God, I miss the Ultimates...

[pantanplan]

I remember back in 2000-2006ish the Ultimates comic books. They were amazing and original. Why can't the new comic books ("Ultimate Comics" BS) measure up to the good old Mark Millar stories? Seriously, the new stuff isnt half as good as the old Ultimate comics were (I'm not talking about Spidey or F4, just the Ultimates). I mean, why is it like this? Has Mark Millar lost his touch? Ultimate Comics Avengers and New Ultimates kinda dissapointed me, and looking back at the old issues of the Ultimates, I wonder why can't they repeat their awesomeness in the new comics (it's still Mark Millar writing them, isn't it?). I'm not even going to mention Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (awful art, below mediocre story)...

[DiceRoll]

Millar's on Ultimate Avengers
Loeb's on New Ultimates

[pantanplan]

OK, missed that. But still, Ultimate Comics Avengers isn't as good as it should be...

[The Gorn Identity]

Mark Millar's Ultimate Comics Avengers isn't as good as his The Ultimates 1 and 2 for a number of reasons:

1) Jeph Loeb is using all the major characters in New Ultimates (Cap, Thor, Iron Man).
2) The taint of Loeb's The Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum is still existent.
3) Loeb killed off Wasp and Giant Man. These were two key characters on the Ultimates team.
4) Bryan Hitch's realistic costume and set design of The Ultimates 1 and 2 has since been abandoned by Loeb, Madureira, Finch, and Cho. Now all the characters have a silly, 90's colorful spandex look to them. Hawkeye suffers greatly from this, in particular.

:cool:

Honestly, I wish Marvel treated The Ultimates with a "hands off" policy to anyone else except Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch.

[ThePhenom]

Mark Millar's Ultimate Comics Avengers isn't as good as his The Ultimates 1 and 2 for a number of reasons:

1) Jeph Loeb is using all the major characters in New Ultimates (Cap, Thor, Iron Man).
2) The taint of Loeb's The Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum is still existent.
3) Loeb killed off Wasp and Giant Man. These were two key characters on the Ultimates team.
4) Bryan Hitch's realistic costume and set design of The Ultimates 1 and 2 has since been abandoned by Loeb, Madureira, Finch, and Cho. Now all the characters have a silly, 90's colorful spandex look to them. Hawkeye suffers greatly from this, in particular.

:cool:

Honestly, I wish Marvel treated The Ultimates with a "hands off" policy to anyone else except Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch.

I think the biggest would be the change in concept. The Ultimates was a modernisation of the Avengers whereas UCA is supposed to be his "an event an arc" comic.

I think Millar also has less to prove and with his recent success can get away with writing all-around poorer stories (and I'm a big Millar fan).

[carabas]

I think the biggest would be the change in concept. The Ultimates was a modernisation of the Avengers whereas UCA is supposed to be his "an event an arc" comic.I am unclear how Ultimates 1 & 2 were not "an event an arc" comics.
IMO Millar is still basically writing basically the same book, minus most of the cast because they are unavailable.

[ThePhenom]

I am unclear how Ultimates 1 & 2 were not "an event an arc" comics.
IMO Millar is still basically writing basically the same book, minus most of the cast because they are unavailable.

By all means the first two had the whole widescreen Authority thing going on.

With this though he bluntly stated that this was basically just designed to be an event comic in the sense that there could be any given combination of characters, fast-paced with big action.

I'd argue that the Ultimates were just grandiose Avengers stories.

[Serviettedetable]

yeah, I agree completely about the Authority thing. But this feeling is lost now... and I don't know if there's some other comics made now with that touch... ?

[Minerboh]

I remember back in 2000-2006ish the Ultimates comic books. They were amazing and original. Why can't the new comic books ("Ultimate Comics" BS) measure up to the good old Mark Millar stories? Seriously, the new stuff isnt half as good as the old Ultimate comics were (I'm not talking about Spidey or F4, just the Ultimates). I mean, why is it like this? Has Mark Millar lost his touch? Ultimate Comics Avengers and New Ultimates kinda dissapointed me, and looking back at the old issues of the Ultimates, I wonder why can't they repeat their awesomeness in the new comics (it's still Mark Millar writing them, isn't it?). I'm not even going to mention Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (awful art, below mediocre story)...
For your remark on Ultimate Spider-Man i couldn't agree with you more! That amateur who's drawing a pumpkin with arms and legs and says ''look guys i just drew Spider-Man'' needs to be removed from the book so a decent artist can take over right this instant!!!
As for the Ultimates, their new title looks promising...we will wait and see!

[misfit84j]

I remember back in 2000-2006ish the Ultimates comic books. They were amazing and original. Why can't the new comic books ("Ultimate Comics" BS) measure up to the good old Mark Millar stories? Seriously, the new stuff isnt half as good as the old Ultimate comics were (I'm not talking about Spidey or F4, just the Ultimates). I mean, why is it like this? Has Mark Millar lost his touch? Ultimate Comics Avengers and New Ultimates kinda dissapointed me, and looking back at the old issues of the Ultimates, I wonder why can't they repeat their awesomeness in the new comics (it's still Mark Millar writing them, isn't it?). I'm not even going to mention Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (awful art, below mediocre story)...

Boo hoo.

Boo hoo.

[Aoman]

I always feel so out of place commenting on these forums becuase unlike seemingly every other comic book fan on the interweb, I actually *like* Jeph Loeb! I'll admit that The Ultimates 3 sucked, but I'd also argue it was becuase it didn't have enough issues to tell an otherwise good story. And as far as Ultimatum was concerned, I really enjoyed it. I know a lot of you guys hate how many charecters it killed and how much it "screwed up" the Ultimate universe. But seriously guys, that was one of the whole points of the universe to start with. It's supposed to be a reimagining, a universe where writers do what they want, and you can't just expect it to play out the same way it has in the past. The whole, no one dies in comics except Bucky (who is actually alive...) rule doesn't apply. As far as the New Ultimates and Avengers books, I haven't actually read them, but I have read Ultimate X, and am as I always have been an avid Ultimate Spider-Man reader. So far I really like what I see. I don't know what to expect from my comics, it's not a remake, its something new and exciting and unpredictable. As far as the complaints with Lafuante, I actually totally agreed in the beginning, and while his work is still spotty, I think he is sinking into the job, again with that it's just opinion. Anyway, to summerize, I think the ultimate universe it really as it always has been, I don't see how half universe being dead is any different than Collossus being Gay or Ben Reilly being a clone happy lab assistant.

[pantanplan]

I always feel so out of place commenting on these forums becuase unlike seemingly every other comic book fan on the interweb, I actually *like* Jeph Loeb! I'll admit that The Ultimates 3 sucked, but I'd also argue it was becuase it didn't have enough issues to tell an otherwise good story. And as far as Ultimatum was concerned, I really enjoyed it. I know a lot of you guys hate how many charecters it killed and how much it "screwed up" the Ultimate universe. But seriously guys, that was one of the whole points of the universe to start with. It's supposed to be a reimagining, a universe where writers do what they want, and you can't just expect it to play out the same way it has in the past. The whole, no one dies in comics except Bucky (who is actually alive...) rule doesn't apply. As far as the New Ultimates and Avengers books, I haven't actually read them, but I have read Ultimate X, and am as I always have been an avid Ultimate Spider-Man reader. So far I really like what I see. I don't know what to expect from my comics, it's not a remake, its something new and exciting and unpredictable. As far as the complaints with Lafuante, I actually totally agreed in the beginning, and while his work is still spotty, I think he is sinking into the job, again with that it's just opinion. Anyway, to summerize, I think the ultimate universe it really as it always has been, I don't see how half universe being dead is any different than Collossus being Gay or Ben Reilly being a clone happy lab assistant.

I kind of agree with you on the Ultimatum issue. I don't hate Ultimatum because they killed half the characters, I hate it because it was done in a quick and non-artistic (story-wise) way. I'm sure that there is a reason they killed all those characters. It's going to lead up to something big, trust me.
Btw, Jeph Loeb isn't THAT bad, but Ultimatum and The Ultimates vol 3 ruined his reputation for all time. Mark Millar ftw.

[VRaptorX]

A reason? The reason was plain and simple. These characters they don't want for future plots and they needed canon fodder.

Do you really think there is an elaborate plan that NEEDS Forge to die? That some story can not possible be told without Toad dead? No.

They killed off everyone that had a plot left over they didn't want to write and those that they thought were too minor to be worth anything. There is no giant plan for all 30-something dead characters.

Of course, if they bring any of them back in an attempt to get a sales boost, they'll claim it was the plan all along....much like how Quesada will claim it was his plan all along if MJ and Spidey remarry. We know that is a lie.

[DiceRoll]

Aoman, it's because the Ultimate U is a re-imagining that Ultimatum was such a slap in the face. You set up this new universe to tell new and interesting stories about existing characters in new situations...and then kill off a good chunk of them. It just seems like a great deal of potential was wasted in the most haphazard way.

[bjarten]

I'm not even going to mention Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (awful art, below mediocre story)...

I think David Lafuente's art on Spider-Man is great, much better than Bagley IMO. I like the new direction of Spider-Man, but I agree that Mark Millar's Ultimates has been subpar after the relauch.

[Aoman]

I think David Lafuente's art on Spider-Man is great, much better than Bagley IMO. I like the new direction of Spider-Man, but I agree that Mark Millar's Ultimates has been subpar after the relauch.

OMG, for the last time! I haven't even read the book and I know this, Millar is not writing New Ultimates... He is writing Avengers, and that is all. LOL

[TC88]

On ultimatum, i like the fact that people died with dangling stories and whatnot, similar to real life, which is kind of fitting due to the universe (for a comic book), just hated the execution

[MagSeven]

I always feel so out of place commenting on these forums becuase unlike seemingly every other comic book fan on the interweb, I actually *like* Jeph Loeb! I'll admit that The Ultimates 3 sucked, but I'd also argue it was becuase it didn't have enough issues to tell an otherwise good story. And as far as Ultimatum was concerned, I really enjoyed it. I know a lot of you guys hate how many charecters it killed and how much it "screwed up" the Ultimate universe. But seriously guys, that was one of the whole points of the universe to start with. It's supposed to be a reimagining, a universe where writers do what they want, and you can't just expect it to play out the same way it has in the past. The whole, no one dies in comics except Bucky (who is actually alive...) rule doesn't apply. As far as the New Ultimates and Avengers books, I haven't actually read them, but I have read Ultimate X, and am as I always have been an avid Ultimate Spider-Man reader. So far I really like what I see. I don't know what to expect from my comics, it's not a remake, its something new and exciting and unpredictable. As far as the complaints with Lafuante, I actually totally agreed in the beginning, and while his work is still spotty, I think he is sinking into the job, again with that it's just opinion. Anyway, to summerize, I think the ultimate universe it really as it always has been, I don't see how half universe being dead is any different than Collossus being Gay or Ben Reilly being a clone happy lab assistant.


I'm glad it was short. I'm having so much trouble following his Hulk stuff right now that I would drop it entirely if I hadn't spent so much cash on it already.
His Ultimate story would have been cool if it hadn't been set in the Ultimate universe. It seemed to me that he didn't do alot of research on the characters and made them all Extreme Studios versions of their 616 counterparts. Hopefully he will explain this, but I doubt it.

[normanosborn21]

i picked up the ultimates 1 hardcover recently, the reason i bought it was all the praise it received on these boards. it has surpassed all expectations i cannot agree more with the posters giving it high praise, and i have to thank those who turned me onto it. from this reader it comes highly recommended, i only hope ultimates 2 is close to the same quality as i have yet to read it. one thing i do know ultimates 3 was a waste of my money.

[The Gorn Identity]

...i only hope ultimates 2 is close to the same quality as i have yet to read it.No worries. It is. You'll love it.


one thing i do know ultimates 3 was a waste of my money.LOL. It's definitely the "Godfather 3" of the trilogy. A part of me would just like to imagine that The Ultimates' saga ends with The Ultimates 2.

[MarvelMaster616]

No worries. It is. You'll love it.

LOL. It's definitely the "Godfather 3" of the trilogy. A part of me would just like to imagine that The Ultimates' saga ends with The Ultimates 2.

I agree. Sometimes I find myself wishing that Ultimates 3 didn't happen because it began what would become the horror that was Ultimatum. That has ruined the entire Ultimate universe and it all started with Ultimatum. I find it disheartening that Marvel would resort to such extremes to save a series. I truly don't get the logic. After Ultimates 2, they ran out of ideas so they decided to destroy everything? I don't get it. There were plenty of other stories they could tell. Ultimatum was completely unnecessary and so was Ultimates 3. Now Ultimate as a series is forever tainted and I don't see it recovering anytime soon.

[carabas]

No worries. It is. You'll love it.

LOL. It's definitely the "Godfather 3" of the trilogy. A part of me would just like to imagine that The Ultimates' saga ends with The Ultimates 2."Ultimates 3" is what "Godfather 3" would have been if Uwe Boll had directed it, and decided to set the whole thing in a hospital, added some zombies, and had a Arnold star in it.