Is the Ultimate Universe stale?

[ult spider fan]

i think parts of the ultimate universe are starting to loose touch with the realism
they got in the early books espily x-men and and uf4 nothign actauly intesting has happend in x men seen bendis stoped writing it and uf4 just runs around with no point anymore (and all the mini arcs are pissing me off)
and the whole wried iron man thing i feel that was uncalled for

but the rest of the stuff lately has been pretty peppy i think

 

[Lynx]

i think parts of the ultimate universe are starting to loose touch with the realism
they got in the early books espily x-men and and uf4 nothign actauly intesting has happend in x men seen bendis stoped writing it and uf4 just runs around with no point anymore (and all the mini arcs are pissing me off)
and the whole wried iron man thing i feel that was uncalled for

but the rest of the stuff lately has been pretty peppy i think

I almost forgot about Iron Man.

. . .

No I didn't. I just remembered it wasn't worth mentioning.

 

[Bass]

I think so.

Basically, the original appeal of the Ultimate unvierse was twofold - we got to see revamps of pre-existing characters; and the stories were good.

The thing is - you can only 'ultimize' a character once. Ever. So you've got to do it properly, intelligently, respectfully, and appropriately.

However, every time a new arc started the creative team ultimized about half a dozen characters. I don't know about you, but I think Shocker should be given the same thought when ultimising as you give Iron Man. You only get one shot with Ultimate Shocker, Rhino, Omega Red, Sinister, Apocalypse, Carnage, Fenris... so it should really be thought out - just like USM was in the beginning.

This continuous desire to ultimise everything super-fast meant that stories became rehashes of 616 stories, and became less imaginative and thus, less good. There goes that appeal. The continuous revamps become less novel because they're so frequent and plentiful. What's worse is there is an extremely finite amount of characters to revamp before you get stuck with dregs. Continous revamping is like stripmining - much like our current energy problems, there are not enough interesting characters left to revamp, and thus - that novelty is gone. Seriously, who's left? Apocalypse? Thanos? Kang? Uatu? Pretty much everyone else already concretely exists in the ultimate universe to some extent, and without big names to ultimise, you resort to ultimising characters who are so unknown that there is no novelty.

So both these appeals are missing, and therefore, the universe becomes stale and unimaginative.

Because it's continually doing the 'easy' thing. It didn't at first, and it made it mighty. But now, it's just repeating itself and 616 continously, in easy stories, instead of saying, now that the ultimate universe is established - "What can we do with the ultimate line that we can't do anywhere else?"

So far, the only answer to that question is, "Introduce a pre-existing 616 character whom we've not ultimised yet", which has been done so many times as to not be that interesting anymore.

As for the actual titles - I don't read USM, UXM is awful, UF4 is a cliche, The Ultimates has completely fallen from grace, and Ultimate Iron Man is off the radar.

Ultimate Extinction is quite exciting, as evidence by the amount of thought they've given to ultimising Galactus. That kind of thought and insight should be in every ultimisation - it would result in them being spaced out, that's for sure.

Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine is also very enjoyable. We all know She-Hulk's coming too.

So the two minis are good, but the main titles - well, they're gone. Ironically, UF4's new team is promising and the closest, but USM isn't going anywhere, and UXM might go somewhere depending on what Kirkman does before Singer shows up. The Ultimates is most likely going to get worse, when Hitllar leave. But yeah - I'm not impressed with Ultimate Marvel at all. Two minis does not a line make.

 

[Victor Von Doom]

I think so.

Basically, the original appeal of the Ultimate unvierse was twofold - we got to see revamps of pre-existing characters; and the stories were good.

The thing is - you can only 'ultimize' a character once. Ever. So you've got to do it properly, intelligently, respectfully, and appropriately.

However, every time a new arc started the creative team ultimized about half a dozen characters. I don't know about you, but I think Shocker should be given the same thought when ultimising as you give Iron Man. You only get one shot with Ultimate Shocker, Rhino, Omega Red, Sinister, Apocalypse, Carnage, Fenris... so it should really be thought out - just like USM was in the beginning.

This continuous desire to ultimise everything super-fast meant that stories became rehashes of 616 stories, and became less imaginative and thus, less good. There goes that appeal. The continuous revamps become less novel because they're so frequent and plentiful. What's worse is there is an extremely finite amount of characters to revamp before you get stuck with dregs. Continous revamping is like stripmining - much like our current energy problems, there are not enough interesting characters left to revamp, and thus - that novelty is gone. Seriously, who's left? Apocalypse? Thanos? Kang? Uatu? Pretty much everyone else already concretely exists in the ultimate universe to some extent, and without big names to ultimise, you resort to ultimising characters who are so unknown that there is no novelty.

So both these appeals are missing, and therefore, the universe becomes stale and unimaginative.

Because it's continually doing the 'easy' thing. It didn't at first, and it made it mighty. But now, it's just repeating itself and 616 continously, in easy stories, instead of saying, now that the ultimate universe is established - "What can we do with the ultimate line that we can't do anywhere else?"

So far, the only answer to that question is, "Introduce a pre-existing 616 character whom we've not ultimised yet", which has been done so many times as to not be that interesting anymore.

As for the actual titles - I don't read USM, UXM is awful, UF4 is a cliche, The Ultimates has completely fallen from grace, and Ultimate Iron Man is off the radar.

Ultimate Extinction is quite exciting, as evidence by the amount of thought they've given to ultimising Galactus. That kind of thought and insight should be in every ultimisation - it would result in them being spaced out, that's for sure.

Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine is also very enjoyable. We all know She-Hulk's coming too.

So the two minis are good, but the main titles - well, they're gone. Ironically, UF4's new team is promising and the closest, but USM isn't going anywhere, and UXM might go somewhere depending on what Kirkman does before Singer shows up. The Ultimates is most likely going to get worse, when Hitllar leave. But yeah - I'm not impressed with Ultimate Marvel at all. Two minis does not a line make.

Dammit man!!! Seriously....how do you follow that?!?!?! Not that I was anyways....but irregardless!!!! How do you follow or rebuttal what Bass has said so beautifully.

Bass = The Definitive Answer

 

[Ice]

How do you follow or rebuttal what Bass has said so beautifully.

Easy. You disagree with him; I do. I don't find it stale. I'm enjoying all titles as they are.

 

[Lynx]

I think so.

Basically, the original appeal of the Ultimate unvierse was twofold - we got to see revamps of pre-existing characters; and the stories were good.

The thing is - you can only 'ultimize' a character once. Ever. So you've got to do it properly, intelligently, respectfully, and appropriately.

However, every time a new arc started the creative team ultimized about half a dozen characters. I don't know about you, but I think Shocker should be given the same thought when ultimising as you give Iron Man. You only get one shot with Ultimate Shocker, Rhino, Omega Red, Sinister, Apocalypse, Carnage, Fenris... so it should really be thought out - just like USM was in the beginning.

This continuous desire to ultimise everything super-fast meant that stories became rehashes of 616 stories, and became less imaginative and thus, less good. There goes that appeal. The continuous revamps become less novel because they're so frequent and plentiful. What's worse is there is an extremely finite amount of characters to revamp before you get stuck with dregs. Continous revamping is like stripmining - much like our current energy problems, there are not enough interesting characters left to revamp, and thus - that novelty is gone. Seriously, who's left? Apocalypse? Thanos? Kang? Uatu? Pretty much everyone else already concretely exists in the ultimate universe to some extent, and without big names to ultimise, you resort to ultimising characters who are so unknown that there is no novelty.

So both these appeals are missing, and therefore, the universe becomes stale and unimaginative.

Because it's continually doing the 'easy' thing. It didn't at first, and it made it mighty. But now, it's just repeating itself and 616 continously, in easy stories, instead of saying, now that the ultimate universe is established - "What can we do with the ultimate line that we can't do anywhere else?"

So far, the only answer to that question is, "Introduce a pre-existing 616 character whom we've not ultimised yet", which has been done so many times as to not be that interesting anymore.

As for the actual titles - I don't read USM, UXM is awful, UF4 is a cliche, The Ultimates has completely fallen from grace, and Ultimate Iron Man is off the radar.

Ultimate Extinction is quite exciting, as evidence by the amount of thought they've given to ultimising Galactus. That kind of thought and insight should be in every ultimisation - it would result in them being spaced out, that's for sure.

Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine is also very enjoyable. We all know She-Hulk's coming too.

So the two minis are good, but the main titles - well, they're gone. Ironically, UF4's new team is promising and the closest, but USM isn't going anywhere, and UXM might go somewhere depending on what Kirkman does before Singer shows up. The Ultimates is most likely going to get worse, when Hitllar leave. But yeah - I'm not impressed with Ultimate Marvel at all. Two minis does not a line make.

I generally agree with what you had to say Bass, except for Ultimates. But, that's just one difference.

I feel Bendis is just rushing to get to 100 and 104 with USM. After that, I hope we see him take some more time to flesh out the title and make it great (Not good like Warriors and Deadpool) again.

What's so sad about UXM is it was brilliant with Vaughan on, and now. . .it's just. . .there. It has no direction at all. Singer needs to tell his damn story so we can move on. It's almost a certainty that Singer and co are doing Ultimate Dark Phoenix, and while I want to see it, my intrest has waned. I'd rather see what the hell the deal with Apocalypse is and how Magento and Longshot tie into it all.

UFF is fun, but there's no progression (Unless Millar decides to tie everything up in the last issue). Despite my feelings toward the UX4 disaster, I have faith in Carey. I really like the angle he's taking with the "younger universe" concept. And Thanos is comming, which'll be great (Hopefully).

Ultimates, however, I feel is stronger then ever. Some say the current story came out of thin air. I disagree. This arc was set up since Ultimates 2 #1, with Cap landing in the Mid East. The appearance of the Union, the riots in Italy, the super-soldier origin of Thor, the Annual, even the Defenders issue. It's all leading to a confrontation with countries who don't agree with the US (or it's allies). Some say the new characters have no personality. To be honest, the only two that matter are the Colonel and Loki. Loki's already been developed, and Millar's doing a hell of a job developing the Colonel. As far as Ultimates 3 goes. . .I see it being like Ultimate FF is now. Fun (Maybe even more fun than Millar's UFF), but having no direction other than "Let's stop the cardboard cutout badguy!".

The current minis are great. I still don't know how Ellis is going to wrap up Galactus in two issues, but we'll see. Wolverine vs Hulk is amazing. It's even more mind-blowing that it's a versus comic.

As for upcomming stuff that I didn't mention: Ultimate Power has a lot of promise, so long as Bendis doesn't screw it up (I don't think he will, since he's a great setup man, which is his part of the story). Ultimate Invasion. . .well, the prospect of Silvestri is promising, as well as it supposedly dealing with Namor. But again, it's Bendis, so who knows.

 

[Pandrio]

I don't find it stale. I'm enjoying all titles as they are.

I'm not sure I find the universe stale, but with reading more and more comics, I find it more average than I did when it was all I read. I don't find it terribly stale, but it is worse than it was when it began and there is a lot better to read out there.

 

[Bass]

Ultimates, however, I feel is stronger then ever. Some say the current story came out of thin air.

Actually, I don't think people think the story came out of thin air. The Liberators have been nicely set up - the problem is that the Widow reveal is completely out of nowhere and that turning-point is what ties the previous issues to the new "grand theft america" storyline. Since that turning-point, the traitor reveal, is contrived, forced, manipulative, and shallow, those traits carry over to the GTA storyline. If the traitor reveal had been powerful, insightful, honest, and meaningful, GTA would carry those attributes. As it is, GTA was set up but its execution has a lot to be desired.

You see, to me, when I'm experiencing a story in cinema, comic, theatre, novel, I have a very simple meter of wether I'm enjoying the story or not.

If I go, "Wouldn't this be better?" and start jotting down ideas on my notepad, all of which interest me more than the actual story itself, to me, that story is over. My interest is no longer one of emotional thematic attachment, but of morbid curiosity to see if my ideas are better or not. For example, I came up with a bunch of scenarios of what could've happened if someone else was the traitor - something I'll probably post at a later date.

But to me, this is a big yard stick for measuring a story's success. If I'm having a more enjoyable idea coming up with my own variations on someone else's story - then that story is lacking. Because I should be totally immersed in the story. This is the main reason I drop titles. And as for Ultimates - I don't care anymore. I just see it as wasted potential. Which is sad, because this title and this storyline is what brought me to this site in the first place.

 

[Lynx]

I can see where you're comming from, Bass. I've done the same thing on occasion, as well.

However, one detail gone sour doesn't kill a story for me.

To be honest, the time between Ultimates 2 #5 (When Loki tells Thor that the Ultimates has a traitor) and the time it took to get Ultimates 2 #9 to reveal the traitor, I didn't care anymore. In every issue, they teased about it and I had gotten sick of it (Not to mention the delays). That's why when U2 9 came out, I was far more impressed by the invasion of the Liberators then the reveal of the traitor. Millar would have been fine revealing Widow in issue 7, and we see the consequences of her actions in 8 and 9. A dramatic irony situation, I think, would have been not only better for the overall story, but for character development as well.

I think no matter who the traitor had been, somebody would have been disapointed. And, to be honest (And something Millar should have thought of), was that letting us know the identity of the traitor from the get-go (Or soon thereafter) would have avoided dissapointment, yet still would have gone a long way to letting us see the reactions of various characters as they discovered the identity of the traitor.

With that being said, however, I think the story as a whole has been excellent and I can't wait to see how it all ends.

 

[Hawkeye101]

Here's whats going down, Some Characters, (take the ringer for example) were never really any good. So they use them for quick (almost retarded) appearancesto give you a 616 feel, but in the new Ultimate way. The only title that is now failing at keeping stories Ultimized is Ultimate Spider-Man, I read it for continuity reasons (or whats left of the continuity). USM has tried so hard to Ultimize anything and everything so quickly that I'm afraid BMB has lost a certain touch. In the beginning it was all wonderfully connected and interesting. The whole Oscorp vs Hammer industies creating every villain that Spidey-Faces was genius! And tying it together in Ultimate Six was good too! And I can't remember who said it, but they're right, After Hollywood, Spidey just became a way to quickly ultimize random characters, Ultimate Boomerang, Killer Shrike, Deathlock, Omega red, ringer... I mean Jeez! USM is ultimizing X-Men villains and characters!

Ultimate X-Men has had two outstanding writers (Millar and Vaugn). As well as New Mutants by BMB. I mean lets look at this though, Millar would ultimize for good reasons. Many villains from Weapon X in his second arc either didn't exsist in 616 or were used once or twice,so ultimizing them is no challange. Ultimizing Proteus and Psylock was risky, but Ultimizing Psylock, Nick Fury, General Ross, and others only helped his tie in to the Ultimates.

When Vaughn ultimized someone, he took ideas from the old universe and took away everything about the character that wouldn't work in the ultimate universe and started over with them, (I.e. Sinister and Mojo). This info can be found in the backof the trades.

Now look at what Bendis did on his run,New Mutants, He ultimized several characters, and didn't do anything with them! Bishop, Wolfsbane, Callisto, Havok, Polaris, and Dazzler! Yeah he introduced them, and left them open for Vaughn, but he didn't do anything himslef with them. Bendis seems happy just Ultimizing anything at will. He ultimized Angel, Karma, Dazzler, Bishop, Callisto, Wolfsbane, Havok, Emma Frost, Polaris and others in ONE STORY ARC. Thats a complete set of X-Men in one sitting and the only two he does anything with is Angel and Emma.

So I concur that USM and anything else Bendis touches is going stale, but I believe it can be turned around. He did and excellent job in the first sixty issues of USM. Millar, Vaugn and Ellis they have fresh ideas and aren't bogged down in the idea of Ultimizing just any character to ultimize them, they ultimize with a perpose. I have yet to deduce Misty Knight's reason, but Ultimate Extinction isn't over yet. So is the UU going stale, no of course not, USM is though surely.

 

[Lynx]

Now look at what Bendis did on his run,New Mutants, He ultimized several characters, and didn't do anything with them! Bishop, Wolfsbane, Callisto, Havok, Polaris, and Dazzler! Yeah he introduced them, and left them open for Vaughn, but he didn't do anything himslef with them. Bendis seems happy just Ultimizing anything at will. He ultimized Angel, Karma, Dazzler, Bishop, Callisto, Wolfsbane, Havok, Emma Frost, Polaris and others in ONE STORY ARC. Thats a complete set of X-Men in one sitting and the only two he does anything with is Angel and Emma.

To Bendis' credit, though, Ultimate Emma Frost and Dazzler were pretty damn different then their 616 counterparts.

 

[Ice]

Now look at what Bendis did on his run,New Mutants, He ultimized several characters, and didn't do anything with them! Bishop, Wolfsbane, Callisto, Havok, Polaris, and Dazzler! Yeah he introduced them, and left them open for Vaughn, but he didn't do anything himslef with them. Bendis seems happy just Ultimizing anything at will. He ultimized Angel, Karma, Dazzler, Bishop, Callisto, Wolfsbane, Havok, Emma Frost, Polaris and others in ONE STORY ARC. Thats a complete set of X-Men in one sitting and the only two he does anything with is Angel and Emma.

Only Bishop was named, far as I remember, from those pictures (not counting Polaris and Havok).

Wolfsbane was not ultimized by Bendis, but by Vaughan. Every other person wasn't given a name, so therefor, that doesn't count.

 

[Hawkeye101]

Only Bishop was named, far as I remember, from those pictures (not counting Polaris and Havok).

Wolfsbane was not ultimized by Bendis, but by Vaughan. Every other person wasn't given a name, so therefor, that doesn't count.

Yes, when Bendis Ultimizes someone with thought, he does it well, (Ultimate Green Goblin, Ultimate Kraven by ultimate six, Ultimate Black Cat etc.) but he also ultimizes people just for the sake of ultimizing people. And yes, Wolfsbane was mentioned in New Mutants, the president says to to the 'wolf-girl'.

I translate this over to USM, and you see the same thing, Gladiator, Killer Shrike, Ringer ... random nobodies that nobody uses in the old universe. He's gone ultimate happy.

 

[Ice]

Yes, when Bendis Ultimizes someone with thought, he does it well, (Ultimate Green Goblin, Ultimate Kraven by ultimate six, Ultimate Black Cat etc.) but he also ultimizes people just for the sake of ultimizing people. And yes, Wolfsbane was mentioned in New Mutants, the president says to to the 'wolf-girl'.

But that doesn't necessarily mean Wolfsbane. It's not like there's only one mutant girl like that or anything. 'Speically since they can make one up. :wink:

 

[jeremiahvedder]

The only time I find the Ultimate Universe stale is when I read arcs issue-by-issue instead of having a trade in front of me... Because, really, you rip through comics nowadays like wildfire and, while I'm a big fan of decompression because of how much it lends to a book's pacing, there's just not enough between two covers to justify sitting and waiting a month to see the next act. The way it is, if you're completely caught up, you're just sitting around on your thumbs, spinning, and it's not the comics you're bored of... It's the wait.

What they need to do is pull Bendis off all those other books--what is he up to, like, six a month now?--and have both him and Bagley crank out a new trade every month to satiate this new day and age market's incredible devouring of a 32-page book. (Pipe dream, I know... Something like that would destroy a single team's quality... But something with as big a cast as ULTIMATE X-MEN, you could easily have a new arc a month. A bunch of creative teams working all at once and VIOLA!)

Err... Anyway, I've never read an ULTIMATE book that I didn't like, so long as I read it in a trade.

 

[Bass]

However, one detail gone sour doesn't kill a story for me.

As I said, it's not just the one detail, but it's place, holistically in the story's structure, how that detail affects details that came before and after it. See, the Ultimates was like a puzzle, and I couldn't see the whole picture, but when that detail, the traitor was dropped, #9 and #10 let me see the whole picture, and that was when I realised the story, for me, was dead.

To be honest, the time between Ultimates 2 #5 (When Loki tells Thor that the Ultimates has a traitor) and the time it took to get Ultimates 2 #9 to reveal the traitor, I didn't care anymore. In every issue, they teased about it and I had gotten sick of it (Not to mention the delays). That's why when U2 9 came out, I was far more impressed by the invasion of the Liberators then the reveal of the traitor. Millar would have been fine revealing Widow in issue 7, and we see the consequences of her actions in 8 and 9. A dramatic irony situation, I think, would have been not only better for the overall story, but for character development as well.

I particularly agree since the reveal of the traitor has no impact since it's such a shallow choice. I've said it before, I'll say it again - they should've waited until Ultimates 2 was finished and then released it directly as a trade; the comic equivalent of a movie.

When Vaughn ultimized someone, he took ideas from the old universe and took away everything about the character that wouldn't work in the ultimate universe and started over with them, (I.e. Sinister and Mojo). This info can be found in the backof the trades.

The Mojo ultimization was so good... I was in a daze, ever since Bendis, not really enjoying UXM, then this Mojo ultimization came and I was just so happy and excited.

Now look at what Bendis did on his run,New Mutants, He ultimized several characters, and didn't do anything with them! Bishop, Wolfsbane, Callisto, Havok, Polaris, and Dazzler! Yeah he introduced them, and left them open for Vaughn, but he didn't do anything himslef with them. Bendis seems happy just Ultimizing anything at will. He ultimized Angel, Karma, Dazzler, Bishop, Callisto, Wolfsbane, Havok, Emma Frost, Polaris and others in ONE STORY ARC. Thats a complete set of X-Men in one sitting and the only two he does anything with is Angel and Emma.

Bendis pisses away stories and characters all the time. It's the main reason I dropped USM.

The only time I find the Ultimate Universe stale is when I read arcs issue-by-issue instead of having a trade in front of me... Because, really, you rip through comics nowadays like wildfire and, while I'm a big fan of decompression because of how much it lends to a book's pacing, there's just not enough between two covers to justify sitting and waiting a month to see the next act. The way it is, if you're completely caught up, you're just sitting around on your thumbs, spinning, and it's not the comics you're bored of... It's the wait.

Welcome - While you have a point - I also think it's more false than true. Really good comics, it doesn't matter how long the wait is, the issue is always worth it. The first 6 issues of the Ultimates 2 was like this, 100 Bullets, The Punisher, All-Star Superman, Planetary - these are comics which are good regardless of the month(s) wait, and also prove how much can be packed into a single issue.

Decompression is a nice buzzword too many people use in comics to write the long-drawn out soap opera stories we see in too much of television drama.

What I've found though, is that while reading story arcs in trade does make a story better, the thing is; the stories found stale on a monthly basis, when read as a trade, are just passable. It raises the experience, sure, but it's a one-off placebo - the flaws of the story, so painfully obvious in the individual issues are still there, revealed upon further readings.

And I've said - if the stories are meant to be read as a trade, then they should be realised as such, and not at all serialised in monthly episodes.

Eh, I just think that trades are great, but the quality of a story is evident, regardless of how it's digested.

What they need to do is pull Bendis off all those other books--what is he up to, like, six a month now?--and have both him and Bagley crank out a new trade every month to satiate this new day and age market's incredible devouring of a 32-page book. (Pipe dream, I know... Something like that would destroy a single team's quality... But something with as big a cast as ULTIMATE X-MEN, you could easily have a new arc a month. A bunch of creative teams working all at once and VIOLA!)

I think that more mainstream comics should be produced directly in digest size like japanese comics, which are not serialised. It's like having tv and the cinema - tv being the monthly issues and the cinema being the direct digest sized releases.

Err... Anyway, I've never read an ULTIMATE book that I didn't like, so long as I read it in a trade.

Fair enough.

 

[Pandrio]

Err... Anyway, I've never read an ULTIMATE book that I didn't like, so long as I read it in a trade.

Will you be reading UIM when it comes out in trade?

 

[jeremiahvedder]

The first 6 issues of the Ultimates 2 was like this, 100 Bullets, The Punisher, All-Star Superman, Planetary - these are comics which are good regardless of the month(s) wait, and also prove how much can be packed into a single issue.

It's an instant gratification issue with me. I'm American and obviously so, heh.

There are a few books who can consistantly knock your socks off, but those are the exception to the rule and hardly the norm. There are some series that couldn't pull off a miracle if they were given a hundred issues to work with, and there are five of those out there for every MAX PUNISHER.

Y: THE LAST MAN keeps me humming, too. Semi-random thought, but there you go.

And I've said - if the stories are meant to be read as a trade, then they should be realised as such, and not at all serialised in monthly episodes.

Tell that to the Marvel marketing department, who've been encouraging writers to put together content with a collected edition in mind since ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN started doing so well at "respectable" bookstores like Barnes & Noble. I don't mind it; there's plenty of other stuff to read while I wait for a trade, and have actually gotten to read a bunch of other good stuff in my search for an asthetic while my primary books are being put together.

FABLES and THE WALKING DEAD are just some of the stuff I've found that I wouldn't have otherwise had the cash to pick up. That's another bonus for trades: their relative cheapness compared to single issues. It's the wave of the future, I'm telling you. Comics isn't a dying art but the single issue is.

Will you be reading UIM when it comes out in trade?

I read issue #1-5 all at once last week, with #6 not being too far off.

I was impressed with Scott Card, despite hating Ender, but the whole thing had one major glitch that they kept repeating over and over again that made me want to rip my hair out.

There is no such thing as "antibacterial" soap.

Studies prove that it's not the soap that kills bacteria or whatnot, it's the friction from rubbing your hands together... Technically, all soap is "antibacterial." Hell, technically sandpaper is "antibacterial."

 

[Ice]

I read issue #1-5 all at once last week, with #6 not being too far off.

I was impressed with Scott Card, despite hating Ender, but the whole thing had one major glitch that they kept repeating over and over again that made me want to rip my hair out.

There is no such thing as "antibacterial" soap.

Studies prove that it's not the soap that kills bacteria or whatnot, it's the friction from rubbing your hands together... Technically, all soap is "antibacterial." Hell, technically sandpaper is "antibacterial."

I wasn't aware there was a 6th issue to the UIM mini... :shock:

 

[jeremiahvedder]

I suppose there isn't.

I was simply misled by the fact that it said "CONTINUED IN 2006" on the last page of #5.

Heh.