newuniversal Discussion (Spoilers)

[Joe Kalicki]

And all I'm saying is that it isn't needed all at once. It could be spread out.

What I actually would have liked better is if the first batch of issues spotlighted one character each, ending in the white event, then pick up the universe with the second arc.

I think this is becoming a bigger "thing" than I would like. I'm not saying the comic sucked, or you guys are wrong, I'm just saying what I would have preferred to see.

Now, issue two can come out and be the best thing I ever read. Honestly, I wouldn't put it past Ellis. I do trust him as a storyteller, I just wasn't impressed with this issue.

 

[E]

And all I'm saying is that it isn't needed all at once. It could be spread out.

What I actually would have liked better is if the first batch of issues spotlighted one character each, ending in the white event, then pick up the universe with the second arc.

Wait - I'm not trying to be difficult but weren't you just saying basically that it was too decompressed and nothing happened?

 

[Joe Kalicki]

Yeah, but with focusing on one character you can actually have them doing something, showing who they are, how they react to obstacles or events. This issue just had them talking to each other, without showing us anything about anyone.

 

[Victor Von Doom]

Yeah, but with focusing on one character you can actually have them doing something, showing who they are, how they react to obstacles or events. This issue just had them talking to each other, without showing us anything about anyone.

Maybe it's just me having a hard time trying to grasp what you're saying---but this has been the most straight-forward standard first issue I've ever read.

I'm not saying that you're wrong for not liking it----everyone is entitled to their own opinion----but there is no difference between this issue and the first issue of UFF or USM. It's just an introduction issue. Nothing is really supposed to happen in it.

It showed people in their day to day lives before the White Event. Then the white event happened.....and it showed that there were changes.

It's all very straightforward.

 

[E]

Yeah, but with focusing on one character you can actually have them doing something, showing who they are, how they react to obstacles or events. This issue just had them talking to each other, without showing us anything about anyone.

But...it's not about just one character. And it's (apparently) not like Supreme Power where all of the origins stem from the actions of one character. So what would be the advantage of that?

I'm not picking, it's just that I agree with Vic - this was just about as perfect a first issue as they come.

 

[Ultimate Quicksilver]

But...it's not about just one character. And it's (apparently) not like Supreme Power where all of the origins stem from the actions of one character. So what would be the advantage of that?

I'm not picking, it's just that I agree with Vic - this was just about as perfect a first issue as they come.

Meh, I've seen better. I understand both points of view, I think there are better first issues and this one wasn't bad, but it was not great either. I think what Kalicki said is that in this issue we just got a quick view of who are the characters, maybe if the story would just focus in one character, you would already see who is the character and what he does, that would almost certainly keep you reading through all the story.

 

[moonmaster]

I really liked this. A very intriguing set up.

Am I the only one who noticed that everyone was modeled after actors? Or was this mentioned beforehand and I missed it? The ones I've identified so far:

John Tensen - Bruce Willis
Kenneth Connel - Josh Holloway
Leonard Carson - Johnny Depp
Hannah Ballad - Nicole Kidman
Jim Braddock - Gene Hackman
Sherrif Dan Felix - James Gandolfini

I'm not sure who Izanami is supposed to be. I've heard suggestions that the murderous nurse is head-butting soccer star Zinedine Zidane and that the other cops were other Sapronoes actors, but I'm not sure. I've also heard that Madeline Felix is supposed to be Drew Barrymoore, but I don't see the resemblence.

I'm surprised at how undistracted I was by all the famous faces while reading the issue. It was just extra fun to be able to look through the issue afterwards and figure out who's who.

 

[Ultimate Quicksilver]

I'm not sure who Izanami is supposed to be. I've heard suggestions that the murderous nurse is head-butting soccer star Zinedine Zidane and that the other cops were other Sapronoes actors, but I'm not sure. I've also heard that Madeline Felix is supposed to be Drew Barrymoore, but I don't see the resemblence.

I'm surprised at how undistracted I was by all the famous faces while reading the issue. It was just extra fun to be able to look through the issue afterwards and figure out who's who.

I'm almost absolutly sure it was Zidane.

 

[Joe Kalicki]

Well, nobody seems to want to discuss newuniversal 2.

I don't have the issue around to give a full synopsis, but I will say I really liked it. I was disappointed with 1, but this was more along the lines of what I want this series to be.

The Nightmask stuff seems to be the reason Ellis wanted to write this series and it was great. I think this will be the best part of newuniversal if it stays in the forefront, and I hope it does because it's by far the most interesting storyline in the book.

 

[E]

#2 was very good. I'm not sure I get the giant robot, but the part where Connell disintegrates the cops arm and escapes was awesome. I love how these guys have these powers and are so terrified and confused but still seem to know what to do and how to use them. "I don't know what's happening here, I just want to leave" - cool scene. I like that he's not cowering or trembling. He's in charge and he knows it, even if he doesn't know how or why.

The Superflow looks like it is meant to be very similar to the Bleed in Planetary. Cool.

I also thought it was cool that he (Ellis) is tying the old New Universe into this, rather than being a total reboot that pretends the original never existed.

And Larocca's art is the best I've seen him do.

I'm really enjoying this.

 

[thee great one]

This is basically Ultimate newuniversal like Supreme Power is the old Squardon Supreme.

I wouldn't mind a cross between the two.

This book rocks.

 

[Dancanread]

I really dug this, too. And the artwork is beautiful, but i've noticed after looking at #1 again, too, that a lot of the characters seem based on celebs, in that Ult Nick Fury/Sam Jackson kinda way. Like starbrand looks like Josh Holloway, the archeologist is Johnny Depp, his girfriend Nicole Kidman, the Brit guy who helps with the crypt is Gene Hackman, John Tensen is Bruce Willis, and the sheriff and the cops look like the entire cast of the Sopranos. Anyone else notice this?

 

[ProjectX2]

I really dug this, too. And the artwork is beautiful, but i've noticed after looking at #1 again, too, that a lot of the characters seem based on celebs, in that Ult Nick Fury/Sam Jackson kinda way. Like starbrand looks like Josh Holloway, the archeologist is Johnny Depp, his girfriend Nicole Kidman, the Brit guy who helps with the crypt is Gene Hackman, John Tensen is Bruce Willis, and the sheriff and the cops look like the entire cast of the Sopranos. Anyone else notice this?

Moonmaster posted the same thing somewhere in this thread.

I like this, but it's hard to keep interest in. I don't know any of the character's names or what's going on.

 

[E]

This is basically Ultimate newuniversal like Supreme Power is the old Squardon Supreme.

I wouldn't mind a cross between the two.

I would, because you know they would hand it to Bendis and it would be worse than Ultimate Power.

 

[thee great one]

I really dug this, too. And the artwork is beautiful, but i've noticed after looking at #1 again, too, that a lot of the characters seem based on celebs, in that Ult Nick Fury/Sam Jackson kinda way. Like starbrand looks like Josh Holloway, the archeologist is Johnny Depp, his girfriend Nicole Kidman, the Brit guy who helps with the crypt is Gene Hackman, John Tensen is Bruce Willis, and the sheriff and the cops look like the entire cast of the Sopranos. Anyone else notice this?

I noticed that he looked like Sawyer.

I would, because you know they would hand it to Bendis and it would be worse than Ultimate Power.

I thinking it would be awesome if the internet jesus wrote it.

 

[E]

I thinking it would be awesome if the internet jesus wrote it.

But he wouldn't, because it's a ****ing retarded idea and he tends to stay away from those.

 

[ProjectX2]

But he wouldn't, because it's a ****ing retarded idea and he tends to stay away from those.

And the Supremeverse sucks now; even Gary Frank thinks it's ****.

 

[thee great one]

And the Supremeverse sucks now; even Gary Frank thinks it's ****.

It does. It was just a fanboy thought.

I'm thinking of the original Supreme Power days.

This is still an Ultimate newuniversal.

 

[E]

It does. It was just a fanboy thought.

I'm thinking of the original Supreme Power days.

This is still an Ultimate newuniversal.

It's a fine idea as a fanboy thought. But it bothers me because I know this is something they might consider.

 

[ourchair]

It doesn't matter. The first issue, especially, should get people wanting to read more issues. It should be a good example of the series as a whole. Tell the introductions within the story. There's no point in having a first issue that isn't representative of what the comic will be. People could read this, be bored to tears, and not come back. It's asking too much for someone to hang around six issues until we get to the good stuff, particularly at three bucks each.

I think part of the problem with arguing this is that it's hard to distinguish between 'serialized' material and chopping up one story into multiple parts such that the first chapter reads like the pre-credits intro of a feature film or television show.

Granted, there's a big difference between the two, but they can easily blur. For example, Ellis is writing serialized yet standalone fiction in Fell whereas he's clearly chopping up stories in his Ultimate Fantastic Four arcs. Desolation Jones falls somewhere in between, playing out more like a one-story television show like 24 or Lost than a serialized set of stories (with overrunning plot) like The Shield.

newuniversal is clearly just one chopped up story, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Ellis works that way when doing a Marvel book simply because he knows that its more permissible in that market. He has no agenda of trying to restructure the economy of storytelling like he does with Fell to make things easier for casual readers. He's done the same thing with Ultimate Nightmare, and it's in cases like these that it's VERY obvious that he only breaks his work into 22-page chapters because that is the format you HAVE to work with in Marvel (compounded by Quesada's 'anti-OGN' sentiments).

True, writing for the trade is ridiculous if you expect people to buy the monthlies but that's the silliness the comic business has fallen into simply to gain penetration into the bookstore market. The publisher's are simply afraid to abandon the 'pamphlet' market simply because that's where their hardcore base lies, and we ALL know how fearful the comics industry is of losing their loyalist base.