Uber: is anyone else reading this?

[Celestin]

Anyone is reading it?

It's easily one of my favorite comics published right now. While I usually stay away from Avatar Press publications because of their excessive use of violence in them, the premise of alternate take on WWII with militarized superhumans involved got my attention from the moment it was announced and I didn't want to miss it.

And Gillen definitely delivered. You can tell that he put a huge amount of hours into researching historical background, but what's equally impressive is how strict he is with the pseudo-technical aspect of the Ubers. This allows the readers to try predict the outcome of upcoming battles depending on various strategies. All this without ignoring a human part of the comic.

Surprising enough my favorite character is Sieglinde. While my enthusiasm for her is a little diminished by her allegiance, there is something about amazonian beauties that draws me to them. And then there is something satisfying in witnessing a housewife (or at least I'm guessing from her origin that she would be one) showing herself to be more capable than her male companions and overcoming any odds. I was quite already surprised that she won against HMH Colossus and just as much surprised that the writer let her survive the eleventh issue. That probably will change soon.

Siegmund's actions were unexpected and made the year two of Uber completely unpredictable, at least for now.

Siegfried is simply insane.

There is not much to say about Maria yet, even after the current (13th) issue, but she reminds me a lot of The Female from The Boys. Though if I was to speculate about her transformation I would say that Russians accidentally made the first Zappy Battleship.

As for Cohen, she clearly is a determined woman who wants to help win the war, no matter her personal costs. But I'm surprised that they decided to go with strength instead of zappy aspect of transformation. One would assume that an ability to kill your enemies from a far distance would be a lot more useful, especially with already existing Heavy Tank Men capable of protecting her physically, if only for a moment.

Stephani I don't like as a person, but she has my respect for the fact that she somehow manages to not become a total wreck after everything she witnessed.

Alan Turing rocks.

Razor may be a fascinating character once he gets his powers.

From what was already announced there will be one more issues about events happening shortly after the conclusion of the 11th, then in the 15th we will learn what happened to Sieglinde (will she somehow survive for the third time?) and what news is everyone hearing about (a simple information that Sieglinde was killed or managed to escape wouldn't be enough to shock Stephani). Then we will get spy action with a new kind of Ubers. And lastly the atomic bomb in the 18th issue. My guess is that it will not just be not enough to stop the Battleship, but whoever will be caught in the blast will do something unexpected with all of the released energy. Create something?

[Ying Ko]

i'm reading it and it's really, really good. in fact, it's the best book i've ever read from Gillen. highly recommend this.

[Judge Dredd]

I grabbed the first trade and have from 6 on but have not started on it yet maybe this will have to be bumped up and read this weekend.

[gwhh]

Über is an Anglo-American comic book series written by British author Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Canaan White and Gabriel Andrade. It is published monthly by Avatar Press, which released the first issue in April 2013. The comic depicts an alternate World War II in which the Third Reich develops powerful superhuman soldiers in 1945, preventing its imminent defeat and forcing the Allied nations to counter with superhumans of their own. The series is notable for its extreme violence, its depiction of wartime moral ambiguity, and the major roles it gives to historical figures such as Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Alan Turing and Heinz Guderian.

It really rocks!!

[Celestin]

Spoilers for the 15th issues.

And Sieglinde once again survives. If only she was on the right side of this war.

Addition of two more levels of Ubers will probably change a lot of things in upcoming months. There is a question whether it's possible to be more powerful than a Battleship too. Could be that Maria is someone like that considering her unusual appearance (a normal body size) and abilities (creation of the Catalyst). And even if there isn't a level above a Battleship, I predict one more upgrade for Ubers that will give them ability to fly and call them Aircrafts.

[Lasraik]

Fantastic book, I'm really enjoying it as well. Not sure why it doesn't get more attention.

[Melchior]

Sieglinde surviving was a surprise to me, since it seemed that the original plan to retrieve her was what was successful. No additional commands were needed to make certain she was picked up.

As for more powerful than a Battleship, there was omnious talk that Britain developing their own Battleships would not be important once "she" was online. They either have something confirmed more powerful, or maybe a specialized Blitzenmensch Battleship to deal with normal Battleships.

Was Maria creating more Catalyst? I thought she was just creating pseudo-food.

[Celestin]

As for more powerful than a Battleship, there was omnious talk that Britain developing their own Battleships would not be important once "she" was online. They either have something confirmed more powerful, or maybe a specialized Blitzenmensch Battleship to deal with normal Battleships.

Can you point what a dialogue you are referring to? But my guess is that they were talking about an atomic bomb since it definitely should be enough to kill a Battleship.

Was Maria creating more Catalyst? I thought she was just creating pseudo-food.

In 9th issue there is the Catalyst growing on her bed in the scene where she finally activates her powers and escapes.

[Melchior]

Can you point what a dialogue you are referring to? But my guess is that they were talking about an atomic bomb since it definitely should be enough to kill a Battleship.

Sadly, no, I cannot. Just worked my way through most of my issues - it was a case of me forgetting that Klaudia is Sieglinde. Right before the Collossus vs. Sieglinde fight, the Germans mentioned that they had nothing that could match Claudia yet. I misremembered.

In 9th issue there is the Catalyst growing on her bed in the scene where she finally activates her powers and escapes.

Sadly, I cannot find me issue of her by herself. Definitely a possibility of being special - I would have counted her as an accidental Blitzenmensch, though some sort of tender-supplier might be a possibility as well.

[Celestin]

Definitely a possibility of being special - I would have counted her as an accidental Blitzenmensch, though some sort of tender-supplier might be a possibility as well.

Her being a Blitz Battleship was my first guess too, but the Catalyst appearance made it questionable.

Assuming that she is a Blitz and Cohen is a Heavy Battleship, will Razor be a Normal Battleship or will he be somehow different to? And I have my doubts if Leah will be as effective as they predict. The question is if she's quick and resistant enough to get close to her enemy before their halo effect takes her down. On the other hand if Maria is a Blitz, her sniper experience could make her extremely dangerous to anyone.

And if I were to predict future battles, I would say it will be:

- Razon vs Sieglinde - because of their indirect history with each other,

- Leah vs Siegfried - because he's the one that will definitely mock her and then regret it,

- Maria vs Siegmund - because they will probably send him back to Russia.

Right now it would mean even odds, but I expect US to get at least one more Battleship and Japan to get one too before it's over.

[Melchior]

Mariah as a Blitz is mostly questionable due to the catalyst, and the fact that you have to do something different to make Heavies and Blitzes. And I doubt the Russians would have accidently done it to Mariah. My gut is that she's an undocumented outlier caste for producing goods and more catalyst. We know they distill it, but not from what or how.

EDIT: More thought later - Mariah is a Blitz Battleship. There is nothing to say that one of the sources of the catalyst are not from people you have tried to upgrade. My guess is that you can pull a bit more catalyst out of a failure then you put in, and that successes can be harvested for more (unless the excess is coughed up like in Mariah's case). Her halo is significantly above what anyone else can do, and some of the fine control stuff would answer how she makes gruel and all. I still cannot find my issue with her at the farm - does she have both hands there? Biomanipulation via halo would explain her recovery (her leaving the camps is a bit hard to make out).

My bet on Razor is a normal Battleship. They desperately need one, for PR if nothing else. Leah can be as powerful as she wants, but you cannot throw her on the front of a newspaper and expect anything other than horror (unless it is in full armor). Sinking everything into a Blitz Battleship might be tempting but the Brits simply do not know how to do that. That leaves a normal Battleship, and they can sell it to the press at lot easier that way.

I imagine Leah will be terrifying to anything smaller than a Battleship. Something like the main mecha from the anime Break Blade.

Um.... first bit of this clip, with Leah as the Red guy, and your average panzermensch as the yellows, at least until the armor comes off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sRxf9GDY0w

Leah has speed, and she has strength, and the ubermensch durability can extend to the halo effect. So Leah smashing right through deployments, turning around at long range, and charging through again would probably be more successful then getting in close and fighting. Only exception would be against another Battleship. As such, Sieglinde would be her worst match-up, since Sieglinde has practiced on doing more with her halo than the others. Throwing up walls, etc.

Hrmm..... I agree with most of your predictions. Here's my take.

Predictions

-Razor vs. Sieglinde - narrow win for Razor. Might not appear that way at first, but Sieglinde's "bitter cup" overflows, probably resulting in attempt to take him with her. Possible rage at being used as a brood mare. Result will be some weird halo archetecture. Razor will just narrowly survive being killed, but it will be a massive PR coup.

-Leah vs. Siegfried - agreed that this will probably happen. Germany will mass panzermensch for an attack somewhere, the Brits will get wind of it, and send Leah in to disrupt it. Possibly the first major use of the heavy cruisers and mid-type panzermensch. I can actually see them using Leah as a rapid assault craft - 3-4 halo capable ubermensch strapped to her back, providing covering fire until Leah can get her hands on a target and rip it to shreds.

-Maria vs. Siegmund - I can see this "happening". Them meeting each other, probably a long talk, destruction of the surrounding area, and then the pair splitting up, telling everyone that the fight was a draw/too dangerous to continue.

-Japan vs. US - I see the Japanese building up its ubermensch, possibly even launching an offensive with a few against American soil. Unfortunately, there is no reason for the Americans to abandon their super-weapon development. Atomic bombs and mass high-altitude bombings eventually cripple the Japanese nation. It will be decades before attacks by their ubermensch stop, though.

-Not seeing more American Battleships, but I can see actual British ones. And I hope they name one of them the Thunderchild.
I actually would expect more Russian ones, simply due to the casualty rates they are willing to take.

-Other possibilities are that Sieglinde fatigues herself right out of the war; pseudo-Hitler does something that actually does cause a break in the fighting (either dies or actually pulls a big enough win to get everyone to back off and build-up); atomic bomb is applied to Germany instead; or something else massive happens on the Eastern theater.

[Celestin]

I still cannot find my issue with her at the farm - does she have both hands there?

Yes, she does. I agree that it's another point suggesting that she's Blitz.

-Razor vs. Sieglinde - narrow win for Razor. Might not appear that way at first, but Sieglinde's "bitter cup" overflows, probably resulting in attempt to take him with her. Possible rage at being used as a brood mare. Result will be some weird halo archetecture. Razor will just narrowly survive being killed, but it will be a massive PR coup.

Or Sieglinde once again surprise everyone and wins this battle. Though even if Razor manages to defeat her, I suspect she will survive. After all her close calls Gillen may want her to be a type of character that doesn't want to live and yet they are the ones to always make it out of any trouble. Though she's not suicidal because she was happy when they rescued her from Britain.

-Leah vs. Siegfried - agreed that this will probably happen. Germany will mass panzermensch for an attack somewhere, the Brits will get wind of it, and send Leah in to disrupt it. Possibly the first major use of the heavy cruisers and mid-type panzermensch. I can actually see them using Leah as a rapid assault craft - 3-4 halo capable ubermensch strapped to her back, providing covering fire until Leah can get her hands on a target and rip it to shreds.

I predict Leah win though depending on how well she manages against a normal Battleship, she will either sacrifice herself or it will be rather easy victory for her.

-Maria vs. Siegmund - I can see this "happening". Them meeting each other, probably a long talk, destruction of the surrounding area, and then the pair splitting up, telling everyone that the fight was a draw/too dangerous to continue.

Yes, they do appear to be characters that would do just that. Actually, I will be disappointed if that's not what happens when they meet.

-Japan vs. US - I see the Japanese building up its ubermensch, possibly even launching an offensive with a few against American soil. Unfortunately, there is no reason for the Americans to abandon their super-weapon development. Atomic bombs and mass high-altitude bombings eventually cripple the Japanese nation. It will be decades before attacks by their ubermensch stop, though.

Japan is probably aware that they need to finally attack US on their soil. One of the biggest advantages that America has in this war is that they don't need to worry too much about protecting their country, at least not from the ground forces. And being bombed by atomic bombs may be enough to make them do it in full scale with their Ubers. Otherwise they have little chance to survive for too long.

Though I would expect that the bombs will have different targets. Maybe Tokyo and Berlin to try finishing this war by killing leaders instead of just pressuring them into surrendering?

-Not seeing more American Battleships, but I can see actual British ones. And I hope they name one of them the Thunderchild.
I actually would expect more Russian ones, simply due to the casualty rates they are willing to take.

Russian probably had enough time to start testing people in a normal way.

-Other possibilities are that Sieglinde fatigues herself right out of the war; pseudo-Hitler does something that actually does cause a break in the fighting (either dies or actually pulls a big enough win to get everyone to back off and build-up); atomic bomb is applied to Germany instead; or something else massive happens on the Eastern theater.

Fake Hitler is a big question or rather who is behind him and what are they intentions.

[Celestin]

A new issue is out and the Allies are on a defensive, but I prefer good guys to be underdogs before winning the day. Because they will win unless Gillen is planning to have a very controversial ending for this series.

Another potential Battleship for Americans convinces me that Japan will soon get at least one too. Probably a woman to have percentage on this level of power more or less even. Though a good question is which side will first decide to deploy all females Ubers because right now they are not using 50% of their possible forces. Probably Russians.

[Karthak]

A new issue is out and the Allies are on a defensive, but I prefer good guys to be underdogs before winning the day. Because they will win unless Gillen is planning to have a very controversial ending for this series.

Another potential Battleship for Americans convinces me that Japan will soon get at least one too. Probably a woman to have percentage on this level of power more or less even. Though a good question is which side will first decide to deploy all females Ubers because right now they are not using 50% of their possible forces. Probably Russians.

I've been wondering about this as well. Sure, it was a sexist time period, but they need every enhanced human they can get.

[Moeru]

Hey i was looking for a forum that was discussing Uber, but there not a lot of people in this thread...

Anyway the last two issues where amazing, the fact that Maria can provide the catalyst both by her blood (i guess) and her Distortion Halo is going to put the USSR ahead of the allies regarding the production rate of their Enchanced Human.

I believe that the answer to the question whether it is possible to be more powerful than a Battleship is lying right here, the discovery of another two Class of Ubers, Destroyer and Cruiser. Maria being so different than the other Ubers can give us a hint about her classification as maybe the first Battlecruiser because of her normal body size (same as an Blitzmensch) and her resilience similar to a Battleship. She actually withstand attack from several Russian Tank-Men as well as gunfire and tank shell in issue 13 without damage something a regular Blitzmensch can't do, she could still be a more powerful version of a Blitzmensch though because of the name Katyusha obviously but she is different enough to be classified as something else. A Battlecruiser.

Her mastery over the Distortion Halo is nothing less than amazing she use it for what it was made for: Disturb & Reagencing Matter; She can do all those thing after her initial activation but something tell me she can't upgrade like the other Ubers since she produce the catalyst herself.

Vernon is the biggest potential atm judging by the reaction of his blood and what Stephanie says he may be more powerful than HMH Colossus with the same or more number of activation than a regular Battleship, note that we still don't know how many activation out of the 24 are needed to be a fully capable Battleship more upgrade don't necessary mean more power but better stability instead.

I'm looking forward for the Battlecruiser reveal, let me know what you think.