The past four days have been pretty awesome, reading about Marvel's plans for Ultimate Comics. At first, I thought it felt silly to relaunch the books with new #1 issues when they just did that two years prior (and to be clear, the books are being relaunched but continuity is not being reset, thankfully). But after further thought, it makes sense to me. The last two years have seen a very small number of books being produced, mostly in the form of miniseries, which is not a publishing format that leads to big readership. With such a small group of books and such erratic publishing, it's felt like the line was coasting toward its death. But Marvel felt that too, and they found a need to recapture focus and bring back ongoing series, and that is the news this week.
(Above: the variant covers for Ultimate Fallout #1-6, which bridges the gap between Death of Spider-Man and the relaunch).
Marvel's first announcement was a new series for The Ultimates. I'm glad to see them getting away from the concept of The Ultimates as a series of miniseries. That wasn't their initial plan at all, and only ended up being necessary because they kept hiring people who couldn't perform on a monthly schedule. Scripts will be by Jonathan Hickman, whose pedigree includes the Ultimate Thor mini, but who is mainly known for his current run on Fantastic Four (or FF, I guess it's called now). He's shown that he's comfortable with big ideas and a lot of change, and that definitely fits the Ultimates. Art is from Esad Ribic, whose art I know but am not really familiar with. I remember it as kind of a gritty realist look, but not overly so, and he can actually draw fast enough to keep a monthly book going. The team will feature Nick Fury, Thor, Spider-Woman, Hulk (Bruce Banner), and "other heroes, but no Captain America," including brand new Ultimate-only characters. Very happy to see Spider-Woman get a bigger role. Other than that, the interview contains all the usual Ultimates hallmarks: big stories, big action, lots of stuff happening, while at the same time promising to be more focused, more conscious of the other books in the line, and oh yeah, actually coming out on a monthly schedule, which is desperately needed.
Announcement number 2, a new Ultimate X-Men book. And hooray for that, I loved Ultimate X-Men and was sad to see it die. Scripts are by Nick Spencer, who did... I want to say he's done some Marvel work, but I can't remember. His Image book "Morning Glories" is apparently very popular, though. Art is by Paco Medina, who did a recent stint on the new X-Men series (the one with the vampires). For the X-Men, I find his art too cartoony, but for Ultimate X-Men, I can actually see it working. This book needs a kind of big, electric, larger-than-life feel (see past art from Adam Kubert, Kaare Andrews, Stuart Immonen), and he can definitely do that. The book's core cast will include Kitty Pride, Iceman, the Human Torch, Rogue, and "Jimmy Hudson," who I'm guessing is James Hudson, Guardian from Alpha Flight. The X-Men are back to their old status quo of being hunted and hiding in secret, having to "save each other" rather than saving the world, while a new mutant pops up on the other side of the globe who raises questions about what mutants really are (and also acts as the main villain). Sounds like an exciting set-up, and a big change from the "rehashing the nineties" vibe the book was stuck in before it was canceled. Another benefit is the return to a small, focused cast, and Spencer says his main focus will be on Kitty and Rogue, which is also an awesome choice (I really like Kitty, I have a thing for Jewish brunettes...). Of course, what all this means for Jeph Loeb's current Ultimate X book remains to be seen. Considering it's put out 4 issues in the past 13 months, and issue 5 would finish the story arc, I think it's a pretty safe bet to say it's ending.
We're still getting some miniseries, of course, because minis have always played an important part of the Ultimate line (and they actually have good minis, unlike most lines). Launching in August is a Hawkeye solo mini, which is again written by Jonathan Hickman, and pencilled by Rafa Sandoval, who turned in some really great work on Ultimate Enemy. This mini apparently ties in with Hickman's first Ultimates arc, and guest stars Jean Grey and Hulk, who are currently featured in... ta da... Jeph Loeb's Ultimate X. Look, I know this is just being released so there's some Hawkeye product on the shelves in time for next year's Avengers movie, but they do that all the time and the miniseries have still always been good (Ultimate Thor, Ultimate Captain America, Ultimate Iron Man, Ultimate Human...). I expect this will be too.
But let's stop stalling and get to the main event. Ultimate Spider-Man, new #1 issue, new ongoing series. And a sweet new costume, I really like it. Scripts are of course by Brian Michael Bendis, because Brian Michael Bendis has been writing it for the past 11 years and why the hell should he stop now? I really can't even imagine anyone else writing the book. Art is by Sara Pichelli, who actually drew a few Ultimate Spider-Man issues before the relaunch. I want to say #15, and then 151 through 154, something like that. I haven't read those yet, so I can't comment on her art, but I've heard some positive stuff. Okay, let's talk about the big issue, though: who is Spider-Man now? Bendis is coy in the interview, but we do know who WON'T be wearing the costume. At any rate, I have great faith in Bendis, and I'm excited that things are being shaken up a bit. With a new Spider-Man movie coming out next year, Marvel could have chosen to push the book backwards toward its beginning and made it more "movie-audience-friendly." I half expected to find out the the book was being relaunched altogether, and we'd be back at the origin story again (with an X-Men movie this year and an Avengers movie next year, it seemed like a logical conclusion for the whole Ultimate line). But instead they've decided to continue pushing things forward, and create books that stand on their own with no analogue in the movies or the mainstream Marvel books. It's a brave choice, and a good one.
So Ultimate Comics will still be here come this fall. Maybe it's the feeling of freshness, maybe it's the excitement of reading books where anything can happen, maybe it's just the plain fact that they've had good people working on these books, but I'm happy to have them and happy to come back for more.
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