BENDIS ON HIS TWO ULTIMATE STARTS

[MattBrady]

by Ryan McLelland

There’s one common thread running through Marvel Comics “Ultimate Starts” month and that thread is Brian Michael Bendis. An event that is taking hold of the December Ultimate books, “Ultimate Starts” has been billed as a perfect jumping point as both Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men begin fresh story arcs for new readers to jump into. While Bendis is writing both Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men, he’ll also see his name, along with co-writer Mark Millar, grace the byline of the new Ultimate Fantastic Four, which debuts at the end of December.

Ultimate X-Men #40 is the start of the “New Mutants” storyline which introduces well known Marvel characters such as Angel and Dazzler to the Ultimate continuity. “The President starts to put together his own mutants,” says Bendis on the story arc. “The X-Men are just not politically correct enough and his presidency is in jeopardy. We see teammates switch teams and we meet new mutants.”

What other new mutants can fans expect to see introduced? “We meet a little Emma Frost. We meet a little Havok,” Bendis states while adding, “And not everyone makes it out of the arc alive.”

Bendis is more candid about what is upcoming in Ultimate Spider-Man, which sees its Ultimate Start issue commence with an anniversary fiftieth issue. “It’s the next chapter in the Kingpin/Spidey head-butt-a-thon,” says Bendis. Fans however are very excited about another infamous Spider-Man character debuting in the Ultiverse, Spider-Man’s on-again off-again fling, Black Cat.

Bendis says, “The Black Cat will be very close to the traditional Black Cat in many respects, but Peter being fifteen and not one of her peers makes the dynamic between them very unique and very fun. Let’s say she takes a liking to him without knowing how old he is. Makes for the funny, me thinks.”

With Peter playing Ashton Kutcher to Black Cat’s Demi Moore, readers will also enjoy another crossover in the issue. “The ultimate Electra/ Black Cat catfight,” Bendis says. “Which is my proudest moment as an award winning writer.” Adding on his longtime collaborative artist Mark Bagley, “The issue is, no joke, Bagley’s best issue.”

With Spider-Man 2 soon to hit theaters in Summer 2004, will the film’s release affect Ultimate Spider-Man? Kinda. “Well, the next arc is ‘Ultimate Spider-Man: The Movie,’” Bendis notes. “A very fun story where Peter Parker wakes up one morning to the news that Sony and Marvel are making a huge budget Spider-man movie.

“Spidey is a public figure so they have the full right to do whatever they want and Peter has no way to stop it unless he reveals himself as Spider-Man,” says Bendis on this next arc. ”Sony isn't making a Peter Parker movie because no one knows he's Peter Parker. But it is directed by Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maquire and is produced by Avi Arad and Kevin Feigi. It is a lot of fun.”

But there will be a few more similarities, Bendis adds - “Yeah, here comes the octopus. Doc Ock is so mad that his ex-wife sold his rights to Sony that he is inspired to break out and take care of business. That is just the setup.”

In asking Bendis if any of the stories from regular Spider-Man continuity would make their way over to the Ultimate title, Bendis stated, “Yeah, in issue #50 we’re giving a bit of a tip of the hat to the tablet story from Spidey past but that's about it for a while. The next four arcs on Spidey are all new material. ‘Ultimate Spider-Man The Movie’ is a total original story; ‘Carnage’ is a total head-to-toe revamp. So though there will always be these little tips of the hat and such, where we can, but there's so much new, new, new stuff to do.”

Back to the mutants, Bendis will end his Ultimate X-Men run with issue #45, a bit longer then he first intended to stay on the book, “I found it to be so interesting and so much fun that I stayed on six issues longer than I said I would. Mark Millar laid out some very generous groundwork and some great cliffhangers.”

“Mark and I are having the time of our lives,” Bendis continues. “These are the best gigs in comics and we know it. It’s just fun and challenging and rewarding, we're not bullshitting anyone and I think that's why we tend to stand out when we do.”

Thought leaving Ultimate X-Men, Bendis has no plans on leaving Spidey behind, “I am on Ultimate Spider-Man until they pry it from my cold dead fingers and I hope to give a nice healthy run, I really want to dig into this. It’ a really unique book.

“If I ever leave Ultimate Spider-Man I will be like [West Wing creator Aaron] Sorkin on the West wing and fuck it up so badly that the next writer will be dizzy trying to put it all back together. I’ll chop off Peter's arms and go to the next guy: good luck fixing that,” kids Bendis with a laugh.

Bendis fans can also look forward to a slew of upcoming projects from the writer, “I have my top secret Marvel project coming out in February and the debut of The Pulse. Powers volume 2 debuts in March, and also, there’s this thing Mike Oeming and I are hatching over at Marvel.”

“Ultimate Starts” kicks off December 3rd when Ultimate Spider-Man hits the stands. From Ultimate Dazzler to Ultimate Black Cat to the new Ultimate Fantastic Four series, fans will have a chance to jump right in with the introduction of many great characters into the Ultiverse. Bendis, however, has no plans to follow a suggestion and introduce an ultimate version of a certain Marvel duck, adding that if anyone is seriously wanting to see Howard: “You need to get outside. You need to rent the Howard the Duck movie, that will slap the silly right out of you.”

[DCON]

hmmmm..... it doesnt feel right, i think is too cluttered and i think the art could of bee alot better.

im not picking this one up

[IanZL]

There were two artists there DCON, which one.


I'm going to play totally-uneducated art critic here and say Angel's wings don't really look like wings. They're just kind of like a big mass of feathers that just located around his back. I don't know, just seemed weird to me. I'm getting both of these though.

Like the idea for Spider-man the movie though. Like the idea that Doc Ock's rights got sold by his ex-wife too, thats a bit of genius right there. Its kind of like the first Green Goblin appearance when he tried to make Spider-man think they were making a movie of him though isn't it?

[HowAreWeToLive]

hey matt, could you check the link to the angel picture? it doesn't show up when i click the link. thanks.

[AllAboutMe]

Sounds like a lot on Bendis' plate. Sorry to see him leave Ultimate X-Men and I am not looking forward to Bendis' buddy David Mack take over. I have not enjoyed Mack's DD stuff or really ever cared for the Kabuki series. I also think Finch is not the right artist for this book. His X-Men seem a little too much like the mainstream guys, especially Wolverine. Not to mention Finch's scratchy style. Ugh.
Glad to see Bendis' enthusiasm for Ultimate Spidey.
From the previews I'v seen of Ultimate FF, the only thing I can say for certain is it looks like Kubert's worst effort yet. Just looks bad. Plus we know he can't amintain a schedule. Who is the first fill-in?
Powers Vol. 2?
Not to mention Bendis is back on DD.
Busy guy.

[Matches Malone]

Powers Volume 2? Is that a collection, or a relaunch?

[Talannon]

I will be getting this as usual It looks great.

Anyone know who will take over ultimate x-men after Bendis leave?

Edit: bah nevermind someone answer that while I was posting :P

[Talannon]

Originally posted by Matches Malone
Powers Volume 2? Is that a collection, or a relaunch?

Bendis said it was a relaunch on his website.

[Zadillo]

This is the first time I heard him mention it being "volume 2", but given the other things he has said about what is going to be happening to Powers (I won't spoil anything here for you if you don't want to be spoiled), it sounds like there are going to be enough dramatic changes after the end of this current storyarc, that it does make sense to make it "volume 2".

-Zadillo

[Hdefined]

Originally posted by MattBrady


With Peter playing Ashton Kutcher to Black Cat’s Demi Moore, readers will also enjoy another crossover in the issue.

Yikes, worst pop analogy ever ><

[MattBrady]

Originally posted by HowAreWeToLive
hey matt, could you check the link to the angel picture? it doesn't show up when i click the link. thanks.

fixed it.

MattB

[MMJ]

Wasn't Bendis supposed to be staying on board Ultimate X-Men until #50? That was announced a few months ago, with much hoopla about a solid 18 month stint by one creative team, yet now when it transpires that he's actually leaving with #45 there is no explanation for why he's leaving earlier than expected. Guess Mack must be ready to start up earlier too then, eh?

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by MMJ
Wasn't Bendis supposed to be staying on board Ultimate X-Men until #50? That was announced a few months ago, with much hoopla about a solid 18 month stint by one creative team, yet now when it transpires that he's actually leaving with #45 there is no explanation for why he's leaving earlier than expected. Guess Mack must be ready to start up earlier too then, eh?

I'm not sure....... if I recall correctly, I think he had something along the lines of that he was going to be co-writing 4 or 5 issues with Mack, leading up to Ultimate X-Men issue #50, at which point Mack would be taking over solo. I don't know if this is still the plan or not...... perhaps he still contributed some ideas, but didn't do enough writing for that arc for him to want to take co-writing credits with Mack?

-Zadillo

[wolfpacker]

This all sounds like a load of fun. Keeping the Ultimate line small and limited to a few creators guiding it really brings back the early Marvel flavor that Stan and Jack and Steve had.

[Infinite01]

Originally posted by AllAboutMe
From the previews I'v seen of Ultimate FF, the only thing I can say for certain is it looks like Kubert's worst effort yet. Just looks bad. Plus we know he can't amintain a schedule. Who is the first fill-in?

Couldn't agree more. I've never cared for Adam Kubert's art. I struggle to think of an artist with such an inconsistant style. It's like he gets lazy halfway through the page and just draws with as little detail as he possibly can. It's a shame, because he's capable of some good stuff, but he doesn't deliver 99% of the time. I'll be picking up Ultimate FF for Bendis and Millar alone, but I can't wait until they get a better artist on the series. One of my top choices: Carlos Pacheco.

[cyclopsfan]

I am totally pumped about this issue. I have been a ultimate supporter for a loooong time now, and am really excited about these two upcoming arcs.

Long Live the Ultimate U

[reg hollis]

Has Peter Parker aged since issue 1? Wasn't he 15 then?

I was wondering because I assumed that time in the Ultimate universe would work more realistic than in the Marvel Universe. (Personally, I'd love Peter Parker to be 56 in the Marvel Universe as he should be rather than 25 or whatever!)

[gvalley]

Bendis is a god. He's got his hands so deep in my pockets I can't even move. This movie arc sounds so unbelievably funny I wish they'd be releasing the Black cat one weekly, just so we can get to it already.

[jedidz23]

I am so pumped for this. Bendis's work on Ultimate Spidey has been nothing short of brilliant. With him, Bagley, and Thibert planning on riding out this run for the duration, we are privileged to a unique concept that bucks the trend of most hit books. Whereas most creators jump from book to book with the frequency of a cheap hand radio (movie reference), these three have blessed us with some time capsule stuff!

[Foobster]

Has Peter Parker aged since issue 1? Wasn't he 15 then?

Bendis said that the series goes by faster than time. For example, the Venom storyline took place over about 2 days. 2 or 3 months have passed so far.

Thar ya are.

[cyclopsfan]

Originally posted by Foobster
Has Peter Parker aged since issue 1? Wasn't he 15 then?

Bendis said that the series goes by faster than time. For example, the Venom storyline took place over about 2 days. 2 or 3 months have passed so far.

Thar ya are.

Yeah, the issue where he got sidetracked trying to stop the Rhino, was a single issue that took place in one day.

[mavok]

I really wish no one would die in Ultimate X-Men...I'm tired of characters dying, unless it is for a very good reason. Don't ask me what constitutes a very good reason though.

Other than that, Bendis sounds like he's going to give us a wild ride like usual.

Also, not to sound like I want him off or anything, but does anyone here know if/when Bendis is leaving Daredevil? I have vague recollections that he plans to leave somewhat soon, but maybe I'm wrong. Does anyone know???

thanks!

mavok

[deaconmc]

Originally posted by AllAboutMe
From the previews I'v seen of Ultimate FF, the only thing I can say for certain is it looks like Kubert's worst effort yet. Just looks bad.

I couldn't get over how he made teen Reed look like.. i dunno, a garbage pail kid? I read recently Kubert went back and redid that cover shot, I thought, thank you.

But he was going on about how he didn't think he caught Sue's essence. Unfortunately, Reed still looks like a cross between Jim Carrey and Butthead.

[jedidz23]

Originally posted by deaconmc
Unfortunately, Reed still looks like a cross between Jim Carrey and Butthead. [/b]

Huh huh huh, huh huh huh...that was cool.

I know, pretty lame, but what do you expect...I'm at work!

[AllAboutMe]

Actually Bendis is just returning to DD in January after a stint by his pal Mack. Glad to see him back. Bendis has made DD a good book for the first time since Lanky Frank.
I have to agree, that Reed shot was horrible and it is the main reason I stated it looked like Kubert's worst yet. With how half-assed a lot of the Ultimate X-Men issues looked, I wondered why he was still too slow to keep a schedule.
I have a feeling that Ultimate X-Men is quickly to become a muddled mess of too may mutants much like it's main line counterparts.
I would love Pacheco on anything, but rumors say he will be popping up on Green Lantern. For the first time in my life, I may have to buy this series regularly!