Ultimates

Writer Mark Millar signing a copy of the collected edition of the first miniseries during an appearance at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

The first volume of the Ultimates, written by Millar and illustrated by Hitch, was published in limited series format and ran for thirteen issues with production delays from March 2002 until April 2004. Hitch described the alternative-reality reimagining as one where, "You have to approach it as though nothing has happened before and tell the story fresh from the start.... We had to get to the core of who these people were and build outwards, so Cap [Captain America] was a soldier, Thor is either a nut case or a messiah ... Banner [the Hulk] an insecure genius, and [superspy Nick] Fury the king of cool".[3]

A second series, also by Millar and Hitch and with similar production delays,[4] was released as Ultimates 2 and ran 13 issues (Dec. 2004 – May 2007).

In a 2004 interview, Millar outlined the difference between the Ultimates and the Avengers: "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 defeat 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."[2]

This was followed by the one-shot Ultimate Saga (Nov. 2007), a condensed retelling, by writers C. B. Cebulski and Mindy Owens and artist Travis Charest, of the events of Ultimates and Ultimates 2. A third series, Ultimates 3 (Dec 2007 – Sept 2008) was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Joe Madureira.[5]

Mark Millar returned to the Ultimates with a series of shorter miniseries, beginning in 2009 with Ultimate Comics: Avengers, which ran from August 2009 until July 2011.[6]

Overall, the Ultimates series has been generally well-received by critics and readers, with the first two volumes being praised for the surprisingly mature themes and concepts, the more humanly flawed and layered characterizations of the original Avengers members, Millar's storytelling and writing, Hitch's photo-realistic and cinematic-styled artwork, the modernized, grittier and realistic, yet simultaneously engaging and intriguing re-imagining of the classic Avengers mythos and the political relevance of the first two volumes, while some criticism was leveled at the somewhat unnecessarily adult-oriented, mature and cynical tone and direction of the series, with the third volume: The Ultimates 3 being met with a mostly negative reception, compared to the positive response received by the first two volumes, for the aforementioned reasons. The first volume of Ultimates #1 ranked fourth among the top 300 comics sold for February 2002, based on Diamond Publisher's indexes,[14] with the next three issues ranked second,[15] second,[16] and third,[17] respectively.

Popmatters.com praised Mark Millar's writing in the opening eight issues, stating the writer "is able to walk a very fine line of keeping the story measured yet entertaining".[18] Comics Bulletin, in a review of the "Homeland Security" story arc, states the artwork is "visual magnificence" yet is concerned about the dark writing of the characters stripped of their "super-heroic nobility" and was "disheartened by the book’s tone and cynicism".[19] Shakingthrough.net gave "Homeland Security" a 4.2 out of 5.0 stating it is an "engaging read, filled with intriguing and amusing modern takes on classic Marvel characters" whilst praising Bryan Hitch's artwork by saying it is "amazing, gorgeous artwork, which continues to set the standard for cinematic photo-realism."[20]

Ultimates 2 #1 ranked second among the top 300 comics sold for December 2004,[21] with the next three issues ranked second,[22] fourth[23] and sixth,[24] respectively.

Reviewing Ultimates 2, Curledup.com praised Millar's writing of the classic heroes and the "inclusion of current-day politics" improves the storyline.[25] Comics Bulletin reviewed the final issue #13 but found it anticlimactic with the issue degenerating to a "slug fest". The artwork was praised with the reviewer stating that Bryan Hitch's "artwork has definitely been one of the main elements that will make this series memorable."[26] Denofgeek.com praised the artwork, with "Bryan Hitch doing some of the best work of his career", but was critical of Millar's writing stating it had "no substance".[27]

Ultimates 3 #1 ranked first in December 2007's Top 300 comics with preorder sales of 131,401,[28] Issue #2 ranked number seven with 105,070 preorders.[29] Issue three ranked better than its predecessor, falling at number five, but had a smaller number of preorders, totaling at 97,210.[30]

Reviewing Ultimates 3, IGN called the book a "reasonably decent experience" although the issue "falters on its own merits",[31] only to later state while reviewing the third issue that "Behind the theatrics and swagger, there's just nothing there to draw me in. These are the characters that I used to enjoy in name only, hollow shells of what they used to be."[32] Alvaro's Comic Boards' review was even harsher, remarking that Ultimates 3 "has somehow managed to entirely miss what made the Ultimates something other than alternative universe Avengers" and adding "this was the worst comic I've read all year".[33]

2011's Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates received highly positive reactions upon its debut. Chad Nevett from Comic Book Resources wrote that "the comic is exciting and sets up a large story that, right now, seems like it could easily end with the destruction of the team. A first issue that starts with its foot on the gas is exactly what’s called for",[34] while IGN gave the first issue 8/10.[35]

• The Ultimates (comic book)
• The Ultimates 2
• List of Ultimates members
• Ultimate Nick Fury
• Tomorrow Men
• Avengers (comics)

• Ultimates at Marvel.com

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