COMIC BOOKS: The Ultimates

Much of Marvel Comics has been influenced by The Ultimates, as much as the Marvel Universe inspired The Ultimates.

“The Ultimates” was originally an alternative Marvel Universe which now seems like the mainstream Marvel Universe for much of the public.

In many ways, traits from “The Ultimates” were as much a part of the essential building blocks of Marvel movies as the original source material from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s.

“The Ultimates’” biggest influence on the movies: Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

In the regular Marvel comics, Fury is a white, World War II veteran in charge of SHIELD. In “The Ultimates,” creators Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch thought it would be fun to make Fury a younger, Black man who looks like Samuel L. Jackson. When it came time to cast the movies, getting Jackson to play Fury was a natural choice.

Besides, in the movies, like “The Ultimates,” Fury and SHIELD organize the Avengers.

Marvel Comics recently released an 818-page volume that collects the first and second Ultimates mini-series, along with the annual and other items.

In “The Ultimates,” the world has suffered its first superhuman attack from Magneto. SHIELD and researchers such as Bruce Banner and Hank Pym are trying to duplicate the Super Soldier Serum that fueled Captain America decades earlier prior to his disappearance saving the United States during World War II.

Banner inadvertently turned himself into the Hulk and Pym intentionally used his Ant-Man growth research to turn himself into Giant Man – all in an effort to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. The research is funded by Tony Stark, who is also Iron Man.

Throw in the discovery of Captain America in suspended animation, Pym’s wife Jan as the Wasp, a hippie-type Thor leading a European Norse cult and you have the makings of “The Ultimates.”

The first mission comes from within as Banner decides to become the Hulk to give these super-powered beings someone to fight – a deadly miscalculation.

Much of the set-up for “The Ultimates” happens prior to the first chapter in this collection.

Millar and Hitch present familiar characters with plenty of interesting twists. These twists are not stale even two decades after “The Ultimates” was first published and numerous elements were incorporated into the movies.

“The Ultimates” is a fun diversion for fans of traditional Marvel fare. and became an entire universe within the Marvel Universe itself. With more Ultimates following in the wake of these first story arcs.