Marvel Ultimate Universe on Life Support?

The Marvel Ultimate Universe looks like it's on a downward spiral and most people say its long past due. What happened to this imprint and why couldn't Marvel get it together?

With the recent reduction to only 3 books, and now the cancellation of Ultimate FF, the Marvel Ultimate Universe is in dire straights. While this alternate universe imprint was originally meant to breath a new energy into the existing Marvel characters, for some reason, they just can't get it right anymore.

I've read again and again over the years how Spider-man is the only real reason to keep the Marvel Ultimate Universe alive. Nowadays, frankly, I have to agree. With Ultimate FF gone after only 6 issues and the All-New Ultimates sucking more and more each issue, Miles Morales is really the only book worth looking forward to each week from the Ultimate line-up. Not only does the Marvel Ultimate Universe only have one good character to depend on these days, there are constant rumors that Miles Morales will find his way into the 616 universe. And that would be putting the final nail in the Ultimate U coffin.

I think many readers have had little faith in the Marvel Ultimate Universe for a while now. Yet it should be at least somewhat important to current day comic book fans because the Ultimate U has had a surprisingly strong influence on the pop culture translations of our favorite comic books. Look to the most recent Amazing Spider-man reboot. This representation of Spider-man and the villains are much more similar to the Ultimate U than the 616 universe. And it looks like we may be seeing that same trend in the latest Fantastic Four reboot as well. Not to mention Nick Fury in the MCU.

The Marvel Ultimate Universe is often compared to DC's New 52 as a forerunner of this now commonplace rebooting of characters. I think it's fun to see characters get a new life, but what's the point if the publisher can't get great talent to continue the work? I personally enjoy the work that Bendis does and has done, but many people don't. On top of that, the books not under Bendis are getting terrible reviews both critically and from the fans. See All-New Ultimate #2 review at IGN.com. This book has never broken a 7 out of 10 on IGN. Also, here's a short but dismal review of issue #3 from Inside Pulse. Personally, I was very excited to see this young team get its own on-going book. Also, there was much excitement for Michael Fiffe to make his Marvel writing debut. But ever since it started, I have been very disappointed. The greatest offense in this on-going is the change of Jessica Jones from Spider-woman to Black Widow. Needlessly confusing and pointless in the narrative, this change is nothing but frustrating. On top of that, they took the sleek and sexy Spider-woman costume and replaced it with a grunge-inspired garbage excuse for a superhero costume.



While Ultimate FF had a great concept (IMHO) it lacked in execution BIGTIME. More than that, no one cared about this line-up. How do you get FF fans on board with a team that has only one member of the Fantastic Four. Yes, I know FF is not strictly meant to be the Fantastic Four. But, come on, Falcon and Machine Man? These are not heavy hitters. If we're talking about a one in three chance of hitting a home run for the Marvel Ultimate Universe, I don't think I would have picked this line-up. I thought the concept of a special, Stark-funded team meant to track down and eliminate reality-destroying anomalies was actually a concept with some legs. Maybe it was, or maybe I was totally wrong. But either way, this creative team and this superhero line-up choked at the plate. The rest is history...

Finally, we are left with the most recent rendition of Ultimate Spider-man, aptly titled Miles Morales: the Ultimate Spider-man. I'm not sure how many more variations on that title they can come up with for new volumes of Ultimate Spider-man. This current title is quite a mouthful, but at least it is slightly more distinctive than previous volumes that were very easy to mix up. Trust me. When I first went back to catch up on all the Miles Morales story lines, it was difficult to keep them separate from the Peter Parker stories. (Side note: I have a subscription to Marvel Unlimited, which I highly recommend for these binge catch-up sessions.) Miles Morales is still going strong because it's still in the hand of Bendis and Marquez. This was the creative team who wrapped up the last volume of Ultimate Spidey and really laid the ground work for the All-New, young Ultimates. As I read the final issues of those books, I was enthralled and truly drawn to this young team. The build up to them becoming a team wasn't exactly subtle, but it worked. And while Cataclysm, and then Survive, really failed to capitalize on this build up, I still had high hopes. My hopes for the young Ultimates have been dashed and the recent developments for Miles Morales have me on pins and needles as well. See the image below:



At first, many people thought this might be a joke, but recent September solicitations from Marvel have confirmed it's real. What does this mean, you ask? At first, I thought it was a solid indication that Miles was moving over to 616. But with the recent confirmation of this crossover, it was also revealed that, in fact, the All-New X-men were actually the ones doing the universe hopping. At this point, I have no idea what in the heck this development means for the Marvel Ultimate Universe, but I'm hopeful, and here's why:

The All-New X-men is another brainchild of Bendis and honestly, they need a new home. Time displaced from the past and unable to return, the All-New X-men are beginning to flounder. With a quick visit to 1610, the team may get the boost they need to stay relevant. On top of that, we're seeing the infusion of some excellent talent with more stories from Bendis coming into the Ultimate Universe fray and Stuart Immonen on pencils with his always crisp and graphic renderings in the mix.

Hopefully, the development within the Marvel Ultimate Universe over the second half of 2014 can help to revitalize this imprint. Otherwise, I hope they stop kicking this dead horse. We've seen the Ultimate imprint die and be revive numerous times, but it hasn't had the same "umph" that it had in the beginning for a long time. Miles Morales is the pillar that carries the entire weight of the 1610 universe, and it's about time he got some back-up.

What are your thoughts on the Marvel Ultimate Universe? Please share in the comments!

The Future of Marvel Ultimate Universe

Miles Morales Returns to the Marvel Ultimate Universe Line-Up This Week!

The Marvel Ultimate Universe was in a very precarious place not too long ago, and to much chagrin and celebration (depending on who you are), the end of the world did not occur during the big Cataclysm crossover event. While the Ultimate Universe did survive, the lay of the land will never be the same for the remaining heroes in this alternate timeline.



"The lay of the land" is really different in two major ways. First, in the books, the world is drastically different. Galactus came and destroyed half of Manhattan amongst much more destruction that wasn't geographically specified, but it had to be bad, because he had a giant planet eating machine drilling into the planet's core. On top of that the array of Marvel Ultimate Universe comics is now much slimmer than before. The only books coming out on the Ultimate U side of things now are The All-New Ultimates, Ultimate FF, and Miles Morales The Ultimate Spider-Man. This is pretty slim pickings by comparison to the many other versions that have come before 2014. For me, this only leads to speculation about how much longer this imprint will continue to publish new stories.

Earth-1610 has been through many cancellations and reboots, but it still manages to hang on somehow. If a world-ending crossover event wasn't enough to put this world to rest, then it may have a healthy future ahead of it for sometime. With that being said, I'm excited for the release of Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #1 this Wednesday (May 7th). While there will always be controversy over a Spider-Man that is not Peter Parker, I for one cannot get enough of the work that Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez put out together. Don't get me wrong, I've heard all the complaints about Bendis, and they aren't necessarily wrong, but Bendis is the true visionary behind the Ultimate Universe. I think his relationship to this imprint goes a long way toward some great storytelling.

One of the most fruitful of Bendis's creations, in my view, is the new team of youngster Ultimates, aka The All-New Ultimates. This team had been slowly coming together over many issues of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man and with Marquez leading the art on the final issues of that book, it was a really exciting story arc to read. Now that the team has been formalized in its own series, I'm excited to see what will come of this ragtag team of teenagers. Unfortunately, I have not been a big fan of the art on that book, but Bendis and Marquez are back on Miles Morales, and frankly I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="650"] Norman Osbourne returns in Miles Morales #1[/caption]

As for the one remaining book in the Marvel Ultimate Universe that I haven't discussed, Ultimate FF has the most potential, but that can go both ways. This book is based on a high concept that Earth-1610 is in dire dimensional straights. The new team of Iron Man, Sue Storm, Falcon, and Machine Man are working to stop dimensional bubbles that continue to appear from tearing their home dimension apart. While the art style is strong, and the concept is very intriguing, it once again leads to the ultimate conclusion (no pun intended) that this universe is headed to the grave. It has killed nearly all its big heroes and now the dimension itself is falling apart. I really don't know how long you can keep a series going based on the premise that the fabric of reality itself is going to shit. Either the crew wins their race against the dimensional decay and save the universe and the book ends, or they don't and the whole universe ends. The stakes are high either way, but I can say at least, for now, they've got me interested. Here's to new comic book Wednesday!

Catch a preview of the new Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man over at Comic Book Resources: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=21468