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Just not ours, or one I care about. See, over the summer, Marvel went and broke time. Or more specifically, Wolverine did, during the Age of Ultron event. Way to go, Logan. As a result of his jumping back and forth and through time until it was a giant knot, things cracked and shattered, and the past, present, future, and alternate universe have begun colliding all across the Marvel Universe.
We first saw this with Angela falling in from another comics company and ending up in Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as the Spider-Man from the 2099 line of comics landing in the present as well.
But possibly the most notable and important event to occur from the breaking of time has been Galactus falling through a crack from the main Marvel Universe into the Ultimate Universe.
Now, since I never bring it up, it's worth noting that I'm not really a fan of the Ultimate Universe. I never really thought it was worth my time to read about second-rate copies of characters redoing events but redoing them differently just for the sake of being different. I'd much rather read the adventures of the REAL Spider-Man and X-Men. It was arguable at the time that those books weren't being well written, but I'd much rather have seen them put good writers on the proper versions, than try and make copies that just were never as good, in my opinion.
But if anyone out there enjoyed those books, hey! That's great! I just never got into them. And there were a few good ideas I saw when I sometimes peeked in. Ultimate Spider-Woman being a feminised clone of Peter Parker but with his mind is a fun idea to play with, for example.
I haven't personally bought or read anything since, and this is a rough guess, Ultimate X-Men #10, but I always kept an eye out, and listened to friends talk about them, so I always knew what was going on, or at least the broad strokes.
So here we are, with Galactus being dropped into the Ultimate Universe, hungrier than he's ever been, and starting to wreak some serious havoc. And I'm not gonna lie.
I hope he eats every single planet and lays waste to the entire universe.
Now, don't get me wrong, this does not come from a point of, "YEAH! Take THAT, Ultimate Marvel!!" even though it may seem that way from everything I just laid out. And sure, there may be a little bit of grinning because I get to watch them burn.
More importantly though, from a monetary and storytelling point of view, it makes sense. The Ultimate comics used to be some of Marvel's top sellers, frequently outselling the original versions in the early days. But those fortunes have reversed considerably. Rarely do the comics move much in the way of dollars in any way that a person would notice, and have been slowly but steadily drifting downwards. The titles need a serious shot in the arm. The quality of writing on the main MU has jumped up considerably, and more attention is focused there.
So tossing in a giant threat, in an almost crossovery way is one way to draw attention to it. And because of what Galactus does - eat planets and destroy things - in a universe that is very much a copy, and potentially redundant and drawing in low sales, you get the impression that the stakes are very real.
Marvel could very much pull the entire plug on them, very reasonably, and have Galactus eat them all up. It really is impossible to tell just how far they'll go. They've already destroyed New Jersey. And that is a great place to have your readers at. Anything can happen, and that's something that doesn't often happen in comics, when the status quo must be maintained at all costs.
It would also be great for Galactus, and quite frankly, he needs it.
Ever since his first appearance, this crazy looking, world devouring threat, has been smacked around by humanity at every turn. If his giant, purple hat wasn't bad enough, he has become quite a joke. This god of destruction never really destroys much these days.
Back in the day, Marvel would toss him a planet to eat, to keep his threat level up, and that helped some. But ever since he ate the Skrull throneworld, he's never quite hit that high.
But what happens when you dump in an entire universe he can safely eat everything? And I mean EVERYTHING with no consequences? Oh, well now you have something. At long last, Galactus can build back his credibility in a BIG way, and I am all for seeing that happen.
It's even quite possible that he could come out of this considerably more powerful than he has ever been, and on the back of destroying one universe, when he returns to the Marvel Universe, as he surely must, than the big G will be back as a SERIOUS threat once more. Sure, we all know he won't REALLY win, not in the very end, not in the real Marvel Universe, but after potentially destroying the Ultimate Universe, you would pause and consider just how big of a threat he is, and take him seriously once more.
So I am on board with the entire Cataclysm event, buying several Ultimate books for the first time in over ten years. That's a minor win for Marvel, at the very least. Everything is clearly explained for someone who doesn't read this corner of the Marvel output, and I'm not lost at all, so don't let that stop you if you want to check it out!
But I will be sorely disappointed if Galactus doesn't eat everything and is defeated again by Mark Millar's bootleg Avengers. Galactus needs this win, badly. And I can see no downside to letting him have his way with the Ultimate Universe.
Well, losing Ultimate Spider-Woman would be a shame. And the new Spider-Man, Miles Morales is also a great character. We can have a few people jump through with Galactus to this universe. What's a few more, right?
Jason M. Bourgeois
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