The Ultimate Marvel Universe

The first comic created into the Ultimate Marvel collection, Ultimate Spider-Man follows young Peter Parker as he discovers his power and responsibility as a super-hero. Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Bill Jemas, and drawn by Mark Bagley, Ultimate Spider-Man ties in the drama of living life as a teenager and super-hero elements. With issue 110 Bendis, Jemas and Bagley broke the long standing record of longest running Marvel partnership.

After being existence almost 8 years, the Ultimate Spider-Man team is beginning their 27th storyarc (which are generally created in five to six comics for ease of reading and catching up on back stories).

Spider-Man has also made appearances, and has been visited, by nearly every other Ultimate Marvel comic series at one point or another since its conception in October, 2000.

Alien races and magical entities aside, The Ultimate X-Men blaze the same path as their predecessors (the Earth-610 X-Men), representing minorities and their constant struggle in society. Unlike Earth-610, the X-Men of 1610 don't hide behind secret identities and are, generally, not hunted down by the government. Instead they are recognized by the world around them as minorities.

Of course, like any minority, they face society from beneath, trying to even themselves with the rest of the world. Much like the 610 versions, the Ultimate X-Men have to deal with mutants who are preparing for a war against humanity, mainly Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, though in recent issues Magneto and his crew have been hiding out in the Savage Lands, a world that he, Magneto, and Professor X created as a safe haven for mutants.

The removal of past histories with the creation of the Ultimate X-Men has also provided an opportunity for writers to create new histories, and in some cases, powers, for the X-Men and the mutants that they come across. The most notable being Cable, the son of Scott and Jean in 610, who is now the future version of Wolverine (revealed in the Cable story line) without his healing power.

The new world that was created also allows for new characters to be introduced, both Syndicate and Magician being examples of this.

The Ultimate X-Men are now in their 29th story arc, ranging from one shot issues to six comics making a story arc. The Ultimate X-Men have fought numerous 610 super-hero groups, including The Ultimates and Alpha Flight.

The original Ultimates team that is first introduced consists of the Wasp, Giant-Man, Iron Man, Captain America and Bruce Banner (who injected himself with the Hulk serum in an attempt to use the super soldier serum that was used on Captain America during WWII). As the story lines progressed, new characters were added to the team, including Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Black Widow.

Unlike the other Ultimate titles, The Ultimates run in longer story lines and is more aimed at adults (the third series opened with a sex tape that had been leaked to the public featuring Black Widow and Iron Man). The comic is also considerably more graphic than its sister Ultimate titles, more than once showing violent deaths for characters.

Despite The Ultimates notorious delayed publications, it has been well received. Grand Theft America, the second half of The Ultimates 2 run was number 19 in the Top 100 Selling Graphic Novels of 2007, which is impressive given that it was competing with the entire Civil War collection. Grand Theft America ended in an all out battle for the United States including most, if not all, members of the Ultimate Universe.

The Ultimate Fantastic Four focuses on the adventures of the Fantastic Four. For all intents and purposes, this Fantastic Four is essentially the same as their 610 counterparts. They have the same basic powers (stretching, rock form, invisibility, fire) though their personalities have been altered slightly.

Though it doesn't play a major role, how they got their powers was changed and updated slightly. In the beginning of the series it was mentioned that each of the four characters have taken on elemental roles: Reed and his plasticity was water, Sue and her invisibility is air, Ben and his orange rock body is earth and the Johnny is, well, obviously, fire. The connection of the fifth member of their disastrous mission, Doctor Doom, to the elements is unclear. This elemental connection has also only been touched upon in one additional story arc, so it is unclear exactly what role the character's elemental connections plays.