Ultimate Marvel

[slucas76]

Okay, so I've been sitting under this rock for a while.

I remember seeing the Ultimate Spider-Man title around the same time that the movie was hitting theaters and thinking, "Hmmm, a movie tie in (genetically engineered spider, etc.)" but I never picked it up. Never gave it another thought, either. Then I was perusing the LCS and saw other Marvel titles.

These are pretty entertaining reads.

What a way to start Ult. Hulk vs. Wolverine. Damn!

Anyone else fans?

[SatansProdigy]

I like Ultimate Spiderman. I pick up the story in trade form. I tried Ultimate X-Men for awhile, but just couldn't get into it. Some of the minis are pretty good. I hated Ultimate Fantastic Four, but then I was never a big fan of the original.

[dpxcomicsgirl]

Ultimate Spider-Man is fantastic! Pick up the first trade and you will never look back. I don't really collect regular Spider-Man books, but I love this title! It has nothing to do with the movies, really.

Ultimates (vol 1 and 2) is fantastic. Bryan Hitch's art is to die for, and the stories are interesting.

Ultimate Fantastic Four is very good. I collect it regularly.

Ultimate X-Men, I started collecting it when it came out, but soon lost interest. I've been perusing the later volumes and it seems like it got interesting under Brian K. Vaugh's writing. It's very much mutant teen soap opera, though. I prefer the original 616 X-Men.

[fulltimer56]

Let's see! I'm reading the Ultimates 2 & Ultmate FF and I have picked up the Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine but haven't read them yet. I know I got to get to reading them!! :oops:

Linda

[slucas76]

I've seen the hardbound trade that collects the first three trades (39 ishs?) online for about $60 and I've been trying to talk myself into buying it. I might just have to suck it up and drop the cash.

I also want the Ult. FF lead in to the Zombies, plus I'm going to check out 30 as the lead out.

The guy at the LCS mentioned that the Ultimates 2 has been pretty good, too. I have to say that Marvel seems to be putting a lot of their effort into these series right now.

Mebbe I'll pick up some trades.

[dpxcomicsgirl]

Why pay $60 for a HC when you can get the same 3 TPBs for $31.11?
http://www.instocktrades.com/

I love the Ultimate FF Zombies arc. They led everyone into thinking they were crossing over with the 616 universe, and then what they did caught everyone unaware. I dare say, it's a stroke of brilliance that it's rare to see these days.

[Gallinator]

I wish Marvel put as much effort into the 616 as it does into the Ultimate Universe. I didn't want to like it, but I do. Ultimates leads the way (so far 1 is better than 2), followed by USM, UXM and UFF. They're all good.

Plus, they appear to have some actual re-sale value...bonus!

[slucas76]

Why pay $60 for a HC when you can get the same 3 TPBs for $31.11?
http://www.instocktrades.com/

Because I'm a silly fool? :lol:

I agree with you, Gall. I guess that I can't poo poo the fact that Marvel has readable books out there, but I wish that ASM could hold my attention the way that USM did. Some of the main series are starting to come around (Planet Hulk has been a good read so far), but the Ultimate MU has been good.

[dpxcomicsgirl]

I totally agree with the Gallinator. Although a fresh start has helped the Ultimate titles become popular, ultimately (heh heh) the success of the line boils down to the high quality of the stories. I totally agree that if they put that kind of effort on the regular titles, every Marvel comic out would be gold.

[Gallinator]

if they put that kind of effort on the regular titles, every Marvel comic out would be gold

So why don't they, I wonder? Sure, DC has signed a lot of talent to exclusive contracts, but so has Marvel. Why not have Millar and Hitch and Bagley and Land on some regular 616 titles? Bendis' style sure is wearing thin, but he puts his best efforts into things like Powers and Alias (and maybe Daredevil - maybe). If you're gonna get someone like Neil Gaiman, stick him on the flagship title, not on a What If? series that just pisses everyone off.

AARGHHH! The frustration is so unnecessary! But there are signs of improvement. Ed Brubaker is a frigging genius, even though he brought back Bucky. Robert Kirkman is pure gold. Garth Ennis is killer, even though his style isn't for everyone. The pencilling is still suspect on a lot of titles, but at least there is hope.

[jaydeebee]

GALLINATOR IS RIGHT!

And that's twice in as many days that I have found myself in almost total agreement with gallinator.......Hmmmm...what the?

[fulltimer56]

Oh I have a question, guys?

What is "616"?

Linda

[Capitalrecoveryman]

616 = the regular Marvel Universe

[SatansProdigy]

616 = the regular Marvel Universe

Learn something new everyday! I'm not a big Marvel fan, so I, too, was wondering what it was!

[fulltimer56]

Thanks, CRM!!

I kept seeing "616" showing up and I just couldn't understand what in the world that was!! :?:

Linda

[Gallinator]

I found an online guide for all the different Marvel universes once, but like an idiot forgot to bookmark it and now can't find it again!

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[marvelguy]

It was introduced in some Excalibur issue years ago. There's a Wikipedia entry on this. However, I have a feeling there will be a Crisis years down the road concerning the universes in Marvel.

[slucas76]

Picked up Marvel Masterworks Spidey Vol. 1 (cheap on eBay, love it!) Had never read any of the origin issues, but now that I am and also reading Ultimate Spidey from the beginning in trades, it's cool to see how they updated the character, but kept to the roots, right down to "stealing" some of Stan the Man's actual dialogue for the update.

All in all, a very impressive showing by the new guys and it's fun to see the old books in their glory. I'm going to go broke now that I've gotten back into collecting. :lol:

[4zack]

gall,

Are any of the following to your liking?

http://marveluniverse.quickseek.com/

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/enc2/official_handbook_of_the_marvel_universe

http://www.comicboards.com/marvelguide/

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7160/wicksint.html

http://www.marvunapp.com/master/mastguid.htm

[Gallinator]

Thanks, 4zack! I've had the 3rd and last ones bookmarked for quite a while, but I'll check out the rest. I found that list I was looking for in Wiki, and I posted that in another thread...ah, here it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_%28Marvel_Comics%29

[marvelguy]

Thanks for the link, Gall. That's some headaches there. Spider-Ham has his own Earth? The 1602 penned by Neil Gaiman? Bunches of earths based off What If? and Excalibur and maybe Exiles. Remember when Chris Claremont wrote Excalibur? Well, he's set to write Exiles later, oh, the horrors. There's a CRISIS looming!

[rowand]

Wikipedia rocks. Their section on Kryptonite does need some work though!