Ultraverse Podcast: Prime of Your Life, Episode 02

Ultraverse Podcast: Prime of Your LifeIt’s the second episode of ULTRAVERSE PODCAST: PRIME OF YOUR LIFE!

In this episode, co-hosts the Irredeemable Shag and David continue their coverage of #1 issues, featuring: Firearm, Prototype, Solution, Night Man, Sludge, and Solitaire! Plus, we read some of your Ultra-Feedback on the air!

Thanks for listening!

Next week: The second episode of THE NIGHT MAN PODCAST!

Favorite Covers: Prototype #7 by Jerome K Moore

One of my favorite Ultraverse covers was Prototype #7 by Jerome K Moore! Check out the original art below. Such gorgeous lines and detail! Plus, Arena was a compelling villain with a striking look!

Prototype #7 cover by Jerome K Moore

Jerome posted this to Facebook back in September stating the art was done in pencil, ink, china marker, and gouache. He identified his influences for the piece were: Mike Mignola, Ross Andru, Michael J Zeck, John Romita Sr, and Brian Stelfreeze. The final printed version was colored by George Cox (GC3).

Prototype #7 cover by Jerome K Moore

Absolutely stunning piece!

 

Firearm #1 Review

Firearm #1 (September 1993)

Firearm #1 cover by Howard Chaykin

Cover Art: Howard Chaykin
Title: American Pastimes Part One

Writer: James Robinson
Penciler: Cully Hamner
Inker: John Lowe
Letterer: Tim Eldred
Color Designer: Paul Mounts
Editor: Chris Ulm

We open with Ernie Shadrack wanting to know where Alec Swan is with his bail jumper.  That’s when Swan (Firearm – more on that later) comes crashing through the window with the O’Malley.  A short fight ensues (continues) and O’Malley is taken out with a water cooler.  Swan demands more money because Shadrack told him that O’Malley had limited Ultra Powers, not the full extent of those powers.  Shadrack argues and calls him Firearm, a name which Swan apparently hates.

Firearm V1 #1 - Page 9

Alec goes home, gets himself cleaned up and goes to his office. He has an unmarked office because his last few had been attacked by Ultras.  He gets an offer for some Hockey tickets, a message that some Japanese prints are in, and a lead on another case.  See, he’s a P.I. type that specializes in Ultra work, although that’s not all he does.

He meets with a woman that was to be married to an former Marine that has gone missing.  She had already filed a missing persons report, but decided to hire Alec Swan anyway.

Firearm #1

He checks his normal informants and typical places (where Arnie worked, etc.) as well as checks in with Ben Travers.  A cop that helps him when he can.  In fact they are planning to see the Kings game that night.

Alec is driving to the game later, and  is attacked by a vehicle full of gun waving madmen.  After dispatching them, and losing his vehicle in the process, a police cruiser pulls up.  Not a good thing for our man Swan, as the cruiser contains a lizard looking Ultra out to kill Swan as well.  Seems there is more to the case of the missing groom than there first appeared to be.

Firearm #1

A fight follows and Swan finally takes the thing out in a somewhat creative way.

Right off the bat you can see that this book is going to be different.  There an inner monologue going on throughout the initial fight scene.  Alec Swan introduces himself, as well as humoring us with a bit of self-deprecating humor.  He’s not the pretty boy hero that most comics go for.  He is a scarred, cranky ex English agent of an outfit called the Lodge.  His code name there was Firearm, due to the gun he carries.

His inner monologue also is filled with old movie, book and other references.  This is something that carries throughout the series, and even becomes a huge discussion piece for the letter columns (remember those?)  I will be covering these in a separate entry here, as there are a lot of them.

I remember being told by a comic shop owner that saw some of the books I was buying at the time that I should check this book out.  It was on the second or third issue at the time.  I did, and I loved it.

Oh yeah, there is also a very loose tie in to his later book Starman within one of these issues.  I’ll be sure to mention it when it happens.  It’s just a minor thing, but cool if you bought and read both books.

Unleashing the Ultraverse: In the Beginning…

Unleashing the UltraverseI can’t find a date on this. But it came out a few months before any of the books were released.

I’m a comic book creator, some of you may know. I’ve been involved in a number of “launches”, from the launch of a single title, to the launch of a whole line of graphic novels, to the launch of a whole new company. Some of those things thrived, some failed. This may be why the Ultraverse interests me so much. It was a BIG launch. To me, it was like the anti-Image (even if Malibu was publishing Image at the beginning). Malibu was putting out a line of books where “writers were the best gimmick”, instead of tons of alternate covers (although they did that as well). Image was style, the Ultraverse was substance. My opinion, anyway.

This little booklet, Unleashing the Ultraverse: Special Previews Guide, with a headline “Talented writers sharing a vision: The image of the future” was an interesting read.

It starts with an introduction from Chris Ulm, the editor of the line. It’s essentially a letter to retailers and readers. In it he says some interesting things, like, “the Ultraverse line of comics was created around a simple idea: put the story first.” “The Ultraverse is a universe that was created from the ground up to make sense.” He also says, “Expect a Prime video game” (which happened) “a Hardcase short film” (which did not happen, but a Firearm short film was produced) “and a line of Ultraverse trading cards” (again, which happened). He ends the introduction with, “Ultimately, however, the success of the Ultraverse in in YOUR hands. Evaluate the material presented here and go with your instincts. We did!”

There’s then an interview with Tom Mason and Chris Ulm. In it, he explains how they gathered together people like Mike W. Barr, Steve Engelhart, Steve Gerber, James Hudnall, Gerard Jones, Larry Niven, and Len Strazewski to create a new universe. He also reveals that the Wild Cards books, which was edited and written in part by George R.R. Martin (whose Hedge Knight books gave my career a JUMP START) helped model what a “shared universe” should be like. It’s four pages long and gets into a lot of the nitty gritty about how they planned to use the universe for their stories, the creative process of the “think tank” of writers, and the experience of the people involved.

A brief overfiew of Hardcase, Prime, and The Strangers follows. Each had two pages of art as well.

Then, a writer profile of the writers of those first three titles follows. I found this very interesting. For instance, Gerard Jones gives his take on the creation of the existing comic universes from Marvel and DC: “I think [the Ultraverse] is the most well-planned. The marvel Universe grew outward from its beginnings in a more organic fashion. The DC Universe, on the other hand, grew in a more inorganic fashion — that is, by uniting its various characters in environments after the fact. Of course, some new comic book ‘universes’ are well-planned — Valiant, for instance, is a good example — but I think that this group of writers and editors has done the best job of blocking out the rules, characters, and other disparate elements beforehand.”

James Hudnall has an interesting view of the universes as well: “The trouble with Marvel and DC is that their continuity is so messed up. Even Marvel, who used to pride themselves on a sensible continuity . . . has gotten so ridiculous with nine X-men books and such. There’s no way their continuity can make sense. We’ve figured out our history, and we’ve left room for things to be invented.” He wraps up saying, “All the creators are really into the Ultraverse; there’s none of the jaded, ‘let’s get this out’ attitude. If I wasn’t involved in this project, I’d be jealous.”

Heh. I AM jealous.

~ Ben

The Strangers # 3: The Explosive Debut of TNTNT!

Strangers 3The Strangers # 3
“Now You Seven Die At the Hands of TNTNT!”
Written by Steve Englehart
Penciled by Rick Hoberg
Inked by Tim Burgard & Larry Welch
Edited by Chris Ulm

This issue starts off in the middle of a huge donnybrook (always wanted to use that word) as our heroes are attacked by the forces of TNTNT. In a classic, old-school fight scene, all the characters not only insult one another but find the opportunity to give their names and powers. From a modern perspective, it’s all a bit forced but having grown up with comics of the Seventies and Eighties, I’m perfectly okay with it.

So… who the heck are thee guys who call themselves TNTNT? Well, there’s a big dinosaur-like guy called Tyrannosaur, a spunky young woman  named Neu-Ronne (yeah, terrible name), a gun-wielding samurai named Tugun, a water-witch named Naiad and a strange floating armored man with energy-based arms and legs dubbed Torso.

We’re told that TNTNT has been in training for three years, mastering their abilities for the day when they would be called upon. This gives them a tactical advantage over The Strangers, who are not only new to their powers but to working as a team. Employed by J.D. Hunt, they’ve been sent to retrieve Candy (aka Electrocute).

In flashbacks, we also get to see The Strangers meeting Bob’s parents and having a discussion about building a public branding for the team. We get references to Michael Jordan and product endorsements as Englehart plays with the elements of fame in the 90’s. We also see the group getting their costumes for the first time — Leon is less than pleased with what Elena comes up with for him, rejecting all three designs. In the end, he sticks with his own clothes, preferring to have his legs relatively free in shorts.

Despite the fact that TNTNT has the advantage in terms of experience, our heroes emerge victorious and take the opportunity to introduce themselves to the media. For the first time, they’re officially introduced to the world as The Strangers. In the first of several epilogues, G. Lawrence Bushnell, one of the other passengers from the cable car accident, learns of his own ultra-abilities… and they seem much darker and evil than the ones given to The Strangers. We then get an update on the man who got the shrapnel in his brain, as he finally wakes up (you’ll learn more about him in the pages of Night Man). After a check-in with J.D. Hunt, we move over to Hardcase’s home, where The Strangers drop in unannounced, heralding their first ever… crossover!

This issue is a fun one if you like superhero fights. Englehart manages to pack in a lot of characterization with the flashbacks that surround the brawl with TNTNT and we continue to see developments in how The Strangers’ powers work. I really liked how Elena’s background in fashion and business played into the birth of the team’s public image, though I had doubts then (and even more now!) about Leon’s personal fashion choices.

TNTNT would go on to appear in other Ultraverse titles besides just The Strangers — and while they’re kinda fun, there’s nothing here that left me particularly excited about them. Their dialogue was really stilted (this was especially true of Tyrannosaur) and given the size of The Strangers, having that many villains running around made some of the pages seemed really busy.

Art-wise, there are some gorgeous panels here and there but the presence of two inkers led to some pages looking a bit rougher than harder-edged than others.

The promise of a crossover with Hardcase didn’t leave me breathless with anticipation at the time as I was never a huge fan of that character. But as we’ll see, there are some really fun moments coming up in issue 4 and I think you’ll agree that in the end, the event turns out to be an entertaining one.

Stay tuned, Stranger fans!