Comics Official ULTIMATE X-MEN Discussion Thread

[Colossal Spoons]

I hope they keep Apoc away from this book for a good long time. It just sounds like the kinda thing that; if done horribly, could break the book.

 

[Bastila]

So a question, i am still reading all the old issues as well, but how did Jean get her Phoenix power, what issue was that?

I just quoted myself as i was wanted to know if someone knew the answere to that question.

 

[MattXG]

I hope they keep Apoc away from this book for a good long time. It just sounds like the kinda thing that; if done horribly, could break the book.

Huh? Why?

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Because they haven't exactly been on a role with X-villains: Sinister being the biggest disappoinment.

 

[MattXG]

Because they haven't exactly been on a role with X-villains: Sinister being the biggest disappoinment.

In Ultimate, you mean, right?

btw

I really hope that they some how get a Omega Red vs. Wolverine thing going. Dunno why Bendis felt the need to swipe that villian for SM...

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Yeah, I almost missed Ultimate OR cuz I haven't read USM yet.

 

[MattXG]

Yeah, I almost missed Ultimate OR cuz I haven't read USM yet.

You haven't read any of it?

Ultimate Clone saga is now 2 issues in... Issue 100 is coming next month.


And it is freaking awesome. I'd hop on board now if I were you...

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I own all the issues, just never get around to reading 'em

 

[squeekness]

I own all the issues, just never get around to reading 'em

Then what's the point of buying them? LOL.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I heard good things so I splurged on a ton of Ultimate stuff in hardcover(it's the only way I collect them).

 

[Max J Power]

Because they haven't exactly been on a role with X-villains: Sinister being the biggest disappoinment.

I like Vaughn's writing, but he really dropped the ball with Sinister.

 

[Neptune]

I like were they're going with this Magician character. Seems like he set up his whole recruitment. But Ult. X-men needs a better penciller.

 

[Specter313]

Well, it looks like Ultimate Woly is taking more after the original, since he's now getting his own (mini)series too:

How can we put this?

Jeph Loeb.

Michael Turner.

Ultimate.

Wolverine.

2007.

That's the news coming out of today's Saturday’s Ultimate Panel at WizardWorld: Chicago. Both of these Marvel exclusive talents were announced at last year's show at this very venue, and speculation has been rampant on their potential collaboration and the extent of Turner's upcoming work with the House of Ideas. So far glimpsed only in some eye-popping covers for Wolverine: Origin [to your right] and Civil War, this (for the moment) six-issue limited series marks Turner's first interiors work for Marvel but a return to his frequent collaborator and friend in Loeb.

Superstar casting aside, Jeph Loeb has always maintained that his work is "all about the story". One has to wonder what story or idea drew him and Turner to this character and ultimately this mini-series.

"It's a chance to create something new with a character who is so familiar to the readership and to the public at large," said Loeb. "Michael Turner and I were at a dinner with [Marvel Editor-in-Chief] Joe Quesada in Los Angeles and were batting around ideas. Mike's sketchbook of the X-Men had just appeared in Wizard and it was very much on my mind. But the Marvel Universe is very tied together and interrupting any X-book is a complicated process, which is one of the reasons why I'm drawn to the Ultimate Universe. It's still small enough and new enough that creatively we can do something that is, for want of a better word, groundbreaking."

Groundbreaking's a good word to describe an Ultimate Wolverine mini0series with superstars Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner, and that's before even talking about the book itself.

"We were chasing a lot of ideas -- that's the joy of working with Joe Quesada, he's as good a writer as he is an artist -- when he hit on it... ’Ultimate Origin’. I just lit up and turned to Mike who was already spouting out dozens of ideas that it became very exciting right in the moment."

Will the story play off of or relate to Loeb's Lost colleague Damon Lindelof's Ultimate Hulk / Wolverine mini-series?

"How could it not? It's the first real exploration of the character in the present day sense and Damon's is such a gifted writer that I'm sure there are whole scenes I'll be ripping off," Loeb said with a laugh. "Seriously, though, he's laid some very powerful groundwork that will be extremely helpful in what we want to do both in the present and the past."

The character of Wolverine is one very familiar to Loeb. With an upcoming stint on the Marvel Universe's Wolverine title with Simon Bianchi and previous works on the character in the mid 90s, the adamantium-appendaged mutant is one that's surely been on Loeb's mind in recent months. One would wonder for Loeb if there is some kind of switch he flips, or different muscles he uses to craft a story for the Marvel Universe Wolverine with Bianchi and the Ultimate Universe Wolverine with Turner.

"Different artists and different characters," Loeb said bluntly. "In terms of storytelling, the Simone project is not a story I would tell with Turner and vice-versa. And of equal importance is the differences between the two characters."

"The Marvel Wolverine has been around for something like a few hundred years," said Loeb. "James (the Ultimate Wolverine) is a much younger character -- his roots don't go much further back than World War II and so whatever story we tell will be paced by the immediacy of his origins. It's really exciting."

But one has to ask, how the two iterations of Wolverine, James in the Ultimate universe and Logan in the Marvel Universe, match up. Loeb's obviously spent some time exploring both characters, has a keen awareness of their differences and similarities.

"When you're dealing with Logan [in the Marvel Universe], he's got so much baggage that you have to respect whatever has been done before," said Loeb. "And going into the past, such as the murder of Silver Fox, brings you to a town like Deadwood -- he always will have a historical context to his origin. It's part of the charm of the character."

"[Ultimate Wolverine] James, however, didn't come from that world. As much as I like what Jenkins and Kubert did on Origin, I always tease Joe Quesada that it read like a Dickens novel, David Copperfield as Wolverine," laughs Loeb. "

"In truth, I was just in awe of what they did and so if I don't joke about it, I'll be overwhelmed by it! So, I'm focusing more on the Ian Fleming [creator of James Bond] of the story. I like that James' story hasn't been fully explored yet, so we can go in any direction -- and with Turner, that's how you keep him engaged. Give him something ... unexpected."

Obtuse as he may be, Loeb did talk a little bit about what readers can look forward to in his Ultimate Wolverine run with Turner.

"I don't want to give away too much of what we're doing. I will only say that the similarities between the two [Wolverines] is that they are both men of great strength and power who are defined by the tragic circumstances of their love life. Think of On Her Majesty's Secret Service where James Bond actually got married and for the briefest of moments found happiness until tragedy struck. Death and love seem to hunt both of these characters and we'll see with James why that is -- and why it is so interwoven into the character."

With the disclosure of Turner's reoccurring medical condition at this year's San Diego Comic-con, critics and concerned fans are bound to wonder how it will affect this project. When asked about his friend and collaborator's status, Loeb was confidently optimistic.

"Mike's a champion, a true hero and if he says we're going, so we're going. My biggest problem is catching up with him!" exclaimed Loeb.

Loeb and Turner have shared a friendship for a number of years, and have collaborated on titles such as Superman/Batman for DC and Turner's own Soulfire at Aspen. But put their two names with Wolverine in any universe, and it's bound to be their biggest work to date.

Given Turner's renown for drawing the female form in titles such as Witchblade, Fathom and later Supergirl we asked Jeph Loeb why Michael's the go-to guy for this project in particular.

"Actually, I think of Mike as one of the finest storytellers we have working today," professed Loeb. "Just having him involved in anything makes it an event. He does Flash covers and BOOM -- everybody is reading that book! And what has me delighted is that while we were telling the Supergirl origin in Superman/Batman #8 – 13, it was a Batman and Superman story -- the two biggest male icons there are. I mean, all that's left at that level are Wolverine and Spider-Man."

"When I first saw Mike draw Batman coming out of the water with flames all around him -- in Superman/Batman#8 -- I remember writing into the script that Mike should think of Wolverine in terms of posture and attitude. I wanted Batman to be pissed off and nobody does pissed off better than Logan!" laughs Loeb. "And Turner captured it perfectly!"

…but what about Turner's admitted proficiency at drawing [ahem] women?

"Now, in terms of the babe factor I'm not an idiot -- despite what Geoff Johns might tell you," said Loeb. "The Superman/Batman story had to have Wonder Woman in it and much of the action played out on Amazon Island home of the Uberbabes. And we had Barda... homina, hominah, hominah."

“Hominah” indeed…

But how does it transfer to Ultimate Wolverine?

"Fortunately, Wolverine goes through women like ninjas, so I don't think finding strong female characters who devastate our hero will be difficult," quipped Loeb with a smirk. "And you can bet that Mike's depiction of them will devastate our readers!"

http://www.newsarama.com/WW_Chicago_06/Marvel/ultimate/wolverine.html

 

[Venom160]

such a waste, there is so many other marvel characters that deserve an ultimate title.

 

[Specter313]

X-related stuff has been bolded:

Marvel Comics Editor In Chief Joe Quesada kicked off the Ultimate Marvel Universe Panel, at Wizard World Chicago, with a Rock N’ Roll concert style, “How’s everybody doing?” greeting to those assembled, urging them to voice their feelings louder after the first time just wasn't enough.

After an enthusiastic welcome, Quesada introduced his fellow panel members, Publicity Manage Jim McCann and “Ultimates 3” writer Jeph Loeb, followed up with a slide show of upcoming offerings in the Ultimate Marvel line.

The first slide was for “Ultimate Power,” a nine issue mini-series which will put the costumed champions of the Ultimate universe on a collision course with a group of heroes from the "Squadron Supreme" universe. The series begins in October and is written by Brian Michael Bendis, J. Michael Straczynski and Jeph Loeb, featuring art by Greg Land. “It began out of a cool idea, ‘What if Squadron Supreme visited the Ultimates?’ and Bendis came up with the title -- that's the only reason we brought him on,” Loeb joked. "It’s divided sort of like ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ First Bendis, than Straczynski, and then I get the big one.

“In the cross-ove,r some will live, some will die and others will be changed forever,” Loeb continued. “You’ll see the result from the series in ‘Ultimates 4’ and right away in ‘Squadron Supreme.’”

Next up was a slide depicting the covers of “Ultimate Spider-Man” #100, as well as the cover to issue #98, which hit stores this week. Both issues are part of the current, “Clone Saga" storyline. The next slide was one of the cliffhanger ending to issue #98, which Quesada summed up by saying, “Gwen Stacy is back,” which lead the audience to cheer.

Next, Loeb was asked when, “Ultimates 3” was coming out, to which he replied, “When Ultimates 2 is done.” Loeb then went on to reveal that Chris Lightner would be providing digital color over Joe Maduriera’s pencils. Both Loeb and Quesada really wanted to show the audience some of the art, but they said Maduriera didn’t want anything revealed yet.

At that very moment a slide of a dynamic, action shot mysteriously appeared on the screen. The shot seemed to depict an ultimate version of the Black Panther duking it out with Ultimate Venom.

The next slide was for “Ultimate Vision,” written by Mike Carey and with art by Brandon Petersen. The series examines the fall out from the recently completed “Ultimate Extinction” mini-series. We recently spoke to Carey about the series.

Next up was a slide for “Ultimate X-men” #75 which marks the Ultimate Universe debut of Cable. Quesada said, “You’ll want to pay attention. This is not what you think.”

Quesada then opened up the floor to questions from the excited audience for the panelists. One audience member said that he wanted to know when “Ultimates 2” would end to which Quesada replied, “So do we.” He then added, “We got the script for issue #11 and it was thirty six pages long. Mark insisted that he needed those 36 pages. So we asked if they could take those pages and lead to an extra issue, issue #13. Finally they agreed to do it. Then Mark hands in issue 12, which is twenty-two pages. Then Brian called me up and said, ‘I need 36 pages to do it.’ I have no idea how many pages issue #13 will be.”

After that, the panel was joined by a new guest, superstar artist Michael Turner. A slide went up asking the audience what you get when you pair Jeph Loeb with Michael Turner. Readers got their answer with the next slide, “Ultimate Wolverine,” a five issue mini-series beginning in 2007. We spoke with Turner & Loeb about the project, published earlier today.

“I feel like a little kid. It’s so much fun collaborating with Jeph on this. It was a no-brainer,” Turner said, “It’s really cool. It’s half origin story, half real time.”

Turner also reassured the audience that his health was getting better and better and that his attendance at the convention was actually helping him. “I get so much adrenaline from conventions.” After that, Turner had to leave the panel due to a prior commitment elsewhere.

The question and answer period then began again with a fan asking on the progress of “Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine.” Quesada said they were waiting on the final scripts and that writer Damon Lindelof would be writing them all in one sitting.

“No one works harder than Damon,” Loeb said of the co-creator of “Lost.” “He can write an episode of ‘Lost’ in a weekend. but he’s so meticulous when it comes to comics. He’s constantly writing and rewriting. He doesn’t want it to be a great story that turns into crap.”


“We knew we were in for a great ride with Damon when we got a call asking, 'Has anybody ever ripped Wolverine in half?'" Quesada told the crowd.

When asked why he wanted “Ultimates 3,” Loeb jokingly replied, “Because no one else wanted it.” He then said, “It’s no secret that Avengers was the first Marvel book I got hooked on. Bendis is living in Avengers mansion. I knocked on the door and there was no answer. So the one place left to go was the Ultimate Universe.”

Loeb also said he liked the Ultimate Universe because he could tell stories that weren’t tied into everything and as to how he & Joe Mad would match up to the departing “Ultimates” team of Mark Millar and Brian Hitch, Loeb said, “Mark Millar came up with the idea that they’re like James Bond films. Each one will have a different flavor.”

When one fan tried to pin Loeb down on a shipping schedule for “Ultimates 3,” he couldn’t give a definite answer but he did reveal why it was announced that Ed McGuinness will be penciling “Ultimates 4.” “There is was a large space between ‘Ultimates’ and ‘Ultimates 2,” he said, “ But once Joe’s story in “Ultimates 3” finishes Ed’s story will come up right after.”

Quesada answered another question by revealing that writer Orson Scott Card is hard at work on another “Ultimate Iron Man” mini-series. Plans call for Pascal Ferry to provide the art for the series once Card turns in the script for all of the issues.

Another fan asked about the status of Bryan Singer’s “Ultimate X-men” story. Quesada said that Singer still needed to finish the story and that they would see where it fit when it was completed.

Audience questions about villains revealed that the ultimate incarnation of the Taskmaster is set to debut. However, Ultimate Apocalypse won’t be appearing quite just yet.

One fan asked after the “Ultimate Defenders.” Quesada replied by saying that he loved the Ultimate Defenders and the ultimate incarnation of the team was one of his favorites. Loeb answered the question by saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

When asked why Ultimate Thor was made to have anti-American views, Loeb jested, “Because Millar’s a commie pinko who lives in Scotland. When I take over I’ll fix it.”

Loeb was cryptic in his response to two questions. When asked if there were plans for WWII era adventures of Ultimate Captain America he said, “Maybe.” And when asked if current events regarding Wolverine’s DNA would lead to an appearance by an Ultimate X-23, Loeb said, “Wait and see.”

When asked about his appearance on “The Colbert Report,” Quesada revealed that the champion of Truthiness was a comic book fan. “He’s a huge Marvel fan and is reading ‘Civil War’ and a lot of other comics,” Quesada said. “Colbert is also a huge ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ fan. Their lead writer is also a huge comic fan. I was petrified at first, but it was a lot of fun and they made me feel very comfortable.” For more with Quesada before his appearance click here. For a wrap on his actual appearance as well as a look to his "Rampaging Colbert" cover, click here.

The last question to the panel was an inquiry into the possibility of an appearance by Ultimate Cloak and Dagger since Tandy Bowen is a student at Peter Parker’s school in “Ultimate Spider-Man.” Quesada answered, “Knowing Brian it’s a good possibility, but he’s got a lot of stuff to get too first.”

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=8076

 

[GNR]

I hope they keep Apoc away from this book for a good long time. It just sounds like the kinda thing that; if done horribly, could break the book.

This book was broken a long time ago.

 

[Balian]

This book was broken a long time ago.

Sadly, I agree. I thought this since the original creative team broke up, although I do like Stuart Immonen on pencils.

 

[Generation Lee]

OK seriously I would love an Ultimate mini on most characters actually devel into their pasts a little. Yes Storm stole cars and Peter was in the Russian Mob and bearly knows his family but I need more. Is Nighcrawlers attitude to Pete due to Strict religious up bringing?? What did he do before Weapon X etc. This is were I think its be falling of late. I think they maybe pulling a CC and lengthening the Phoneix story which I don't mind cause I want to see the Phoneix saga as a whole come to ahead around issue 100.

 

[Balian]

Does anyone know of plans for Gambit to return?
I know he died in the annual, but they always find a way.

 

[gothicFLAVOURS]

I think they maybe pulling a CC and lengthening the Phoneix story which I don't mind cause I want to see the Phoneix saga as a whole come to ahead around issue 100.

I agree, the Phoenix saga is so important so it should finish around issue 100, but I don't like Jean's plot right now, she's just hanging around with those goblins saying stupid things. I want to see her as a team member, fighting evil.

 

[Balian]

Does anyone know when Singer's arc can be expected?
I remember he was putting ideas together a while back.

 

[Charlie No-One]

Look a few pages back. No one is for sure.

 

[Sub-Zero]

so what happened with the magician?

 

[toya thegr8]

so what happened with the magician?

He apparently is not what he seems. *Gasp*

Spoiler

But seriously, he manipulates minds and is "provoked" by the X-Men(who caught on to his trick) and now plans to kill them...but wait,...Jean appears.

 

[Sub-Zero]

nice. i hope he kills iceman or someone. he's just annoying now.