvel's Ultimate Thor series last year.

"What we're trying to reflect is the very gray dynamic right now globally. Nobody has any real friends, nobody has any real enemies. It's just complex, and that's what we're going for."

There will be some straight-up villains, though, "because we have to have that," Hickman says. "We're not going for on-the-nose, bwah-hah-hah villainy." It will also be "big" in scale: The first issue alone has Iron Man flying into battle from a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, and Captain Britain and the Excalibur team running into Thor in Asgard.

Captain America won't be a part of the Ultimates team, Hickman says. Feeling overwhelming guilt because of the death of Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man, he's "turned in his shield and walked off into the sunset," according to Paniccia. This doesn't rub Fury well, naturally, since it's the worst time to be without one of his most valuable assets.

Does this mean we'll never see Cap again? Paniccia says no. "Jonathan has this really crazy idea for bringing him back into the fold. Something you'd never expect, and the ramifications will be felt across the line."

The new Spider-Man won't be around much either — Hickman says writer Brian Michael Bendis will be building up the world of Miles Morales in his own book. But for the guys who will star in The Ultimates, there will be some serious tension.

"Everybody's going to have different opinions about what should or shouldn't be done, especially considering the fact that it looks like a whole bunch of stuff is going wrong to start off with," Hickman says. "Of course questions are going to be asked about decisions that were made and prioritizing and whose fault it is."

You can't have the Ultimate version of S.H.I.E.L.D. without Fury's right-hand man, Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, who gets his own book written by Hickman with art by Rafa Sandoval. (The character, played by Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, will also be showing up in The Avengers movie next summer.)

The regular Marvel Universe version of the longtime Avenger began as a quasi-criminal and circus marksman, but Ultimate Hawkeye comes from a more military background.

"Ultimate Hawkeye is more an amalgamation of Hawkeye and Bullseye with a little bit of Punisher thrown into the mix," Paniccia says. "He's deadly with everything. He can stop the bad guy with an arrow, a pencil or a paper clip. But I think the biggest difference is that he's a much more tragic and lonely character than the original."

His origin will be told in the issues of Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye, although not in the beginning. Actually, according to Hickman, the first issue will feature a story with a bunch of characters from Jeph Loeb's Ultimate X series. "You'll pretty much see right away why it's going to impact the X-Men portion of the Ultimate universe," Hickman says.

And for those wondering, the Hawkeye series will be just as action-packed as The Ultimates.

Hickman's writing will give readers a sense of grand scheme and cohesion between both his series, Paniccia says. "As you'll see in Ultimates, Nick Fury is dealing with an overwhelming amount of crisis—all hitting at the same time! Hawkeye's mission deals with one of the hot spots and he'll be getting help from other characters that Fury has alliances with, so look for some cool guest stars in the Ultimate Hawkeye.

"All this helps create a shared universe like never before in the Ultimate line."

All of this comes out of Hickman's "uber-document" for what the new Ultimate universe should be like, he says. "This is where we should be headed with the Ultimates, mutant stuff, the S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff, what's going on in the world. All of it ties together.

"After the first arcs of every book, you should have a pretty good idea of what we're doing, what the general plan is."

[TheButcher]

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[TheButcher]

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[TheButcher]

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