The Ultimates 3

The first and second series of The Ultimates were both important titles. They helped establish Mark Millar as a major name at ‘The House of Ideas’, effectively setting him up to become one of the biggest writers in comicdom a few years later. They affirmed that Marvel’s Ultimate line was to be considered synonymous with the very best the company had to offer. And they were amongst the finest books turned out in the first decade of the century. A great deal of good was done by Hitch and Millar’s Ultimates books.

Naturally Marvel was keen to keep the title going. Unfortunately, for them and us, Millar was less keen to remain involved. Feeling he’d told all the stories he wanted to with the Ultimates team and wanting to work with different characters, both Marvel properties and his own, Millar declined an invitation to write The Ultimates 3.

The company was tasked with finding a new writer for the series. What they needed was someone familiar with the first two series, and the characters used in them, who was keen to do something new and exciting that followed on from Millar’s work. Ideally they would have given the book to a young writer who’d proven themselves on an expendable title or two who could have used The Ultimates 3 to establish themselves in the same fashion Millar had.

Instead it went to Jeph Loeb.

New ideas are not Loeb’s strong suit. Where Millar gave us a fresh and interesting take on well-worn characters, making them feel new again, Loeb did everything in his power to rework them to be more in line with their traditional portrayals. Which spectacularly missed the point of the Ultimate line, of course. Cap goes from being a man out of time to a generic square-jawed hero, Black Widow becomes a sex kitten double agent, and Thor inexplicably starts chatting like a Shakespeare character, ignoring the eco warrior theme he’d had under Millar. There are other examples. These are simply the worst.

Along with his complete non-understanding of the title’s original appeal Loeb also failed to provide an interesting storyline. Where Millar had provided fittingly large scale plots involving alien invasion and Nazi criminals (it’s more inventive than it sounds, I promise) Loeb tells the tale of a sex tape and a sentient robot butler. These are not subjects that should be off limits to comics, but they are subjects and storylines that should have been off limits to an incredibly successful action title being produced by Marvel.

He also went overboard with cameos and continuity. This is a trademark of his. We were “treated” to appearances by the likes of Spider-Man, Magneto and Sabretooth, the pointless debut of Hank Pym’s Yellowjacket garb, and the addition of Valkyrie, Wolverine, Black Panther and others to the team so that Loeb can play at writing mysteries (which he seems to think he’s rather good at, which would make him wrong as well as a poor writer). None of it adds anything to the story beyond a cheap thrill. The continuity was worse, mostly because Loeb didn’t have sufficient knowledge of what had gone before. At times it’s as though he thinks he’s writing for Marvel’s regular continuity, which, again, completely misses the point of the Ultimate line.

Adding to the woe was the exit of artist Bryan Hitch alongside Mark Millar. To my knowledge he’s never stated why he left The Ultimates but it would seem safe to assume he wanted fresh work. As good as Millar’s Ultimates scripts were it’s easy to imagine Hitch wanting to draw something else.

Replacing him was Joe Madureira. He’s not a bad artist but his work was so different from Hitch’s that it failed to feel like the same book. And as it was presented as a continuation of what had gone before that was a bit of a problem. His artwork just didn’t gel with the tone people were expecting.

At the time it was clear that The Ultimates 3 was a terrible comic series. Loeb and Madureira were entirely the wrong people for the task of continuing the sterling work of Millar and Hitch and they produced something bad. With hindsight it’s worse than simply being a bad comic. With hindsight The Ultimates 3 is where the entire Ultimate line took a dive in quality that it never recovered from.

The Ultimates 2

Ultimates (a review of which can be found here) boasted a pretty impressive creative combo. Mark Millar on scripts and Bryan Hitch on pencils. There was never any question that one or both parties would be switched out for Ultimates 2. It was always theirs to work on if they wanted. Considering the first series had upped both men’s profiles considerably they naturally wanted to write more.

Ultimates 2 is not a radical departure from what made the first book a success. It is essentially more of the same but with new threats and a handful of new characters given a global scale. Part of what had made the first series work was the emphasis placed on character, something that has since become unusual in a Millar work (he prefers to write what could be described as fleshed out caricatures these days). He didn’t drop the habit before Ultimates 2 though.

The regulars of series one return, retaining the healthy modern twists they were given there and staying true to the larger history of their regular Marvel counterparts (Ultimates is set in a separate continuity from regular Marvel tales remember). Character developments are what drives the story forward. Whether it’s Bruce Banner being outed as the Hulk and then being sentenced to death, the rocky marriage of Hank and Janet Pym, or the continued mystery of Thor’s true nature (is he really a god or just a nutter?) the plot spins off of the characters, rather than the other way around.

The first portion of the series is very hard on the regulars, putting them through the grind so that they can make a triumphant comeback in the second half. The Ultimate version of Loki is introduced, and he naturally targets Thor for the first several issues. Once the thunder god’s out of the way Loki introduces his own team of superheroes, who lead a super-powered war against the United States using troops from a variety of anti-US nations.

This group, dubbed the Liberators, are analogues of the regular Ultimates. They’re led by The Colonel, a young boy from the Middle East who has been subjected to a strain of the Super Soldier serum that created Captain America. For some never explained reason he’s equipped with a lightsaber. I imagine it’s simply that Millar thinks Jedi toys are cool.

To my mind the war on the US storyline is the best thing Millar wrote under the Ultimates banner. It’s perfectly plotted and runs on an impressively large scale. The focus was on telling a realistic story using familiar characters, nothing else. Since this series wrapped up in 2007 the Ultimate imprint as a whole has taken a nosedive in quality as other writers have forgotten or overlooked what made the Ultimate line popular in the first place.

I don’t think this is a coincidence. Millar and Hitch were painfully slow when working on the two series they did together but they provided the line with creative leadership. While Millar would do more work in the Ultimate Universe it wasn’t with Hitch, and he had his own creator-owned projects on the go at the same time, which meant he had less time to dedicate to the larger world building that he’d done throughout the first six years of the Ultimate line’s life.

The twenty-six regular issues that make up Ultimates and Ultimates 2 are essentially one long story. They’re broken up with a number partly because of the delays that plagued issue releases. Ultimates 2 cannot be appreciated or made full sense of without having read the first series. I recommend doing so. It’s one of the best superhero comics ever written and is (amazingly) self-contained. More Ultimates comics would come later, but you can easily put down the final issue of Ultimates 2, never pick up any of the follow-ons and remain content.

The Authority

The make-believe worlds of Marvel and DC all too often take the concept of superheroes for granted. There is little sense of wonder or scale. It's the same group of goodies battling the same group of baddies over and over again, with only mild variations on a theme tossed in to keep long-time fans coming back for more. It's a state that has arisen because the two companies have become so big that they have to worry about things like marketing, meaning they can never kill off a character that’s even remotely popular because there's money to be made.

A criticism can be levied against the inhabitants of these fictional worlds too. If they are all-powerful then why have they never escalated their war against the legions of bad beyond the petty skirmish level? Working together these characters could create a utopia yet they choose not to.

The answer that they don't want to interfere doesn't cut it. Firstly they interfere on a daily basis, they just stop short of doing anything beyond maintaining a precarious status quo. Secondly the world they live in is real to them. It's their home. These people are scientists and heroes and gods, exactly the sort of people who should want change for the better.

The reason this never happens is simply that Marvel and DC are too scared of affecting major changes. They like presenting a world comparable to our own, for marketing reasons and ease of writing. To their credit Marvel have over the last year experimented with creating a more advanced planet in their Ultimate line of titles but you get the feeling that's more because sales had dipped and something needed to be tried to turn the ailing line's fortunes rather than because they thought it would be an interesting way of presenting an alternate Marvel universe.

Someone over at Marvel HQ should have read the original run of The Authority before they started this Ultimate endeavour. Launched in 1999 by writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch it is the story of a group of super-powered beings forming a team with no allegiance to any Earth government and a self-imposed mission to save the world by altering it for the better.

The first three arcs see a realistic depiction of the response such a group would receive, with the media, governments, and the general populace all receiving a voice. The plot concepts are, for the most part, impressively large scale. After a relatively low key opening story in which tyrannical dictator Kaizen Gamorra (a character previously seen during Ellis's run on The Authority's spiritual predecessor Stormwatch) launches assaults on major Earth cities we see the gang tackle meatier opponents in the form of a full scale invasion from an alien-controlled parallel Earth and a gigantic alien that is essentially God.

These tales strike a careful balance between character moments and big fight scenes, the latter of which got the title pegged as the world's first "wide-screen comic." Keeping a sense of danger present is particularly impressive when you consider how powerful Ellis made his characters. Apollo and Midnighter are not only pastiches of Superman and Batman but also the world's strongest super-being and a genetically and technologically altered super assassin respectively. They can defeat any opponent in an instant yet Ellis manages to make them relatable and vulnerable.

Jack Hawksmoor is the ‘God of Cities’, needing to stay in metropolitan areas to survive. It's a moniker that has plenty of scope when it comes to powers and Ellis has plenty of fun tinkering with the concept. Swift is a human-bird hybrid who often felt out of place amongst such a powerful unit but is subtly used as a social conscience. The Engineer and the Doctor are a walking super computer with a mouldable body and Earth's great mage respectively, and team leader Jenny Sparks is a woman who looks twenty but was born in 1900 and can control electricity (and is a Century Baby, something that would become very important in one of Ellis's other Wildstorm titles). Each character is well formed and interesting enough to be able to carry a book in their own right. That Ellis has not only tossed them all into one book but manages to write them all equally well is a tremendous accomplishment.

The original creative team only produced twelve issues before moving on to other projects. They were replaced by Frank Quitely and a pre-Millarworld Mark Millar. They too produced storylines unlike those seen elsewhere in superhero comics, opening with a race between The Authority and a an outfit sponsored by a rogue megalomaniac scientist to find a baby born to be 'The Spirit of the 21^st Century' with a story in which the Authority are dispatched by the world's various governments, replaced by more agreeable members. Millar keeps the plotting as tight as Ellis did and services his cast just as well, while Quitely proves a one of the few men capable of not being overshadowed by Hitch. Unfortunately Quitely didn’t stick around for Millar’s entire run (although it should be noted he doesn't stick around until the end of the run like Millar does).

Disappointing sales and concern at DC’s head offices over the title’s direction caused The Authority to be cancelled at the conclusion of Millar's third arc. Subsequent resurrections of the book have not reached the heady heights of those first 29 issues. The Ellis, Hitch, Millar, and Quitely run is well worth tracking down because of its inventiveness and dedication to shaking up superhero comics. It is a fine example of creative comic book ideas done right.

Critical information:
Writers: Warren Ellis and Mark Millar
Artists: Bryan Hitch and Frank Quitely
ISBNS: 9781840231946, 9781840232796, 9781840233711, 9781840234909

The Ultimates

You wouldn't think it to look at the imprint now but when Marvel first launched its Ultimate line it was considered one of the greatest things the company had done in years. Ultimate Spider-Man launched the line in 2000 and was followed by Ultimate X-Men in 2001. Both titles reimagined their titular characters in a more contemporary, (slightly) more realistic world than the regular Marvel Universe, allowing for origin stories updated to suit the 21^st century.
 
As successful as both books were both pale in comparison to The Ultimates. To this day the original 28 issue (26 regular issues and two annuals) run by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch remains one of the line's greatest hits. It’s a stylish, exciting comic that helped Ultimate Marvel to flourish.
 
The first thirteen issue series opens with a first instalment flashing back to World War Two to detail the origin of Captain America, after which we're gradually introduced to the rest of the team. Hank and Janet Pym are biologists working on the advancement of superpowers. Tony Stark is the billionaire playboy we've seen emerge in the films.

There are hints of Bruce Banner’s famous alter ego having already made his presence known to the world (specifically New York). Nick Fury is famously redesigned to look like Samuel L Jackson, hence his casting as the S.H.I.E.L.D. boss is Marvel's films, and is written as a more shadowy, slightly sinister individual than his mainstream counterpart.
 
The greatest recreation is Thor. As the story begins he is either the genuine God of Thunder or an environmentalist lunatic with some very special powers. The way this is introduced is superb and answers that are teased across multiple arcs is incredibly rewarding.
 
What makes the series work is Millar's understanding of the characters at his disposal. He knows what tweaks to make and never goes overboard, meaning the cast remains recognisable but still capable of surprising us. The pacing is quick and the balance between action and plot is perfect. Hitch handles everything required of him perfectly.
 
The first twelve issues are split into two stories. The first details the recruitment and formation of the team and a rampaging rogue troubling New York. The second arc shows the Ultimates' clash with the Chitari, an alien race that had been allied with Hitler during the war.
 
The action, pacing and characterisation are all perfect and there's not a bad line of dialogue throughout the entire run. It’s an essential read for anyone who wants a modern take on superheroes done correctly. Millar and Hitch introduce a sense of wonder that mainstream comics, generally speaking, lack today. Very impressive when you consider how well known the characters at their disposal are.