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Underground > Comic Books >

The Ultimate Marvel Universe

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Yotsuba & Benjamin!

19:25 / 09.09.04

Whoops!

I do actually, and I totally forgot how good it was.

19:52 / 09.09.04

What was Ult. Adventures really about? What made it good? I know nothing at all about it except that it's a Batman & Robin parody and it was drawn by the wonderful Duncan Feregredo.

20:54 / 09.09.04

Fegredo is keen.

I just get all the ones with the Ultimates, my fave neocon fightin' team, in them.

02:07 / 10.09.04

I don't like the Ultimate titles, can't explain exactly why. But... Ult. Spider is too slow; Ult. X-Men and Ultimates are frankly crap (too self-aware and wannabe hip); and Ult. FF has a character named Victor Van Damme (cheesiest name choice EVER).

Many people mentioned here that New X-Men is the perfect ultimate version of the series and I agree. The problem with the original Marvel Universe is not their ancient and convoluted continuity, but the fact that most writers just can't create anything that isn't derivative of old stories. I mean, no one is pressing Straczinsky to write about Gwen Stacy AGAIN. They should just let go and move on. Create new characters, new situations. As Morrison did in New X-Men. It doesn't take to be Ultimatized to be new and interesting.

And it's weird. It's like to have two or three James Bond franchises at the theaters at the same time.

Twig the Wonder Kid

16:19 / 19.01.05

So this week I bought the latest Vaughn UXM and the UXM "Return of the King" trade, curious to see how Millar's run had ended. (Having dropped it around the time I realised "Hellfire & brimstone" just wasn't going anywhere).

Have to say Millar's ending is really nicely structured. I liked it a lot and probably benefitted from skipping the stuff leading up to it. Those first two trades are still great, even if the story went-a-wandering not long after.

But in current continuity Vaughn's introduction of Ultimate Longshot (gee thanks) fell a bit flat.

I was wondering what Bendis's two story run was like. Anyone read it?

14:33 / 20.01.05

eeh, it was ok (Bendis' 2 story arcs). Some nice art by Finch, lots of Bendis-isms. Fun but hardly must-read. Comedy highlights include the President talking in Bendis-speak, asking someone "What's your mutant whamma jamma?" and saying when choosing his own gov't-approved mutant team (after recalling the Millar-written humiliation of the Prez at the hands of Magneto on the White House lawn): "NO MAGNET PEOPLE!!!" (rejecting Polaris).

Also introduced Ultimate Emma Frost, who Ult. Prox. X had had an affair with (I guess she fills the Moira Kelly role in the Ultimate U.).

17:46 / 20.01.05

Well, you'd be right if:

You were actually thinking of Moira McTaggert, and not the voice of Simba's mum

And

Moira McTaggert didn't already exist in the UMU.

So, you're not so much as right as so off base you're not even playing baseball anymore.

19:20 / 20.01.05

Very true. Thanks for the correction.

But Ult. Moira and Ult. Charlie X didn't have an affair in the Ult. U, did they, ultimately? I don't recall...but I think in Millar's run when he mentioned Ult. Moira, they didn't have a romantic past together.

22:06 / 20.01.05

Part of me really wants her to go around refering to herself as "Ultimate Moira" in the comics.

"Moira! We need a bandage."

"Say it..."

"*sigh* Ultimate Moira! We need a bandage!"

"Och, that's better..."

04:47 / 21.01.05

Ultimate Moira and Ultimate Charlie did a little bit more than have an affair. They were married, and their child was Ultimate Proteus. See Millar's World Tour arc. It all ended in divorce when Xavier met Magneto and they started having psychic sex or something.

12:31 / 31.01.05

Millar just heavily hinted in the new WIZARD that during his Ult. FF run, Ult. Reed Richards will discover a glimpse of what just might be the "regular" Marvel Universe -- and adventure will ensue...

12:48 / 31.01.05

Could you quote him, Finder? Seems like a bloody dumb idea - continuity cross-overs don't fit easily with the notion of a streamlined Ultiverse, IMO.

14:28 / 31.01.05

Marvel fans have been wondering if this would happen for years - it seems Marvel is now set to give it to them.

Millar said that in his story with Greg Land drawing [look forward to everyone looking far too 'realistic' and Sue taken from shots of supermodels - annoying - this is of course me commenting, not Millar] as Reed studies the Negative Zone and other universes, he discovers a mirror universe where he's older, he and Sue are married and they have kids...and that this just might be what fans have been clamoring for, a cross-over between the regular MU and the Ult. U. That's all he said/teased.

14:37 / 31.01.05

Oh, good. The Thing fighting himself. Just what comics needs in the 21st Century.

14:40 / 31.01.05

Hopefully this crossover will also involve the EXiles, the Days of Future Ages of Apocalypses, and also Stryfe.

NOCTURNE KICKS ASS!!!

...

(Buh-Dum Dum ...Chshhhh)

15:03 / 31.01.05

the regular marvel u will look mental to the ultimate read richards, full of gods monsters and 40 years of random events wrapped up into a big dumb continuity, not just norse gods but greek ones and the son of satan, franklin richards, his witch nanny, multiple time lines, atlantis...you know i love the marvel universe now that i think about it

anyone know if the ulimate son of satan is really going to be a defender btw? and is there an ult doctor strange in there somewhere?

a

17:26 / 21.04.05

There is an Ult. Doc Strange - he's been in the Bendis-written Ult. Spidey and Ult. Marvel Team-Up.

Millar talks more about meeting of regular and Ultimate Marvel U in a Newsarama interview:

---

MM: Would a crossover between the Ultimate and Marvel Universe really be that bad? Nobody complained when the Justice League met the Justice Society. Just sit back and enjoy the story.

NRAMA: So any teases at all to clarify just a touch what is coming in the storyline?

MM: We've got time-travel, fights at the beginning of time, fights at the end of time, pretty much every character Marvel has on their books and probably the best villain I've ever come up with. And that's just the first story and leaving out the best parts.

After this we have the undersea pyramids of Atlantis; the Tomb of Namor; the hidden secret shame of the Storm family; Johnny's new best pal; a rival school that resides in a great big building near the Baxter Building and hates their guts; alien invasions; the Thing going mad; Reed and Ben shrunken down and chasing bad guys inside the President; and a million other things I can't even remember. Plus two other big things I can't reveal because they're major spoilers for later in the year.

It's non-stop and probably the most unselfconscious thing I think I've ever written. It's just a good comic and will pretty much round out the rest of my Marvel contract. I'm up in the autumn and, if anything, would only have time for a short project after this. But there's a very good chance this'll be my last company-owned thing for a long time. Wolverine, Ultimates 2, Marvel Knights Spidey, and this one-year run on Ultimate FF are all books I'm really pleased with this year, but this is the only one I can really show to my kids.

m

19:21 / 21.04.05

It'll take him six years to tell all them stories, what with how dee-compressed them there funny books is nowadays.

00:35 / 22.04.05

"Reed and Ben shrunken down and chasing bad guys inside the President"

I'd buy that comic, actually.

04:17 / 22.04.05

Nah, with Millar, he'll probably just cut and past that quote from the interview into a really large word balloon and that'll do the job.

Loves his explaining, he does.

m.

16:48 / 05.05.05

also from All the Rage this week on the upcoming Ultimate Annual project from Marvel:

---

Ultimatum

We’ve known since Wizard World LA that Brian K. Vaughn would be writing an Ultimate annual for Marvel, and a recent item on Wizard’s website gave away Tom Raney’s involvement. What we didn’t know, was the scope of the project. It turns out that all four of the ongoing Ultimate titles will have annuals, which are currently scheduled for August. And here’s a quick peak at what’s in store…

The Ultimate Spider-Man Annual is written by Brian Bendis, drawn by Mark Brooks and has a cover by Mark Bagley. The annual is rumored to introduce Peter’s new girlfriend, who is someone Ultimate Spider-Man readers should be familiar with.

My guess would be Felicia Hardy, but that’s just a shot in the dark…

The Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual features the first appearance of the Ultimate Inhumans, and yes, that is Crystal on the cover, as drawn by incoming Ultimate Fantastic Four artist, Greg Land. As for the annual itself, Mark Millar and Jae Lee are the creative team onboard.

The Ultimate X-Men Annual is by Brian K. Vaughan and Tom Raney with a cover by Stuart Immonen. The story follows Ultimate Rogue and Gambit as they take on Ultimate Juggernaut in Ultimate Vegas.

I can’t believe I just typed that.

And finally, the Ultimates Annual is by Mark Millar and Steve Dillon, with Ultimates co-creator Bryan Hitch supplying the cover. The Ultimates Annual is said to feature Nick Fury's OTHER superteam.

No, I don’t know what that means…

This Has A “Storming The Triskelion” Factor of Ten Out of Ten

23:31 / 05.05.05

The Ultimates Annual is said to feature Nick Fury's OTHER superteam.

Ultimate Black-Ops Defenders? Wanda, Pie, Widow and Hawk?

23:40 / 05.05.05

Nah — Defenders are Gi/Ant Man, Darkhawk, Hellcat, Son of Stan, Luke Cage and Valkyrie...

I'm thinking this is either Millar's West Coast based team, or Ultimate Alpha Flight. Fuck if I know really. Could be any of Marvel's lame superteams.

08:41 / 10.05.05

despite luke warm reviews on barbelith i just got the first 8 U X-men trades from my library and have had a great weekend reading them, i think millar does a very credible job of telling a good story about the role of mutations in the U-MU, like the SHIELD background information and think it is fun and trashy and basically sound. also a lot more consistent than mozzers NXM run though maybe nothing touches the riot story-line. nice to read the x-men without the million years of continuity craziness as well, although found the wolvie doing over cyclops in the savage land a bit hard to swallow.
anyone buying this as a regular monthly?

16:44 / 15.07.05

Well, Millar & Land's first issue of Ultimate FF is here -- overall it's pretty decent fun. Johnny Storm looks like a porn star or surfer dude, but other than that, Land's art didn't bother me too much. Reed's 80s fade haircut is a bit bizarre, too. The time-hopping stuff is fun, and the appearance of the FF as evil twisted zombies is kind of cool (and I doubt that any FF book ever has featured an evil zombie FF). It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

20:37 / 26.08.05

So, here's what looks like concept art for the Ultimate Galactus:

Yay... a giant alien bug.

21:13 / 26.08.05

God damn that's a stupid looking Galactus. Why are they even calling him Gah Lac Tus, why not call it In Sek Toh or something else and just make it a different character?

That's one of the main things I hate about the whole ultimate marvel universe. Why don't they make new characters for it? Have any of the ultimate comics had a single villain yet that isn't just a cheap copy of some pre-existing marvel character?

21:20 / 26.08.05

I always thought the Earth needed a Braun Ladyshave.

Essential Dazzler

21:40 / 26.08.05

Why don't they make new characters for it?

ask a stupid question....

Take note of Millar's replies. I think that's the main reason that the Ultimate line smacks of so much wasted potential. How bloody difficult would it be to imagine a villian that runs fast, rather than just making an existing one asian, or 12, or gay?

22:05 / 26.08.05

Because that's the whole point of the Ultimate universe?

If they make all new characters, it's the New Universe all over again and cancelation awaits. The Ultiverse is all about updating existing Marvel characters for a "new audience." Creating wholly new characters misses the point entirely.

And that Galactus design is shit. The idea of a gigantic alien man-god what eats planets is cool.
Mechanical insects that eat planets? Not so cool. And not visually memorable either.

22:32 / 26.08.05

It might be cool if everyone thought this was a giant planet eating bug but it turned out to be his "space ship" instead.

Or maybe it's like a cosmic tick that will latch onto a planet and become huge and bloated as it sucks said planet dry. After which it would drop off and float freely in space untill it found another planet.

21:57 / 27.08.05

Hmm, what other cosmic planet-absorbing villain flies around in a giant fuck-off space skull?

Oh yeah: BRAY-NEE-AK

Withiel: DALI'S ROTTWEILER

07:34 / 28.08.05

/rot/
*sings* He's a Bray-Nee-Ack, Bray-Nee-Ack on the flo-o-or/ And he's plotting like he's never plut* before"

*past tense of "to plot".

/rot/

Actually, I quite like the idea of a Swarm Galactus. Also, it could be that the buggy things are his heralds. After all, have we seen Ultimate Silver Surfer yet?

08:23 / 28.08.05

Yes, the Silver surfer will fly round on a giant can of RAIDtm. and due to the high cost of silver will be a more chrome alloy.

Noooo why must they mess with my childhood memories, cant take it anymore *BANG* (sets off party poppers to lighten the mood)

rabideyemovement

16:20 / 28.08.05

Maybe ultimate surfer will be a big-headed Grey with shiny black almond eyes who abducts earthlings to stop the Reptoid Galaktus hive.
That would lame, but funny as hell.

I do like the Galactus revamp though.

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