Sequart on Twitter Sequart on Facebook SequartTV on YouTube Sequart on Patreon

Marvel’s Ultimate Universe:

Miscellaneous

In 2002, Marvel debuted the six-issue Ultimate Adventures, written by Ron Zimmerman with art by Duncan Fegredo. The series was unlike any other Ultimate Marvel title, in that it featured entirely new characters: Hawk-Owl and Woody, a sly take on Batman and Robin. The series also had a somewhat humorous tone that differed from most Ultimate titles. It was often derided by fans, largely based on writer Ron Zimmerman’s reputation at the time, although the quality of the mini-series was rather high.

The series was also notable for featuring one of the first appearances by the Ultimates, during the first few issues of that team’s original title. At the time, the Ultimates were recruiting, providing a reason for them to visit Hawk-Owl. It’s difficult, however, to reconcile Thor’s involvement, because he didn’t join the team until The Ultimates #5, which continued into issue #6, when Giant Man (also featured in Ultimate Adventures) left the team.

Because of this, it’s difficult to place Ultimate Adventures with The Ultimates, its only logical placement. Doing so would also interrupt that title’s historic first storyline.

In late 2002, a couple months after Ultimate Adventures debuted, Marvel offered the four-issue Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra. Written by Greg Rucka and offering an alternate version of Elektra’s origin story, the mini-series was offered in time for the Daredevil movie co-starring Elektra. In mid-2004, Marvel followed this with a sequel, the five-issue Ultimate Elektra, written by Mike Carey. Despite being written by different writers, the two series were united by penciler Salvador Larroca.

Daredevil and Elektra had already appeared in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, and they would continue to appear occasionally in Ultimate Spider-Man (and nowhere else). But because these stories are flashbacks to these characters’ origins, it would be hard to place them with

In early 2005, over three years before the first Iron Man movie won big at the box office, Marvel offered Ultimate Iron Man, a five-issue mini-series written by Orson Scott Card and initially penciled by Andy Kubert. The series, which offered a new take on Iron Man’s origins, proved a huge hit. But artist Andy Kubert departed for DC midway through the final issue, which being considerably delayed. The series ended without a resolution, promising to continue in a sequel later in 2006. Instead, the five-issue Ultimate Iron Man II debuted at the end of 2007, in the months leading up to the Iron Man film. With Pasqual Ferry on pencils, the series concluded the story of Tony Stark’s origins.

The series succeeded in large part due to its divergence from Iron Man’s traditional origins, and this kept readers coming back to find out how things would turn out. This Tony Stark’s origin involved a previously unseen blue fluid that made someone virtually indestructible. Perhaps for this reason, it would be ignored by The Ultimates, in which Iron Man starred, and writer Mark Millar later (in Ultimate Avengers) introduced a twin brother for Tony who had explicitly not existed in Orson Scott Card’s origin.

Because of this incongruity and the fact that the story’s prolonged origin story has no easy fit into the Ultimates, it has been placed here.

Ultimate Iron Man

Ultimate Iron Man #1

untitled -- 23 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; pencils by Andy Kubert; inks by Danny Miki

first issue; cover by Bryan Hitch; $2.99; cover-dated May 2005

Additional Images:

Ultimate Iron Man #2

untitled -- 23 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; pencils by Andy Kubert; inks by Danny Miki
  • Tony Stark is born

cover by Andy Kubert and Danny Miki; $2.99; cover-dated June 2005
Ultimate Iron Man #3

untitled -- 23 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; pencils by Andy Kubert; inks by Danny Miki
  • introduces James Rhodes

cover by Andy Kubert; $2.99; cover-dated Sept 2005
Ultimate Iron Man #4

untitled -- 22 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; pencils by Andy Kubert; inks by Danny Miki, Batt, and Jesse Delperdang

cover by Andy Kubert; $2.99; cover-dated Nov 2005
Ultimate Iron Man #5

“Ultimate Iron Man” -- 21 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; pencils by Andy Kubert and Mark Bagley; inks by Danny Miki, John Dell, and Scot Koblish

final issue; cover by Andy Kubert; $2.99; cover-dated Feb 2006

Ultimate Iron Man

collects Ultimate Iron Man #1-5; 136 pages; hardcover; published Jan 2006

buy from Amazon

Ultimate Iron Man variant

collects Ultimate Iron Man #1-5; intended for comics fans, whereas the main cover was intended for bookstore audiences (including fans of Orson Scott Card); cover taken from Ultimate Iron Man #1 (variant); 136 pages; hardcover; published Jan 2006

Ultimate Iron Man softcover

collects Ultimate Iron Man #1-5; cover taken from Ultimate Iron Man #1 (variant); 136 pages; softcover; $14.99; published Oct 2006

buy from Amazon

Ultimate Iron Man II #1

untitled -- 24 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; art by Pasqual Ferry
  • continues from Ultimate Iron Man #5

first issue; cover by Pasqual Ferry; $2.99; cover-dated Feb 2008

Additional Images:

Ultimate Iron Man II #2

untitled -- 22 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; art by Pasqual Ferry

cover by Pasqual Ferry; $2.99; cover-dated Mar 2008
Ultimate Iron Man II #3

untitled -- 22 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; art by Pasqual Ferry

cover by Pasqual Ferry; $2.99; cover-dated Apr 2008
Ultimate Iron Man II #4

untitled -- 22 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; art by Pasqual Ferry

cover by Pasqual Ferry; $2.99; cover-dated May 2008
Ultimate Iron Man II #5

untitled -- 23 pages

  • written by Orson Scott Card; pencils by Pasqual Ferry; inks by Leonardo Manco

final issue; cover by Pasqual Ferry; $2.99; cover-dated July 2008

Ultimate Iron Man II

collects Ultimate Iron Man II #1-5; 128 pages; hardcover; $19.99; published Oct 2008

buy from Amazon

Ultimate Iron Man II variant

collects Ultimate Iron Man II #1-5; intended for comics fans, whereas the main cover was intended for bookstore audiences (including fans of Orson Scott Card); cover taken from Ultimate Iron Man II #3; 128 pages; hardcover; $19.99; published Oct 2008

Ultimate Iron Man II softcover

collects Ultimate Iron Man II #1-5; cover taken from Ultimate Iron Man II #3; softcover; $14.99; published 2009

Ultimate Iron Man: Ultimate Collection

collects Ultimate Iron Man #1-5 and Ultimate Iron Man II #1-5; cover taken from Ultimate Iron Man #1; softcover; $29.99; published Feb 2010

buy from Amazon

Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra

Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra #1

untitled -- 24 pages

  • written by Greg Rucka; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Danny Miki

first issue; cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Jan 2003

Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra #2

untitled -- 23 pages

  • written by Greg Rucka; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Danny Miki

cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Feb 2003
Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra #3

untitled -- 22 pages

  • written by Greg Rucka; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Danny Miki

cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Feb 2003
Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra #4

untitled -- 24 pages

  • written by Greg Rucka; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Danny Miki

final issue; cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Mar 2003

Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra, Vol. 1

collects Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra #1-4 and Daredevil Vol. 2 #9; cover taken from Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra #2; 128 pages; softcover; $11.99; published Feb 2003

buy from Amazon

Ultimate Elektra #1

“Devil’s Due, Part 1″ -- 22 pages

  • written by Mike Carey; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Crimelab Studios

first issue; cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Oct 2004

Ultimate Elektra #2

“Devil’s Due, Part 2″ -- 23 pages

  • written by Mike Carey; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Crimelab Studios

cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Nov 2004
Ultimate Elektra #3

“Devil’s Due, Part 3″ -- 24 pages

  • written by Mike Carey; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Crimelab Studios

cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Dec 2004
Ultimate Elektra #4

“Devil’s Due, Part 4″ -- 23 pages

  • written by Mike Carey; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Crimelab Studios

cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Jan 2005
Ultimate Elektra #5

“Devil’s Due, Part 5″ -- 25 pages

  • written by Mike Carey; pencils by Salvador Larroca; inks by Crimelab Studios

final issue; cover by Salvador Larroca; $2.25; cover-dated Feb 2005

Ultimate Elektra Vol. 1: Devil’s Due

collects Ultimate Elektra #1-5; cover taken from Ultimate Elektra #1; 120 pages; $11.99; published Feb 2005

buy from Amazon

Ultimate Adventures

Ultimate Adventures #1

“It Ain’t Me You’re Lookin’ for Babe” -- 24 pages

  • written by Ron Zimmerman; art by Duncan Fegredo
  • first appearance of Hawk-Owl

first issue; cover by Duncan Fegredo; $2.25; cover-dated Nov 2002

Ultimate Adventures #2

“Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money…” -- 23 pages

  • written by Ron Zimmerman; art by Duncan Fegredo

cover by Duncan Fegredo; $2.25; cover-dated Dec 2002
Ultimate Adventures #3

“Orangutans are Skeptical of Changes in their Cages…” -- 24 pages

  • written by Ron Zimmerman; art by Duncan Fegredo
  • the Ultimates (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Giant Man, and the Wasp) arrive at the issue’s end

cover by Duncan Fegredo; $2.25; cover-dated Mar 2003
Ultimate Adventures #4

“One Tin Soldier” -- 23 pages

  • written by Ron Zimmerman; pencils by Duncan Fegredo; inks by Walden Wong

cover by Kaare Andrews; $2.25; cover-dated May 2003
Ultimate Adventures #5

“What Becomes of All the Little Boys?” -- 25 pages

  • written by Ron Zimmerman; art by Duncan Fegredo

cover by Kaare Andrews; $2.99; cover-dated July 2003
Ultimate Adventures #6

“‘Song for Woody’ Bob Dylan, 1960″ -- 25 pages

  • written by Ron Zimmerman; art by Duncan Fegredo

final issue; cover by Kaare Andrews; $2.99; cover-dated Sept 2003

Ultimate Adventures: One Tin Soldier

collects Ultimate Adventures #1-6; cover taken from Ultimate Adventures #3; 144 pages; $12.99; published May 2005

buy from Amazon

Handbooks

Official Handbook of the Ultimate Marvel Universe: Fantastic Four & Spider-Man 2005

profiles -- 49 pages

  • written by Stuart Vandal, Sean McQuaid, Ronald Byrd, Bill Lentz, Mark O’English, and Barry Reese; art by various (taken from various Ultimate Marvel titles)

cover by Mark Bagley; $3.99; cover-dated Oct 2005
Official Handbook of the Ultimate Marvel Universe: The Ultimates & X-Men 2005

profiles -- 47 pages

  • written by Stuart Vandal, Sean McQuaid, Ronald Byrd, Chris Biggs; art by various (taken from various Ultimate Marvel titles)

cover by Mark Bagley; $3.99; cover-dated Feb 2006
Ultimate Secrets

profiles -- 51 pages

  • written by Stuart Vandal, Sean McQuaid, David Wiltfong, Madison Carter, Mark O’English, Mike Fichera, and Ronald Byrd; art by various (taken from various Ultimate Marvel titles)

cover by Greg Land; $3.99; cover-dated Mar 2008