The Ultimates

[The NZA]

10 was crazy awesome, answered all the "who's that?" questions.

 

 

ULTIMATES 2 #12

Written by MARK MILLAR

Pencils & Cover by BRYAN HITCH

GRAND THEFT AMERICA

This is it! The double-sized finale! America strikes back against the Liberators, as ace artist Bryan Hitch draws every single super hero in the Ultimate Universe in combat to free the United States! Plus: the true fate of Thor, the return of the Defenders, and every major plotline from the Ultimates (since its inception) comes together at last. If ever there was a big one you should not miss...Ultimates 2 #12 is it! If you do but one thing with your life: read this comic! And don't forget -this cataclysmic story leads straight into Ultimates 3 #1, coming soon!

Part 6 (of 6). 48 PGS./Parental Advisory ...$3.99

[The NZA]

For those keeping score: next issue (whenever it finally shows) wont be the finale; im reading Millar's script took 2 issues, so this volume goes to 13.

[Jables]

Sweetness. Last one did too, and tho I 'm a huge fan of both Loeb & Madueira(SP), I'm not looking forward to this book changing creative teams.

[The NZA]

I dont think anyone is. Millar & Hitch have conisstently hit it outta the park so much in 2 volumes that, again, when asked "when's the next one due out" at cons, if i was Joe Q, i would literally bitchslap fanboys and say "whenever it comes out, and youll fucking buy it and love it, faggot. now go read JLA or some shit and wait in corner."

 

Tho Loeb hasnt worked as well without Sale (my opnion....Hush was good, Batman/Superman was eh for me), and i wonder how long Joe Mad can hold an even semi-regular schedule, im stayin optimistc for now.

[The NZA]

 

Millar on The Ultimats, and comics in general

 

Anyone know exactly when the finale to volume 2 is out? I hear its soon, but....man, at least its worth the wait.

[The NZA]

Ultimates # 13 - May 16th!

 

Marvel has confirmed for Newsarama that Ultimates 2 #13 has been sent to the printer, and - barring any unforeseen Acts of God or truck drivers, the god of the truck drivers or a few other things along the line, it will be in stores on May 16th. The issue is a touch late, runs at 46 pages, has a wraparound cover, and carries a $3.99 cover price.

 

As a sign of "proof of completion," of sorts, the publisher provided Newsarama with the issue's highlight - an eight page foldout gatefold by Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary, and Laura Martin. The spread takes more time to print, fold and insert into the issue than a regular page - hence the one last delay in reaching shops.

 

Click on the thumbnail for a larger (2400 pixels wide) version, and make with the scroll bar. And yes - Quicksilver does appear in each page…he's fast.

 

[The NZA]

 

...really? No talk here? i thought this was about the most-wanted book around these days, and it was a helluva finale. Grand Theft America's all tied up...

 

 

Stark's "recovery" was awesome, Millar did a bang-up job of taking down the team, having us think Thor was fulla shit, and all. It was great seeing Widow get hers, but is the Hulk off the hook now, or...? Team's in an all-new direction now that they went off the go'vt all Avenger-like...

 

 

Im seriously sad to see the team fo Millar/Hitch go from this book, and only hope Loeb/Mad can nearly hang. Whenever the hardcover of volume 2 shows up, im there.

 

Also, good interview between Hitch and Whedon, right here. Seriously, was a lotta fun, and hinted at the next Millar/Hitch project.

 

arch, now that i think about it, you should borrow this one.

[The NZA]

 

Some greats from the above-linekd intereview...dont read if you havent read # 13.

 

Joss: Is there anything you guys wanted to do that you couldn't?

 

Hitchy: Loads and loads. I wanted to complete what we set up with Tony dying in the final battle in a noble suicide to save everybody, refusing to be beaten by his tumor. He'd played the game all along and left the Ultimates independent and a world wide force; his legacy and if you read all the issues, we were setting it up from issue one to be this was. Sadly, a victim of our success, the initial freedom to kill whomever we liked in the Ultimate 'verse was rescinded when it became the cash cow so Tony survived. Likewise Fury. I wanted him to go down as a human fighting against a super human.

 

Joss: I remember having dinner with you years ago and you letting slip that you were killing Tony and I was freaking out yelling "Spoilers! Spoilers!" So your whorish caving in to success actually made for a surprise twist for me. Yay!

 

Hitchy: In Serenity, after Wash makes the landing against the Reavers, you kill him to set up the idea that anybody could die in what follows. I wanted that same thing here and needed a body count to show that nobody was safe in issues #10-13. Fury was a logical choice but again I was overruled but I did maim him, something I think adds quite a bit of character to him visually. Mark also wrote Jarvis as having survived being shot in the chest by a well placed hip flask but I needed a real victim and got my way with him at least.

 

We had material that could have gone and gone for years (yes, about six more issues) because we loved these guys and loved working on them but Jeph Loeb needed work desperately so we charitably offered to step aside for him

 

On the team possibly returning:

 

Hitchy: Mark and I spoke at length last week about Ultimates because we both separately came up with mutually compatible ideas for a return to the book at a later date. It often happens with us that we simultaneously have brainwaves that coincide and here we thought that when we've run through the next round of commitments we would like to return to The Ultimates and take it to its next level (for us).

 

Joss on the Wonder Woman movie that didnt happen:

 

Joss: Are you joking? 18 months on Wonder Woman and I never finished a definitive draft. The project was a waste of my time, but it was only a huge waste of my time because I was so ground down. Second-guessing everything, unable to focus... and we knew there couldn't be an 8th season (on TV) of Buffy not because anything was falling apart; just the same formula, the same structure, the intense effort, was wearing us down. Or was going to. You gotta shake it up.

 

and finally, on character design...

 

Joss Whedon: If Nick Fury was on a plane, and there were... I don't want to say 'snakes', but... some slithery reptiles, what do you think he might say about that?

 

Bryan Hitch: It's a comic book so it would be "get those MOTHER-**@£@!!G snakes off this MOTHER-**@£@!!G plane!" Though if were being dubbed by the same chap who dubbed Eddie Murphy's colorful metaphors on the UK's TV version Beverley Hills Cop it would be "Get those melon-farming snakes off this melon farming plane" which is possibly more charming.

 

Joss: On the serious tip, though, you made a conscious decision to base Fury on Sam Jackson and it works great. But I've seen it done – movie stars used as templates for comics characters – too much and not as well. What's your feeling about using known real-life models in comics?

 

Hitchy: Normally I wouldn't have done it but when we pegged Fury as being like Sam Jackson’s Shaft with an eye patch it just stuck so I gave up trying to make him almost-like-but-not-quite and went the whole way, hoping he would be flattered and knowing he loves comics and the Avengers in particular. It worked too because his wife bought him some art from the book as a birthday present and we didn't get sued! He's also had talks with Marvel about doing a film version of Nick Fury himself. Go Sammy!

 

I did it one other time is a scene when Thor looks like Brad Pitt.

 

Joss: Yeah, I noticed. It was subtle, though.

 

Hitchy: It was a clumsy attempt to invoke Fincher's Fight Club and suggest much of Thor's Asgardian life was in his head. A few folks got it but it just stands out as something, along with a bad Robert Carlyle in volume one I should redraw for posterity.

[Jables]

That's a good interview Nick, I read this one during my self-imposed exile so I didn't get to commenting. Just like Vol. 1 it's a slight overkill finish where everything just goes to hell if only to epitomise the term 'climax'. And It woulda been interesting to see

Hulk

in that whole issue. Here's to hoping we'll see Ultimate Hulk Vs Wolvy now too, since the two seemed to be intertwined.

[Jables]

still no Wolverine/Hulk, and despite Warren Ellis' name on it, Ultimate human looks like a consumate piece of shit.

 

Ultimates3 #1 though? smell and feel the shit hitting the fan. It's like the start of season 4 of the Shield. Weirdly familiar characters but utterly dystopian. Great art.

[Newtype]

Lets just say this was just a tad above All star Batman and Robin and leave it at that.

[Silent Bob]

I really liked the ending to Ultimates 2, they made it worth the wait.

 

Haven't picked up the first issue to Ultimates 3, yet. I've like the team members on other projects, but on this one I'm not so sure... With no more Millar and Hitch on Ultimates and no more Bagley on Ultimate Spidey, I almost wish Marvel's upcoming "end of the Ultimate universe" event was really the end.

[Jables]

So no more word on this? Has anyone else read it yet? I really dug it, personally. But that's treating it like a whole different book to the first two.

[Jables]

I guess I'm the only one reading this...

 

Yes Jeph Loeb has thrown everything that made the Ultimates unique out the window and turned them into a generic Superhero team book but damnit I don't care!! These are characters I care about going through all sorts of god-awful shit and the drama is fucking great!!!

I'd really like to know what Venom has to do with anything though

.

[crimsonfire]

Skeet has only just introduced me to the wonder that is the Ultimates.

 

I have a question though: How the fuck did

Banner

come back after, what I can only assume was, the death penalty at the hands of a very large thermonuclear device? Did i miss something crucial here? Mayhaps a few pages were stuck together eh Jay-san....

[The NZA]

Great book, glad skeet's got you onto it. You should see Walking Dead next.

Well, think about it:

 

 

Hulk was born of atomic energy, its been theorized by other writers that it'd not kill him. Some "alternate future" books have had him the last survivor of a nuclear holocaust, for instance.

 

 

still sitting on vol 3 for fear of big letdowns.

[crimsonfire]

Interesting theory indeed. I'll have another look when I get through The Authority.

[Silent Bob]

Tsk, you guys didn't actually read the book, did ya?

 

 

I'm assuming we're talking about Volume 2 here. I haven't read any of Volume 3 yet so if the Hulk survives another nuclear-bomb-death-sentence that I'm not privy to, forget I said any of the rest of this.

 

Hank Pym, as a way of doing one last decent thing before he gets kicked off the team for good, gave Banner a slightly smaller dose of tranquilizer than was needed. Just before the bomb goes off there's a panel of Banner waking up, opening his eyes - and they're glowing green. At the last second, he transformed into the Hulk and survived the blast. Because...you know, Ultimate Hulk can survive about anything.

 

[alive she cried]

Tsk, you guys didn't actually read the book, did ya?

 

 

I'm assuming we're talking about Volume 2 here. I haven't read any of Volume 3 yet so if the Hulk survives another nuclear-bomb-death-sentence that I'm not privy to, forget I said any of the rest of this.

 

Hank Pym, as a way of doing one last decent thing before he gets kicked off the team for good, gave Banner a slightly smaller dose of tranquilizer than was needed. Just before the bomb goes off there's a panel of Banner waking up, opening his eyes - and they're glowing green. At the last second, he transformed into the Hulk and survived the blast. Because...you know, Ultimate Hulk can survive about anything.

yeah sb pretty said what i was gonna say

[Jables]

It's truly a mrk of the times(was gonna call it Irony) of how the tables have turned. The 616 Avengers are now kind of the hub around which the current marvel U is spinning, and Ultimates 3 is just pissing off readers and making folkd weep for the Millar/Hitch days.

 

Between Robocap, Statutory Thor and suicidal Hawkeye(started out refreshing but you now wish'd just fuck off aways with some MCR), Loeb & Joe Madz put their last bullet in the head of this once-awesome book. I started out loving the art and the crazy direction it took in terms of story, but by #3's Wolverine/ Dinosaur fight and Hawkeye's magic bullets straight out of Wanted, I simply stayed with this book the way you'd stay with your close mate who's been left to some Alien form of 3-dicked pack-rapists, just holding his hand and making sure the damage isn't too awful.

 

To save you all a terrible time, it was all robots, controlled by Doom. Even though Doom appeared nowhere in the story and couldn't even back up his claim, Doom.

 

I wonder if I sit at a monitor watching buses crash and laughing menacingly, if I can convince people I'm the ultimate puppeteer too. Seriously, I just wanna go read Marvel Zombies to wash the bad taste out of my eyes.

[Iambaytor]

Speaking of Doom, where is he in the Ultimaverse? Last I checked, he got sent into the universe of Marvel Zombies with uber-bad powers.

[Jables]

Man, I fuckin' hate Mike Carey too. No idea, but I'm sure my handy Ultimate Saga handbook will catch me up to speed. Bearing in mind all I expect to find on the interiors is "I'VE BEEN A BAD BOY..." and "IT WUZ ROBO-RIDDLER AND DOOM" scrawled across blank pages, in closest brown ink to Jeph Loeb's own faeces. This is possibly the worst thing I'll ever say, but

 

Seriously, if I can make a statement more offensive than this, ever, and have it actually reflect my feelings I think I'll just eat a gun cause I'm a goddamned monster. Don't read it if you're remotely offendable.

 

 

if I ever have a son who gets cancer, I'll shoot him in the face myself before I let the terrible event rot my brain so the only written work I can produce isn't even readable by the most stoic of fanboys.

 

[Iambaytor]

Man, I fuckin' hate Mike Carey too. No idea, but I'm sure my handy Ultimate Saga handbook will catch me up to speed. Bearing in mind all I expect to find on the interiors is "I'VE BEEN A BAD BOY..." and "IT WUZ ROBO-RIDDLER AND DOOM" scrawled across blank pages, in closest brown ink to Jeph Loeb's own faeces. This is possibly the worst thing I'll ever say, but

 

Seriously, if I can make a statement more offensive than this, ever, and have it actually reflect my feelings I think I'll just eat a gun cause I'm a goddamned monster. Don't read it if you're remotely offendable.

 

 

if I ever have a son who gets cancer, I'll shoot him in the face myself before I let the terrible event rot my brain so the only written work I can produce isn't even readable by the most stoic of fanboys.

 

I'm really never sure whether you're drunk or mad. you make about the same amount of sense (that amount being little to none) in either case.

[Jables]

Man, I makes perfect sense. Look within, you know it to be true.

[Iambaytor]

I picture you sound something like an Australian version of Mickey from Snatch.