Ultimates
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The Ultimates are a group of fictional characters, a government-sponsored team of superheroes in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, appearing primarily in their self-titled comic book limited series The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2, published by Marvel Comics, written by Mark Millar and drawn by Bryan Hitch. The series started out as a monthly publication in January 2002, but due to the large amount of time required by Millar and Hitch to complete each issue, the series has been released irregularly on a less-than-monthly schedule. Each thirteen-issue miniseries is regarded as a "season" of the same title. The team is a re-imagining of the Marvel Universe superhero team, the Avengers.
Their first series, simply titled The Ultimates, ended in April 2004. The current series, The Ultimates 2, began in December 2004 and has published twelve of thirteen issues as of September 2006. A third series, The Ultimates 3, is planned after the conclusion of The Ultimates 2, and will feature a new creative team in the form of Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. It has recently been confirmed that The Ultimates 4 is also currently in the works, with a creative team of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada has even stated there is a creative team in mind for an eventual The Ultimates 5.
The tone of the story is widely considered to be darker, more cynical, and more cinematic than most traditional comic books. A prominent theme is the scope and legitimacy of state power, with superheroes - or "persons of mass destruction" as they are described in the series - acting as metaphors for the immense resources of a modern superpower. In this respect, it resembles The Authority, a comic book series that both Hitch and Millar have each worked on, though at different times.
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[edit] Publication history
[edit] Ultimates
In 2002, the Ultimates were the third comic to appear in the Ultimate Marvel line, preceded by its sister titles Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men. The creators were writer Mark Millar, who also wrote Ultimate X-Men at that time, and artist Bryan Hitch.
On the circumstances of their collaboration, Hitch commented in an interview with Silver Bullet Comics that "Joe Quesada called and said 'Hey, the lunatics are running the asylum over here, want to join the party?' The project came from Millar, and it was perfect. Joe put us together, and after three hours on the phone, we had started the journey that was to develop into The Ultimates. [1]"
Their first arc, Super Human (Ultimates #1-6), centered around S.H.I.E.L.D. general Nick Fury, in this story right-hand man of U.S. president George W. Bush, who is entrusted building up a strike force consisting of government-sponsored superheroes without secret identities. Millar let Fury recruit elite scientists / metahumans married couple Janet Pym (the wasp-like mutant "Wasp") and Hank Pym ("Giant-Man", with the ability to grow until 59 ft, 11 inches), who are trusted to replicate the so-called super soldier serum, a fictional substance which gave long-lost World War II hero Steve Rogers ("Captain America") his super powers. Additional recruits brought in by Millar were Bruce Banner (afraid of his alter ego, the immensly strong, durable and animal "The Hulk"), anti-establishment icon and supposed Nordic god "Thor", and billionaire playboy Tony Stark (wielder of his powered armour, "Iron Man"). Suddenly, the team gets a huge lift when the frozen body of Steve Rogers is found in the Arctic Ocean, and he is successfully revived. After being taunted by his ex-fiancee Betty Ross, Banner snaps and turns himself into the Hulk, going on a rampage in New York that kills 857 people. However, Banner is subdued by his team mates, who turn the carnage in a big PR victory by denying any link between Hulk and Banner.
The whole Ultimates characters were written as edgier, darker characters that their mainstream Marvel counterparts. Notably, Captain America was much more violent and jingoistic, and Nick Fury was portrayed as an African-American. Bryan Hitch commented: "We just set out with the basic idea: What would we do if we had to make The Avengers as a movie? (...) You have to approach it as though nothing has happened before and tell the story fresh from the start, find the current day relevance and the best actors. We had to get to the core of who these people were and build outwards, so Cap was a soldier, Thor is either a nut case or a messiah (maybe both, today we would treat them same way: a cult following and a spell in the loony house), Banner an insecure genius, and Fury the king of cool. [2]"
In the next arc (Ultimates #7-12), Millar wrote a story which pitted the Ultimates against the evil shapeshifting Chitauri aliens, led by the Nazi Chitauri "Herr Kleiser". Additionally, he introduced S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Hawkeye (elite archer Clint Barton) and Black Widow (Russian super spy Natasha Romanova) and mutant twins Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, who can alter probabilities) and Quicksilver (speedster Pietro Maximoff), who were previously featured in Ultimate X-Men, also written by Millar, and portrayed with a hinted incestous relationship. A long-running subplot revolved around Janet Pym, who became victim of domestic violence by her mentally instable husband and later hooked up with Captain America.
Although the comic consistently sold well and received favourable critics (see "Awards" section), it soon became notorious for its erratic scheduling. Originally planned as a monthly comic, the publication dates were constantly shifted further back, so that the twelfth issue of Ultimates only came out in April 2004, almost three years after issue #1.
In a December 2004 interview with PopCultureShock, Millar talked about his comic, stating the Ultimates were indeed different from the Avengers (its mainstream Marvel sister title), stating: "The idea behind The Avengers is that the Marvel Universe's biggest players all get together and fight all the biggest supervillains they can't find individually whereas Ultimates 2 is an exploration of what happens when a bunch of ordinary people are turned into super-soldiers and being groomed to fight the real-life war on terror." He also defended the concept of putting controversial "indie" topics into a big mainstream comic like Ultimates, denying he had "sold out" to . He said: "There's a funny snobbery from people as regards the worthiness of indie books (...) The nice thing about hitting your thirties is realizing it's often all pose and 90% of indie books are as shit as 90% of mainstream books. There's good and bad on both sides and no inner-dignity to not selling well." [3]
[edit] Ultimates 2
These issues also appeared in the second Millar / Hitch run, Ultimates 2, which began in December 2004 and has published twelve of thirteen issues as of November 2006. In the first six issues, the Ultimates further act as a branch of United States foreign policy, forcefully disarming rogue nations and causing worldwide concern that the United States is gradually establishing a benign dictatorship akin to the Roman Empire. The truth of the Ultimates' actual involvement with the second Hulk rampage is revealed, causing a massive PR disaster and the eventual supposed death sentence of Bruce Banner.
During their search for the mole within the organization, Thor is suspected and later incarcerated, backed up with evidence fabricated by what is later revealed to be the trickster god Loki, Thor's half-brother. Loki knows the true identity of the actual traitor (who remains an unseen character), who happens to be a member of the Ultimates. Additional subplots include Hank Pym's attempts at redeeming himself to the Ultimates (with prototype designs for Ultron Robots) and his attempts at a superhero comeback when joining a hapless vigilante group Defenders which ends in humiliation.
Millar stated in Pop Culture Shock that this arc reflected contemporary issues, dealing with real-life issues ranging from hyper-powered countries like the USA, preemptive strikes, the rising world-wide anti-American sentiment in the wake of the neoconservative Bush Doctrine and the "rogue nation" classification and the fear of backlash in form of nuclear armageddon. Millar said: "In the name of oil, this administration is stirring up a hornet's nest (...). My own belief is that there'll be a couple of nuclear attacks in the States, the multinationals will move elsewhere, the American economy will completely collapse and make the 30s look like the 80s and the Middle East will be occupied by drafted teenagers from your home town. (...) I hope I'm completely and utterly wrong." [4]
The second story arc of Ultimates 2 (issues #7-12 and which also suffered major publishing delays) sees the the Ultimates are decimated one by one, aided by the still-unrevealed traitor. Thor is framed as an insane mental patient wieldeding stolen technology, Hawkeye is captured and the murder of his wife and children are blamed on Captain America, who is apprehended and imprisoned in the Triskelion. The traitor is later revealed as a member of the Liberators, a multinational superherotask force consisting of recruits and funding from enemy countries of the United States (in the comics, Syria, North Korea, China, Russia and Iran). Thanks to information culled from the captured (and drugged) Hawkeye, and the elimination of key members of the Ultimates, the Liberators' invasion is blindingly effective, and they seize control of the United States.
Shortly after taking control of the United States, Captain America is freed and fights his way out of the Triskelion holding cell with Wasp. Hawkeye escapes his captors and the three converge onto the White House in Washington D.C., freeing other Ultimates, who begin organizing a massive counter-offensive against the occupying invaders. The Liberators, many of whom were engineered doppelgangers of the existing Ultimates, are gradually dispatched one-by-one. The European Union appears on American soil and liberates Spiderman, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, all of whom resist the Liberator occupation in New York City.
[edit] Characters
[edit] The Ultimates
Members of the Ultimates include Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, the Wasp, Giant-Man, General Nick Fury, the Black Widow, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.
- General Nick Fury is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the fictional branch of the U.S. military devoted to meta-human threats. In this version, he is African-American and occasionally joins the team on field missions, employing advanced spy technology (e.g. invisibility) to stay alive. He also makes various cameos throughout the Ultimate Marvel Universe, more so than the other Ultimates. In an interview for Fanboy Radio (www.fbrpc.com) Bryan Hitch explains the origins of their version of the character: If a government-sanction superteam existed it would be run by someone who had had both a military and political background and arrived at Colin Powell. Then examining the original Nick Fury had been based on the 1960s definition of cool which was Dean Martin, the 21 century version of cool would be Samuel L Jackson.
According to Bryan Hitch's Fanboy Radio interview, Samuel L Jackson's wife purchased original artwork of Nick Fury and has it hanging in his home.
- Captain America, real name Steve Rogers, is the only known successful recipient of the so-called "super soldier serum", which gave him enhanced strength and durablity. After his last mission, he was frozen in the Arctic Ocean for over 50 years, and only recently was found and revived. He is the patriotic, jingoistic and deeply conservative Ultimates' field leader and maintains a stereotypical 1940s attitude in the modern post-2000 world.
- Iron Man, real name Tony Stark, is a billionaire industrialist, unrepetant playboy and inventive genius. Creator of the Iron Man powered armor. Stark has an inoperable brain tumor, and as a result, Stark decides to do something of worth before he dies. In addition to being a shameless womanizer, Stark is portrayed as an alcoholic, as he was for a time in the original comics. During the second series, Stark becomes engaged to Black Widow, giving her a suit of black armor as an engagement present.
- Thor claims to be a true deity, the exiled Son of Odin. Maintains a cult of personality around himself with his preachings of political conspiracies orchestrated by the New World Order. According to his dossier, he is Thorleif Golman, an ex-nurse who suffered a nervous breakdown and spent 18 months in a mental institution. He appears to have super-powers which include flight, the ability to manipulate the weather, super-strength and also exhibits a degree of omniscience. He also wields the allegedly magical hammer Mjolnir, which can teleport objects into other dimensions. One of the mysteries behind Thor is whether or not he really is the Thor of Norse mythology. The later appearance of Loki, who mysteriously appears to taunt Thor and subsequently appears with an opposing supervillain team, appears to give credence to Thor's claims. He refuses to be an official member of the team, which he considers pawns of the military-industrial complex, but offers to be on call anytime there is an emergency that requires his help.
Mark Millar claims to have based the character loosely on conspiracy theorist David Icke. [citation needed]
- The Hulk, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. He is a scientific genius who created the Hulk during a botched scientific experiment amid his resentment and inability to recreate Captain America's super-soldier serum, tired of being treated as a milquetoast by his teammates and for being cuckolded by his ex-girlfriend, Betty. As in the mainstream version, Banner is a Jekyll-and-Hyde character. However, in the Ultimate universe, he is divided between his insecure, neurotic human form and a monstrous, cannibalistic and sexually aggressive Hulk form. After Hulk killed 852 people, Banner was sentenced to death, but turned into his alternate form at the last second and escaped. After the events of Ultimate Hulk vs. Ultimate Wolverine, Banner returned in Ultimates vol. 2, to fight alongside the Ultimates, having "embraced his inner sociopath."
- Giant-Man and the Wasp, are husband and wife Henry and Janet Pym. Henry has the ability to turn himself into a giant, whereas Janet can transform into a wasp-sized version of herself, with wings and the ability to "sting." Their strained marraige includes emotional, verbal and physical abuse on Henry's part toward Janet, who subsequently begins a relationship with Captain America after divorcing Henry. The relationship with Captain America also faces strain, largely from the inherent generational differences and Janet's attempts to re-establish a friendship with Henry.
- The Black Widow and Hawkeye, are Natasha Romanova, a former KGB spy and expert assassin and Clint Barton, an archer with almost superhuman accuracy. They were originally part of the Ultimates' covert operations "Black Ops" team, but were subsequently moved to public status after their backgrounds were falsified for public consumption.
- Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, a pair of mutant siblings. Pietro has the power of super speed, and Wanda can affect probabilities with her powers. Unlike the original mainstream versions of these characters, they have not abandoned their ties to Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy; they still believe in mutant supremacy. Because of their mutant status, they remain a part of the black ops section. They are often depicted touching and relating to each other intimately.
[edit] The Reserves
"Phase 2" of the super-soldier program, these are soldiers slated to join the Ultimates, which would decidedly add a much more straight forward soldier aspect to the team, as these characters are all military personnel.
- Rocketmen, wearing customized armor suits based on early Iron Man designs. Four are members of the Ultimate Reserves, while the others serve actively as general super-soldiers.
- Giant-Men, seven men injected with a modified version of Hank Pym's "Giant Man" Formula, allowing them to grow well past 60 feet in height. In issue #9 of Ultimates 2, all the giant-men were seemingly killed by the Liberators' foot soldiers.
In recent issues of Ultimates 2, certain foot soldiers have been equipped with light blue enhancement suits that bestow flight and super-strength upon the wearer. Based on panel illustrations, it can be inferenced there are around 100+ troops with these suits.
The following characters have yet to assist the Ultimates.
- The Four Seasons, four marines who derive their powers from their uniforms. Their costume designs and abilities follow the season motif.
- Lieberman (deceased), the only Reserve member (besides Giant Men) whose powers were not costume-based. He was injected with the Super-Soldier serum and, as a result, exhibited enhanced speed and strength, as well as nearly indestructible skin. He also possessed an innate connection to the S.H.I.E.L.D. supercomputer. However, his central nervous system collapsed after he saved fifty seven people from a fire in New York City; the strain of the super-soldier serum killed him. It is suggested that there have been several other soldiers like him who died the same way.
- The Human Sentinels, Sixty of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents in Sentinel battle armor that has enough hardware to take on a fleet of the old Sentinel models. Special polychrome coatings prevent magnetic fields from harming them in any way. They also have helmets to deter telepathy.
Other reserves are mentioned, Thunderbolt and Intangi-girl, but they were not yet operational in their original appearance, and have not yet reappeared.
[edit] Allies
All the other Ultimate Universe title characters (Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four) have interracted with the Ultimates at various times; however, characters who have thus far only appeared in conjunction with the Ultimates are:
- Falcon, Samuel Wilson, an explorer, adventurer, and scientist who utilizes a backpack with high-tech folding wings to fly. Sam Wilson first appeared in Ultimate Nightmare, then worked on the Vision, demonstrating a high level of understanding technology. He is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than an official member of the Ultimates, or Reserves.
- Captains Britain, France, Spain, and Italy, of the European Defense Initative, are the European Union's super soldiers. Their super-powered suits allow them to exhibit superhuman strength, endurance, flight, and are immune to drowning. They assisted in the capture of Thor and rebuilding of America following the Liberators' attack. [1]
- Mahr Vehl, Pluskommander Geheneris Halason Mahr Vehl, human name Dr. Phillip Lawson, first appeared in Ultimate Secret, as the head scientist of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s space program. He is a Kree alien who underwent surgery to appear human. When necessary, Lawson can activate a cybernetic battlesuit from his wrist watch to gain superhuman strength, flight, endurance, shielding, invisibility, and an arm-based cannon. He has yet to reappear.
- Vision, discovered in a Siberian military base during Ultimate Nightmare, the Vision was held for research at the Triskelion. After the defeat of Gah Lak Tus, the Vision is dispatched to herald its arrival on other worlds, along with the warning that "humans can kick the Hell out of anyone." Dr. Pym created a robot based on the Vision midway through Ultimates 2, dubbed Vision II.
- Carol Danvers, a United States Air Force Captain, former director of security at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Aerospace Development Station 9, transferred to personal aide to General Fury. First appearing in Ultimate Secret, it is she that incarcerates Mahr Vehl and is then assigned to watch him at all times. Because of this, Sue Storm teases her about having an alien boyfriend. Captain Danvers makes her reappearance in Ultimate Power.
[edit] Enemies
Aside from the Hulk, the Ultimates have fought and encountered several super powered foes, including Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, the Ultimate Six and the product of an abandoned Russian supersoldier program. They have also fought the X-Men twice, though it was not until recently that Fury declared the X-Men enemies of the state. They also tangled with the villain Deathlok, whom they defeated with the assistance of Spider-man.
The Chitauri and their leader, Captain America's wartime nemesis, Herr Kleiser, have proven to be formidable enemies of The Ultimates. A reptilian alien race based on the mainstream Marvel Skrulls, the Chitauri also appear to be partly based on the shape-shifting reptiles of the conspiracy theories of David Icke.
The Ultimates have over the years defeated or killed a number of super-villains; most are detained in the Triskelion. A list of imprisoned supercriminals include:
- Magneto (Escaped)
- Longshot (Escaped)
- Mystique (Posing as Magneto)
- Herr Kleiser (Dead, remains kept imprisoned to prevent him from regenerating)
- Sinister
- Deathstrike (Status Unknown: neck snapped by Longshot although she possesses a healing factor)
- Ultimate Six
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- Green Goblin (Kept in cryogenic suspension)
- Doctor Octopus
- Electro
- Kraven
- Sandman (Scattered into several isolated jars)
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- Elijah Stern (Created Vulture's suit, now forced to work for Fury)
The latest enemies of the Ultimates are the Liberators, the superhuman strike force of an international coalition that invades the United States out of fear for the incursion of The Ultimates in foreign soil. They seemed to have been influencing most of the events which transpired during the majority of The Ultimates 2 series. During the final battle in New York, the entire team was killed by their Ultimates counterparts with the exception of Perun, and the Liberators' ally Loki.
[edit] Awards & Recognition
The "Super-Human" storyline running through the first six issues of the first series won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 2003.
[edit] Trivia
- In the DC comic Superman / Batman(issues #20-25), the title characters find themselves involved in a dispute with a group of alternate universe superheroes known as The Maximums, who are analogues of The Ultimates much the way Marvel's Squadron Supreme served as substitutes for DC's Justice League. The Maximums, unlike The Ultimates, are based out of San Francisco.
- While Pym tries to sell Nick Fury on the Ultron and Vision robots, Quicksilver accuses his sister, the Scarlet Witch, of flirting with one of the VISION robots. This is an obvious reference to the Scarlet Witch of the 616 universe who married the android Vision that was created from the body of the original Human Torch by the 616 Ultron Android who was in turn created by the 616 Hank Pym.
- In issue 1 of Ultimates 2, Loki can be seen in the restaurant scene involving Thor and Volstagg. After Volstagg warns Thor of Loki's escape and mission of chaos, Loki can be seen in the background wearing a green suit and smirking.
[edit] The Ultimates Movies
On July 20, 2004, Marvel Entertainment and Lion's Gate Family Home Entertainment announced that they would be producing a 66-minute animated movie titled Ultimate Avengers, based on The Ultimates, which was released on DVD February 21, 2006. It does not include the member Hawkeye.
A sequel, Ultimate Avengers 2 was released on August 8th 2006. It introduces African superhero the Black Panther, who rules the African nation of Wakanda.
- Further information: Ultimate Avengers
[edit] Collected editions
[edit] Trade paperbacks
| The Ultimates Vol. 1: Super-Human | (ISBN 0-7851-0960-9) | collects The Ultimates #1-6 |
| The Ultimates Vol. 2: Homeland Security | (ISBN 0-7851-1078-X) | collects The Ultimates #7-13 |
| The Ultimates 2 Vol. 1: Gods And Monsters | (ISBN 0-7851-1093-3) | collects The Ultimates 2 #1-6 |
| Ultimate Annuals Vol. 1 | (ISBN 0-7851-2035-1 ) | includes The Ultimates 2 Annual #1 |
[edit] Hardcover
| The Ultimates Vol. 1 | (ISBN 0-7851-1082-8) | collects The Ultimates #1-13 |
[edit] References
- ^ Ultimates 2 #3 August 2005 Marvel Comics.
[edit] External links
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