C2E2 LIVE: Marvel Ultimate Comics Universe

[CBR News]

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, "Ultimate Comics Ultimates" writer Sam Humphries and more brought a taste of all things Ultimate Comics to the final day of C2E2 2012. CBR is on hand LIVE with details.


Full article here.

[Drz]

Ultimate Crossover: Divided We Fall!

The star of "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man" by writer Brian Michael Bendis is still a teenager granted super powers from a spider bite who is trying to be responsible with the powers he's been given. Only now his name is Miles Morales and the person who taught him that lesson about power and responsibility was Peter Parker, who perished protecting his friends and family from an attack by his greatest foes. When writer Brian Wood takes over "Ultimate Comics X-Men" this summer the book will still be about super powered mutants trying to exist in a world that hates and fears them, but these mutants are on the run from and fighting back against forces actively trying to imprison and wipe them out. When writer Sam Humphries takes over "Ultimate Comics Ultimates" in May, which features the Ultimate U's version of the Avengers, he'll be writing about a group of characters trying to understand and protect a world that's been drastically changed by the rise of two nations of super powered people.

What can you tell us about the events that set "Divided We Fall" in motion? Will we see it in all three books and your individual characters' reactions to it?

Humphries: It's difficult to say without spoilers -- but it all grows out of the seeds of the past year or so of Ultimate books. Global instability, anti-mutant hysteria, new players on the world stage eclipsing America -- then at the end of "Ultimates" #9 -- well, everything gets pushed off a cliff. There's no going back from that.

Both of you write team books with rather large casts. Who are some of the characters you'll be focusing on during "Divided We Fall?" What makes their perspectives on this story particularly interesting and relevant to you?

Wood: I am going much tighter with the cast of X-Men, which in its first year was quite sprawling and all-encompassing. I'm making Kitty Pryde the clear leader of the group, and sticking with her core team of Rogue, Bobby, Jimmy Hudson, and Johnny Storm. In #13, Kitty has a personal revelation that's going to prompt her to radically re-orient her mission and priorities, and in following, the direction of the book. They'll all become very proactive and aggressive, no more hiding in tunnels, and we take it from there. I think one of the taglines or solicitation bullets says that Kitty is out to "save America," which can sound kind of bland until you question it a bit. Save America from who? Who is she saving it for? And how, exactly? What will this America look like when she's done?

Rather than each issue leading directly into the next, "Divided" utilizes parallel storytelling

Humphries:The big, character-based news for the "Ultimates" is that Captain America is back from retirement. He's been gone for a long time, playing Boy Scout in the desert. When he pokes his head up again, America is -- well, the place done changed, and not for the better. Cap is going to have to come to terms with what happened when he wasn't paying attention. How that affects him and how that challenges him to be a better Sentinel of Liberty is going to be a huge part of what happens in "Divided We Fall."

In terms of plot and themes what are your "Divided We Fall" stories about? How long are the individual stories you're telling?

Wood: I'm telling shorter stories. My #13 is a one-shot, a re-introduction to Kitty and the series and setting things up. #14-15 are my issues dealing with "Divided We Fall," and from that point onwards we're looking at arcs of 3 issues or so. I have the book planned out for about a year.

Humphries: We've got the "Ultimates" mapped out for a long, long time. How long "Divided We Fall" lasts is a secret I'm not telling.

How big is the scope and scale of "Divided We Fall?" What are some of the important locales where the action unfolds? What kind of forces are your protagonists up against?

Wood: In "Ultimate Comics X-Men," we'll see the team in the Southwest states of America, dealing with the Stryker regime and the Sentinel forces; also the militia that have allied with Stryker and are sympatico with his goals. The big set-piece action and world-building is going to happen in the Ultimates, and the smaller, more personal reflection of all that is what the X-Men is for.

Beyond that, we'll revisit Karen Grant and the SEAR later on in the year.

Humphries: In "Ultimate Comics Ultimates," it's BIG, as big as America itself. We're not going to see Thor and Tony hop on motorcycles and ride the freeways searching for truth and freedom like in "Easy Rider." But we are going to see quite a bit of the United States. "Ultimates" is a big picture book with a big scope, and we're not going to shy away from that.

Ah Captain America going againts the Government itself. :) It's good to have him back.

"It's one of my favorite books to read and to work on," said Anamat. "This is his next stage. He's still trying to become a hero, he's donned the costume, but he's still trying to figure out what that actually means. … You'll be seeing a few more characters including a love interest."

Oh my!

[Havok C.]

I don't usually like saying this, but this sounds epic.

[Codah]

DUDE. I think I know what's going to happen. I bet you Cap is gonna kill the President.

[Drz]

DUDE. I think I know what's going to happen. I bet you Cap is gonna kill the President.

Nah Marvel isn't going to do that. They didn't allow Millar to murder Obama in Nemesis, not to mention Joe Quesada has done drawings for Obama. They won't dare.

[Codah]

Nah Marvel isn't going to do that. They didn't allow Millar to murder Obama in Nemesis, not to mention Joe Quesada has done drawings for Obama. They won't dare.

AHH. That would be so badass though.

EDIT: Maybe he'll deploy a nuke on American soil.

[FlyingAtTreeLv]

God damn I hate Kitty's new lulu lemon costume....

[Drz]

EDIT: Maybe he'll deploy a nuke on American soil.

Captain America is a hero of the people. :) This is him taking down the government, not causing civillians to die buddy. =) Maybe he'll punch whoever is in charge, but i'd assume they will set Agent Flumm as the main antagonist, not Obama.

[sage6paths]

God damn I hate Kitty's new lulu lemon costume....

Its the most realistic thing to wear if you have powers. I like it.

[Codah]

Captain America is a hero of the people. :) This is him taking down the government, not causing civillians to die buddy. =) Maybe he'll punch whoever is in charge, but i'd assume they will set Agent Flumm as the main antagonist, not Obama.

Dude, Ultimate Cap would totally do that. Of course he's not just gonna nuke Manhattan but if it was the only way to end the war in DWF then he totally would.

[Drz]

Dude, Ultimate Cap would totally do that.

Not at all. Look even if the Nuke wouldn't hit anywhere near civillianz, the winter it causes would cause economic and social problems. Captain America would never do something that would cause problems with ordinery civillians. He has the Ultimates, who needs a nuke?

More Panel info as it's being updated:

Anamat touched briefly on Brian Wood's "Ultimate Comics X-Men." "It's actually quite exciting," said Anamat. "The cast is going to be tightened significantly. … Mutants are being killed everywhere and people are somehow okay with this. Kitty Pryde empowers her friends and [decides] to start saving people. It's going to be a mini-track -- they'll be on a journey to the southwest to the mutant camps that are there. You'll start seeing relationships developing between these characters. … It's a teen story with a little bit of written edge."

Sam Humphries began speaking about his work on "Ultimate Comics Ultimates" with writer Jonathan Hickman. "He constantly wants to know what my favorite font is," joked Humphries. "He had plans for the next decade and a half. He's been so supportive and generous from the start." Humphries also spoke about how Hickman had been helping him develop his own ideas for the direction of the future of the book.

"You've got them on a stage where anything goes," he said. "This is a place where you can really shake these characters up in ways you couldn't do before," noting his first issue had just gone to press.

Singh then announced a story called "Divided We Fall," which brings Captain America back "in a major way" to the Ultimate U in a storyline spanning "Ultimate Comics X-Men" and "Ultimate Comics X-Men." "He's going to make a decision in this story that is something that has never been done in superhero comics before," said Singh. "That's not hyperbole, it's actually never been done before."

"Hickman was very adamant to take Cap off the map. He's been very down and out since the death of Peter Parker," said Anamat. "We haven't seen him on purpose. When he comes back, there's a very important reason why he does. It's a really beautiful moment when it does happen. We'll see the Ultimates do what they do best."

Humphries also noted Hickman's desire to take Cap off the board. "Of course, in my first solo issue, I'm going to bring him back," said Humphries. "In your face, Hickman! … When Cap comes back, he's going to have to confront a universe that's dramatically changed. [His decision] is going to be something we could only do in the Ultimate Universe."

Humphries clarified "Divided We Fall" "is an event but is not a crossover," saying "Ultimates" would be "the big scope" book and there will be cross-polination of characters, but you can read only one of the books and figure out what's going on.

"You're going to have an Avengers Assemble moment that's going to make you smile ear to ear," said Alonso. "The last time we did an Ultimate event, it ended in the death of Spider-Man. You're not going to want to find out from your buddy."

Humphries also announced Billy Tan is going to be taking over art on "Ultimates" starting on issue 13. "I'm so excited to have him on the book," said Humphries. "He specializes in this big, action-packed, blockbuster storytelling and that's exactly what we're going to need to pull off 'Divided We Fall.'"

So has a superhero ever ran for a President? :p Also i'm not a big fan of Billy Tan's facials and at times characters. He does action fine, like yeah he does action really nicely, but i wasn't that impressed by Shadowland.

[wyokid]

Told you they were fixing Cap.

[Cloudman]

Miles looks way too tall there. Still, nice art.

[Morentez]

Awesome. Just awesome. That banner in the first post is stunning too.

[wyokid]

Spider-Men came together because Bendis pitched a story. A good story. A good enough story that Marvel editorial, who was very reluctant to bridge the universes together, gave it the go-ahead.

"You don't kill Peter Parker without a risk involved."
"No one wanted to kill him less than Brian (Bendis),"

"In the Ultimate Universe, we always strive to make stories that matter.This isn't a marketing plan. These are stories that we NEED to tell."

I was already sold on it, but now I'm so sold I might buy two copies.