USM 111-128, Annual 3, Ultimate Power 1-9, The Ultimates, Vol. 3 1-2. Normally, I crank one of these out in 2-3 weeks. This one was on the board, so to speak, for almost 6 months. A lot plays into that… An emergency stop to do my 10th Anniversary Closed Galaxy update, a lot of travel, a new relationship, realizing drawing was causing me physical harm, you know, regular stuff. But I got back on the horse. Despite it being “in progress” for 6 months, I’d say 70% of the work was done in about 5 weeks. Hey, life happens.
Anyway. In the dreadful Ultimate Power event, which saw the Ultimate Universe crossover with the Absolute Power universe reimagining the Squadron Supreme, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Ultimates have an endless and poorly rendered fight with the Squadron Supreme, because Nick Fury inexplicably allied with Dr. Doom on an experiment that ruined their world. By the end, Fury has been taken back to the Absolute Earth as a war criminal. Then, in the pages of USM, the Green Goblin once again breaks out of prison and once again goes out trying to convince the world he’s an innocent victim held prisoner by a power tripping Nick Fury. But Nick’s not around anymore, so Sharon Carter gets to preside over the ensuing mess as acting Director of SHIELD. Also, Kitty Pryde develops a new super-persona and poor Harry Osborn gets killed while Hobgoblined out. Then, in Ultimates 3, what appears to be Venom attacks the team, and is revealed to be a robot. Also, it looks like the original Venom instead of the Ultimate one for no obvious reason. So, Hawkeye goes to harass Spider-Man about it. Then, back in USM, Johnny Storm comes back for a visit, the kids have a beach party, and Liz Allen finds out she’s a mutant in an adventure that eventually involves Magneto and the X-Men. Spider-Man has run-ins with Omega Red and the Shocker, and then we’re off to a long, strange story about the return of the actual Ultimate Venom largely recycling plot points, ideas and characters from the Ultimate Spider-Man PS2 game, despite Bendis swearing that game is in-continuity. By the time the dust settles, Spidey’s fought Electro and met Ultimate Beetle, Gwen Stacy’s clone has been purged of Carnage and can live a normal life, and Ultimate Venom has merged with her Carnage symbiote to become bigger and badder, only to wander off and never trouble Ultimate Spider-Man again. Weird deal all around. Finally, in USM Annual 3, Spider-Man meets Ultimate Mysterio, while Peter and MJ work through a small tiff.
Stuart Immonen’s first couple arcs come off gorgeous as expected. Greg Land’s trace-a-thon penciling 9 issues of Ultimate Power almost killed me. So, when it came time to do this, I wanted to try to emulate Immonen (While swiping the Spider-Man and goblin figures, as I tend to do). But for all the super teams that appeared in Ultimate Power, it seemed like I might as well do what Greg Land would do and trace his art. So I did. And looking at his art all this time made me ill. And I don’t feel good about it. But it seemed like the pettiest thing to do, and I followed my muse. Too many characters in this due to that crossover. I kinda regret the tracing, honestly, but 6 months ago me made a choice, and so it goes.