Ultimatum (comics)
Ultimatum | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Genre | |
Publication date | January – September 2009 |
No. of issues | 5 |
Main character(s) | Brotherhood of Mutants Fantastic Four Spider-Man X-Men Ultimates |
Creative team | |
Written by | Jeph Loeb |
Penciller(s) | David Finch |
Inker(s) | Danny Miki |
Colorist(s) | Steve Firchow Peter Steigerwald Guru eFX |
"Ultimatum" is a 2009 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics under its Ultimate Marvel imprint. It consists of a core five-issue eponymous miniseries written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by David Finch that was published from January to September 2009, and a number of tie-in books. The storyline deals with Magneto's attempts to destroy the world following the apparent deaths of his children, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in The Ultimates 3.
The first issue of the core miniseries was the best-selling comic of January 2009, selling over 100,000 copies, though sales dropped with subsequent issues. Despite relatively strong sales, the miniseries received almost universally negative reviews upon its conclusion, as it holds a score of 4 out of 10 at the review aggregator website Comic Book Roundup. By contrast, the overall crossover storyline holds a score of 5.8 out of 10, whereas higher scores are held by the tie-in series, Ultimatum: Fantastic Four Requiem, Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem and Ultimatum: X-Men Requiem hold scores of 7, 7.7 and 6.3, respectively.
History
The foreshadowing of the "Ultimatum" storyline began in late 2007 when Ultimate Power #8 featured a banner on its cover reading, "March on Ultimatum". The following year, a teaser advertisement for "Ultimatum" ran in all Marvel titles. It depicted a broken tombstone reading 2000-2008, with the 2008 piece broken from its place, indicating that the Ultimate Universe would be ending that year. In an interview on YouTube, artist David Finch said that Loeb would be bringing much to all of the Ultimate Universe to a close.
Loeb said in an interview with Comic Book Resources that the storyline would "hopscotch back and forth between the two books [Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men] and conclude what I would like to say is the first chapter of the Ultimate Universe."[1]
During the Marvel Ultimate Universe panel at the 2008
The Ultimates continued under the title
Storyline
Background
Elements of "Ultimatum"'s story were established in the
Synopsis
A series of disasters befalls a few major cities: a lightning storm suddenly appears in
In the aftermath, the
As the X-Men mourn their dead,
Kitty Pryde leaves to search for Spider-Man, who was caught in an explosion inside the Sanctum Sanctorum, the home of Doctor Strange. She and Spider-Woman find his mask, and assume he is dead.[5]
Strange's home is destroyed by an explosion. When
After controlling Cyclops' visor and Iron Man's lasers into hitting Wolverine, Magneto kills Wolverine by ripping the
Aftermath
Following the "Ultimatum" storyline, each Ultimate title was given a Requiem follow-up series or one-shot, dealing with the status of each book's characters in the aftermath of Ultimatum.
Reception
Sales
The core Ultimatum miniseries enjoyed strong sales. The first issue was the #1 selling book for November 2008, with 114,230 books sold by Diamond.[8] However, sales dropped with the second issue, which sold less than 75,000 copies. Over the course of its nine-month run, Ultimatum lost an estimated 27,482 readers.[9]
Critical reception
The overall crossover holds a score of 5.8 out of 10 on the review aggregator Comic Book Roundup, based on 17 reviews. The core miniseries holds a score of 4 out of 10, based on five reviews. The tie-in series hold higher scores, with Ultimatum: Fantastic Four Requiem, Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem and Ultimatum: X-Men Requiem holding scores of 7, 7.7 and 6.3, respectively, based on 1, 2, and 1 reviews, respectively.[10] The initial reviews of the core miniseries' earlier issues were mixed, with issue #1 holding a score of 6.3 out of 10 at Comic Book Roundup, based on 10 reviews, with the following four issues holding scores of 4.8, 3.7, 2.2 and 2.8, based on 8, 5, 6, and 6 reviews, respectively.[11]
In reviews of the first issue, Zak Edwards of ComicBookBin took notice of Loeb's ability to relay characterization while plotting a catastrophic event,
Criticism of Loeb's writing was more common in reviews of subsequent issues,[15] and universal by the time of the series' conclusion.[16] David Finch's art generally drew more praise,[12][15][16] though even that element was not without its critics, with some reviewers taking issue with Finch's focus on characters' physical beauty over expressiveness,[17] and more than one reviewer criticizing him for his depiction of Carol Danvers's breast size.[18][19]
Schedeen gave the series' final issue a scathing review, saying, "Ultimatum is one of the worst comics I have ever read," and called it "the ultimate nightmare."[17] Criticism of Loeb's writing centered on his dialogue, the number of characters he killed off, and inconsistent characterization and storytelling.[20][21][22][23] Other points of criticism among these reviews also included the level of graphic violence, which included cannibalism, and the notion that the series was sold on the basis of its shock value.[24]
Still others asserted the story lacked originality,
Collected editions
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
Ultimatum: March On Ultimatum | Ultimate Fantastic Four/Ultimate X-Men Annual #1, Ultimate X-Men/Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1, Ultimate Captain America Annual #1, Ultimate Hulk Annual #1 and Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3 | February 2009 | 978-0785135647 |
Ultimatum | Ultimatum #1-5 | October 2009 | 978-0785133001 |
Ultimatum: X-Men/Fantastic Four | Ultimate X-Men #98-100 and Ultimate Fantastic Four #58-60 | May 2009 | 978-0785134329 |
Ultimatum: Spider-Man | Ultimate Spider-Man #129-133, and Annual #3 | September 2009 | 978-0785141242 |
Ultimatum: Requiem | Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem, Fantastic Four Requiem, and X-Men Requiem | October 2009 | 978-0785139256 |
Ultimatum Companion | Ultimate Fantastic Four #58–60, Ultimatum Fantastic Four: Requiem, Ultimate Spider-Man #129–133, Ultimatum Spider-Man: Requiem #1–2, Ultimate X-Men #98–100, Ultimatum X-Men: Requiem, March on Ultimatum Saga, Marvel Spotlight: Ultimatum | May 2011 | 978-0785155072 |
References
- ^ Richards, Dave (July 28, 2007). "CCI: Ultimate Changes: Loeb Talks Ultimatum and Ultimates 3". Comic Book Resources.
- Loeb, Jeph (w), Finch, David(p), Miki, Danny (i). "Three Kings". Ultimatum #1 (January 2009). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Loeb, Jeph (w), Finch, David (p), Miki, Danny (i). "Death Becomes Her". Ultimatum #2 (February 2009). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Loeb, Jeph (w), Finch, David (p), Miki, Danny (i). "Heaven on Earth". Ultimatum #3 (May 2009). Marvel Comics.
- Von Grawbadger, Wade(i). "Ultimatum!, Chapter 5". Ultimate Spider-Man #133 (June 2009). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Loeb, Jeph (w), Finch, David (p), Miki, Danny (i). "A Time to Die". Ultimatum #4 (June 2009). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Loeb, Jeph (w), Finch, David (p), Miki, Danny (i). "The Ugly Truth". Ultimatum #5 (September 2009). Marvel Comics.
- ^ "Top 300 Comics for November 2008". ICV2. December 16, 2008.
- ^
- "Top 300 Comics Actual--December 2008". ICV2. January 20, 2009.
- "Top 300 Comics Actual--March 2009". ICV2. April 15, 2009.
- "Top 300 Comics Actual--June 2009". ICV2. July 11, 2009.
- "Top 300 Comics Actual--July 2009". ICV2. August 17, 2009.
- "November 2008 Comic Book Sales Figures". The Comics Chronicles. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ^ "Ultimatum". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ^ "Ultimatum" Archived 2014-05-21 at the Wayback Machine. Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Edwards, Zak (November 5, 2008). "Ultimatum #1". ComicBookBin.
- ^ a b Schedeen, Jesse (November 5, 2008). "Ultimatum #1 Review". IGN.
- ^ "Andrew C. Murphy and Ben Berger. "Ultimatum #1 – Review" Weekly Comic Book Review; November 5, 2008". Weekly Comic Book Review. 2008-11-05. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
- ^ a b "Ultimatum #2 Reviews" Archived 2014-05-21 at the Wayback Machine. Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ^ a b "Ultimatum #5 Reviews". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ^ a b "Jesse Schedeen. "Ultimatum" #5 Review: The ultimate nightmare comes to a close."". IGN. July 29, 2009.
- ^ Edwards, Zak (December 26, 2008 ). "Ultimatum #2". ComicBookBin.
- ^ Joel, Bryan (December 24, 2008). "Ultimatum #2 Review". IGN.
- ^ Kerouac, Jason (July 30, 2009). "Ultimatum #5". Panels on Pages.
- ^ a b "Review: Ultimatum". Big Shiny Robot. July 31, 2009.
- ^ Hunt, James (June 9, 2009). "Review: Ultimatum #4". Comic Book Resources.
- ^ "Review of Ultimatum #4". iFanboy. June 3, 2009.
- ^ Brice, Jason (June 2, 2009). "Review of Ultimatum #4". Comics Bulletin. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
- ^ Krinn, Rokk (November 10, 2008). "Comic Book Review: Ultimatum #1". Comic Book Revolution.
- ^ "Comic Book Review: Ultimatum #5"[usurped]. ComixUp. August 1, 2009.