Countdown to Ultraverse (Network)

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Irredeemable Shag

Prior to release of the first Ultraverse comics, Malibu distributed a free giveaway featuring previews of upcoming titles. This giveaway, referred to as “Countdown to Ultraverse,” featured profiles on the first several series. With our Ultraverse Network officially launching tomorrow, this seems the ideal time to refresh everyone’s memory of those early days!

We won’t make a habit of sharing an entire comic, however, this particular issue was free and for promotions. Click the images below to enlarge.

The inside front cover featured a key to identifying all the characters on the cover…

Page one featured an editorial by Chris Ulm…

On with the entries! Hardcase, Prime and The Strangers all received two-page spreads…

The remaining titles all received a single page…

Interestingly enough, there were three slightly different versions of, “Countdown to Ultraverse.” In addition to the cover above there was another version with the same artwork, except Hardcase is yelling, “Catch”. In the third variant, Hardcase is still yelling “Catch”, but there are serial numbers appearing in the top right corner. Since this particular version promoted the first trading card series, I’ve included the advertisement appearing within this giveaway!

Such great promotional material! An excellent way to generate hype for the Ultraverse!

Be sure to check back here tomorrow for the launch of our network, and the release of our first podcast!

The Strangers – “Jumpstart!”

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Barry Reese

The Strangers # 1
“Jumpstart!”
Written by Steve Englehart, Illustrated by Rick Hoberg & Tim Eldred
Lettered by Tim Eldred, Colored by Paul Mounts
Edited by Chris Ulm

And so it begins! The Ultraverse really gets going in this story as 59 random people onboard the Powell Street Cable Car in San Francisco are struck by an odd lightning bolt from the sky. While the passengers appear to be unharmed, a driver is struck in the head by a piece of shrapnel, leading to him becoming — wait. That’s another Ultraverse title entirely! Let’s stick with the folks who will become The Strangers, okay?

We’re quickly introduced to the majority of the cast, as many of them are watching as jerk millionaire J.D. Hunt is fondling a compliant young woman named Candy. His actions disturb many of the passengers and several of them toss Hunt off the cable car just before the lighting bolt hits home, preventing him from becoming one of the recipients of power.

What’s that, you say? Recipients of what-now? Well, it seems that the people struck by the bolt are changed… Candy seems quite different in personality right away and bolts off from J.D. Hunt, much to his dismay. Bob Hardin and Hugh Fox, students at the San Francisco Art Institute, quickly learn that they they are able to transform matter and explode shrapnel from their body, respectively. Elena LA Brava, fashion designer, is able to hit anything that she aims for, Dave Castiglione is able to utilize various powers by changing through the colors of the spectrum. Sixth grader Leon Balford finds that he has superspeed, which helps him in avoiding some of the local toughs in his neighborhood.

When a mysterious woman (Yrial) appears at the site of the cable car accident, many of those affected are drawn back to the scene, hoping to find answers. After battling Yrial, who speaks some unfamiliar language, the group elects to follow after the fleeing woman and discover the full truth about what’s happened to them. As one of them says, “This morning we had nothing in common — we were all strangers!”, prompting this response from Bob, “And now… now we’re all stranger than ever!”

This 28-pager is packed with information and takes a lot longer to read than most modern comics. Englehart really delivers with witty dialogue that helps differentiate the large cast. Rick Hoberg’s pencils are a far cry from those of my favorite comic book artists (George Perez, Alan Davis, etc.) but he delivers with some great panels showcasing facial expressions and poses.

This issue introduces a number of important concepts — the Jumpstart event itself, J.D. Hunt and the Night Man. While we don’t get any of the heroes in their costumes or with their code-names yet, it’s easy to see where it’s all going to come from since Elena is busily sketching away costume designs in the story.

Re-reading this book, I was struck by how enlightened Englehart was in terms of subtly introducing topics such as misogyny and homosexuality. Elena is beautifully depicted by Hoberg throughout and I found myself quite drawn to the character, more so than I was when I first read this story back in (gulp) 1993.

Candy’s lingerie gets quite a few interesting reactions in the story and while I appreciate the lovely form that Hoberg graced her with, I’m looking forward to seeing her a bit more covered up in future issues.

In the next issue blurb: “You’ve been here at the beginning of The Strangers and the secrets of the Ultraverse! Strangers # 2 keeps it rolling next month in: HEY, HUGH, GET OFF’A MY CLOUD!” As we’ll see at the start of the next issue, that title is actually not quite correct… leading to one of the more groan-inducing moments in the series.

Can’t wait, can you? We’ll be back soon with a look at issue two.

Wrath of Aladdin Targets: Solitaire

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Crusader

The Wrath of Aladdin Podcast accesses Aladdin’s classified files on all ‘Ultra’s’.

We will showcase Ultra characters of note, examine why they where so great, and look at what made them fun. Our first target: Solitaire, written by Gerard Jones – Penciled by Jeff Johnson – Inked by Barbara Kaalberg.

The Night Man Approach

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Crusader

“I’d done the definitive Batman, and I’d co-created Shadowman, but when Malibu asked me to co-create the Ultraverse and help populate it, I decided to go for the ultimate expression of the dark loner theme – the man who comes around at night – The Night Man. He existed in a “San Francisco of the mind” – SF the way it would be if the cool things from all its past, like Playland-at-the-Beach, still existed today. It’s the SF that held the Maltese Falcon, and the one with the Transamerica Pyramid.” ~Steve Englehart

One of the coolest and most unique aspects of The Night Man, particularly when you look back from the reboot era we are in now, is that The Night Man was contently evolving as a character. I suppose that has more to do with Malibu’s Ultraverse being new and then never really getting the chance to be old before it was purchased by Marvel and then consumed by the 90s crash of the comic industry but regardless of the reason: it made the character unique.

The Night Man was just a regular guy who’d “put his time in at the gym/dojo” like everyone else was doing at the time. Then after he being caught in an automobile accident he could hear people’s thoughts and was struck with a nasty case of unshakable insomnia. This prompted him to don a costume and a secret identity as he pursued those with more evil thoughts – particularly since he couldn’t go to the cops and ask someone to be arrested for there thoughts.

This meant that Johny Domino became a seamstress as he created and continually adapted his costume. He became an electrician and computer engineer as he established new forms of communication and computer link ups that were new at the time. He became a contractor and mechanic as he built a hiding place in his home and in his car for the costume. Johny “Night Man” Domino was always learning new methods to track men and hunt them down as well as he took to the streets night after night as The Night Man.

When he was faced with battling magic and magical beings such as werewolves The Night Man evolved once again into another kind of being all together – one harnessing the essence of black magic that required quite a few sacrifices in order to harness the power he sought out in order to continue being The Night Man. One such sacrifice was the need to consume nutrients from food but rather from human organs. This same quest led to The Night Man traveling to another dimension (The Marvel Universe) and two distinct Johny Domino’s existing at the same time – one in each universe.

Assuming that the Ultraverse hadn’t been jammed into a desk drawer never to be pulled out again and had always continued running or had been revived what where would the characters be at? What would they be doing? What would The Night Man be doing?

Atom Bob: The Trading Card!

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Barry Reese

Sadly, Atom Bob’s ability to transform matter wasn’t able to turn the Ultraverse trading card set into the fortune it should have been worth… Still, doesn’t he look snazzy?

More Than Just Eye Candy

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Barry Reese

One of the most interesting characters in the Ultraverse was the heroine known as Electrocute, one of the founding members of The Strangers. A gynoid (female android) named Candy by her creators, she was designed to be a sex toy for men. She was gorgeous and programmed to be completely submissive to the men who used her.

That all changed after the Jumpstart event.

Suddenly granted sentience, Candy now struggles to understand who and what she is. Basically, you have the classic Tin Man or Data storyline tropes, only with the added weight of sex roles, gender equality and notions of power thrown into the mix. What you initially think you’re getting from the character is continually turned on its head — her codename is deliberately “cutesy” and in the very first issue, she runs around in lingerie the entire time. But when you see past the visuals, you realize that she’s just as scared and confused as the rest of the team, if not more so.

As the series progresses, we see Candy enter into her first real romantic relationship (with her teammate, Grenade) and continually struggle to find out who she really is.

I’m not going to claim that the creative team always hit the mark with the character. Englehart occasionally took an awkward turn with Candy and often the storyline was a bit too heavy-handed but I think you have to give him props for what he was trying to do. In an era of ” bad girls,” he took what could have been a throwaway hyper-sexualized character and spent a lot of time giving her depth and emotion.

Our powerful image today is courtesy of artist Rick Hoberg and adorned the cover of The Strangers # 21.

Don’t Talk To Strangers

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Barry Reese

That’s what my mom used to say but she didn’t know that Steve Englehart was going to bless us with the heroes known as The Strangers, did she? Those guys are more than okay to talk to — in fact, they might save your life!

In the weeks to come, we’re going to be taking a long look at these heroes and discussing what made them the Ultraverse’s # 1 superhero team (well, there was Ultraforce but they didn’t feature Electrocute so they can’t possibly be as awesome, right?).

For now, let’s enjoy this image showing the founding members of the team by Adam Hughes from Ultraverse Origins #1!

Prime #1 Splash Page by Norm Breyfogle

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Irredeemable Shag

Prime #1 made a huge splash in the comic market back in June 1993. Check out this amazing two-page spread by Norm Breyfogle! That’s an impressive way to launch a new imprint!

Rafferty Saga Promo Art by Jerome K Moore

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Irredeemable Shag

A gorgeous piece by Jerome K. Moore promoting the Firearm-themed Rafferty Saga! Found on his deviantART page!

Here is how it was listed on Jerome’s deviantART page:

Comic Book Promotional Art, Malibu Comics, Rafferty Crossover. Pencil, ink, china marker, opaque gouache. Digital color provided by Albert Calleros!

Original black-and-white illustration found here

Okay! Because color seems to have the greatest appeal to viewers online, I’m pleased to present this version of a piece I did ages ago, as digitally colored by the great Albert Calleros.

Many years back, when Malibu Comics was in existence out here in Southern California, my buddy Hank Kanalz was an editor there, on the rise at only twelve years of age (NOW, Hank’s a Grand High Mucketty-Muck for DC Comics, hangin’ out with stars and power-brokers like Jim Lee and such, and he’s only seventeen years of age.). Anyway, MISTER Kanalz gave me the assignment of designing art for a company ad featuring a character called Rafferty. Rafferty was a formidable villain, a killer who uses a nasty-looking foot-long blade, with a spiked hand-guard. This guy was going to appear in several Malibu titles, wreaking some serious mayhem. The idea was to tease fans about which of their favorite heroes might be getting killed off. The titles involved were SLUDGE (Hi, Aaron Lopresti!), WARSTRIKE, FREEX (Hey, Ben Herrera!), NIGHTMAN, and PRIME (Howdy, Norm Breyfogle!).

I decided to go with individual panels depicting each book’s characters in close-up, all unaware of the deadly danger awaiting them. Rafferty is featured prominently, having cut a huge slash through all of the hero panels, the slash directing the viewer’s eye through all the panels, and back to Rafferty himself. Some of the panels drip at the bottom, and there’s blood spattered here and there. I submitted this concept, Hank approved the sketch, and this was the final result. I personally requested Albert for the task of coloring the piece, and I think he did a fantastic job! I hope you like it! Cheers!

Malibu Sun #26 – The Ultraverse Has Arrived!