By Marc Strom
In the first issue of ULTIMATE COMICS X, Jeph Loeb and Arthur Adams introduced readers to Jimmy Hudson, the son of Wolverine. With their second issue, the creators brought Jean Grey front and center.
Now, in ULTIMATE COMICS X #3 on June 16, Derek Morgan soars onto the scene.
Wait a minute-Derek who?
Don't worry; you'll know a lot more about him soon.
"With an issue that is called "Who or WHAT is Derek Morgan?" I can't give away too much," teases Loeb. "What I can say is that a guardian has been looking after the streets of an urban neighborhood in Chicago. A
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| ULTIMATE COMICS X #3 preview art by Arthur Adams |
As to what part Derek Morgan plays in the larger mystery of ULTIMATE COMICS X and what it has to do with the plan Wolverine told his son about, Loeb remains equally mum.
"Now you're hitting on 'What is Ultimate X,'" he suggests. "What we've seen so far is that Kitty Pryde found Jimmy Hudson and let him know the truth about his life, that he's Wolverine's son. We then met Karen Grant who was actually Jean Grey hiding underground with a brand new life, until Jimmy located her. So there's a pattern forming of mutants who were devastated by Ultimatum and now have to choose what will happen to their lives. All I can say, it's not the X-Men."
Working with a legend like Arthur Adams has compelled Loeb to shake things up with every new issue, allowing the artist's versatility to shine.
"I do like to tailor a story to fit the artist's strengths," remarks the writer. "But the challenge with Arthur is that he's such a master illustrator he can handle anything I throw at him! ULTIMATE COMICS X will change locales; we started in Florida, then Baltimore and now in issue #3 we're off to Chicago. Each location, like the stories and people in them, has a different look and feel. Issue #3 is very noir. It's a dark and rainy night story."
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| ULTIMATE COMICS X #3 preview art by Arthur Adams |
"After the big screen Michael Bay/Roland Emerich feel of ULTIMATUM, I wanted to do something that was smaller, more character-driven," relates Loeb. "I was very affected by the first five issues of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and how well [writer] Brian Michael Bendis crafted that story. He really taught me a lot."
We've already seen the likes of Sabretooth, Mystique and Kitty Pryde show up in ULTIMATE COMICS X, and while Loeb wouldn't let slip which other familiar faces may show up, he would offer up a hint as to the larger scope of the series and those characters involved in its story:
"This title isn't limited to X-Men. There [are] more surprises to come. As much as I love the first three issues, Arthur's designs for issue #4 just make me smile. We're going to learn whatever happened to Liz Allen, who we know can burst into flames and has an unusual connection to the horrible, terrible Blob!"
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MarvelMaster616 doesn't know what he's talking about. I have read every single comic from the Ultimate imprint - and have just finished reading Ultimate Comics: X 003 - and I feel that the Ultimatum storyline was a natural development that was bound to happen at some point. Ultimate Marvel was brilliant because it recreated our favourite heroes and gave them a greater connection between each ...
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MarvelMaster616 doesn't know what he's talking about. I have read every single comic from the Ultimate imprint - and have just finished reading Ultimate Comics: X 003 - and I feel that the Ultimatum storyline was a natural development that was bound to happen at some point. Ultimate Marvel was brilliant because it recreated our favourite heroes and gave them a greater connection between each other across titles, but it didn't stray far enough from the original Marvel universe. Ultimatum has allowed this to happen, with the new characters and a greater gap between Ultimate and Original I look forward to greater story-lines from Loeb and Bendis in particular.
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At first I was worried when I saw that all of the Ultimate characters died, but than again I know to consider it a separate universe than the original 616 universe. And even though most of the favorites died in the Ultimate Comics, I still enjoy reading different takes on the world of Marvel that's why I like all other worlds and characters.
New life, WhiteLighnting? What kind of new life is it to kill all the great characters like they were cattle and basically plagiarizer other stories? There's a difference between being influenced and just plain copying. That hologram in the first issue with Logan telling Jimmy he was his father? Total knock-off of Jor-El. He could have done it in so many other ways with pictures or a letter ...
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New life, WhiteLighnting? What kind of new life is it to kill all the great characters like they were cattle and basically plagiarizer other stories? There's a difference between being influenced and just plain copying. That hologram in the first issue with Logan telling Jimmy he was his father? Total knock-off of Jor-El. He could have done it in so many other ways with pictures or a letter or even a birth certificate. But no, he has to rip Superman.As for Jean, she's been turned into some emo when her initial Ultimate self was so outgoing and charismatic. Say what you will about her and Logan, but that was a relationship with a history in the comics and movies. Calling it creepy because of age is pointless because Logan is just as old in the other comics. If you're going to knock that, you're knocking the rest of the comics as well.There's no potential for this book. New characters are going to be introduced to try and replace the ones that were killed. That's what happened in Avengers. That's what's happening in New Ultimates. And it's not going to work because you CAN'T replace Cyclops, Wolverine, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, Professor X, the Pyms, or the Hulk. No amount of new characters will take their place, especially when Hudson comes off as just another Daken and when Derek Morgan looks like a glorified Batman. This book has NOTHING to look forward to. The characters that made Ultimate great were slaughtered and because of that, it will NEVER be worth anything more than Art Adams' pen. However, I'm tempted to throw even that out after he made Jean look like a 12-year-old. Nuff said.
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I don't know why my previous post got deleted so I'll say it again. Every time I hear Jeph Loeb talk about the Ultimate universe, I die a little inside. I used to be the biggest Ultimate fan and I used to get all books with an Ultimate title. Now I feel as though my entire collection is completely meaningless. Jeph Loeb's Ultimatum completely destroyed everything I once loved about this ...
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I don't know why my previous post got deleted so I'll say it again. Every time I hear Jeph Loeb talk about the Ultimate universe, I die a little inside. I used to be the biggest Ultimate fan and I used to get all books with an Ultimate title. Now I feel as though my entire collection is completely meaningless. Jeph Loeb's Ultimatum completely destroyed everything I once loved about this series and now I can't even read the old stories because I know it's just going to end with everything getting destroyed. It is a crime against fans everywhere to have let Jeph do this sort of thing. Killing so many great characters, many of them off panel and in the most callous of ways, is just inexcusable. Loeb deserves no praise for his work. He's not even being that creative with Ultimate X. The first issue was a complete knock-off of Superman Origins and the second issue basically cut and pasted the plot of Ultimate X-men Requiem. Yet he has the gall to call it new and fresh? I pray Loeb gets kicked off this book at one point or at least steps down. He's done more to destroy my favorite comic series than any other writer. I feel like I wasted so much time and money on Ultimate and there's no way I can get it back. Ultimate X is a total sham and Loeb does not deserve to be within fifty miles of the Ultimate universe. Nuff said.
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X has become my favorite comic series, bar none. It brings a new life to the X-men that's been long over due. Let's face it, when wolvie first met Jean, and had the hots for a girl that was barely legal, while he'd been through the civil war..that was creepy. But his son, now that's not so strange to see these two characters interact. And with Scott dead, she doesn't come off as the &&%@&$ ...
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X has become my favorite comic series, bar none. It brings a new life to the X-men that's been long over due. Let's face it, when wolvie first met Jean, and had the hots for a girl that was barely legal, while he'd been through the civil war..that was creepy. But his son, now that's not so strange to see these two characters interact. And with Scott dead, she doesn't come off as the &&%@&$ that the mainstream universe turns all characters into. The raw potential of the book is what gots me totally hooked, and I personally hope Loeb keeps up the good work, and brings forth the excitement and intrigue this series can provide. As for Master's comments on this or that plot line being a rip off, all authors are influenced by other works all the way back to Homer. It happens, and in comics, it happens alot. All we can hope for really is that the whole "Just repeat something Claremount wrote in the 70s" and putting it in a new wrapper is over. Not that there is anything wrong with the old Claremount era, it was awesome, but it was also done, and should stay that way. Let's see some new ideas and new characters. Because, honestly, if I wanted to read those stories, I'd go into my collection (which I often do), and re-read them..not wait for them to be republished in a new skin.
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