[PREVIEW] Mighty Avengers #6

Avengers-fever is at its highest right now with me, what with Ultimates 3 #1 having been released and Bendis and Cho doing some fabulous work on Mighty Avengers! So much so that I've decided I can't wait to read the single issues of New Avengers ONLY when I get back to Singapore...I want to read them now! Hence, I'm looking to obtain all the existing collections of New Avengers in Australia...either the TPB or HC versions, depending on which one is more worth it, and I don't mean just price-wise!

That's a great lead-in to the next issue of Mighty Avengers:


[PREVIEW] MIGHTY AVENGERS #6
The Avengers reassemble and go on the offensive against Ultron

Posted December 14, 2007 11:20 AM

The shocking conclusion to the Ultron terror as the Avengers reassemble and go on the offensive. It’s now or never for an Ultron butt-kicking. How on Earth will Tony Stark survive this??? And how does this connect to the startling Skrull infestation that may have taken over the Marvel Universe? The next big clue to the truth is HERE!!

MIGHTY AVENGERS #6
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Penciled by FRANK CHO
Cover by FRANK CHO
Rated A …$2.99
On sale—12/19/07

"Ultimates 3" theories: Who killed Scarlet Witch?

Damn it! Wish I hadn't seen or read this article because now the surprise is ruined for me! I haven't yet picked up Ultimates 3 #1 from Classic Comics since we never did go to Melbourne on the Sunday. Grah. I know we'll be going sometime this week...just don't know when!


‘ULTIMATES 3’ THEORIES: WHO KILLED SCARLET WITCH?
Writer Jeph Loeb gets grilled about the ‘Ultimate’ suspects

By Ben Morse

Posted December 11, 2007 12:00 PM

Who fired the shot heard round the Ultimates’ world?

The hotly anticipated first issue of Ultimates 3 by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Joe Madureira ended with a literal bang: In the issue’s climax, a projectile fired by an unseen assailant eluded super-speedster Quicksilver and blew out the heart of his beloved sister, the Scarlet Witch, ending the life of the Ultimates’ mutant pseudo-sorceress.

So whodunit?

“The murder is just a small piece of a larger puzzle,” says Loeb. “Think about who would want the victim dead, and why?”

Take a look at just seven of the possible suspects in this high stakes mystery and what Loeb has to say about them.

HAWKEYE
The Charges: The super-marksman lost his family in Ultimates 2, and maybe his sanity in the process. He’s also iced traitorous teammate Black Widow. Has he learned something sinister about the Witch?
The Testimony: “He has the ability. The gunshot was extraordinary—not only to hit the intended target, but to be able to outrun Quicksilver as well. It has to be Hawkeye!”

MAGNETO
The Charges: The Master of Magnetism wouldn’t be above using the death of his own daughter to galvanize the mutant cause against the homo sapien regime and their foremost protectors.
The Testimony: “Mags already shot his son in the kneecaps—what’s a bullet through the heart between family? Maybe it’s Magneto controlling Hawkeye!”

CAPTAIN AMERICA
The Charges: This super-soldier’s not above executing an enemy, if necessary. It’s also clear he didn’t approve of the unusual “closeness” between siblings Quicksilver and the Witch.
The Testimony: “Ultimate Cap is far more ruthless than the 616 Cap and also less dead. He was also a Marine with a sharpshooter’s background and capable of taking the moral high ground. Okay, you’ve convinced me—not Mags or Hawkeye, it was Cap!”

THE BLACK PANTHER
The Charges: A complete question mark. Only on the team because Captain America vouched for him, the Panther could be literally anybody with any motive.
The Testimony: “How could I have been so stupid? I’ve missed the obvious choice! He hides behind a mask and won’t give up any of his secrets. The Panther has the eyesight necessary to make a shot like that. And who says in the Ultimate Universe that the Panther can’t be a villain? I’ve changed my mind—it’s the Panther!”

BLACK WIDOW
The Charges: Yes, she died at the end of Ultimates 2, but nobody ever stays dead in comics, least of all Russian super-spies trained to disappear.
The Testimony: “We never saw the funeral. Maybe she was in league with the now-deranged Hawkeye to fake her death and then turn out to be the real killer. I’ve never done that before—I mean, except in Batman: The Long Halloween and ‘Hush,’ but who read those? Black Widow it is!”

DEADPOOL
The Charges: A mutant-hating former soldier with an array of weapons designed specifically to target homo superior, he’d certainly have the motive and the means.
The Testimony: “What a brilliant idea that would be. Take an obscure character from the 616 Universe, make him even more obscure in the Ultimate Universe, and then have him be the centerpiece for the murder of the century! Brilliant! Nobody would suspect! Okay, we go with Deadpool!”

KRAVEN
The Charges: Ultimate Kraven once had a reputation as a peerless big-game hunter. But now he needs a big hit to get his street cred back up. An Ultimate would fit the bill.
The Testimony: “Who? That guy? C’mon, now you’re just getting silly!”

Ultimates 3 #1

I usually NEVER post anything from Wizard Universe's "Thursday Morning Quarterback" feature, simply because there usually is nothing there to interest me.

However, they reviewed Ultimates 3 #1, so I just had to post this!


THURSDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK
A water-cooler review of this week’s comics

Posted December 6, 2007 9:00 AM

When the new batch of weekly comics arrives at Wizard HQ, the workday stops and the fanboys and fangirls inside take over. Every week in Thursday Morning Quarterback, we discuss and debate three of the most attention-getting titles, be they good, bad or indifferent—and maybe crown one of them our Book of the Week!

Your critics this week:
Wizard Associate Editor Andy Serwin: “I’m into offbeat superheroes like James Robinson’s Starman or genre books like Brian Azzarello’s Loveless.”
Wizard Entertainment Editor Rickey Purdin: “I like DC heroes who make reading fun, and throwback stories that make B-listers cool. Oh yeah, and every indie book in the galaxy.”
WizardUniverse.com Staff Writer Brian Warmoth: “The more absurd the gap between the goofiness of the costumes and the gravitas of the moment, the more I dig it.”
Wizard Price Guide Editor David Paggi: “I definitely gravitate towards more inventive comics like All Star Superman or Shaolin Cowboy.”

Reviewed this week: Ultimates 3 #1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #9, Justice Society of America #11 and Quick Hits out the wazoo, fanboys! Can you dig it?!?

WARNING…Spoilers ahead!


ULTIMATES 3 #1
Marvel
Jeph Loeb (W)/Joe Madureira (A)



BRIAN: “So the Ultimates are all hanging around watching Tony’s sex tape with the Black Widow when Venom shows up and attacks them out of the blue. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Joe Mad’s art and I’ve got to say: his Venom is pretty effing sweet. I loved all the Venom scenes in this issue.”

RICKEY:: “Did he get shot in the face and pull the arrow out with his tongue in this one scene?”

BRIAN: “Yep! But I’m a little confused about the jump between Ultimates 2 and 3. It’s a little disorienting. There’s a lot of violence and ambiguity right from the get-go as the creative team seems to go for visual cues over plot establishment, which is cool because you want to make a splash. Then Black Panther shows up, which is also cool, though is this the guy from ‘Ultimates 2’ DVD? He punches Venom in the face, then gets swatted…”

ANDY: “And you never see him again!”

BRIAN: “Then Valkyrie shows up, which looks cool as hell. In fact, I’ll call it my ‘Splash Page of the Week!’’”



BRIAN: “This scene was cool, but there’s something off about it storytelling wise.”

RICKEY: “It’s a reaction that’s five pages old. It’s hard to figure out what’s going on. Is Thor in the opening spread with the rest of the Ultimates when Venom attacks? Is Thor being thrown into the building at that point by Venom? But I’ll say this: I want to date Thor so I can get a badass sword that shoots lightning. Also, so I can be a hot 19-year-old blonde.”

BRIAN: “What is up with this vaguely incestuous relationship between Wanda and Pietro? It’s really creepy.”

RICKEY: “They’re all curled up on the couch and cuddling, holding hands like they’re 12 in the opening scene, then later on, it’s like they’re on a date in the city. What’s up with that?”

BRIAN: “Well, it won’t matter now, because Wanda’s dead—she gets a bullet in the torso in a cliffhanger splash that leaves her dead in the street.”

ANDY: “She’ll be back. They ALWAYS come back. Anytime I see anyone dead in comics these days, I figure it’s six months max before someone hits the reset button and they’re back from the grave.”

RICKEY: “But they killed off Ultimate Beast in Ultimate X-Men.”

ANDY: “He’ll be back!”

[Laughter]

RICKEY: “Speaking of that last death scene, Joe can draw the hell out of an action scene, but when it comes to the storytelling and the quiet moments, they don’t come off as dramatic or touching to me. The thing about Ultimates, it’s a widescreen, action-packed comic. But this, the biggest thing so far was a fight with Venom across the street, and that was in the beginning of the book.”

BRIAN: “I felt a little cheated by that, too. You expect a certain something out of Ultimates based on the two previous series, and I’m not sure this edition followed through on that.”

RICKEY: “I know Loeb jumped ahead a little bit, but it seemed like he’s trying to fit in that Mark Millar style, but that’s not really his voice. Loeb moving into this ‘Millarworld’ doesn’t make much sense to me.”

ANDY:: “Aside from some of the art aspects we already talked about, this book was a miss for me. I didn’t care for the inking or coloring on Joe’s art; it didn’t convey that cinematic style I expect from an Ultimate title. And a lot of storytelling points were lost on me; Loeb tried to throw you right into the action, but some more setup would have been appreciated. I get thrown into the deep end, but I can barely tread water with all the questions posed. And there’s a lot of things that are just sort of clichéd: Hawkeye’s family is dead, now he wants to die. Cap’s all ‘I don’t understand the future’ still. Tony’s drinking. Wanda and Pietro are creepy mutants. And why on Earth would Janet Van Dyne feel compelled to open up to her ex-husband Hank Pym; he sprayed her with Raid and beat her with a phone! There’s a lot going on here that didn’t connect with me.”

RICKEY: “It’s almost like Ultimate Ultimates with these edgier portrayals of all the characters, but I’m not entirely sure that Loeb’s voice works here. From this first issue, this title doesn’t feel like a 12-issue must-read event the way the previous series have.”

[PREVIEW OF THE WEEK] Ultimate Iron Man II #1

Good morning! Looks like a whole heap of articles to be posted up again today!

Before I continue, since this segues nicely into the article I'm posting from Wizard Universe, I've started a standing orders list with Classic Comics. I've found that it's a bit erratic when new comics get "released" and put on the shelves there...it could either be Thursday or Friday...sometimes, with luck, even Wednesday! Meaning if I go down on Thursday and they haven't received OR unpacked the comics yet, it's a wasted trip.

So in one of my recent trips there, the shop owner actually asked if I went there regularly and if I had standing orders with them. He suggested if I did have a couple of monthly comics I bought regularly, to have a standing orders with them because there were a couple of advantages: (1) there was a further discount on comic prices that were on standing order, and (2) comics would be held for you and they WON'T get sold out, unlike if you were a walk-in customer and they had no issues of a particular comic left in stock!

So I've put House of M: Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Marvel Zombies 2, The Ultimates 3 and Ultimate Iron Man II on my standing orders list. Ultimates 3 was released yesterday, so I definitely have myself a copy! Wooooo! I want both covers though!

I believe Ultimate Iron Man II #1 gets released next week. So here's a preview:


[PREVIEW OF THE WEEK]] ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #1
After nearly being blown to bits, where does Tony Stark go from here?

Posted December 6, 2007 8:59 AM

The untold origin of Iron Man continues—written by international best-selling author Orson Scott Card! When last we saw him, young Tony Stark was nearly blown to bits. How much of him survived his initial Iron Man trial run—and where does the young genius go from here? Plus: How does James Rhodes fit into Tony’s plans for the perfect fighting machine? Four-time Hugo Award-winner, two-time Nebula Award-winner and World Fantasy Award-winner Orson Scott Card (author of Ender’s Game) returns to the Ultimate Universe, now joined by Ultimate Fantastic Four’s Pasqual Ferry!

ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #1 (of 4)
Written by ORSON SCOTT CARD
Pencils and Cover by PASQUAL FERRY
Variant Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
Parental Advisory …$2.99
On Sale—12/12/07

LMS: The Ultimates Vs The Avengers

Cmon...was it REALLY that hard to predict that I was going to write a LMS article featuring the Ultimates? And is it that hard to predict I'd do something to incorporate my favourite line in all comicdom somewhere into the story?

This one was written and published on 19 September 2007:


The Marvel Universe's premier two superteams battle it out! The biggest guns of the Ultimate universe take on their contemporary counterparts from the regular Marvel universe.

But which Avengers roster should be represented? I guess since the two teams are duking it out, it'd be fair to have each team be represented by their alternative world counterparts, yeah? So we can tell which Hawkeye is better, which Black Widow is deadlier, etc etc.


Tale of the Tape

Home:
The Ultimates - The Triskelion: military base with the highest tech equipment available, sponsored by military intelligence of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Avengers - The Avengers Mansion: posh, swanky, comes with own personal butler

Most powerful member:
The Ultimates - Thor: new-age freak of nature
The Avengers - The Mighty Thor: The Odinson, God of Thunder

Liable to destroy the team at any given moment:
The Ultimates - Hulk: horny and has a mad-on for using people's heads as toilets
The Avengers - Scarlet Witch: insane in the membrane with reality altering powers

Most hated scripter of their adventures:
The Ultimates - Mark Millar: He let the Wasp singlehandedly take down Hulk! The wuss!
The Avengers - Brian Michael Bendis: He killed some Avengers and disbanded the team! The swine!

Useless sidekick:
The Ultimates - Jarvis the butler
The Avengers - D-Man, smells like crap

THE PLAYERS:
When America needs to develop its own government-sponsored superhero strike force, S.H.I.E.L.D. general Nick Fury is entrusted in recruiting America's most powerful heroes to serve as members of the superpowered initiative known as The Ultimates!

Earth's mightiest heroes banded together to fight against the forces no single hero could stand up to. Whenever the world is in danger, the human race can take solace in knowing that in their darkest hour, they can heed the rally cry of "Avengers Assemble!"

THE BATTLE:
Tired of constantly being The Avengers' whipping boy, a mischievious Loki amuses himself watching an alternate world version of The Avengers easily defeating the alien Chitauri race...and then turning on each other with maximum catastrophic results! Noting this unfamiliar team's penchant for brutality, Loki casts a spell that teleports his sworn enemies, The Avengers, into the heart of the Triskelion, causing a few thousand S.H.I.E.L.D soldiers to simultaneously implode from the vacuum created by the wormhole portal!

Startled at the invaders, the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D forces all start pointing their hi-tech rifles at the Avengers, who are still seated at their polished pine table, trying to finish their afternoon tea!

"What treachery be this?" yells an enraged Thor as he warily eyes several S.H.I.E.L.D agents starting to assemble some sort of projectile launcher. "Attac....!" a S.H.I.E.L.D commander starts to yell out, but before he can finish his sentence, the entire battalion is down on the ground unconscious with their weapons disassembled, courtesy of the fleetfooted Quicksilver! "A piece of cake..." the arrogant Pietro starts to remark, when he gets floored by a repulsor blast from the sky.

"Take them down hard and fast!" growls Ultimate Captain America, as he releases himself from Giant Man's grip and executes a perfect rolling somersault, landing face-to-face with his Marvel universe counterpart. Both combatants eye each other warily as they start testing each other...a strike, a parry, a thrust, a dodge. The rest of the teams start pairing up against each other. Ultimate Quicksilver easily dispatches his counterpart who's still dazed from Ultimate Iron Man's repulsor blast. Natasha Romanoff easily dodges the bullets from her Ultimate counterpart's assault rifle and knocks her out cold with a couple of well placed widow's bite blasts. Clint Barton takes out Ultimate Hawkeye with a strategically well-placed boxing glove.

Ultimate Iron Man realises first hand how inadequate his armour is when compared to Tony Stark's, when Stark's own armour easily out maneuovres it in mid-air...Ultimate Iron Man's armour moves like a rock in the sky and Tony easily accounts for his counterpart. The Odinson gets his ass handed to him by Ultimate Thor, who's willing to cut loose with everything he has. Janet Pym has too much fighting prowess for Ultimate Wasp and Ultimate Giant Man is much too big and strong for Hank Pym.

Meanwhile, Steve Rogers and Ultimate Cap have reached a stalemate, neither one giving an inch or backing down to the other. Suddenly Rogers tucks his shield to his side and stretches out an open right palm towards Ultimate Cap. "This is pointless. I don't know why we're being attacked for no reason. We're too evenly matched. Both of us are soldiers, you and I. Call off your troops and I'll call off mine...surely the two of us can reach a diplomatic solution?" says Rogers with a smile on his face.

Ultimate Cap looks at Rogers' outstretched hand, grins, then reaches out and shakes it...and without warning, he kicks Rogers' hard in the gonads! Rogers drops to his knees, using his free left hand to grab his crotch in pain. Without letting go of Rogers' right hand, Ultimate Cap uses his shield and smashes Rogers in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Diplomatic solution? In my language, that means surrender," smirks Ultimate Cap. Ultimate Cap then points to the "A" on his head and yells: "And surrender? SURRENDER?! YOU THINK THIS LETTER ON MY HEAD STANDS FOR FRANCE??!!" Ultimate Cap starts to walk away, then turns back and says to a prone Rogers: "The letter on this head stands for 'Asshole'. As in, I'm willing to fight dirty to get the win, scumbag."

Suddenly, Wanda Maximoff starts to lose a grip on reality after being subject to one of Ultimate Scarlet Witch's hex spells. "ARRRRGHH!!!" Wanda yells, as reality starts to fracture around her. Ultimate Scarlet Witch gets caught up in the vortex and is blinked out of existence in less than a nanosecond! More and more heroes start getting hurled into the vortex...and into oblivion. Tony Stark, Ultimate Giant Man, Quicksilver... "Pietro!" Wanda screams, but it is too late to save her brother. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a lumbering beast drops out of the sky and lands next to Wanda, obliterating the ground beneath him. The beast aims a backhand at Wanda's head, knocking it clean off and dispersing the reality-ending vortex.

"Mission accomplished, Banner," a loudspeaker cries out from the helicopter above, with Nick Fury signalling for Hulk to finish off the other Marvel Universe opponents. Hulk does exactly that, easily accounting for and dispatching the rest of The Avengers with brutal efficiency. But after the last Avenger has fallen, Hulk, in a mindless bloodrage, turns on his Ultimate teammates! "HULK SMASH!" yells the behemoth, as Ultimate Cap and Thor throw themselves headfirst into battle with one of their own.

Winners: The Ultimates...that is, if they don't kill themselves after beating The Avengers!


That took me a while to write! Phew! Maybe I should do away with team battles...it's much easier just going with single characters!

I was originally going for an angle where Scarlet Witch notices Ultimate Quicksilver and drops the devillish remark of: "He may look just like my brother, but what a hunk!" then decides that it's not incest if you're...erm...committing adultery with your alternate world brother, and the two of them walk off hand in hand...or speed off to some seedy motel somewhere. :p

[PREVIEW] Ultimate Fantastic Four #48

So many things Ultimate this week! Here's a preview of Ultimate Fantastic Four #48, and a teaser of the newest Ultimate-universe villain making their debut:


[PREVIEW] ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #48
What new Ultimate villain will make their debut in this issue?

Posted November 10, 2007 9:45 AM

What new Ultimate villain will make their debut in this issue? Lost in the snowy vastness of Siberia, Reed, Ben and Johnny discover what they never hoped to find—the wreckage of Susan Storm's aircraft! Who brought Sue down, and has the Invisible Woman disappeared for good? What does this all have to do with the Crimson Dynamo? Is his arrival coincidence, or part of a much larger, sinister scheme?

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #48
Written by MIKE CAREY
Penciled by MARK BROOKS
Cover by MARK BROOKS
Rated A…$2.99
On Sale—11/14/07

Now, Ultimate Fantastic Four has had some fantastic pencillers in the past. Adam Kubert, Greg Land...some spanking art has been contributed. And while Mark Brooks is no pushover when it comes to art I must say that I don't think his cartoony style fits in the Ultimate-verse. I think he'd be more comfortable working on a "humour" title like Deadpool and even perhaps one of the Spidey titles (not Ultimate Spidey though!)...his art just doesn't "click" with the rest of the art on the Ultimate Fantastic Four series so far.

First Look: "Ultimates 3" #2

Holy moley! Everyone knows (well, that is everyone who READS this blog, yes all ONE of you, if at that) how excited I am that the next installment of The Ultimates is going to be released come December, with Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira at the helm. And here's hoping that The Ultimates Season 2 will be released in HC format before the first issue of Season 3 is shipped.

Looks like it's going to be a fabulous series though, with Magneto being the main villain and Spider-man joining the team! w00t w00t!


FIRST LOOK: ‘ULTIMATES 3’ #2
Is Spidey joining? Jeph Loeb dishes on what’s new with the Ultimate Avengers

By Matt Powell

Posted November 9, 2007 5:00 PM

Alien invaders, superpowered political extremists and vengeful Norse gods—remember when things were simple for the Ultimates?

“Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better,” promises writer Jeph Loeb of his and artist Joe Madureira’s Ultimates 3. Picking up roughly a year after the end of the stellar run by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch on Ultimates 2, Loeb’s not pulling any punches, beginning with the return of Magneto and a team tragedy right off the bat! “At the end of the first issue, something terrible happens, and the reason for it and the goals of the villains—who may or may not be the Brotherhood—is part of the mystery,” hints Loeb.

Saddling up alongside the Ultimates for the adventure is Ultimate Spider-Man (shown here in a first look of January’s issue #2), who Loeb says “is not welcome” by the team. But after seeing Joe Mad’s pencils, we couldn’t be happier!

WHAT’S NEW

BLACK PANTHER
“He’s sort of a grim and dark character who is going to prove his value to the team almost immediately,” Loeb says. “I think he’s always been at Cap’s level. His own particular history leads him to believe that he’s certainly at the strength and speed of somebody who is a super-soldier.”

VALKYRIE
Seemingly powerless in the past, the ex-Defender now “can stand toe-to-toe with Thor,” Loeb says. “How that happened is one of the many mysteries of the story.” And she does more than stand with Thor, Loeb hints: “She’s 19 and he’s immortal; they’re a very interesting pair.”

HAWKEYE
After his ordeal in Ultimates 2, the bull’s-eye on Hawkeye’s mask “may speak more to the idea that this is a man who doesn’t really care whether he lives or dies,” explains Loeb. “The Clint Barton part of him is gone, and the only person who remains is Hawkeye.”

CAPTAIN AMERICA
The Living Legend is the face of the Ultimates, but he’s still trying to find his place in our time. “I’m not even sure he feels comfortable [on the team],” reveals the writer. “He’s just trying to come to terms with who he is and what he’s doing with this team.”

IRON MAN
“Tony’s in pretty bad shape,” Loeb says of Iron Man, who’ll sport new armor. “There may be a sort of complication to what’s going on with the tumor in his head.” But Loeb offers a few encouraging words. “In many ways this is a tale of redemption for Tony,” he explains.

THOR
“He’s pretty much the badass of the team,” says Loeb. Unfazed by his teammates’ skepticism over his claims of godhood, Thor’s living large. “He’s a Viking; he likes to drink and enjoy women,” laughs Loeb. Look for things to develop between Thor and his Norse-warrior girlfriend, Valkyrie.

WASP
Janet Van Dyne’s the new team leader, and “that doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody has to be happy about that,” says Loeb, adding, “Because she’s been in a situation her whole life where men have told her what to do, this is an opportunity to overcompensate.”

[PREVIEW] Ultimate Power #8

Ultimate Power, drawn by Greg Land, is soon coming to an end! I can't wait to buy the final two issues and then put the entire series together and read it in one sitting.

Here's a preview of issue #8:


[PREVIEW] ULTIMATE POWER #8
Who’s throwing the Ultimates off their game as they battle the Squadron Supreme?

Posted October 28, 2007 10:15 AM

A new player has been thrown into this cosmic game of survival, upsetting the plans of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury. The Ultimates suddenly find themselves at the lowest point in their struggle against the Squadron Supreme. And that’s very bad news for our Earth.

ULTIMATE POWER #8
Written by JEPH LOEB
Penciled by GREG LAND
Cover by GREG LAND
Rated T+…$2.99
On sale 10/31/07

[Preview] Ultimates Saga

Don't know why, but for some reason, for the last hour this morning, Blogger refused to load up the page in which I can post new entries! It's finally up though...just as I'm about to start work! Grah!

Anyway, as you guys may know already, Ultimates 3 will be in shops in December. Marvel will be releasing something of an appetiser in two weeks though, called Ultimates Saga which is sort of a recap book for Ultimates 1 and Ultimates 2, but also acts as an intro to Ultimates 3!

And it's art by Travis Charest, who's hyperdetailed pencils thrilled me all those years ago when he worked on WildCats. OoOOo!


[PREVIEW] ULTIMATES SAGA
From the personal files of Tony Stark comes this never before seen look at the history of the Ultimates-and a sneak peek of their future!

Posted October 22, 2007 11:10 AM

From the personal files of Tony Stark comes this never before seen look at the history of the Ultimates-and a sneak peek of their future-in Ultimates Saga! Featuring the jaw-dropping return of superstar artist Travis Charest in four brand new interior pages, along with some of renowned Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch's most powerful moments from his landmark run, and a new cover by Mark Brooks, this is the book that will prepare you for Ultimates 3!

Every spy has his secrets, and Nick Fury is no different. As America's top-ranking espionage expert, just imagine what skeletons Nick has lurking in his closet! What really happened behind the scenes of America's premiere super hero strike force? That's what Tony Stark wants to know!

As Stark assumes control of S.H.I.E.L.D., he quickly discovers that leading an international super-team is not all it's cracked up to be, even for a man of his power and genius. Just what does the future hold for the billionaire and for the Ultimates? As he begins studying Nick Fury's personal files on past Ultimates activities, Tony finds that maybe their actions were not always as altruistic as he suspected. And the deeper he delves into the mysteries he unlocks in Fury's journals, the more he begins to question just want he's gotten himself into by assuming control of the The Ultimates.

While recapping Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's amazing five year run the The Ultimates Volume 1 and 2, the Ultimates Saga also sets up the action in Ultimates 3, by providing a unique new perspective on the events the team has fought and lived through. New revelations and insights are brought to light as the team must now come to terms with what truly lies ahead for them all. With Ultimates 3 around the corner, this is your chance to get caught up on one of the most groundbreaking superhero epics ever, along with brand new art by Travis Charest-and it's only in Ultimates Saga!

ULTIMATES SAGA
As told by Tony Stark (with help from C.B. CEBULSKI and MINDY OWENS)
Based on stories by MARK MILLAR
Art by BRYAN HITCH
Rated T+ .$3.99
On-Sale-11/7/07

Our Final Story

This interview with the creative team of The Ultimates, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, was on Wizard Universe:

OUR FINAL STORY
Millar and Hitch on 'Ultimates'

By Danny Spiegel

Posted October 15, 2007 9:35 AM

Mark Millar: The 26 issues took about five and a half years [2001-2007] to come out, which is an incredible length of time. But the weird thing is if they had come out every month, it wouldn’t have been as good.

Bryan Hitch: Seeing the responses to what I was doing kind of threw me off the deep end. When people like Neal Adams, Alex Ross and Dave Gibbons are telling me that they think it’s one of the best comics they’ve ever seen, there’s an awful lot I feel I’ve got to live up to. I think I got stage fright, and it paralyzed me for a long time.

Millar: I was rewriting the whole time Bryan was drawing. It’s not as if I wrote 26 issues and put them in a drawer. I was reacting to what Bryan was drawing on one page and then a few pages later tweaking little bits of dialogue and so on.

So even though Bryan had been drawing [the last issue] since October of last year, I probably just finished my final dialogue about a week before it went off to press. It was a constant work in progress. I was quite sad [writing the final pages]. These characters took up a huge part of my life.

Hitch: Up until last Christmas, my wife had never known me not working on Ultimates. Neither had my children. It’s a horrifying thing to think that when I was drawing issue #1, I hadn’t even met my wife, let alone had my first child. [The book] has done a lot of good [for my career], but I think it’s also done it a bit of harm, too. My reputation for delivery is not at its best, and there’s certainly some justifiable criticism about that. But at the same time, I lost a lot of money doing it because I was working at about half the speed I should have been. One could argue that it might not have been as good if I hadn’t been fueled by all of the neuroses. We’ll never know.

Millar: Bryan and I both said from the start that we’d love to come back some point in the future, but it’d have to be years down the line. Our idea was to do it for the 10th anniversary of The Ultimates. It started in 2002, so we’d do it in 2012 maybe. We had an idea for a book set 10 years on from where we started with The Ultimates and where they all are.

Hitch: There is one big story we haven’t done, and we might have done it in Ultimates 3 if we’d stayed on.

Millar: I’ve already started putting notes together for it. I look forward to coming back to it at some point. But I’d only do it with Bryan now.


As late as the book shipped, Millar and Hitch at the VERY least finished the series (unlike some other series which just ended prematurely *cough*Battle Chasers*cough*). And the series was well worth the wait...heck, because it was so long in between issues, I could hardly remember what had happened in issues past. So I was forced to re-read the old issues again...and reading everything at one go makes the series all the better!

I do hope they come back to The Ultimates again in the future. Perhaps Season 5, after Joe Madureira and Ed McGuinness have finished their runs!

Joe Mad 101

I'm a big fan of Joe Madureira, sometimes more commonly known/abbreviated in the comics world as Joe Mad! (yes, with that exclamation point too). I'm not a big fan of the lateness of the work he produces though. His run on Ultimates 3 starts this December and I can't wait to purchase them hot single issues!

Hopefully the Ultimates 2 HC will be released before then too, so I can read all the Ultimates issues back to back in time for the start of the new series.

Wizard Universe gave us the low down of Joe Mad!'s comic book life thus far:

JOE MAD 101
Joe Who? Here’s everything you need to know about Mr. Madureira, the superstar artist who returns to comics after six years with Marvel’s ‘Ultimates 3.’

By Jake Rossen

Posted October 9, 2007 9:20 AM

They are the seminal childhood fantasies: driving Optimus Prime, dodging boulders with Indiana Jones, or sitting in the Marvel bullpen. If you manage to do any one of these things (hi, Shia LaBeouf!), you’re usually too jaded an adult to enjoy it.

But über-artist Joe Madureira made the dream happen as a teen intern at Marvel. The slot led to a storied career both in and out of comics. Now Madureira (“Joe Mad” to his typing-averse friends) returns to the medium after a six-year sabbatical with Ultimates 3, the long-delayed successor to Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s variation on the Avengers in the Ultimate Universe.

Taking a brief respite from sketching out Jeph Loeb’s U3 scripts, Madureira helped us recap his career, one fulfilled fantasy at a time.

Joins Marvel (1991)
Marvel Comics plucks 16-year-old Joe Madureira from Manhattan’s High School of Art and Design and enlists him as an intern.

First Published Work (1992)
Though it was the actually second story he drew, Marvel Comics Presents #89 is Mad’s first published work. The first, a vignette with a pre-“Brokeback” Northstar, runs in #92.

Joins the X-Office (1993)
After Mad graduates, Marvel editor Bob Harras awards the prodigy his first book-length gig on the inaugural Deadpool miniseries.

Draws the X-Men (1994)
Harras offers him Uncanny X-Men, starting with issue #312. “I’m pretty sure I soiled myself right there on the spot,” Mad says. Mad designs and pencils hugely popular “Age of Apocalypse” arc.

Forms Cliffhanger (1997-2001)
Mad departs Marvel for creator-owned WildStorm imprint Cliffhanger, with his fantasy book, Battle Chasers. Battle Chasers suffers lag times of over a year between some issues. By the time #9 is released in September 2001, Mad has designs on another medium; #10 is never published.

Departs Comics for Video Games (2002)
Joe Mad’s passion for the pixels entices him to enter the video game industry as a conceptual artist. “I’d been doing comics for over 10 years, and I was starting to get burnt out. When I got the chance to work in games, I felt like I couldn’t pass it up.” Mad forms game company Trilunar in 2001; its first project is Dragonkind, an original property that never made it to shelves due to lack of funding.

Forms new game Company (2005)
After Trilunar folds, Mad works on NCSoft’s game, Dungeon Runners. Itching for more creative control, he founds a second company called Vigil, which is quickly acquired by THQ. Their first effort, Darksiders: Wrath of War, gets a warm reception at the 2007 E3 convention.

Returns with ‘Ultimates 3’
(2005)
Loeb and Mad are announced as the team on the third Ultimates series during 2005’s Wizard World Chicago; their first issue sees print in December ’07. “I made it extremely clear that I already had a full-time job in the game industry, and the only way I was going to be able to do [Ultimates] was if the deadlines were extremely flexible. Marvel’s been really awesome and supportive.”

Life After ‘Ultimates 3’(2007)
After Ultimates 3 wraps in ’08, Mad plans to concentrate on his duties as Vigil’s creative/studio director. “I’d love to do comics again later on, but I’m definitely going to take a break for a while and focus on the games. Juggling the two is not something I’d want to do again anytime soon."

First Look: Millar and Hitch's Fantastic Four

It's coming! It's coming! What's coming that's making so excited, you ask? Well, anything new in the Ultimate universe, for one. I just can't wait to read the first issue of Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira's The Ultimates Season 3 when it's released in December.

I love seeing old Ultimate-universe teams being reunited too. Former The Ultimates collaborators, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, are making the jump to the normal Marvel Universe when they take on Marvel's first family, the Fantastic Four, next year.

Wizard Universe has some previews!

WIZARD FIRST LOOK: MILLAR AND HITCH'S FANTASTIC FOUR
Check out Bryan Hitch's brand-new art as he takes over Marvel's first family with Mark Millar

By Ben Morse

Posted September 26, 2007 9:00 AM

Why Fantastic Four?

After five years and 26 issues of bloody fights, politics, sex and other mature themes in Ultimates, why would writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch choose the one Marvel title that screams “family friendly” more than any other for their next collaboration?

“The honest reason is that it was my favorite Marvel book as a kid,” admits Millar. “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s first 100 issues were just perfect. Every Fantastic Four story since has been a retread. The idea of trying to add to that brilliant legacy is a poisoned chalice in a lot of ways because the book has never touched those heights again.”

Hitch, like his partner, relishes the challenge of returning the one-time “World’s Greatest Comic Book” to its early peak.

“High concept and characterization is something Mark is excellent at, and the big-scale science fiction and quiet character moments are things you can happily throw at me,” expresses the artist.

With the Millar/Hitch regime set to kick off with January’s Fantastic Four #554, both men have been working overtime to put things in place for the grand opening. Over the next few pages, enjoy the fruits of the duo’s labors thus far.

NEW FRIENDS
MILLAR: “An ex-girlfriend of Reed’s shows up and brings basically the worst news possible for the FF at the end of our first issue. She needs Reed’s help, and Reed will have to leave the team and go off with her. To me, the FF was always at its best when it took stuff that happens to real families to that fantastic level, and here it’s an old love threatening the family.”

HITCH: “The most fun character for me has been Ben’s new girlfriend, Debbie, a schoolteacher and essentially the replacement in the family for Alicia Masters. She provides that completely human voice and perspective to these bizarre lives the FF lead but which they think are perfectly ordinary.”

NEW FOES
MILLAR: “Johnny’s dating a supervillain. There’s a scene where he’s fighting this girl who is robbing a place, but she’s hot so he starts kissing her and can’t help himself. He figures she didn’t kill anybody. [Laughs] There’s also a guy named Cap who I won’t get into details about, but he’s the villain of the first four issues.”

MOVING FORWARD

MILLAR: “It’s the classic FF better than you’ve ever seen them drawn. Bryan is taking it to a new 21st century level.”

HITCH: “Everything I did on Ultimates I had to learn from scratch because I didn’t feel a natural affinity for drawing real-world stuff. I learned to draw off the weird, silly stuff. Fantastic Four works very nicely because I have all the elements of big-scale stuff and then intimate character stuff at my disposal. It’s more fun, it’s more fluid and it’s faster because it’s nowhere near as dense or saturated as Ultimates.”

DOCTOR DOOM
MILLAR: “You always think of the FF as a family structure, and to me Doctor Doom is the weird uncle. He’s the one who shows up drunk at Christmas. We’re going to bring him back, but the plan is to use him in a way that has never been utilized before.”

HITCH: “Doom really is the first member of Reed’s family, his evil half-brother. Right now, apart from several covers he’s featured on, I haven’t really gotten to delve into Doom as a character yet. We’ll absolutely be keeping the classic armor; it’s the only way to go. It’s great for what it is. I could put in more detail or make it more form fitting, but it’s Doctor Doom.”

MR. FANTASTIC
REED RICHARDS

MILLAR: “Reed is really Marvel’s George Clooney. He’s clearly the world’s smartest man, but he’s also fantastically handsome and an amazing adventurer. I really want it to be like all the girls are reading the National Enquirer and being like, ‘Oh my God, Reed and Sue’s marriage is on the rocks—wouldn’t it be great to f--- Mr. Fantastic?’”

HITCH: “Indiana Jones is an archaeologist, and on paper that sounds dull, but look what they did with him. I’m equating Reed with guys like Harrison Ford or Pierce Brosnan.”


THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
SUE RICHARDS

MILLAR: “What would it take to capture the heart of the world’s smartest man? It can’t just be that she’s beautiful. She isn’t a scientist and can’t talk with Reed about a lot of what he’s interested in, so there must be something wonderfully charismatic about her. To me, they’ve got the most interesting relationship in comics.”

HITCH: “I thought there was no reason the suit couldn’t be a little sexier to show a bit of skin, but not too much. When she’s not in costume, I like to have her with her hair down and no shoes on because she’s very happy and comfortable in the Baxter Building.”


THE HUMAN TORCH
JOHNNY STORM

MILLAR: “He’s probably the most fun character to write. He’s a male Paris Hilton. He would totally be in a club with friends one night and say, ‘Dude, we should make an album,’ spend six months as a rock star, have his record bomb, then move on to something else. He’s got a good heart, but he’s also incredibly superficial.”

HITCH: “The guy doesn’t feel cold, so I gave him short sleeves and a costume that’s more like extreme sports wear. The fire effect will be rendered several different ways by [colorist] Paul Mounts, and we’ll be doing things like using the flame as a light source.”


THE THING
BEN GRIMM

MILLAR: “In the ’60s, pre-Wolverine, he was the Marvel badass. The guy you didn’t want angry at you was Ben Grimm. But also, he’s the heart of the Fantastic Four, the guy that grounds them.”

HITCH: “I was determined to make [Ben] more socially expressive and human under there. He’s almost like a burn victim physically, but the eyes are still human, not cartoon circles. In the [‘Fantastic Four’] movies, you can’t see any of Michael Chiklis [the actor who plays the Thing] under that makeup, so he had to act with his eyes.”