Ultimates²

[Drops Of Venus]

Has anyone seen Spectrum on Future Fight? Seems like she's the only one missing from the team.

Yep, she was not added to the game. A real shame.

[mugiwara]

That's a shame for Monica, but it's still great that Adam and America (and the new Quasar too) get to be in a video game.
I would almost be tempted if I hadn't been burned by Avengers Alliance's cancellation.

A bit unrelated, but if some of you have access to Al Ewing's twitter, did he let something slip about new projects?
USAvengers is over, Royals is ending. So in early 2018, he'll only be co-writer for Avengers No Surrender. I need my monthly "Ewing writing C-listers" fix, damnit!

[Sirone]

I don't think so, but he's just opened it up again, so you can check for yourself.

[CentralPower]

For a series I really, really loved most of the way through (aside from tie in issue poor art), that was, IMO of course, a really poor ending because of his choice to change what he originally had planned

Ewing may not have had much choice. Assume that the final issue works out to be worth ~2 issues, Ewing would already be down by an issue's worth of working space. And, he needed to wrap up a run of comics, not just an arc. That is going to necessitate some changes.

If anything, I praise his honesty for admitting that he had to change things.

Writers tend to get attacked for revealing process, which I find really frustrating. As if readers want to imagine stories arrive in a coherent whole.

I have found that a surprising (and distressing) number of people seem to think that writing does not involve editing.

(True story: About a decade ago, some friends and I were planning a webcomic that would have been about the comic industry. While we did our research, we discovered that our premise was wrong. This required us to change, and finally abandon, the project. Some people that knew about this actually could not understand why we did not just go with what we had, or how we could change it if we had decided to continue.)

I had a college professor who loved to say, "don't trust the author" regarding interpretation of their work. I always hated that viewpoint.

The humanities are, at best, intellectually bankrupt.

Ignoring or obscuring author intent is a way to justify larger budgets for "teaching" and "exploring" questions that could be (or even have been) easily sorted out through research.

In some cases, we may have to accept that the answer is too costly, or impossible, to find. But, ignoring author intent undermines the idea of there even being an answer.

It depends what the objectives of your analysis are as to how you analyse a story. And there are many valid methodologies that have nothing to do with the author's opinions or life.

The product is derived from the author. There is no honest way to separate them.

Attention: Marvel Studios as well as animation.
Ultimates
Let's make this happen.

Only if it is done right. Given the quality of the Avengers cartoon, I would not be optimistic.

A bit unrelated, but if some of you have access to Al Ewing's twitter, did he let something slip about new projects?
USAvengers is over, Royals is ending. So in early 2018, he'll only be co-writer for Avengers No Surrender. I need my monthly "Ewing writing C-listers" fix, damnit!

He will probably be on something after "No Surrender" ends. Keep in mind, "No Surrender" is effectively 2 series' worth of effort for the creative teams (consisting of two regular series, coming out at twice the regular rate).

[mugiwara]

I don't think so, but he's just opened it up again, so you can check for yourself.

Oh, thank you, I had stopped checking.

Well, there is that, and it's not about Avengers No Surrender

Is there a German word for that thing where you think a project is going to be a fun little between-other-projects bit of whimsy and it turns out to be some of the hardest and most involved work you've ever done in your life? Because that. I love this project, but it's TOUGH.

[JudicatorPrime]

The more I think about it, the more I think that Ultimates² should not have ended. Ultimates² should have led to Ultimates³ and finally Ultimates⁴. Something like...

Ultimates³ would have been about the original Ultimate Earth (hereafter, UE) Avengers addressing the Maker's machinations and establishing a home for themselves on mainstream Earth, including new superhero identities. To make things interesting, the team battles for and wins UE Thor's hammer and discover that it holds the essence of one UE Steve Rogers. They manage to free Steve and he becomes the new Thor, albeit keeping the Captain America-themed uniform, Mjolnir hammer and indestructible shield.

Despite Steve's new Thor powers, the team endures heavy casualties in the final conflict with the Maker. That they were unable to defeat the Maker leads to Ultimates⁴, where the few surviving Ultimate Earth Avengers seek out the help of some of the members of Ultimates². The full roster of Ultimates⁴ would be a work in progress, but the core team would be Monica, Adam, Madeleine Pryor, UE Stark, UE Zarda, the Ghost Shaper of Worlds (dispatched as a favor to Lifebringer Galactus to aid the team in his stead), UE Steve Rogers/Thor, the Ancient One (Ultimate Earth Clea) and Ulana*.

*Notes: Yes, Ulana is a Watcher and oathbound to noninterference, but the Watchers' ruling council forces her hand. In a closed session meeting, they rule that Blue Marvel helping to "feed" Uatu's child constitutes interference per their code. They order that Baby Uatu can no longer receive vital nourishment from Brashear, which ultimately would lead to the child's death. Well, of course, Ulana disagrees with their edict. She goes rogue to save the life of her child. So in addition to fighting the Maker, First Firmament sycophants, Dark Celestials and a random Beyonder, Ultimates⁴ have to also deal with a full blown Watchers civil war.

Just imagine all of the cosmic fun that we're missing.