The 1990s were kind of a mess for the comics industry, and Marvel in particular. They sold the movie rights to some major characters just to stay afloat. New readers were hard to come by because they had to face the ever-daunting task of the back catalogue. Characters within the comics would commonly reference events that happened years, if not decades ago, and readers couldn’t fully understand the characters’ decisions without this knowledge. The style of the comic was also still very boxy, with dialogue sounding like it was from the golden age of comics. It was fairly obvious to Marvel, after losing a fair share of its stake in the comics market to DC, that they needed to revitalize. Reboots had been attempted before, using parallel universes or having all your heroes returned to their youth by magic, but Marvel chose a different route. They didn’t explain it at all. Marvel created Ultimate Comics, starting in 2000 with Ultimate Spider-Man, in a completely different canon, and it was glorious.
In the main Marvel Universe (Marvel-616), Peter Parker was a middle aged crime fighter with a serious reputation and a handle on who he was and how to use his powers. In the Ultimate Comics Universe (Marvel-1610), Peter Parker was a high school student who had just gained his powers and was still struggling to master them and figure out who he was meant to be. Which do you think new readers would have an easier time relating to? After a few months of steadily gaining sales momentum through aggressive marketing (Ultimate Comics boss Bill Jemas shipped Ultimate Spider-Man #1 to wherever kids would be with their parents: outlet stores, Wal-Mart, even Payless Shoes), Ultimate hit it big when Ultimate X-Men #1 topped the sales charts.
People were excited about Ultimate Comics. It was new and very different. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada had recruited indie comics artist/writer Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis wrote comics more like TV scripts than typical comics of the day and his art style was much sleeker. Gone were the days of boxy, nine cell style artwork, in were the abstract, all over the page style art we’re familiar with today. Then, after two years Ultimate Comics hit its biggest and best series: The Ultimates. The Ultimates were an alternate version of the Avengers, and their first 12 issues limited series is regarded by many as one of the best mainstream comic series of the 2000s; a gritty story by author Mark Millar that read like Avengers: The Movie, way back before the Cinematic Universe was even a daydream. Ultimate Comics kept gaining steam, releasing even more monthly and limited series. However, nothing lasts forever.
One of the things that made the Ultimate Universe great was that it was different and new, but after seeing the success that the updated style could have, main universe artists and writers began to follow suit. The Ultimate style became the norm across all Marvel comics and soon there was nothing different about the Ultimate line. The stories became more involved, and the back catalogue became an issue again. Kids getting into the Ultimate Fantastic Four for the first time wouldn’t know why Mr. Fantastic was all of a sudden evil, or what happened to Iron Man back in Ultimates series 1. Eventually the series’ started seeing a decline in sales and a decline in quality.
In around 2011 it became clear that the Ultimate line couldn’t sustain itself anymore, so the end began to form. Series’ reached their ends and characters streamlined to fewer issues. One of the best Ultimate ideas came around this time though: the introduction of Miles Morales. Miles is known as the Ultimate Spider-Man, taking up the mantel after the death of Peter Parker, and is an Afro-Latino teenager from Queens. Miles was an instant hit and a ratings spike, but he couldn’t save Ultimate. An event began to form, involving main universe events as well as Ultimate events, culminating in this year’s Secret Wars crossover event. After a massive restructuring the lines are being combined into the All-New, All-Different Marvel re-brand. Many characters are being left behind, but a few fan favorites, including Miles Morales, will join the main universe.
Ultimate Spider-Man #1, which I bought for a toonie at Wal-Mart at age five, led to a huge love of comics. It was simple and enjoyable. I loved the Ultimate Universe, but its ship has sailed. Goodnight sweet prince, and sleep ever so sweetly.
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