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Welcome to the Ultimate Blog
2007-07-20 10:44:12


Hi! Associate Editor John Barber here, inaugurating the Ultimate Blog!

What’s an Associate Editor do? Well, in my case it’s whatever Ultimate Senior Editor Ralph Macchio doesn’t do…today, that includes showing up for work. I kid—Ralph’s actually at home supervising some renovations on the Palatial Macchio Estate in New Jersey. The rain over the past few weeks has left the repainting stalled and the gutters…hold on, you probably don’t care about this, do you?

So what do I do? I mostly supervise the day-to-day work on the Ultimate comics: cataloging the scripts and art pages as they come in; talking to the writers and artists about, well, the writing and the art; going over the coloring; stuff like that.

By way of a for instance—Mike Carey just now sent a script for Ultimate Fantastic Four #37. We’re managing to work a little ahead on their run (which begins with Ultimate FF #33 in August). Mike’s scripts have been nothing short of spectacular, and Pasqual Ferry’s art started off amazingly and then—I don’t know how he does it—has actually gotten better each and every issue.

The current Ultimate FF creative team—Mark Millar and Greg Land (with able help from Mitch Breitweiser, Justin Ponsor, and Randy Gentile)—has been knocking it out of the park since they started. So we were all a little nervous about them leaving…but we knew Mike was right for the book—he’s a huge FF fan and one of the best writers in comics—and when Pasqual became available, we really thought we had something.

But that something was even better than we’d hoped. Both of these guys are pushing themselves harder and harder to make this the best book they can…

Mike delivered a brilliant script to issue 36 a few weeks ago. Ralph and I read it, and both loved it—funny, exciting, innovative…who could ask for more? Well, Mike Carey could, as it turned out.

Ralph emailed Mike to tell him how much we enjoyed the script, and Mike instantly replied with an even better idea for an ending, one that not only capped the issue off well and left us wanting more, but that raised the stakes for our heroes…now Ralph and I are actually worried about Reed making it out alive…

And Pasqual? Same thing. The "Before" image here is a great page of the FF confronting Seed Nineteen in the Baxter Building. Nice scene—I love how Reed casually uses his powers in normal movements; he moves like he’s made of liquid.

Imagine our surprise when Pasqual comes back with an even better revised version of the page ("After")! Pasqual said he didn’t think the first version showed the immensity of the Baxter Building properly—he wanted something more panoramic. And that’s sure what he did.

So what does an Associate Editor do? When it comes to Ultimate Fantastic Four, I sit back and read it like the fan I am.
Delay
When are we going to see Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #3?

Posted by offbeatblink on 2006-06-16 14:17:36
My hero!
John Barber, you're so dreamy!

Posted by Sean McKeever on 2006-06-16 14:54:21
wow
After seeing the art guess I'll have to be a fan too. "Dang You Marvel! There goes my raise."

Posted by wijade on 2006-06-16 15:22:56
why
Sean McKeever never comes to my blog to moon over me :(

Posted by pete on 2006-06-16 15:34:11
holy crap!
O_o John, this FF comic book looks fantastic! (no pun intended) The art...goodness it's amazing! I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Posted by kokomo007 on 2006-06-16 18:15:51
Re: delay
For Wolverine vs. Hulk: Expect word soon. This blog's probably the best place to look to find out when we're back on track with the series.

And believe me, I know the delay's frustrating.

Posted by John Barber on 2006-06-16 18:18:43
Ultimate Marvel
What's up everyone. I have a question to ask everybody. Since Marvel Comics is making these Ulimate Mavel books like Ulimate X-Men and Ulimate Spider-Man, which Marvel comic book or characters should be made into a Ultimate Marvel comic book and why. Thanks for your time everyone.

Posted by NEOHUNTER on 2006-06-16 18:41:41
Ultimate U rules!!!
I see this universe now as the safe place. There still are alot of muties in it, spidey is still a teen and has a secret identity (yay!) and the FF aren't adults. It's all good. But recently my friend who was a fan of the 80's and old cartoon show of the X-men said he doesn't like UXM for the way they mess up characters. I'm just wondering what you guys think of that statement. I personally see it as a cool version for the X-men but of course some bumps do happen on the road.

Posted by Bearpod91 on 2006-06-16 22:27:11
nice
this a realy good sreies u guys got here

Posted by tarhaun on 2006-06-17 00:22:33
ulimate marvel
quote:")...so when are we gonna see some Ultimate Marvel Knights? ;)"
what are you talking about we've seen plenty of marvel knight's that was pretty much the warriors arc in usm!

john is there any news on the cable arc in uxm?

mr.barber is there any hope at all for someone who wants to see ultimat scarlet spider in the usm clone saga?


Posted by scorpionspupil on 2006-06-17 14:56:57
ultimates
is ultimate hulk vs. wolverine gonna finish before i turn 167?


Posted by scorpionspupil on 2006-06-17 14:58:14
Ultimate Marvel Knights
Oh, I just wanna see an ongoing or something with Ghost Rider and Moon Knight to name a few, but basically just to see more of them! I loved the warriors arc because it satiated my want for a little bit; however, it gave me a taste, and now I want more, please.

Posted by meestercheeser on 2006-06-17 23:39:58
ultimate 3 ?
love every thing in the ulitmate world , when will ultimates 3 come out i hear so much about it , and will they have the same problem as ulitmates 2 ?

Posted by seaman on 2006-06-18 01:27:17
July 12th
we are gonna see Ult. wolverine vs Hulk on July 12th.

Posted by 1webfan on 2006-06-18 16:52:53
Ultimates 3
I hope Joe Mad doesn't punk out and quit ULT3 halfway through, he hasn't proven himself to have a good work ethic. How will we know that he can perform?

Is hiring him for this series worth it? Joe Mad is no Mark Bagley.

Posted by Revolver Dark on 2006-06-18 22:25:05
re: joe mad
Revolver Dark, I too share your feelings. Of all the comics I purchase, the Ultimate line is most sacred to me. The idea of putting Joe Mad on an Ultimate project fresh out of his slacking hiatus makes me nauseous. If I had my way, I'd rather wait for him to draw EVERY ISSUE before they publish any of them. That way, I won't be disappointed, even though I'm expecting I will be.

Posted by meestercheeser on 2006-06-18 23:50:32
Ultimates: Time Quake or Ultimates Forever
They should have a story line where the Ultimates travel through out time and space or maybe break out some type of Ultimates Forever? That would be pretty cool to see.

Posted by cyber storm on 2006-06-19 13:57:06
Do we need more?
Personally, i'm happy with the Ultimate titles that are available. I wouldn't want to see something launched as "Ultimate" just for the sake of pumping out more books under this imprint. For example, Ultimate Elektra. I quit that after issue one, it just wasn't the same quality as the rest of the books. If I had to guess, an Ultimate Hulk would be the next logical choice, since big green is the other tentpole character that doesn't have an ongoing series, but I don't really think it's necessary. The Hulk vs. Wolvie series is enough to satisfy my Hulk interest. So basically, to summarize, let's keep the titles to a minimum so the line doesn't get watered down with mediocre books! The ones available now are great!

Posted by spiderseppy on 2006-06-19 15:11:48
Ultimate X-Men
Hey, John!

When are we gonna se some interesting news or previews on Ultimate X-Men?? It feels like the title lost his importance in the Ultimate Universe.

Cheers!

Posted by Hi-Fi on 2006-06-19 21:08:52
grey hulk
is the hulk we see at the end of Ultimates #12 what we can expect to see at the end of Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine? If so, way to spoil the dramatic climax.

Posted by Moshing-Mice on 2006-06-30 00:29:56
Ultimate X-men Bearpod91's statement
Bearpod91, I agree with your friend I don't like what they have done with some of the characters... Most notably I am not a big fan of the romance they had with wolverine and Jean. They also made Jean into some what of a slut. Another thing I am slightly disappointed in is the enormous amount of attention that Wolverine gets. Now, I know he is the most popular character but he has his own book and story line it would be nice if they toned down the “wolverine show” a little in the x-men book(s). Oh and Iceman is a little to young for my taste.

Posted by lebneh on 2006-07-10 23:53:57
Ultimate X-men
dude! that comic was so good! It still is but I miss Mark Millar and Andy Kubert...The Ultimate Universe was made for teens right? How many adults do you guys think read it??? That just shows you that teens and Adults like similar things no matter what adults say! Well, the worst thing I think that the worst thing happened in the Ultimate X-men series was Hank's death... why did they kill off Hank??? And then Storm went crazy... Anyway, I think that the newest writers should stop using the original Marvel universe plot line and start taking some writers license.... I mean that's why the new universe was created!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry... anyway, Ultimate X-men is really good. I haven't read many of the others but I think the fisrt chapter of Ultimate Spiderman was good too.

Posted by KevinUndaho on 2006-07-12 23:34:15
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About this blog:
Associate Editor John Barber gives the inside story on the Ultimate line of comics--plus whatever other comics John edits!

About the author:
John Barber has been a web cartoonist, self-publisher, author, and now comic book editor. He lives in New York with his fiancee Alison.
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