Tag: Alex Sinclair

Hickman + Hitch will revisit the Ultimate Universe in ‘Ultimate Invasion’

The four-issue miniseries begins in June.

Reports of the death of the Ultimate Universe may have been premature, as Marvel announced today that Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch will spotlight the “other” Marvel Universe in a new four-issue miniseries titled Ultimate Invasion.

Ultimate Marvel, later called Ultimate Comics and sometimes referred to as the Ultimate Universe (designation 1610 in Marvel’s multiverse) launched back in 2000 with Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimates and other more “modernized” versions of Marvel’s heroes. Top creators like Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Mark Millar and Hitch himself created these alternate stories that went in different directions than their 616 counterparts. For instance, Ultimate Peter Parker died and was replaced by Miles Morales as Spider-Man, while Ultimate Reed Richards became The Maker, a villain who would go on to plague the regular 616.

The whole thing came to a close in 2015, when Hickman wrote Secret Wars and brought the Ultimate universe to an end — though some characters made their way to the 616.

“[Revisiting the idea of Ultimate Comics] couldn’t be replicating or revisiting what Bryan did in the original Ultimates—creating a streamlined, modernized version that would eventually become the spine of the MCU, and it certainly couldn’t be what I did, which was a final chapter of a pre-existing universe,” Hickman told Entertainment Weekly. “We also thought the very idea of Ultimate Comics needed to be inverted from what the original universe was—we wanted this to be something that could really only exist in the comic space: a new way of thinking about, and enjoying, a new version of the Marvel Universe. I’m pretty happy to say that it feels like we’ve accomplished those things and we’re very excited for everyone to get to read it.”

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Dark Crisis expands with five specials focused on the Justice League members who just died

‘Dark Crisis’ will run through December with multiple tie-ins, crossover issues and more.

DC has revealed more of their plans for Dark Crisis, the big event series spearheaded by Joshua Williamson that kicked off in Justice League #75 with the “death” of several members of the Justice League.

I put “death” in quotes because with this latest announcement, we find out that all those dead Leaguers will appear in a series of specials over the next few months, with the big conclusion to the event expected to land in December.

Here’s a look at what’s been announced thus far:

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The long-awaited return of ‘Astro City’

‘Astro City: That Was Then…’ asks the question, ‘Who were the Jayhawks?’

It’s been too long since new Astro City has hit comic book shelves, but that drought will end in March. Image Comics has announced Astro City: That Was Then…, a new one-shot by the team of Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, Alex Ross, Alex Sinclair and Comicraft.

Image Comics announced the return of Astro City to their publishing line last year — along with several other Busiek projects, like the Arrowsmith sequel and a new comic called Free Agents.

The story in the one-shot will delve into Astro City’s past, specifically the late 1960s — the era of the teenage sidekick. It also sets up the forthcoming Astro City series.

“It’s also wonderful to be back in the world of Astro City,” Busiek said back in October, when the new Image deal was announced. “Alex, Brent and I have been planning this for a long time—we’re introducing a teen-hero team, The Jayhawks (and more), in the special, and setting off a mystery as important to Astro City as what happened to the Silver Agent or the story of the Broken Man. Alex has designed a cornucopia of new characters, and Brent is going to town on the artwork. It’ll be a very fun ride—and yes, longtime readers, we will get to the story of the N-Forcer, I promise!” 

Here’s the cover:

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Image announces new ‘Astro City,’ ‘Arrowsmith’ + more from Kurt Busiek

The publisher will reprint several older Busiek comics, as well as new series like ‘Free Agents.’ Plus, more ‘Autumnlands’!

Image Comics today has announced enough new Kurt Busiek projects to fill that empty space you’ve been saving on your bookshelf. In fact, you may need a bigger bookshelf …

Next year the publisher will launch new volumes of Astro City and Arrowsmith, as well as a new comic called Free Agents. Autumnlands, Busiek’s Image Comics series with artist Benjamin Dewey and Jordie Bellaire, will also return, and the publisher plans to release new editions of Shockrockets, The Wizard’s Tale and Superstar: As Seen on TV.

“I’m thrilled to be back at Image and glad to be working with Eric Stephenson and the whole crew here,” said Busiek. “Image is the best comics publisher for creator-owned work, so it’s very nice to be bringing my books together here, where they can be available as a group, supported by the team here—and sitting alongside such great series as Saga, The Walking Dead, Criminal, Savage Dragon and so many more. And not just because Image is only about 20 minutes from where I live, so I can actually drop by the place, once the pandemic is in the rearview. My creative partners and I are looking forward to a having a home for the work we’re doing now and lots of new ideas to come.”

Here’s a look at what to expect:

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DC reveals more Jim Lee art from ‘Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium’

DC’s publisher teams up with longtime collaborators Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair on new pages for the project.

With the first issue of Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium arriving this Wednesday, DC Comics has released some additional preview pages by the art team of Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair.

The trio of artists have worked together many times in the past, going back to the pre-DC Wildstorm days, and on titles like All-Star Batman and Robin, Batman: Hush and Superman. This time around, they’re working with writer Brian Michael Bendis as one of several art teams contributing to the two-issue miniseries.

It’s a collaboration that’s been in the works even before Bendis made the jump to DC from Marvel, as the writer told Entertainment Weekly that several years ago, he received a note from Lee asking if he’d like to work on Legion with him.

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‘300’ prequel gets a release date

Frank Miller’s ‘Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander’ arrives from Dark Horse Comics in April.

Frank Miller’s prequel to his hit graphic novel, 300, will arrive in April from Dark Horse Comics.

Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander follows Persian King Xerxes as he sets out to conquer the world to avenge his father Darius’ defeat and create an empire unlike anything the world has ever seen — until the hardy Greeks produce a god king of their own, Alexander the Great. This five-issue series boasts issues with 30+ plus pages of story and features wrap-around covers in a deluxe collector format. Miller will write and draw it, while Alex Sinclair will provide colors.

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