News Tue, 16 Jan 2007 02:14:15 CST Vu

I have stuff that you can win!
Posted by Greg Burgas, Monday, January 15th, 2007 2:42 PM

AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED TPB (25 Apr 2001) Marvel Comics

It's contest time again! As you know, sometimes I get free swag from people, and I'm very appreciative for it, because often it's stuff I missed, so it's cool to have. Then, sometimes, I get stuff I already own, but that's cool too, because then I can give it away! So just like last year, I'm having a contest in the same format as the last one. That was difficult... this is more difficult! Because that's how I roll!

(excerpt)

Avengers: Ultron Unlimited trade paperback, collecting Avengers #19-22 and #0. This is written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by George Perez, and it's a fine superhero bash-up. Ultron returns and does evil things - you know the drill! It became redundant in my collection when I got the big hardcover volume, which has these issues.

ESSENTIAL STORIES
written by Alex Sugura Jr
published in WIZARD #159 (Jan 2005)

KURT BUSIEK

(excerpt)

AVENGERS (vol 3) #19-22 (1999)
Hank Pym's nastiest creation takes a turn for the terryfing as he demolishes a small Eastern European nation with an army of adamantium-clad Ultrons! Do Earth's Mightiest Heroes stand a chance? Busiek ups the ante for the superteam while rejevenating one of Marvel's oldest and deadliest villains. NM: $10

Speaking With... Kurt Busiek - Part One
Sunday, September 8
By Marv Wolfman

(excerpt)

MW: What are your goals when you sit down to write a story?
KB: It varies widely. Generally, I spend a fair amount of time working out a story in my head before I commit anything to paper. Once I've done enough thinking about it, I start to jot down notes, until I know what shape the story is, how it structures out. I then rough out an outline, and fill in any gaps I haven't figured out yet. Once I have that, I'm ready to break it down into pages and start typing.

Where the process starts varies a lot, too. For an Avengers story, such as the "Ultron Unlimited" story, I'm often asking the question "What happens next?", either built out of the characters or the situation they were last in. For the Ultron story, I went into it knowing I wanted to do an Ultron story, so the main questions I asked were, "What does Ultron want now? What's the next step in his personal story? He's done all these things in the past, but what has he learned from them and where would he take them?" And once I figured out that he wouldn't just want to wipe the earth clean of humanity, but repopulate it with a family of his own creation, I could start asking the next questions -- "How would he do that? How would it bring him into conflict with the Avengers? What makes it personal to them, rather than just a job?" And the story built out of that.

At the same time, however, I had the Avengers characters in motion, here and there -- Justice had been feeling the pressure of playing in the big leagues, and was trying to hard. He'd had an enforced break from adventuring, in that he broke his leg in an earlier story, so he'd had some time to settle down, and was ready to do something crucial, something that'd save the day. Similarly, Hank Pym, who is essentially Ultron's father, was dealing with guilt feelings over his episodes of insanity in the past, and fearful that he'd succumb to them again and harm Jan again, so he was carrying around a lot of emotion that needed addressing. Both of those fed into the Ultron story, providing important turning points for the characters and the plot -- all essentially built around finding the appropriate next dramatic step for the characters.

[ Read more Speaking With... Kurt Busiek - Part One ]

(Vu: I am assuming Marv will talk a little about JLA/AVENGERS in the next installment.)

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS

80. CRISIS ON INFINITIE EARTHS (DC Softcover) The most ambitious comic project ever could fill another volume with its body count. Marv Wolfman and George Perez's Crisis aimed to clean up DC's cluttered 50-year-old continuity by merging the handful of its parallel Earths into one, but not before a being called the Anti-Monitor destroys an infinite amount of worlds in the process. This cover, penciled by Pérez and painted by Alex Ross, is easily one of the most beautiful ever produced and worth the purchase alone. "It was actually the first series I ever followed," says JSA writer Geoff Johns who was 12 at the time. "For me, it really shaped the DCU. I doubt I would've read many DC comics before Crisis."

AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED TPB (25 Apr 2001) Marvel Comics

79. AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED (Marvel softcover) The perfect killing machine has just received an upgrade, courtesy of Kurt Busiek and George Pérez. Ultron, one of the Avengers most powerful foes, returns with an appetite for destruction and holds the fate of mankind in his adamantium grip. After Ultron slaughters the small European country of Slorenia in under three hours, Earth's Mightiest Heroes must rally like never before in order to put a stop to this reawakened threat. But do they have what it takes to send this maniacal killing machine to the scrap heap once and for all ?

INFINITY GAUNTLET

60. INFINITY GAUNTLET (Marvel softcover) Even when he's a god, Thanos still can't get lucky with the ladies. Possessing the six Infinity Gems, Thanos gain omnipotence and kills half the universe's population with the snap of his finger in an attempt to earn the affection of the mistress Death. A plethora of Marvel heroes mount a defensive to thwart the mad Titan, but how can you beat a god? Only writer Jim Starlin knew the answer. "It had a hundred characters and mindless destruction, but for all the bombast, it was really about a guy trying to impress a girl," say Sojourn writer Ron Marz. "Thanos' failure is ultimately one of unrequited love. Who can't relate to that?"

THE NEW TEEN TITANS: THE JUDAS CONTRACT

15. THE NEW TEEN TITANS: THE JUDAS CONTRACT (DC softcover) The Titans have a traitor in their midst. This spy knows their secrets and hands them over to the deadliest mercenary alive: Deathstroke the Terminator, who systematically takes out the team. Only Nightwing escapes… but even he needs help in order to rescue them before it's too late. In this storyarc, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez pull off a lot in six issues: Dick Grayson becomes Nightwing for the first time, Kid Flash quits, Jericho (the son of Deathstroke) joins up… and a tragic blow hits the team. "Judas Contract is a perfect template for powerful, dramatic storytelling," lauds Steve Kurth, penciler for G.I.Joe. "This story was pure magic."

SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?

9. SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? (DC softcover) It was time for the Man of Tomorrow to become the Man of Yesterday. As DC prepared to start Superman from scratch in 1986, the publisher watned to send off the "old" Man of Steel that had been around since 1938. writer Alan Moore had Supes face off with Lex Luthor and Braniac in the Fortress of Solitude a final time, leaving every reader with a tear in their eye. "A bittersweet goodbye to Superman continuity in order to pave way for a revamped Man of Steel, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow worked as both a nostalgic nod to a simpler past, and alook forward to all that comics could be," says Sojourn scribe Ron Marz. "This 'last' Superman story is also one of the best."

GREATEST STORIES NOT IN TPBS

JOHN BYRNE'S NEW SUPERMAN Ain't it amazing that with everything DC collects, it hasn't collected Byrne's headline-making 1986 revamp of the regular series? Especially the three-part story where Supes must help save Earth once inhabited by the "pre-Byrne" Superman where the Man of Steel must take the role of judge, jury and executioner.

GEORGE PEREZ'S NEW WONDER WOMAN Ditto for Pérez's 1987 revamp of everyone's favorite Amazon princess. With stunning art and stronger ties to Greek mythology, Diana enters man's world for the first time, learning lessons the hard way.

The cover for ULTRON UNLIMITED is a recolored version of the cover of AVENGERS #22 and the other is a piece with a little bit of explanation needed. It was originally pencilled as my "thumbnail" for a painting that Tom Smith and I did for a charity auction. I penciled it at standard cover size and then blew it up and retraced it on a large board. Tom then painted on the board. That left the original pencils intact and I gave those to Tom as a present. Tom then, for his own enjoyment, had different inkers, including Tim Townsend, Scott Hanna and Bob Almond ink a figure or two. When Marvel needed a cover for the SUPREME JUSTICE TPB, Tom offered up this piece, which he in turn colored (and everyone got paid). Just figure you'd like to know.

Since I order these books through Comics Now (35% off), I won't be getting them until March 6th. According to Wizard and Diamond, both of the AVENGERS reprinted books have been published and shipped.

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From Diamond

April 18
JAN011534       AVENGERS ULTRON UNLIMITED TP    $14.95
April 25
JAN011536       AVENGERS SUPREME JUSTICE TP     $17.95

AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED TPB (25 Apr 2001)
Marvel Comics

 AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED
by Kurt Busiek, George Perez (Illustrator)
$14.95
Paperback - 96 pages (April 1, 2001)
Marvel Books; ISBN: 0785107746

Book Description
Ultron has always been one of the Avengers' deadliest foes, and his evil deeds the more heinous because this sentient robot was created by founding Avenger Dr. Hank Pym, a scientist who has been a hero under the various guises of Ant-Man, Giant-Man and Yellowjacket. Constantly evolving, with each defeat, every new incarnation of this seemingly indestructible enemy is worse than the last.

But never before has Ultron been this dangerous. Seizing the attention of the world's media, Ultron destroys an entire Eastern European nation. And that was just to get the Avengers' attention. The Earth's Mightiest Heroes are in for the fight of their lives, and this time, their adversary just may have evolved out their league altogether.

Avengers: Ultron Unlimited TP (JAN011534, $14.95) – originally set to ship on April 11 – will now ship on April 25.

AVENGERS: ULTRON UNLIMITED (Mar 01)
Written by Kurt Busiek, art by George Perez and Al Vey.

Ultron's assault from Avengers (Vol. 3) #19 - #22 (plus the rare Wizard #0 issue) is reprinted in one volume. The awful automaton known as Ultron returns -- and blows away Slorenia.

112 pages, $14.95.

Avengers: Ultron Unlimited
• THE SCOOP: It was the story that destroyed countries, won awards and had readers on the edge of their seats! Now Ultron`s assault from AVENGERS (Vol. 3) #19 - #22 (plus the rare Wizard #0 issue) is reprinted in one must-have volume!
• THE STORY: The awful automaton known as Ultron returns—and blows away Slorenia! Ohhh, what a jerk! Something tells us that Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers are going to have something to say about that! A modern classic is born, thanks to the titanic talents of Kurt Busiek, George Pérez and Al Vey!
• THE FORMAT: 112-page trade paperback. $14.95