Our four-day look at the revitalized Ultimate Comics Universe continues! On Monday we got the inside story on Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's Ultimates. Yesterday we spoke with Nick Spencer about his relaunch of Ultimate Comics: X-Men with artist Paco Medina.
Today, we spoke to writer Jonathan Hickman about Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye. The book will be drawn by Rafa Sandoval.
We have two variant covers to share, one from Adam Kubert and another from Neal Adams.
This is a companion piece to Hickman's Ultimates book, though he stresses that they need not be read together.
The primary distinction between Ultimate Hawkeye and his 616 counterpart is that this Clint is not so much carny folk as he is a government operative. Specifically, he's wound up in the cloak and dagger operations of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Clint's mission opens in southeast Asia (with events that may play into the international adversary teased in yesterday's Ultimate Comics: X-Men talk). Ramifications coming out of this affect both the Ultimates and the Ultimate X-Men.
Asked whether there's any connection between Ultimate Hawkeye and the Hawkeye appearing in the Thor film and the upcoming Avengers, Hickman conceded that he had indeed stolen Sam Jackson's script.
We asked about the contrast between the S.H.I.E.L.D. of the 616 (an organization the writer's been tinkering with quite a bit lately) and the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization Hawkeye's involved with in this book. Hickman explained that the organization in the Ultimate U is much more of a centralized force with direct involvement in all the goings-on. Which is a little odd since Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D. book endeavors to connect the group with so many of history's major events and luminaries. But let's say that Ultimate S.H.I.E.L.D. has more fingers in more ongoing central plot pies than its counterpart. Hickman teases that such fevered involvement has simply got to give at some point.
The extended cast includes Nick Fury, Bruce Banner, Jean Grey (Karen Grant) and a ton of new characters.
As for further details on specific threats Clint will be facing in these deep cover missions, Hickman was tight lipped. We tried though!
Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye Starts in August and will run for four issues.
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looks like hickman is now running the ultimate universe
Damn you Hickman, I’m trying to SHORTEN my stack!
w00t! more hickman in the ultimate universe
That Adam Kubert cover is great. Fantastic use of perspective.
Holy hell I am excited for the ultimate universe
The odds that Jeph Loeb will be involved in one of the next two annoucements are only slightly better that Bendis will be involved in the next annoucement.
@OttoBott Only one more announcement. Tomorrow’s the last one.
What’s Bendis gonna do?
Ok, THIS I’m excited for.
I love Hawkeye as a character, always have. So this immediately seems cool. But Paul points to something here: this Hawkeye isn’t really the same character… at all. Without the carny aspect, without the 616 history, he’s a bit more like “Jason Bourne with a Bow.” And while that, in itself, ain’t a bad thing, it’s also not the crazy purple-pirate-booted rapscallion that I love. I think I’ll give this one a shot (no pun intended) with an open mind, but I’m hoping Hickman pulls out some unique memorable aspect of his character — something to make him stand out from generic secret agent for SHIELD, which isn’t as exciting to me.
@AmirCat I’m assuming USM
And soon we will hear some other Marvel creator saying how he won’t be on the “Hickman plan” to run Marvel. I kid only cause I love. I love, admire, appreciate and respect all writers and creators. I say its a great time for comics, even if sales (which I dont give a Faux about) say otherwise. Its a literary golden age! Literally!
@PaulMontgomery Yeah, I wrote that and then rechecked the story. Changed the last mention of it, but not the first. Wonk wonk wooonk.
Buying it
When I think Hickman, I don’t think of Hawkeye. A really weird pairing of creators and characters here in my opinion. But I’ll give it a shot even though I think Ult. Hawkeye is a major douche.
After hearing his word balloon interviews, it makes a lot of sense that he’d want to work in a revamped ultimate universe…A chance to try lots of new things outside of continuity before he moves on from Marvel.
I haven’t read much of the Ultimates but if Hawkeye is cast as more a cloak and dagger, espionage type, doesn’t that make the whole arrow thing a little ostentatious?
Have they used arrows made out of unstable molecules or kinetic energy so that they have the same effect/force of an arrow without the trace of one (thinking the unstable molecules could dissolve on timed release)?
Very glad I read the SPOILER FREE review of Thor and then decided not to read any more about it because I DIDN’T want to know who the other Avenger who showed up in the movie was.
the neil adams Hawkeye here looks like a sleaze.
Totally gonna be buying this. marvel is taking all of my money these days, First MCNiven on the Cap relaunch, Nick Spencer on Ultimate X Men, Bendis and Maleev on Moon Kight, Damn it marvel!