Ultraverse

The Ultraverse is a defunct comic book imprint published by the American company Malibu Comics which is currently owned by Marvel Comics. The Ultraverse is a shared universe in which a variety of characters – known within the comics as Ultras – acquired super-human abilities.

History

The Ultraverse line was launched by Malibu Comics during the "comics boom" of the early 1990s, when a number of new and existing publishers introduced new universes featuring superheroes, debuting in June 1993 with ongoing series '' Prime'', '' Hardcase'' and '' The Strangers''. The project included writers Mike W. Barr, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, James D. Hudnall, Gerard Jones, James Robinson, Len Strazewski, and Larry Niven. It emphasized tight continuity between the various series, making extensive use of crossovers, in which a story that began in one series would be continued in the next-shipping issue of another series. Various promotions for special editions or limited-print stories also encouraged readers to sample issues of the entire line. The Ultraverse line came to dominate Malibu's catalog, and an animated series featuring one of the line's teams, '' Ultraforce'', aired from 1994 to 1995.

As American comics sales declined in the mid-1990s, Malibu canceled lower-selling series. The company was purchased by Marvel Comics in November 1994. Marvel reportedly made the purchase to acquire Malibu's then-groundbreaking in-house coloring studio, with some speculation that it was to prevent DC Comics from buying it to increase their market share. Within the Marvel Comics multiverse, the ''Ultraverse'' was designated as Earth-93060. Crossovers between Malibu and Marvel began, such as ''Rune/Silver Surfer''.

In 1995, Malibu published a crossover story called "Black September" featuring the members of Ultraforce and Marvel's Avengers in issues #8–10 of ''Ultraforce'', ''Ultraforce/Avengers: Prelude'', ''Avengers/Ultraforce'' #1 (published by Marvel), ''Ultraforce/Avengers'' #1, and ''Black September'' "#∞". The crossover ended with the Black Knight character trapped in the Ultraverse, and the cancellation of all of the series in the Ultraverse line. Seven of the series – ''Prime'', ''Mantra'', ''The Night Man'', ''Ultraforce'', ''Rune'', ''Siren'', and ''The All New Exiles'' – were "rebooted" with issues numbered "#∞", followed by volume 2, in which popular Marvel characters were briefly featured to attract Marvel's regular readers

This version of the Ultraverse lasted until the end of 1996, with a single one-shot (''Ultraverse: Future Shock'' #1) published in February 1997 to wrap up unresolved plot lines.

Status

In 2003, Steve Englehart was commissioned by Marvel to relaunch the Ultraverse with the most recognizable characters, pitching the permanent arrival of Ultraverse characters to Earth-616, but the editorial decided not to resurrect the Ultraverse imprint. This version from Englehart would have featured a group of popular Ultraverse heroes waking up in the main Marvel Comics Universe. The lineup would have consisted of Hardcase, Mantra, Prime, Sludge, Rune, Lord Pumpkin, Lady Killer, Night Man, Rhiannon, and Atom Bob. The characters would have remained as permanent mainstays in the Marvel Comics following the comic series.

In June 2005, when asked by ''Newsarama'' whether Marvel had any plans to revive the Ultraverse, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada replied:

Senior Vice President of Publishing Tom Brevoort has stated in the past that the reason Marvel cannot discuss the Ultraverse properties is because of non-disclosure agreements in place with certain parties, which has been speculated to pertain to Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's contractual position as "ongoing producer deal for all Malibu Comics properties".

In February 2021, when Simon Spurrier, writer of the 2021 '' Black Knight'' series, was asked about the possibility of the series taking place in the Ultraverse, he said: "None percent, I'm afraid".

After several years of not even mentioning the Ultraverse in the comics, a past storyline featuring the character Rune was referenced directly in the 2023 Marvel Unlimited publication ''Who Is Adam Warlock''.

Titles

Characters

Crossovers with Marvel Comics

* ''Godwheel''
* ''Rune/Silver Surfer''
* ''Spine'' (''Lord Pumpkin'' #1, ''Hardcase'' #23, ''Ultraforce'' Vol. 1 #8, ''Curse of Rune'' #2, ''Mantra'' Vol. 1 #22, ''Eliminator'' #3, ''Lord Pumkin'' #4, ''The Nightman'' #22)
* ''Black September''
** ''Countdown to Black September'' (''Ultraforce'' Vol. 1 #8-10, ''Ultraforce/Avengers Prelude'')
** '' Avengers/Ultraforce''
** '' Ultraforce/ Avengers''
** ''Siren'' #∞ -3
** ''Ultraforce'' Vol. 2 #∞-12
** ''Prime'' Vol. 2 #∞-5
** ''All New Exiles'' #∞-11
** ''Rune'' Vol. 2 #∞-7
* '' Prime vs. the Incredible Hulk''
* '' Nightman vs. Wolverine''
* ''The All-New Exiles vs. X-Men''
* ''The Phoenix Resurrection''
* '' Conan vs. Rune'' (also ''Conan'' #4 and ''Conan the Barbarian'' #4)
* ''Ultraforce/Spider-Man''
* '' Nightman/ Gambit''
* ''Prime/Captain America''
* ''Rune vs. Venom''
* ''Ultraverse Unlimited'' #1-2
* ''Ultraverse Future Shock''

Other media

* A video game based on the character Prime was released in 1994.
* In 1995, a 13-episode animated series featuring the characters of Ultraforce was produced by DIC Productions, L.P. and Bohbot Entertainment. The series also featured Sludge, the Night Man, and the Strangers.
* A live action series featuring the character of Night Man aired in syndication from September 1997 to May 1999.
* The Ultraforce character Topaz (created by Mike W. Barr) was portrayed by Rachel House in the film '' Thor: Ragnarok'' (2017) and the short film ''Team Daryl'', produced by Marvel Studios.

References

Sources

*
*

External links

Ryan McLelland on the history of the Ultraverse



Rich Johnston's ''Lying in the Gutters'', speaking with creators on an Ultraverse revival

{{Marvel Multiverse

Fictional universes