Marvel Goes For The Gold, With New Cover Treatment On Blockbusting 'Ultimate' Line

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Marvel Entertainment’s Ultimate line of comics has proven to be the “Gold Standard” in all areas of its production: characters, stories, art, writing, and sales. Now, the House of Ideas is determined to go the ultimate distance by adding a gold color treatment to the signature cover borders of key Ultimate books.

“This unique signature look to represent the “Gold Standard” will allow fans to quickly identify new number 1’s and the beginnings of story arcs in the Ultimate line” says Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley. “The next twelve months will be like no other in the Ultimate world and we don’t want our loyal readers to miss a thing”.

The new look of the Ultimate books will be timed to coincide with the special ULTIMATE VISION backup story produced by writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita JR.. This story is a prelude to the ULTIMATE EXTINCTION limited series which concludes the Gah Lak Tus Trilogy. The Ultimate Vision backup will have six connected parts of four pages each and will appear in the following titles. (There are no current plans to make the Ultimate Vision backup story available in trade)



NOVEMBER 2005

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #86
ULTIMATE X-MEN #65
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #25


DECEMBER 2005

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #87
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #88
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #26


The coming year is bright with Marvel’s plan for the Ultimate line:

* ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN continues with Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, bringing us new stories like “Deadpool” in March 06 and “Clone Saga” in September 06 (coinciding with issue #100). Issue #104 will also bring a milestone: Bendis and Bagley break Stan Lee’s and Jack Kirby’s FANTASTIC FOUR record for consecutive issues of a Marvel comic.

* ULTIMATE X-MEN’s new scribe Robert Kirkman kicks off a new story, “Date Night”, in January 06, with Tom Raney on art. This will be followed by a new storyline in April 06 with artist Steve Dillon and then the return of Raney in June.

* ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR will bring us “President Thor” in May, with Mark Millar and Greg Land. The duo’s last story for the title, “Frightful” will start in May 06. The new creative team begins their soon-to-be-historic run in August.

* ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR / X-MEN will conclude the two-art mini epic that will begin in December’s ULTIMATE X-MEN / FANTASTIC FOUR. That exciting conclusion will be courtesy of writer Mike Carey and artist Pasqual Ferry and be delivered in February 06.

* The hugely-anticipated ULTIMATES 3 will be served up by fan-favorites Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira in October 06.

* ULTIMATE EXTINCTION invades Earth in January, written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Brandon Peterson. The story will unite all the heroes of the Ultimate Universe against – Gah Lak Tus!

* Popular novelist Orson Scott Card will continue his story of the Ultimate Tony Stark in ULTIMATE IRON MAN 2, with art by Pasqual Ferry.

* ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK begins this December 05, by LOST creator Damon Lindelof and Leinil Francis Yu.

In addition to this senses-shattering line up of adventures, Marvel Entertainment is also very proud to announce the return of Annuals to the line, beginning in July. Creative teams will be announced soon.

Inaugurated in 2000 with ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1, the Ultimate titles have captured the imagination of comic fans young and old with their unique re-imaginings of the iconic Marvel characters. Many of fans’ most favorite heroes and villains have been reintroduced with Ultimate incarnations and the books have become bestsellers, garnering much fan and critical acclaim. Marvel has added many more Ultimate titles to the line over the past 5 years and plans to grow the alternate universe at a steady pace, adding creators and stories that reinforce the company’s commitment to the highest quality.



With a library of over 5,000 proprietary characters, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused in four areas: entertainment (Marvel Studios), licensing, comic book publishing and toys (Toy Biz). Marvel facilitates the creation of entertainment projects, including feature films, DVD/home video, video games and television based on its characters and also licenses its characters for use in a wide range of consumer products and services including apparel, collectibles, snack foods and promotions. Marvel's characters and plot lines are created by its comic book division which continues to expand its leadership position in the U.S. and worldwide while also serving as an invaluable source of intellectual property.