Ultimate DC

ProjectX2

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I'm always trying to make up some fanfic group to write an Ultimate DC, but they never turn out good. All Star has done something similar, but instead of ultimizing the characters, they're just letting all star creators do out of continuity stories with the characters.

If there was an Ultimate DC, and you were in charge, how would you do it?
 
I'm always trying to make up some fanfic group to write an Ultimate DC, but they never turn out good. All Star has done something similar, but instead of ultimizing the characters, they're just letting all star creators do out of continuity stories with the characters.

If there was an Ultimate DC, and you were in charge, how would you do it?

Take the big three roots. Batman is an angry and anti-social vigilante who fights criminals, not because he's horribly interested in saving people, but because he hates them. Superman is a near omnipotent alien with a hero and guilt-complex because he can't save everyone. Wonder Woman...isn't that interesting. I don't know. I don't read any of her books.

Batman shouldn't have a robin, but I would still like to see Dick Grayson and the others become characters.

I would get rid of all Kryptonians besides Kal-El...when you all these characters with unstoppable powers flying around...well...Superman doesn't seem so super anymore.

Frankly, I've always thought that DC needed to focus more on it's smaller characters...because anything without Batman or Superman in it doesn't interest many people. DC could very easily make the Flash a very interesting character if they would stop killing him, and actually put a good writer/artist team on his book. And Flash is considered one of their big guns.

What about the thousands of miscellaneous characters that DC has lieing around? Most people don't recognize anyone who isn't related to one of their big three characters. Iconic, mythological, Alex Ross-esk stories are great, but how about breathing life into some OTHER heroes?

I know that that's what they're trying to do with 52, but I'm talking about things on a bigger scale. More Question, more Green Arrow, more Lobo...oh man, is Lobo awesome...
 
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I'm always trying to make up some fanfic group to write an Ultimate DC, but they never turn out good. All Star has done something similar, but instead of ultimizing the characters, they're just letting all star creators do out of continuity stories with the characters.

If there was an Ultimate DC, and you were in charge, how would you do it?

Are we talking about in control as EIC or just a series creator?

As EIC---the first thing I'd do is make sure that whoever is writing understands the character they're writing about at the character's core. If you were a writer and were trying to sell me on allowing you to do an All-Star Wonder Woman.....before you pitch me costume ideas and arc outlines and whatnot---I'd ask you.....who is WW? If you don't get the idea behind the concept---you ain't writing it.


As a writer I'd focus on the character. What works? What doesn't? How would this person be better if I was gonna change 'em? Is there anyway I can inject a bit of me into the character so that I care about what I'm writing?
 
TFrankly, I've always thought that DC needed to focus more on it's smaller characters...because anything without Batman or Superman in it doesn't interest many people. DC could very easily make the Flash a very interesting character if they would stop killing him, and actually put a good writer/artist team on his book. And Flash is considered one of their big guns.

The Flash has one of teh best writer pedigries in comics. In the last 20 years it had TWO giant runs with amazing writers (Geoff Johns and Mark Waid), and all star fill in arcs between (Millar/Morrison). Thats why people are so up in arms over the Billson/Demayo run. Because they're so used to quality product that a slip like that is unforgivable.

I do agree that the non-big 3 characters need more exposure, and its one of the reason I'm so happy with 52. I'm also very excited about the upcoming JLA/JSA team up since JSA has been the best team book DC puts out for the last 5 years or so. Hopefully the crossover will bring new readers on board.
 
I'm always trying to make up some fanfic group to write an Ultimate DC, but they never turn out good. All Star has done something similar, but instead of ultimizing the characters, they're just letting all star creators do out of continuity stories with the characters.

If there was an Ultimate DC, and you were in charge, how would you do it?

An Ultimate DC universe would be cool, but a few things come to mind...

Firstly, ABSOLUTELY NO Batman/Superman crossovers/team-ups. Or, if you do, have it tie in to both of the characters' stories.

Superman: should deal with him realizing he's very different. Something along those lines. And keep the question, "Is he really Clark Kent, or Superman", at the edge of the series. Adds alot of character insight and development. And I wouldn't play too much on his Krytponian heritage, but develop the Superman/Lex Luthor relationship.
In 52, where he sentenced all the Everymen projectees to their deaths just so Superman would reveal himself was purely evil. Perfectly Luthor.

Batman: Totally play out the Bruce Wayne idea. Hurting young playboy billionaire. I'd balance it, having Bruce Wayne, billionaire as important as Batman. have him struggle with his thirst for revenge and his hatred. I'd have Alfred be a good friend/father figure as well as servant. Joker and Two-Face would be the prime villains. Two-Face was his friend turned evil, and Joker is everything Batman hates about criminals personified.

I'd do some more obscure characters as well, like Question, Green Arrow. I'd try to stay away from the Justice League as much as I could, but if I had to do a Justice story, I'd go with Green Arrow leading, with Flash, Martian Manhunter, Animal Man, Star Man, among others. I'd even considering having Supernova show up, but not have him the same as the main universe character.
 
Firstly, I'd like to point out that I'm not doing another Ultimate DC fanfic group thing, so you don't need to send any submissions. I've tried before, they don't work.

Secondly, you can look it either as an EIC, or a writer, either way.

I would get top creative teams on an Ultimate Superman and an Ultimate Batman. Probably Millar/Hitch on Superman, as that is their dream project, and maybe Brubaker/Lee (Jae Lee) on Batman.

I would keep those two steady for a few months, and if they're popular, try and release another set of ultimate titles, maybe either Wonder Woman, Flash, or Green Lantern. I'd make sure each title was different. They'd all have to have top creators on them, but also creators who know what they're doing and what character they're writing. I wouldn't have all 5 titles ongoing at once, however. Maybe keep the second set bi-monthly, or something like that.

I'd keep them running for a year or two, all seperate, just vague references to each other in each book, and with the odd mini or two, focusing on Shazam!, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Atom etc.

And then, once the basic universe was established, I'd have an event (call it Ultimate Crisis for fun), which brings each title together, and actually ties the universe together. Out of this would emerge an Ultimate Justice League, but I have no idea how that would work, with each character on the roster having their own solo book already. I'm guessing you could have Flash switch from Barry Allen to Wally West, or have the Green Lantern title following the Corps in general, instead of just one.
 
In a way there already is an Ultimate DC, DCUA. They were able to take some bland or convoluted villains like Mr. Freeze, Mad Hatter and Brainiac and make them either more sympathetic or more interesting or both.

Plus they have done some very interesting things with B-list DC heroes. Frankly I love JLU Question, it would be hard to improve him.
 
I'd start with a simultaneous release of Ultimate Batman and Ultimate Superman. They'd each have a starting six issue arc that establishes the shared setting and their individual philosophies.

Superman would begin with Kent first coming to Metropolis. He's trying to establish himself at the Daily Planet and fight crime at the same time. Bac in Smallville he's dealt with natural disasters but never done the Superboy thing, and the arc would culminate with him deciding to don the costume and facing Lex Luthor. While he's still discovering himself, I wouldn't make the "alien/human" part of his psyche a central conflict. He's comfortable both as Clark Kent and as Superman. Both are exaggerated parts of his psyche, but they're still part of who he is. Lois is in love with Superman, but thinks Clark Kent is a complete doofus. She's not sensitive and she's not soft. She's a hard-nosed, ruthless reporter, who won't let her infatuation with Superman get in the way of discovering who she is. It's not, "Oh! Look at Lois! She's trying to unmask Superman so she can be with him!" Her interest in who he is wholly comes from journalistic acumen. Lex Luthor is THE most influential man in Metropolis. He's a mostly well-minded philanthropist and businessman who's had to do some illegitimate things for the greater good. His first threat isn't Superman, but rather Clark Kent, who gets a whiff of some of Luthor's underhanded dealings. And Kal feels an obligation both as Kent and as Supes to unwravel the corruption. And it's only as this starts to happen that Luthor becomes seriously unhinged and obsessed with Superman.

Ultimate Batman would begin with his return from years of training abroad. He's not the Frank Miller Batman, and I'd never want to go there. While he's intellectually and physically fine tuned, he's socially immature, and this is a large part of his aloofness. The first arc would deal with him facing the syndicated criminal elements of Gotham City - the same monsters that killed his parents, and the arc would end with the genesis of the Joker. Following stories would deal with how the Batman's presence in Gotham is twisting the town, turning it from a cesspool of organized crime into a showcase of bat-**** crazy rogues. Unlike Supes, Bruce isn't comfortable with both sides of his personality. The real Bruce Wayne is introspective and contemplative, almost Zen-like. He likes solitude, study, and discovery. He's a scholar first and foremost. Both of his public personas are intentinally exaggerated parts of his personality, neither of which he's completely comfortable with. The Batman persona is a seriously frightening extension of his fear and his sense of justice. The Bruce Wayne persona he projects is a social butterfly, a personality he's really not comfortable with but recognizes is necessary. Dent, Gordon, and Alfred are the primary supporting characters. Eventually dual romances develop with both Vicky Vale and Catwoman, as his two public personalities become more polarized. Dent's descent into Two-Face will happen fairly late into the book, allowing the question to be posed dramatically - Is Batman doing more harm than good in the city?

I'd keep both characters in their respective cities, using both the cities and the characters are dichotomies. Superman is an outgoing character who projects his genuine self in both personas. Batman is an introvert, who builds these personalities out of a duty to his mission. Gotham and Metropolis begin to shape themselves around the personalities of these two figures.

After the two six-month arcs, I'd introduce Ultimate Wonder Woman and an Ultimate All-Stars title. Ultimate Wonder Woman would deal with an Amazon with an adventurous spirit who ventures out of her home island to discover the world of man. It would be about coming of age. Superman is a hero, Batman is a soldier, but Wonder Woman is a warrior. While Bats and Supes stay in their individual cities, Wonder Woman's book is about exploring the DCU as a whole. She goes on adventures, discovering all sorts of fantastic things and fighting mythical beasts. Her story is about her finding a place in the world.

Ultimate All-Stars would have rotating writers and artists, telling stories about other characters from the DCU in small arcs. A big part of the DCU is the breadth of the world, and these stories would allow us to explore all the corner of the universe, with characters ranging from the big guns like Green Lantern to the small guys like the Question and Animal Man. Depending on the success of these, they could spin out into new books.

But the Triad remains the primary lines. Superman fights big-name cosmic threats like Intergang and alien threats. Batman deals with the street level criminal threat. Wonder Woman deals with gods and monsters - the mythic and magical in the UDCU. Green Lantern would deal with the antastic, deep space element of the universe.

After a few years, the characters would maybe spin off into an Ultimate Justice League.
 
If I were to do an Ultimate DC, I'd start it off like most people with Superman and Batman titles. I'd also have Green Lantern and Flash to explore different aspects of the UDCU.

Superman: I'd have it with Clark putting the costume on earlier than he did in the comics, he's around 24-25 and is pretty unexperienced. He'd originally come to blows with Luthor but realize Luthor's untouchable as he has control of the city. Superman wouldn't know anything about his Kryptonian heritage for a couple of arcs until he meets Brainiac and the Phantom Zone villains and starts learning some things. After fighting some big guns like Intergang, Luthor would find a way to beat him with genetically altered supervillains (Bizarro, Parasite, Metallo). The series would be a lot about Clark finding out who he is and what the world's reaction is to a superhero. Superman would cover the mega-scale supervillain brawls of the universe.

Batman: The whole first arc wouldn't even show Batman in the costume until the very end. It would be a lot about how Bruce made a promise to his parents that he'd never stop trying to avenge their deaths. He would train under Ra's Al Ghul and even fall for Talia. After his training he returns to Gotham and finds out what a mess it is since he left. He screws up since it's his first foray into being a vigilante and gets beaten. He gets a lot of critisism from people like Gordon but gets support from Harvey Dent. After beating the Joker, Batman prooves himself as Gotham's protector. Batman would be the really dark side of the DCU with psychotic villains like Bane, Mr. Freeze, and the Riddler. Batman would have a lot of questions for himself and why he's doing this.

Green Lantern: This GL would be Hal Jordan as a former Air Force pilot who's inducted into the Green Lantern Corps after htting rock bottom. GL would be a cop book with him, and other rookies like Kilowog and Katma Tui being trained by the senior officers Alan Scott, Sinestro, and Tomar-Re. Hal would be almost completely in space with him learning to use his ring. He'd rise through the ranks after beating villains like the Manhunters. Hal would initially be kind of self doubting of why he was given this power and what he's going to do with it. After several arcs Hal will be sent back to Earth now that supervillains are popping up everywhere.

The Flash: The Flash would be about Barry Allen. THis would be more of a light-hearted series than the others, but with a serious undertone. Barry would be a detective who is poisoned by a secret organization for exposing them to the media. It turns out the assassin made a mistake and gave him a compund that accelerates molecules. Barry would become the Flash and use his new abilities to improve his life by becoming a super celebrety. It would also deal with his interactions with his girlfriend Iris and her nephew Wally. The secret organization would be revieled as CADMUS and introduce Amanda Waller in the picture. Barry would have to find a cure for his degenerating cellular structure and fight off Cadmus' agents like Zoom.

After a few months there would be some minis about other characters like Wonder Woman, the Atom and Aquaman. Cadmus' story could also be expanded with a Suicide Squad mini.

About 2 years into the titles, they would have a cross-over that would pull Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, the Atom, Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man and Aquaman together to fight a threat such as the New Gods. Batman would have little to no interaction with the JLA as they see him as a psycho.
 
I've decided to try and do an Ultimate DC (instead of Kal-El story i was going to do) I have an idea of how I want to do things and if anyone wants to work on it with me if they want to do characters like wonder woman ect...

I'll be doing Super-man and Batman but the others are up for grabs.
 

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