The Ultimates is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics and created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, which first started publication from The Ultimates #1, as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel imprint. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Avengers comic-book franchise, centering around a task-force of super-humans and special agents organized by the U.S. government to combat growing threats to the world. The tale chronicles their progress as they bond and slowly learn to work together, despite their differing natures and personalities.
Promotional art for The Ultimates 2 #1 (February 2005). Art by Bryan Hitch & Paul Neary.
Writer Mark Millar signing a copy of the collected edition of the first miniseries during an appearance at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.
Promotional art for cover of The Ultimates 3 #1 (February 2008), by Joe Madureira and Christian Lichtner.
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series The Authority, published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written extensively for Marvel Comics, including runs on The Ultimates, which has been called "the comic book of the decade" by Time magazine and described as a major inspiration for the 2012 film The Avengers by its screenwriter Zak Penn, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Avengers for Marvel's Ultimate imprint, as well as Marvel Knights Spider-Man and Wolverine. In 2006, Millar wrote the Civil War mini-series that served as the centrepiece for the eponymous company-wide crossover storyline and later inspired the Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War. The "Old Man Logan" storyline, published as part of Millar's run on Wolverine, served as the inspiration for the 2017 film Logan.
Millar at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, 2 October 2010
Millar signing a copy of Superman: Red Son at Midtown Comics in Manhattan
Millar and the Wanted co-creator, artist J. G. Jones at the Big Apple Convention, 2 October 2010