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111-543: It shares its name with the earlier Ultimate Marvel imprint that ran from 2000 to 2015, but is not a direct reboot ; while Ultimate Marvel started by updating the origins of classic Marvel Universe characters in a more modern but recognizable Earth-1610, the Ultimate Universe (Earth-6160) features new interpretations of Marvel characters set in a radically altered sociopolitical status quo. The original Ultimate Marvel imprint ceased to be published in 2015, and

222-607: A Doctor Doom mask-wearing Reed Richards work to undo what Maker has done. Marvel Comics later revealed in June that following the end of Ultimate Invasion, a one-shot called Ultimate Universe #1, written by Hickman and drawn by Stefano Caselli, will release in November and set the stage for a new line of Ultimate Universe comics. The plans have been laid out by Jonathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch, and C.B. Cebulski. In September 2023, Marvel revealed that one of these new titles would be

333-419: A shadow government that manages international relations in a " power behind the throne " style, remains a threat as the new comics that follow are set within such background. Howard's son Tony Stark continues his work to take the world back while taking on the name of Iron Lad. The first comic was Ultimate Universe #1, a one-shot from Hickman and Stefano Caselli that further developed the context in which

444-597: A 2013 storyline. The story, however, is largely a team-up of characters from the Ultimate and mainstream Marvel universes, with only a superficial relation with the plot of the crossover. Matt Little from CBR suspected that the story may have been conceived at some earlier point, and then slightly modified to serve as a tie-in for Secret Wars . Aaron Davis , Morales' uncle, makes his first Marvel-616 appearance in Spider-Man #234. The Maker , an evil Reed Richards ,

555-569: A blue being of energy and the depiction of Harry's transformation into Green Goblin. The 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is based on the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy , in particular the design of Galactus . The franchise was rebooted in 2015 with Fantastic Four , which is strongly based on the first arcs of Ultimate Fantastic Four . Sony made an animated Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Into

666-474: A brand-new X-Men character. It might not be the normal portrayal of a superhero... but, just like with my Momoko-verse stories, I am excited to introduce everyone to this new world." In February 2024, it was announced that Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri would write and illustrate The Ultimates , which will follow Iron Lad , Doom , Thor , Sif , Giant-Man , and the Wasp as they band together to fight back against

777-491: A less notable degree. The film Spider-Man was released in 2002, two years after the start of Ultimate Spider-Man , and also provided a higher character development for Uncle Ben before killing him in Spider-Man's origin story , while also modifying the character's origin story, by writing a genetically-modified spider, instead of a radioactive spider, as the source of his spider-powers and replacing Mary Jane-Watson, as

888-494: A means for collectors to more affordably purchase her work. In April 2014, Momoko participated in her first European gallery exhibition, the multi-artist showcase "1st NSK Folk Art Biennale: NSK: Past - Present – Future // 1984 – 2014 – 2045" organized by Neue Slowenische Kunst in Leipzig, Germany. After graduating from art school, Momoko was an editor at a pornographic magazine, and she had uncredited illustrations published in

999-406: A notable landmark in the comics being featured in the film. Spider-Man: Homecoming also had aspects of the comics like Parker's age, a younger Aunt May , introducing Aaron Davis and revealing the presence of Miles Morales and Stark mentoring Spider-Man though without S.H.I.E.L.D. and other heroes being involved like in the comics, and in the same film where Stark sports an armor reminiscent of

1110-519: A platform to do the kind of broad, epic, storytelling I've always wanted to do in comics. My influences range from the history of Black Panther comics, to Ryan Coogler 's incredible work with the recent films , to Frank Herbert 's world-building capacity of Dune . This is something people won't expect, in the best of ways, and full credit to Marvel and editors Wil Moss and Michelle Marchese for bringing this creative possibility to me." Peach Momoko , from Demon Days: X-Men , will write and illustrate

1221-702: A regular base, using the organization H.A.N.D as a secret police . The Maker is unable to avert certain events, despite using some to his advantage. After the Castle Gamma project of the North American Union tests the "Banner- Ulam Gamma-Bomb" over an island on the Pacific Proving Grounds and causes the creation of the Hulk, he is led towards personal "enlightenment" and becomes the leader of an order of monks called The Children of

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1332-613: A relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man written by Hickman and illustrated by Marco Checchetto and will begin publication in January 2024. This iteration of the story will focus on Peter Parker, having been bitten by a radioactive spider in adulthood as opposed to a teenager, balancing his heroics with his dedication as a family man towards raising his two children with his wife Mary Jane Watson . The following month during New York Comic Con , Cebulski and Hickman announced Ultimate Black Panther written by Bryan Hill with art by Caselli and

1443-521: A relaunch of Ultimate X-Men written and illustrated by Peach Momoko to begin publication following Ultimate Spider-Man in February and March 2024, respectively. Titles in this section are organized by approximate publication date and line title. Brian Michael Bendis wrote the first comic book of the Ultimate imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man , launched in 2000. This was his first work for Marvel Comics. He later worked in other comics of

1554-454: A standalone Ultimate Black Panther story. In the late 1990s, the US comic book industry had declining sales. Annual combined sales from all publishers, which had been close to a billion dollars in 1993, had declined to 270 million. Comic books were briefly seen as valuable investments and sales shops flourished, but prices dropped as the speculative bubble popped in the early 1990s. In addition,

1665-539: A successful run on The Avengers , starting with Avengers Disassembled . He created Jessica Jones in the Alias comic book, part of the R-rated MAX imprint. He wrote major crossover events such as House of M , Age of Ultron and Civil War II . He wrote Cataclysm , the last crossover event within the Ultimate imprint, and Ultimate End , that closed it. He moved to DC Comics in 2017. Mark Millar

1776-459: A supporting cast largely based on their Ultimate counterparts. Despite the name and the involvement of Bendis, Ultimate Spider-Man is a different work (although Peter Parker is modeled after his appearance in the comics though with a slightly bulkier build), aimed primarily at a younger audience. Being criticized by this, Bendis said that the show was made for Disney XD and "not for Showtime ". The series adapted some specific storylines such as

1887-428: A time when Momoko still felt "new to the [comics] industry," she produced upwards of 20 cover illustrations per month, a decision she considers in hindsight to have been "a bit too ambitious" especially as she "started to see people getting annoyed with so many [of her] covers coming out at once." In late 2020, Momoko signed an exclusive deal to Marvel as part of Marvel's Stormbreakers line-up of rising star artists. She

1998-559: A trade paperback in May 2022. In April 2022, a sequel to Demon Days was announced, titled Demon Wars , which adapts Marvel's Civil War storyline within the Momoko-verse framework. In October 2022, Momoko made her first appearance at New York Comic Con . The line for her free autographs was the longest among all visiting artists, and the high demand for her signature prompted a conflict among retailers who were competing in line before

2109-550: Is a Scottish comic book writer, and started his career with British comics such as Judge Dredd . He was hired by DC Comics, and worked in several titles. His most successful work was Superman: Red Son , which reimagined Superman as a newborn alien whose ship fell in the Soviet Union instead of Kansas. This work was published in 2003, two years after his departure from DC. Millar started the Ultimate X-Men comics,

2220-626: Is also restored to life and moved to Marvel-616, where he is a recurring villain in the Infamous Iron Man & New Avengers comic books. The hammer of Ultimate Thor (lost in the Cataclysm crossover) is found by Thor Odinson , who is not capable at the time to wield his classic hammer, owned by Jane Foster . He refuses to take the new hammer, which is then lifted by Volstagg in the Unworthy Thor miniseries. Jimmy Hudson ,

2331-582: Is based on his origin story from the Ultimate Universe, as both versions become the Hulk while attempting to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Hawkeye and Captain America's costumes were based on their Ultimate uniforms as well and elements of Captain America's origin story are adapted from the Ultimate comics such as Bucky Barnes being his childhood friend who protected him from bullies and being around

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2442-479: Is the last story of the Ultimate imprint. It was produced by Bendis and Bagley, the team that started the imprint. Miles Morales, a character that originated in the Ultimate Universe to take over the mantle of Spider-Man when the Ultimate Universe's Peter Parker died, was migrated to the Marvel-616 universe, along with his supporting cast, a development that saw his mother restored to life, following her death in

2553-620: Is when she decided to become an illustrator. In 2008, Momoko was invited to participate in a group gallery exhibition that would take place in America during June of that year. She was hesitant to accept, since she would have to quit her publishing company job to stay in the United States for a month. In 2010, Momoko and her husband collaborated on a live painting mural at the Peoples Art of Portland Gallery. In 2013, Momoko began placing her art on t-shirts, noting that this would be

2664-592: The Fantastic Four comic book, as a result of the disputes between Marvel and 20th Century Fox over the film rights over the characters. The 2015 Secret Wars storyline concluded the Ultimate Marvel imprint. In the plot, it was destroyed alongside all the other alternate realities in the multiverse , and then recreated as a region of the Battleworld . Ultimate End , set in such region,

2775-671: The Ultimate Invasion miniseries written by Jonathan Hickman with art by The Ultimates co-creator Bryan Hitch . The events of the miniseries culminated in the establishment of a rebooted Ultimate Universe designated as Earth-6160 , which serves as the setting for a relaunched series of books under the Ultimate Marvel banner, which began with the eponymous Ultimate Universe #1 in November 2023. The new Ultimate imprint also encompasses new versions of Ultimate Spider-Man , Ultimate X-Men , and The Ultimates , as well as

2886-460: The All-New, All-Different Marvel Multiverse , ended at the conclusion of the 2015 " Secret Wars " storyline, when select characters from the Ultimate Universe moved to the mainstream universe . However, writer Brian Michael Bendis established at the end of the 2017 miniseries Spider-Men II that the universe and its superheroes still exist. Between June and September 2023, Marvel published

2997-716: The American comic book industry. In 2021, she received both the Eisner Award and Ringo Award for best cover artist. That same year, she launched the "Momoko-verse", a line of comics at Marvel that reimagines the Marvel Universe within the lens of Japanese folktales . Peach Momoko was born in Japan 's Saitama Prefecture . As a child, she lived in the cities of Kumagaya and Gyōda . Her father had attended photography school and enjoyed painting, and her grandfather

3108-743: The Icon Comics imprint, which allowed Millar to retain the rights. Millar then created Millarworld , with his own comic books, such as Wanted and Kick-Ass . Wanted , Kingsman , and Kick-ass had cinematic adaptations. Millarworld was acquired by the American streaming media company Netflix in August 2017. The only adaptations of the Ultimate Marvel works to other media are two direct-to-video films by Marvel Animated Features , Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of

3219-495: The Kree–Skrull War . The central government of the United States is dissolved, while corporations start to supersede the old political order. Companies such as Stark/Stane , Oscorp , and Roxxon become essential parts of the internal functioning of the technocratic Union. Politics in its regular form is replaced by a series of manufactured conflicts in a form of war economy practiced between power blocs controlled secretly by

3330-635: The Ultimate Fantastic Four , and The Ultimates . Stan Lee , creator of many characters of Marvel comics, praised his work, but also advised him: "That's great, but you should do your own characters instead of doing mine. I didn't do Superman and Batman and Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes. I went off and did the X-Men". Dave Gibbons , artist of Watchmen , was impressed by his work and started working with him in Kingsman , published by Marvel at

3441-452: The bishōjo ("beautiful girl") cultural phenomenon in Japan, though she uses this imagery to "fuse the power of a girl with her inner madness, weaponry, and propaganda". Momoko prefers to tell stories involving samurai, Japanese folktales, dreamlike situations, and the real-life problems of adolescents. In her early career, she chose to "only illustrate the females in my artwork", noting how

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3552-563: The 1960s to 1980s. In January 2015, Momoko's Surface ( Japanese : 面 , Hepburn : Men ) illustration was selected for publication in the Infected By Art, Volume 3 art book. In the Autumn 2015 issue of Quarterly S ( Japanese : 季刊エス , Hepburn : Kikan Esu ) , Momoko received a StarS award for her illustration titled Destruction and Regeneration ( Japanese : 破壊と再生 , Hepburn : Hakai to Saisei ) . In January 2016,

3663-582: The 2006 prequel Spider-Man: Battle for New York features a retelling of the story of Spider-Man and Green Goblin , in addition featuring The Ultimates and Kingpin . The 2004 video game X-Men: Legends and its 2005 sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse have the titular characters wear their Ultimate costumes as do the Brotherhood of Mutants . Other Marvel video games have also featured Ultimate influences such as Marvel Ultimate Alliance and its sequel Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 featuring

3774-468: The Avengers, with very little in common with the mainstream title. Captain America got a rash soldierly personality, Hulk was written as a murderous and cannibalistic monster that kills hundreds of civilians, and Thor was ambiguously introduced as either an actual Norse god (as in the main comics) or a man with stolen weapons and a psychiatric disorder. Nick Fury , originally a caucasian character in

3885-563: The City in Latveria and selling himself as an engine of progress. With no heroes to oppose him, he aids in orchestrating the assassination of John F. Kennedy and starts reconfiguring the United States and the rest of the world, eroding national identities and independence in favor of continental empires. He deals, overtly or covertly, with all external threats that traditional superheroes would otherwise handle in other Earths, like Galactus or

3996-683: The Eternal Light, turning into a key figure on The Maker's Council. The testing also causes a mass contamination event (inspired by the real-life incident of Castle Bravo ) that affects the island's flora, fauna and population, leading to the unpredictable gamma mutations of Lejori Zakaria and her fellow natives. It's also established that several major corporations serve the Council's interests as proxies, one example being Roxxon as part of Emmanuel da Costa's profile. Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel , later known as Ultimate Comics ,

4107-877: The Japanese television series Moonlight Mask ( 月光仮面 , Gekkō Kamen ) and Red Baron ( レッドバロン , Reddo Baron ) . In 2018, Momoko created the cover illustration for the German Blu-ray + DVD " Mediabook " release of the Japanese splatter film Kodoku: Meatball Machine . That year, she participated in several fine art gallery exhibitions and conventions, including Armageddon Expo (New Zealand), Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (USA), Emerald City Comic Con (USA), Fantasy Basel (Switzerland), Lucca Comics & Games (Italy), Monsterpalooza (USA), New York Comic Con (USA), and Singapore Comic Con (Singapore). Comic book artist Adi Granov introduced Momoko to Marvel Comics and aided her entrance into

4218-612: The Maker and his Council. The Soviet Union is superseded by a form of Tsarism led by the Rasputin family, three clans unite and form the Harada-Yoshida Alliance in Japan, while other regions face similar systemic changes as the Maker consolidates his influence over the incorporated nation-states and their leaders. Due to the alterations of world history, there are also social changes. The origins of many heroes and

4329-431: The Maker remade it into his own image: There are also undiscovered territories. The first issue of Ultimates Vol. 4 reveals the restructured map created by the Maker's Council. It is shown that the North American Union has been redistributed with Henri Duggary ruling its east coast. The background of the global status quo is explained further through Howard Stark's history files. The Maker arrives in 1963, establishing

4440-400: The Maker's Council and take back their world while gaining new allies along the way. Camp said "The new Ultimates line is the most exciting super hero comics event in years, and it's humbling to be a part of it! We are reinventing these classic characters and archetypes to be as surprising and vital as when they were first introduced. Our Ultimates is an evolution not just of the Avengers, but of

4551-476: The Maker's attempts to bring back the Ultimate Universe, with the Illuminati reforming to try and stop him. Despite claiming that Earth-1610 would be revisited, the storyline went a different path and showed a new Earth called Earth-6160 and reshaped it into his own image before being thwarted by Howard Stark who operates as Iron Man. Afterwards, Earth-6160's Tony Stark (who takes up the name Iron Lad) and

Ultimate Universe - Misplaced Pages Continue

4662-462: The Maker’s world, three members of his council – Magik, Colossus and Omega Red – deploy their most lethal asset: The Winter Soldier! But WHO is the weapon behind the mask?". The Free Comic Book Day 2025 one-shot issue for May 3, 2025 will feature a prologue for the Ultimate Universe's first crossover event. Issue #3 of Ultimate Invasion showed a map detailing Earth-6160 and its locations ever since

4773-572: The Marvel-616 Universe, was modeled after the actor Samuel L. Jackson , and the new design eventually overshadowed the original one, being incorporated into the mainstream Marvel-616 universe and all new media adaptions of the characters. The main premise was to write a comic that looked the way a superhero film about the Avengers should look. At that point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had not been created, and

4884-592: The Panther , based on the Ultimates. The plot was simplified and the political aspects of the original work were removed, turning it into a standard superhero animated film. Other animated series incorporated aspects of the Ultimate comics, despite not being direct adaptations. The 2008 animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man shared many similarities with the Ultimate version of the titular character, including his age, his personal relationship with Eddie Brock, and

4995-504: The Spider-Verse , which starred Miles Morales. The plot is an adaptation of the 2014 storyline Spider-Verse and was released in 2018. The 2005 video game Ultimate Spider-Man is a direct adaptation of the storylines and characters from the eponymous comics. The game is centered around the Ultimate Marvel versions of Spider-Man and Venom , but also features appearances from The Human Torch , Wolverine , and Nick Fury , and

5106-461: The Spider-Verse . Writer Bryan Hill , who had previously worked on Blade , will write Ultimate Black Panther with Caselli. The comic will be about Black Panther defending the continent of Africa from Lord Khonshu and Lord Ra. Hill said "I was invigorated by this opportunity because in addition to my immense respect for Jonathan Hickman's detailed storytelling, the idea of shepherding this bold new take on Black Panther in this event gives me

5217-452: The Trees public art project, creating a mural at Cider Riot (807 NE Couch Street). In 2017, to commemorate Miyavi 's 15th year as a solo artist, Momoko was selected to create an official t-shirt design for the musician. In 2018, Momoko collaborated with lifestyle brand HVYBLK on a t-shirt that was available at that year's Anime Expo . That same year, Momoko created official t-shirts for

5328-491: The Ultimate comics, such as Captain Marvel and the suit of Captain America during the second season. Nick Fury was based on Ultimate Nick Fury since season 2, which was kept for the following series, Avengers Assemble which also drew influence from Ultimate Marvel comics. As for the X-Men, the 2000 animated series X-Men: Evolution also had important members reimagined as teenagers, and eventually incorporated costumes from

5439-441: The Ultimate version. This also extends to Spider-Man: Far From Home where Nick Fury is seen mentoring Spider-Man. Thor has similar traits to his Ultimate counterpart, such as his personality, powers, costume elements, and hammer. Thor ends up getting a new hammer during Avengers: Infinity War which is based on the Ultimate version of Mjolnir. Other films based on Marvel comics were also influenced by Ultimate Marvel, albeit in

5550-534: The Ultimate versions of the characters for the first game. The 2010 video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions features the Ultimate version of Spider-Man possessed with a symbiote . Peach Momoko Peach Momoko ( 桃桃子 , Momoko , Japanese: [mo̞.mo̞.ko̞] ) is a pseudonymous Japanese comic book artist and writer. In 2020, she signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Comics as part of their Stormbreakers program for rising talent in

5661-482: The Ultimates from the Ultimate universe. Bendis left Marvel Comics in 2017 and moved to DC Comics . One of his last comic books was a second volume of Spider-Men II , featuring Peter Parker and Miles Morales. The miniseries ends with the Marvel-616 Miles Morales emigrating to the Ultimate Universe to be reuniting with his lost love, following the death of her Marvel-616 counterpart, confirming that

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5772-627: The Ultimates. This team would then be featured in Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates , written by Jonathan Hickman . The Death of Spider-Man features the death of Peter Parker and his nemesis Green Goblin . An Afro-Hispanic teenager, Miles Morales , becomes the new Spider-Man. He was featured in Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , still written by Bendis. The X-Men were relaunched in the miniseries Ultimate Comics: X , which introduced Jimmy Hudson ,

5883-439: The United States, Momoko valued the style of American comic books and did not appreciate most Japanese styles of art, but changed her views while living outside of Japan. At that time, she began to appreciate Japanese folk art from the 1960s and 1970s. In 2018, Momoko believed that she did "not have a set [art] style" as it could limit her client reach, but she believed herself to be inspired by Japanese nostalgia and ad design from

5994-535: The Venom project and both were intended as a cure for diseases) and it is implied that Norman Osborn betrayed Richard much like Eddie Brock Sr. had in the comics when they both selfishly wanted the research for their own ends and being responsible, even if indirectly in Norman's case for the deaths of Peter's parents. The villains featured in the films are modeled after their Ultimate counterparts, Electro in particular being

6105-487: The Venom symbiote in the comics); his signature wise-cracking and motor-mouthed sense of humor; his uncle's speech on responsibility and subsequent argument with Peter, moments before his death; a genetically-modified spider being responsible for Peter's spider-powers; his relationship with Gwen Stacy, mirroring his relationship with Mary Jane-Watson from the comics; Gwen being somewhat rebellious like her Ultimate incarnation and sticking up for Peter, albeit non-violently when he

6216-801: The art-oriented Artism Market. In October 2015, Momoko had her first exposure to comic conventions when she joined Girls and Corpses’ owner Robert Steven Rhine at Comikaze , where he introduced her to an editor at Heavy Metal . Afterwards, Momoko was invited to participate in Heavy Metal’s 40th-anniversary art exhibition, and met with Grant Morrison and other editors at the magazine who offered to publish short stories written and illustrated by her, resulting in short features which appearing in issues 288 and 290. Momoko has referred to these pieces as "short story sequential pin-up style" art. In August 2016, Momoko participated in Portland's annual Forest for

6327-436: The audiences, and hired Jeph Loeb for a third Ultimates miniseries that would lead to such event. This miniseries relied on shock value and gratuitous amounts of death and violence, instead of the political overtones of the first two. The art by Joe Madureira was standard superhero art, instead of the cinematic action provided by Hitch. The miniseries had decent sales, but was near-universally panned by critics. The series

6438-537: The characters, Millar based his general draft of the series on the 2000 X-Men film. Jemas and Quesada paired Millar with artist Bryan Hitch , who had also worked with The Authority , but in a run that did not overlap with Millar's. They would reimagine the Avengers , who were renamed as "the Ultimates ". Unlike the simple updates of the Spider-Man and X-Men titles, the Ultimates were a complete reimagination of

6549-472: The comic book industry. Momoko's first comic book illustration for a major publisher was a variant cover for Marvel Comics' Marvel Rising #1 (March 2019). Momoko contributed eleven illustrations for the base set of the 2019 Upper Deck Flair Marvel trading card series and illustrated the entire 90-card base set of the 2020 Upper Deck Marvel Anime trading card series. During the COVID-19 pandemic , at

6660-469: The comics as well. Similarly, Wolverine and the X-Men in 2009 had Magneto disassemble and reprogram the Sentinels like in the Ultimate X-Men storyline "Tomorrow People". Ultimate Marvel has also been a strong influence in the early stages of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Joss Whedon said that The Ultimates brought Marvel into the modern age in a way no other book did. Tony Stark's personality

6771-411: The comics of the line will take place. The flagship comic of the line is Ultimate Spider-Man , by Hickman and Marco Checchetto. In contrast with the original Ultimate Spider-Man comic, it stars an adult Peter Parker who is married to Mary Jane Watson and has two kids before he becomes Spider-Man. Hickman said that he was inspired by the version of the character seen in the film Spider-Man: Into

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6882-470: The confidence and strength of the character, so I guess those qualities are the same in my eyes." Momoko has stated that her art is primarily inspired by several genres of Japanese cinema, specifically horror , military , and pink films , as well as various styles of music. She also draws inspiration from the line work of tattoo artists. Since her childhood, she feels she has been strongly influenced by watching Studio Ghibli films. Prior to living

6993-662: The creative decay in the Marvel/DC intercompany crossovers as a justification. The Age of Ultron crossover, between the mainstream comics, ended with Galactus displaced into the Ultimate universe. This premise started the " Cataclysm " crossover in the Ultimate imprint, which was followed by yet another new relaunch. The Ultimates disbanded after the crossover, and were replaced by a completely different team, led by Miles Morales. This team starred in All-New Ultimates , by Michel Fiffe and Amilcar Pinna. Spider-Man

7104-437: The crossover, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four were cancelled, with a last issue for each title named Ultimate Requiem to give closure to their plots. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was re-launched, as "Ultimate Comics". Ultimate Spider-Man was renamed as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , and the line was joined later by Ultimate Comics: Avengers and Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates . New Ultimates featured

7215-413: The emphasis and focus on his parents and their subsequent disappearance; his father Richard Parker being a scientist specializing in biology, who worked on a secret project/experiment regarding the procurement of a special serum that was intended to cure terminal illnesses (which is depicted as being derived from the blood of genetically-modified spiders, encoded to the bloodline of Peter's family, instead of

7326-561: The episode "Freaky" where Spider-Man and Wolverine switch bodies as in Ultimate Spider-Man #66-67. Miles Morales appeared in that TV series as well first in a cameo before becoming a major character later on for the series adaptation of Spider-Verse . Also in this series, the host for Venom is Harry Osborn instead of Eddie Brock, and takes the form of Spider-Man's black suit. As for the Avengers, some character designs from The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes were based on

7437-505: The first comic book of the imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man . One of the previous auditioners had made a word-by-word rewrite of the Amazing Fantasy #15 comic (the debut of Spider-Man), in a modern setting. Bendis preferred to avoid that writing style completely. Instead, he changed the narration style, so that it resembled a TV series more than a classic superhero comic book. There were no thought bubbles or long expositions , and

7548-431: The first issue did not feature any superhero costume. Jemas tried to bring more notice into the comic book by distributing it at chain stores like Payless Shoes and Walmart . The sales rose, and the comic book was acclaimed by critics. The art was created by Mark Bagley , known for his work on Spider-Man and Venom stories in the 1990s. The Bendis/Bagley partnership of 111 consecutive issues made their partnership one of

7659-556: The first miniseries of the Ultimates and the ending of the second. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier 's design throughout the films is also modeled after the Ultimate Marvel version. The depiction of Falcon in the films is derived from the Ultimate incarnation, and Rogers' relationship with Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier is reminiscent of the one in the comics with the Triskellion,

7770-514: The horoscope section of a 2008 issue of the Sunaipā Eve ( Japanese : スナイパーEve , lit. transl.  Sniper Eve ) femdom magazine. She considers her first published comic book work to be her illustrations for the Winter 2013 and Spring 2014 issues of Girls and Corpses magazine. In early 2015, Momoko participated in her first Japanese conventions, the manga marketplace Comitia and

7881-546: The imprint at that point was "Ground Zero". Unlike previous reboots, there was no in-story explanation for the existence of the imprint, and the standard comic books were still being published, unaffected by the new project. Thus, Ultimate Spider-Man would contain the stories of a new teenager Spider-Man starting his career, and the usual Spider-Man titles would still contain the stories of the adult Spider-Man with nearly forty years worth of continuity. Quesada then hired Brian Michael Bendis , an artist from indie publishers, for

7992-467: The imprint, such as Ultimate Marvel Team-Up (2001–2002), Ultimate X-Men (2003–2004), Ultimate Fantastic Four (2003–2004) and Ultimate Origins (2008). He is recognized as the main author of the whole Ultimate imprint. Most characters were reimaginations of classic Marvel characters; Miles Morales was an original character of his own creation. Given the success of the Ultimate imprint, Marvel asked him to write mainstream Marvel comics as well. He started

8103-414: The initial beginning of a Heroic Age are averted. Since Mutants have no central figures to guide them , their political movements are wiped out, leading them to be seen as a fringe presence and an unrecognized minority, dispersed, and scattered while a few are coopted by the system. The Punisher becomes a notorious historical figure due to his actions on the streets while his symbol is used by militias in

8214-421: The last — if not the last — Marvel comics". Comic book continuity , which had been a key to the success of Marvel Comics in its early years, turned into a problem for some readers. All stories had to fit into a sixty-year continuity, a bar that not all fans could reach and which scared away some new readers. The usual style of superhero comics with pages of garish colors, fantastical villains and convoluted plots

8325-527: The longest in American comic book history, and the longest run by a Marvel creative team, beating out Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four . Ultimate X-Men was also launched in 2001. It was initially delayed by the search for a creative team, and even Bendis' proposed scripts were rejected. The new title was finally given to Mark Millar , who had a controversial run in DC's The Authority . The two authors had conflicting styles: Bendis sought to modernize

8436-506: The main Marvel Universe. However, Cates had to pull out of writing the series because of a car accident that left him with six months worth of memory loss with the project given to Jonathan Hickman instead. Hickman had worked with the Maker character in the original Ultimate imprint and wrote the aforementioned Secret Wars crossover. Hickman started the project with Ultimate Invasion which he took on another path ignoring both

8547-582: The main character's primary love interest. The series was rebooted with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, and Sony asked Bendis for suggestions. He proposed that Spider-Man should use artificial web-shooters, as in the comics, instead of portraying the ability as a part of the character's mutation, through the form of organic web-shooters in his wrists, as was depicted in the Raimi trilogy. The film series also featured elements and aesthetics borrowed from his Ultimate counterpart's personality and background, such as

8658-467: The main costumes of Captain America , Thor , Colossus , Invisible Woman , Mr. Fantastic , and the Human Torch based on their Ultimate counterparts as well as alternate costumes for Iron Man , Elektra , Storm , Wolverine , Moon Knight , Doctor Strange , Nick Fury , Deadpool , Magneto , Doctor Doom , Venom , Sabretooth , The Thing , Nightcrawler , Cyclops , and Hawkeye also based on

8769-455: The main problem of Marvel Comics was that it was "publishing stories that were all but impossible for teens to read — and unaffordable, to boot". He worked on an idea given by a CEO of the Wizard magazine: reboot the heroes to their original character premise. Marvel's editor-in-chief Joe Quesada preferred to start an imprint with new heroes, but accepted Jemas' proposal. The working title for

8880-495: The modern day. The Savage Land is industrialized and all prehistoric life is extinct after a violent takeover by a group of mercenaries under Roxxon's command in the 1970s, an event called the "Savage Land Revolt". The Maker is regarded as an Imperator, or de facto ruler of the Earth, because he's recognized as the only one equipped to keep the public safe from global threats and being regarded as disseminating technological advances on

8991-405: The name in the summer of 2010 when she moved to Portland, Oregon. Momoko returned to Japan around September 2013. As of June 2021 , Momoko was living with her husband and art manager, Yo Mutsu ( Japanese : 陸奥陽 ) , and their pet dog, Momo. Though claiming that no specific influence inspired her to become an artist, Momoko admits that seeing Atsushi Kaneko 's works as a high school student

9102-425: The new Ultimate X-Men comics. Armor will be the main character, and the X-Men will be tied to folklore and magic. Momoko said "I am very honored to be a part of the new Ultimate Universe. I am very careful in delivering the unique X-Men mutant elements while still being true to my vision and voice. I am also very proud (and surprised) that I was given enough freedom from C.B. Cebulski and Jonathan Hickman to create

9213-413: The old superhero tropes, and Millar sought to critique them. While Bendis tried to write atemporal stories, Millar preferred to set his stories amid the political tensions of the time, with edgy, quick action-driven stories and making the relationship between humans and mutants more realistic and distrustful. The first issue of Ultimate X-Men sold 117,085 copies in a month. Lacking previous knowledge about

9324-597: The original Ultimate Universe and the plots in Venom Vol. 4. It shows instead Maker moving to a new alternate universe called Earth-6160 and changing it with extensive time travel to prevent the existence of most superheroes and make himself its unquestionable leader. By the end of the story, Maker is defeated and trapped inside The City with Iron Man / Howard Stark and a variation of Kang the Conqueror, with The City scheduled to open up in 24 months. The Maker's Council ,

9435-601: The other. When the Multiverse was eventually rebuilt, these mutants became stranded in the Prime Earth, suffering from amnesia as a by-product of their transition from one reality to another. After Secret Wars , Marvel published a new comic book named Ultimates , though it bore no relation with the imprint beyond the name. The Ultimates 2 #10, renumbered as #100 under the Marvel Legacy relaunch, features

9546-464: The poor reception of the Batman & Robin film cast doubts on the prospects of any other comic book cinematic adaption. Marvel Comics went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, many notable artists left the company, and their rival, DC Comics , topped them in sales. Brian Michael Bendis , who was hired to start the imprint, said that "when I got hired, I literally thought I was going to be writing one of

9657-403: The previous year in the Ultimate Universe. He also announced a new ongoing series to be released in late 2024 or early 2025, with no details about the name or characters from the comic. At the 2024 New York Comic Con , it was announced the book would be Ultimate Wolverine by Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio with the official synopsis reading "In order to maintain control of their corner of

9768-600: The prospect of a film about the Avengers was remote. The series was a huge success, and became the single best-selling comic of the year. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was benefited by the contemporary topics that took place. Terrorism resurfaced into the public perception as a clear, dangerous and complex menace, which reduced the credibility of the usual supervillains of superhero fiction. Fictional conflicts involving explosions and property damage became more ominous. The Ultimate Marvel comics incorporated those topics into their plots, which would eventually become commonplace in

9879-410: The reconstruction of the team, and was made by Loeb and Frank Cho . Avengers features a black-operations superhero team, and was made by Millar and several artists. There was a new relaunch shortly afterwards, named "Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn". Both teams met in Avengers vs. New Ultimates , where Nick Fury is reinstalled as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the teams merge again into a single team,

9990-459: The same age, him found and being thawed out of ice by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than the founding members of the Avengers . Hawkeye also has a family, a context exclusive to the Ultimate comics. The film The Avengers featured the Ultimate take on the team, as a military operation organized by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than an autonomous superhero group. Kevin Feige based the script of the film broadly on

10101-725: The same illustration received the Gold Award in the Pen/Ink/Pencil category of the fourth Infected By Art competition. In 2021, Momoko received the Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist based on her single issue work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer #19, Mighty Morphin #2, Something Is Killing the Children #12, Power Rangers #1, her series work on The Crow: Lethe , Die!namite , and Vampirella , and her variant cover work for Marvel Comics . This

10212-470: The show's opening on the final day. Momoko was forced to leave her table and cancel signings to alleviate the conflict. In October 2023 at New York Comic Con Marvel revealed that, following the conclusion of Ultimate Invasion and the creation of a brand new Ultimate Universe , with the comic Ultimate X-Men launching in March 2024 written and illustrated by Momoko. Her aesthetic has been likened to

10323-413: The son of Ultimate Wolverine, is also revealed to be alive in the new continuity, though this was not explained at first, but was eventually established that during the final incursion that caused the clash between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, with both universes' planets Earth acting as the collision point of this phenomenon, Jimmy Hudson, Quicksilver, Mach-II, Armor, and Guardian fell from their reality into

10434-521: The son of Wolverine. This miniseries was followed by Ultimate Comics: X-Men , written by Nick Spencer , who explored the X-Men mythos in a setting where both Charles Xavier and Magneto are dead. Initially, Marvel resisted the idea of crossovers between the Ultimate and the mainstream universes (although the idea had been teased for what turned out to be the beginning of the Marvel Zombies series), but eventually relented. The first crossover

10545-648: The universe still exists. A brief glimpse of the still-extant Ultimate universe is provided by artist Mark Bagley, showing that Ultimate Peter Parker, who had been revealed alive in one of the last issues, has returned to the role of Spider-Man, and that he is a member of the Ultimates, as is Riri Williams and Hulk. The return of the Ultimate universe was used again in 2019, in story arcs at the Venom and Miles Morales: Spider-Man comic books. In February 2023, Marvel Comics announced Ultimate Invasion written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Bryan Hitch. This story involves

10656-466: The viewer "can not tell by the expressions if they are dead, or if they are alive". Momoko often envisions her work in color but draws in black-and-white, focusing on the balance and contrast between light and shadow. After living in the United States, Momoko's early work introduced "many historical, social[,] and economic symbols and implications about Japan" in order to provide "a Japanese perspective on Japanese society". In June 2015, Momoko stated she

10767-413: The whole comic book industry. Jemas was fired from Marvel in 2004, and Millar and Hitch left the Ultimates after writing a second miniseries. Sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card wrote a miniseries, Ultimate Iron Man , which was poorly received and later retconned as an in-universe television show. In 2008, Quesada considered that the Ultimate imprint needed a big crossover event to keep the interest of

10878-417: The whole super hero team concept; from the grand and operatic to the small and personal, THE ULTIMATES will feel like no Avengers or Ultimates comic ever before! That's our ambition, anyway; tune in to find out if we succeed." Marvel Editor C.B. Cebulski announced at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con that there would be a future one-shot comic titled One Year In , with a recap of everything that happened during

10989-657: Was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics , featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the Ultimate Universe . Those characters include Spider-Man , the X-Men , the Ultimates (the Ultimate Marvel Universe counterpart of the Avengers ), the Fantastic Four , and others. The imprint

11100-500: Was an oil painter. Momoko began drawing as soon as she was able to hold a crayon. She attended school for video game design, during which time she realized that she wanted a career making illustrations. Devised during her art school years, the Peach Momoko pseudonym was the result of the artist "goofing around" with some of her friends. In 2009, she used the Peach Momoko pseudonym for an exhibition in Japan, and continued to use

11211-637: Was based on that of his Ultimate counterpart, and Millar and Bendis were included in the staff as consultants. Samuel L. Jackson , whose likeness was used to create the new version of Nick Fury, was cast as the character in a multi-picture deal, starting in a post-credits scene in Iron Man . The script of the scene was written by Bendis. As a comic book fan, Jackson had noticed the use of his likeness and asked to be included in some eventual film. Bruce Banner's origin story in The Incredible Hulk

11322-405: Was being bullied by Flash (though in the comics it was Kenny Kong), in addition Flash having a crush on her like he did in the Ultimate comics; his friendship with Harry Osborn being modeled after that of Eddie Brock Jr. in the comics, being childhood friends who have not seen each other in a long time and whose fathers had worked together on a project (with the name Spider-venom being a slight nod to

11433-602: Was conflicted about if she was an illustrator or a painter, leading her to question "who I am [as an artist], but now I think that's fine". Early in her professional career, Momoko's work was attributed as being inspired by early 20th century Japanese ad design filtered though a dark sense of humor. Her main motifs from this time are noted to be contrasting the images of women and death. As she continued to work in American comics, her approach to female imagery began to blend different qualities of femininity: "When I try to draw an erotic pose or situation, it ends up becoming more about

11544-542: Was destroyed in-story in the Secret Wars crossover, with Maker being transferred to Earth-616 , the Prime Universe. Writer Donny Cates used the character during his run in the Venom comic book, with the character trying to restore and return to his original universe. At the end of the story arc, Maker returned to a devastated part of the Ultimate Universe, and later hinted he was planning an invasion of

11655-421: Was followed by 2009's Ultimatum , a crossover between the Ultimate titles. In five issues, the story kills off thirty-four characters with an increased amount of graphic violence. The series was both a critical and commercial failure, and it has since been regarded as one of the worst comic books of all-time. The sales of the whole imprint were decreased, and never returned to their pre- Ultimatum figures. After

11766-448: Was however allowed to finish up her prior agreements and continues to provide variant covers for various creator-owned titles. In 2021, Marvel Comics launched Momoko's Demon Days series, creating what the artist referred to as her "Momoko-verse", a setting which reimagined the company's superhero characters within the framework of Japanese folktales. Demon Days was published as a series of five one-shot issues before being collected as

11877-494: Was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for the characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse . The Ultimate Universe, as a part of a large-scale reboot of

11988-519: Was of little interest to young adult audiences, who preferred the style set by the Matrix franchise. Most superheroes were adults, even those that started as teenagers, such as Spider-Man and the X-Men . Previous attempts to cut the long continuity did not work as expected: DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time caused several plot contradictions, and Marvel's Heroes Reborn

12099-484: Was panned by critics and fans. The Dark Age of Comic Books tried to counter the campiness of the Silver Age with violence and shocking content, but the trend was declining as well. The idea for the Ultimate imprint was developed by Bill Jemas . A lawyer who had worked mainly at the collectible-trading-card industry before that point, he had little interaction with the production of comic books. In his perspective,

12210-561: Was relaunched in Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man , which included the revivals of Peter Parker and Green Goblin. Ultimate FF ("FF" standing for " Future Foundation ", not "Fantastic Four") featured the "incursions", a multiversal threat that was being used in Hickman's run on the main universe's Avengers, and which would lead to the Secret Wars crossover. Ultimate FF was cancelled, alongside

12321-456: Was the Spider-Men miniseries, between Miles Morales and the adult Peter Parker. It was made for the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man. All-New X-Men , also written by Bendis, had a story where the main characters got stranded in the Ultimate universe and teamed-up with Morales. However, Bendis and Fialkov agreed that crossovers should be done sparingly, to keep them interesting, and cited

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