Ultimate Comics Thread - Part 1

[Drz]

I'm very assured thats what Dread said in a Bought&Thought topic. He knows the sales numbers much better than me.

May Ultimate Comics:

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #10
(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A) David Marquez (CA) Kaare Andrews
• It’s Prowler vs. Spider-Man! Uncle vs. nephew! • The superstar team of Brian Michael Bendis and newcomer David Marquez continue Miles Morales’ journey to becoming a hero!

ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #10 & #11
(W) Sam Humphries, Jonathan Hickman (A) Luke Ross (CA) Kaare Andrews
• New creative team! Rising talent Sam Humphries and superstar artist Luke Ross join writer Jonathan Hickman! • It’s the beginning of a new era for the United States! • How do Nick Fury and the Ultimates move forward in the aftermath of the People vs. the Children?

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #11
(W) Nick Spencer (A) Paco Medina (CA) Kaare Andrews
• The Nimrod Fleet continues their brutal massacre of mutants. • Stryker is reborn. •The face of the United States is changed forever.

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #12
(W) Nick Spencer (A) Carlo Barberi (CA) Kaare Andrews
• The mysteries of the mutant dead deepen even further. • A familiar and much feared foe makes an unexpected return. • What do you know about the last time the world ended?

 

[The Squirrel]

I'm going to try really hard to at least get caught up in Ultimate Spider-Man by the end of this year. I'm still stuck before Ultimatum.

 

[JoeyConQueso]

I wonder when Ben and Sue will come back. There's been no type of follow up on them after Ultimate Doom.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Ultimate Marvel has despite your doom gloating stayed consistant for years,

No it hasn't. The only book that has shown slow drops is Ultimate Spider-Man. It's actually currently leveling out. Say what you may about Miles Morales, it has brought the book some much needed attention and I'm pretty sure that it's performing better than the previous relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man which was below the previous book within a matter of a couple of issues.

The other Ultimate books though, are doing rather poorly. If the Ultimate books were showing consistency, Marvel wouldn't have relaunched the line yet again after two only years. Hell, they wouldn't have relaunched it in the first place if Marvel was happy with the sales. Relaunches happen because sales are well.....not what they should be. It's why DC relaunched their entire line because asides from Green Lantern and Batman, their books were doing quite poorly.

Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men have not yet found a level. And putting digital copies in with the books are not going to help them. And putting one of Marvel's "Architects" off the book and replacing him with someone that most people do not even know who he is, is just going to make the drops even harsher.

unlike books such as Wolverine & the X-Men which start high but loose more then 25% of it's readers by the end of #1 alone.

Actually the drop was 16% with issue #2 and then a 30% drop with issue #3. However, sales are level with issue #4.

Ultimate Spider-Man experienced a 39% drop after the first issue, and please note that Ultimate Spider-Man sold almost as much as Wolverine and & the X-Men. The bright spot for Ultimate Spider-Man is that the drops were much smaller after the first issue and is pretty much finding it's level pretty well.

Miles Morals relaunch also went better than post-Ultimatum relaunch did for Spidey. Really, you're just doom gloating here, and before you know it next year you're again doom gloating and the year after until you realize you've been doing this for years, le sigh.

Well like I said, Spider-Man is essentially the only Ultimate book that is doing rather well. Even I will admit that. It gave the book some much needed attention, it's the book that has the most acclaim, and Spider-Man typically tends to do better in alternate universe titles like 2099, MC2, Noir, etc. than other characters. Spider-Man is a bright spot for the Ultimate line, no doubt about it.

And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Marvel decided to just end the Ultimate line, they would still keep Ultimate Spider-Man like they did for Spider-Girl after they ended MC2. Out of all my doom and gloom about the Ultimate line, Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty much excluded from it.

 

[THANOSRULES]

No it hasn't. The only book that has shown slow drops is Ultimate Spider-Man. It's actually currently leveling out. Say what you may about Miles Morales, it has brought the book some much needed attention and I'm pretty sure that it's performing better than the previous relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man which was below the previous book within a matter of a couple of issues.

The other Ultimate books though, are doing rather poorly. If the Ultimate books were showing consistency, Marvel wouldn't have relaunched the line yet again after two only years. Hell, they wouldn't have relaunched it in the first place if Marvel was happy with the sales. Relaunches happen because sales are well.....not what they should be. It's why DC relaunched their entire line because asides from Green Lantern and Batman, their books were doing quite poorly.

Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men have not yet found a level. And putting digital copies in with the books are not going to help them. And putting one of Marvel's "Architects" off the book and replacing him with someone that most people do not even know who he is, is just going to make the drops even harsher.


Actually the drop was 16% with issue #2 and then a 30% drop with issue #3. However, sales are level with issue #4.

Ultimate Spider-Man experienced a 39% drop after the first issue, and please note that Ultimate Spider-Man sold almost as much as Wolverine and & the X-Men. The bright spot for Ultimate Spider-Man is that the drops were much smaller after the first issue and is pretty much finding it's level pretty well.


Well like I said, Spider-Man is essentially the only Ultimate book that is doing rather well. Even I will admit that. It gave the book some much needed attention, it's the book that has the most acclaim, and Spider-Man typically tends to do better in alternate universe titles like 2099, MC2, Noir, etc. than other characters. Spider-Man is a bright spot for the Ultimate line, no doubt about it.

And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Marvel decided to just end the Ultimate line, they would still keep Ultimate Spider-Man like they did for Spider-Girl after they ended MC2. Out of all my doom and gloom about the Ultimate line, Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty much excluded from it.

Your picking bad spots to judge the drops...I mean USM 1st morales stuff was touted as a "watershed" comic, and would naturally attract collectors and outside people who probably didnt even read it.

The USM relaunch after Ultimatum, a bad low point arc...not surprising low sales.

IMO the Ultimates suffered from Ultimates III and Ultimatum, two BAD series that did BAD things....but they are more or less aberrations.

Let's not forget Ultimate line has had PLENTY of misses in the years prior like Extinction, Wolverine V Hulk, not to mention shipping and delay problems.

You can't reinvent the past...problems have always been there with the line, but at least the writing was good, that changed with UIII and Ultimatum, but i really like how they have picked it back up in terms of the quality.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Your picking bad spots to judge the drops...I mean USM 1st morales stuff was touted as a "watershed" comic, and would naturally attract collectors and outside people who probably didnt even read it.

Despite that, Ultimate Spider-Man has found it's level pretty well. I think that this book will have a future regardless of whatever happens to the Ultimate line.

The USM relaunch after Ultimatum, a bad low point arc...not surprising low sales.

IMO the Ultimates suffered from Ultimates III and Ultimatum, two BAD series that did BAD things....but they are more or less aberrations.

I completely agree that Ultimatum is pretty much the main cause of why the previous Ultimate relaunch was a failure and not the writing. Considering that Marvel pretty much attached talent like Bendis and Millar at the forefront of the Ultimate relaunch, you can't say that they didn't try. But Ultimatum was just too much of a hurdle to overcome.

You can't reinvent the past...problems have always been there with the line, but at least the writing was good, that changed with UIII and Ultimatum, but i really like how they have picked it back up in terms of the quality.

I certainly give Marvel credit for trying to reinvigorate the Ultimate line but I think that Ultimatum has kinda permanently tainted the Ultimate line. It created a hurdle that was far too big to overcome for the rest of the Ultimate line that is not Spider-Man.

 

[CConn]

Really, most of the Ultimate line was awful way before Ultimatum. The only consistently good books have always been USM and Millar's Ultimates.

 

[Drz]

I certainly give Marvel credit for trying to reinvigorate the Ultimate line but I think that Ultimatum has kinda permanently tainted the Ultimate line. It created a hurdle that was far too big to overcome for the rest of the Ultimate line that is not Spider-Man.

Ultimates has been incredibly well received under Hickman's writing with excelent reviews and like i said he will continue to write it till the end of the year, so that means he will have approx 14-16 issues written out, then you add Ultimate Thor & Ultimate Hawkeye and he already leaves a big impact to Ultimate Marvel. Nick Spencer's issue is like with his Morning Glories. It's incredibly slow paced which just isn't a favour with today's comics. Especially when it's 20 pages for 3.99$ but Ultimate X-Men has kept it's steady course, which is great since there hasn't been a proper X-Men ongoing since pre-Ultimatum. Considering Ultimate X suffered so many delays.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Ultimates has been incredibly well received under Hickman's writing with excelent reviews and like i said he will continue to write it till the end of the year, so that means he will have approx 14-16 issues written out, then you add Ultimate Thor & Ultimate Hawkeye and he already leaves a big impact to Ultimate Marvel.

Still doesn't change the fact that Ultimates is no longer the 100,000+ seller that it used to be when the line first came out (and felt fresh and new) and is still falling at a level that isn't all that comforting. Sure it isn't in cancellation range right now, but a book at the Ultimates' level should be finding it's level right now and it isn't.

Nick Spencer's issue is like with his Morning Glories. It's incredibly slow paced which just isn't a favour with today's comics. Especially when it's 20 pages for 3.99$ but Ultimate X-Men has kept it's steady course, which is great since there hasn't been a proper X-Men ongoing since pre-Ultimatum. Considering Ultimate X suffered so many delays.

Again, Ultimate X-Men has also not found a level yet either. And the reception to that book has been rather mediocre, like most of Spencer's Marvel work. He probably should have stayed with DC where he did awesome stuff like T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and Jimmy Olsen.

 

[Drz]

Still doesn't change the fact that Ultimates is no longer the 100,000+ seller that it used to be when the line first came out (and felt fresh and new) and is still falling at a level that isn't all that comforting. Sure it isn't in cancellation range right now, but a book at the Ultimates' level should be finding it's level right now and it isn't.

You can say the darn same thing to the X-Men franchise.

Again, Ultimate X-Men has also not found a level yet either. And the reception to that book has been rather mediocre, like most of Spencer's Marvel work. He probably should have stayed with DC where he did awesome stuff like T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and Jimmy Olsen.

With Marvel cancelling both War Machine & the Dr. Doom mini-series, i really have wondered does Spencer regret his contract.

 

[hippie_hunter]

You can say the darn same thing to the X-Men franchise.

I absolutely agree with you there. While Uncanny X-Force, Uncanny X-Men, and Wolverine & the X-Men have found their levels, the rest of the X-Men line.....not so much. While X-Factor is currently at it's level, I fear that the move to $3.99 despite PAD taking a paycut will doom the book. New Mutants is dropping hard, Generation Hope is cancelled, Deadpool is nowhere near his highpoint, Astonishing X-Men, X-Men, and X-Men Legacy appear to be on very slow declines.

With Marvel cancelling both War Machine & the Dr. Doom mini-series, i really have wondered does Spencer regret his contract.

Iron Man 2.0 was terrible. So was Spencer's run on Secret Avengers. And Ultimate Comics: X-Men is getting a mediocre reception. Yeah, he should have stuck with DC where his work got a lot of praise.

 

[THANOSRULES]

The real start of the whole problem in the ultimates line was Ultimates 2 delays toward the end...what was it issue 11 or 12 was like 6 months or so late?

Then this messed up some of the other storylines(and events like Extinction) where they simple didnt matter...

I didnt jump back on till I sampled some of Ultimates 3, because i like Joe Mad art..boy was that a waste.

 

[Drz]

May's Spidey cover:

Uncle vs. Nephew Boy you sure don't get this from the Parker family hehe.

 

[BLAQUE-SPIDERMAN]

USM #10 cover looks SWEET! I'm definitely in!

 

[Drz]

Spider-Man #7 was the best one yet, i'd recommend people start checking the series with #6 and hit the fun stuff, with Miles actually being on the costume and learning how to be a hero in the streets. It's the inner monologue, the child like naivé charm and optism that Miles has that made this issue so much fun, not to mention how Uncle Aaron is a nasty criminal. >: )



#9 Teaser art (yes, #9, not #8!):

 

[Drz]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37191

#7 Teaser art:

Let's talk a little bit about Jonathan's work at Marvel leading up to this. As an independent creator, you had total control over the worlds you made, and then you had to come into the Marvel U, which has a long established history. Since your first big book was "Secret Warriors" with Bendis, I was wondering how you reflected on that writing relationship now that you'll be working with Marvel newcomer Sam Humphries on "Ultimates." Marvel often teams two writers together on a book at first to have a creative handoff happen. What's the value in that kind of writing apprenticeship?

Alonso: Part of the challenge for working at Marvel is you have to tell stories that function as part of a larger picture. You have to be aware of how your story functions as part of a larger, ongoing narrative, and has implications for other stories. If you’re new to that experience, that's where having a seasoned writer show you ropes can be helpful. It's Hickman’s relationship with Brian [Bendis] or Cullen Bunn’s relationship with Jason [Aaron].

Hickman: I think Marvel does a really good job of looking at talent, seeing where they should be positioned and trying to put individual guys in the best possible place. Of course, it doesn't work out every time, but I truly believe that Talent Management's heart is in the right place. What I got from Bendis mentoring me was realizing what that position meant for him and what it meant for me. At that point in his career, it was really another assignment in a seemingly endless string of high profile assignments, and for me, it was a really a life-changing opportunity. Beyond being extremely talented and having a strong authorial voice, Bendis is really just a good guy. He stepped out of the way and wanted me to be me and do the best job I could. With Sam, I'm trying to do the same thing. It's not really about Sam following what my plan was perfectly. I'm really more interested in Sam being Sam and being the guy whose talents got him in the door at Marvel. That's what I took from it.

Ultimates #7 preview!



Nice to see Monica enjoys her coffee black, like her men.



Ultimate X-Men #8 preview!



Focuses on Ultimate X aka Runaways!

 

[Drz]

Ultimates #7 was fantastic. <3 The way Jonathan Hickman handles the dialogue is utterly sweet. I could have an entire issue of Xorn, Zorn and Richard Reed just talking and i'd be awesomesauce. The USA President is really setting the downfall of America, while Nick Fury is getting his allies one way or another to stop Richards.



1st look at Ultimates #8: HULK SMASH:

Oh, yeah!

Ultimate Spidey #8 Sara Pichelle returns

 

[Texas]

so how tall is Ultimate Hulk ??

 

[Roose Bolton]

I'd say around 12 feet.
I'm seriously expecting Hulk to be killed off in this coming issue.

 

[storyteller]

USM #8 I was wondering why the art didn't look like it was drawn by a child and saved repeatedly on the lowest quality.

I don't think Hulk will die but I don't think it unlikely that Hulk may be depowered.

 

[Drz]

SPIDER-MEN #1
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art by SARA PICHELLI
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
ON SALE THIS JUNE!

 

[Lord]

He's back already?

 

[Drz]

Nope.

 

[Venom160]

SPIDER-MEN #1
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art by SARA PICHELLI
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
ON SALE THIS JUNE!

um.......yay?

 

[Drz]

Bleeding Cool is reporting that not only will both #1 & #2 come out in June, it is also just a 5 issue mini-series.

Spider-Men #1 and #2 (of a five issue Bendis and Pichelli series)

Thoughts? With June solicitations coming next week or later, perhaps the cover(s) is/are revealed? How will Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man tie with the 5 issue series or will Miles' 3rd arc be all standalone while this is happening as well?

Ultimate X-Men #9 preview! Ultimate JOHN WALKER!