THE BIG DAY

[Biroons]

OK people the day is here let me know what you think about the issue

[eworks]

I'm gonna try and go during lunch and get me some of that action!

[yoshi22g]

just got mine. looks pretty darn good.

thor at the end of the venom scene looks freekin awesome. would like to see a bigger hammer, doesn't really match his body, but still, really cool.

i'm really liking the coloring in the mansion parts, the constant glow there looks neat, in my opinion.

mad has given us some incredible detail, as we could probably expect from all the preview pics that came out.

i guess i haven't read many comics recently so it seems, story-wise, things are moving really fast without much explanation. i guess i'm also unfamiliar with the Ultimates in general, so I'll probably go back and read up on it before the next issue comes out.

overall, really great art, glad he's back. now, i'm going to go look at it like 20 more times.

[Biroons]

your a lucky men, here in my country there's no comic's shop so I have to wait long time for see the full issue, but you tell me how is it

[eworks]

I just got mine too. Both covers look awesome. There's some good action and I like how Cap looks. In some of the pages the artwork looks a bit blurry so I wonder what it would look like with inks. The dialogue seems a bit cheesy at first but then it got more serious. I still like Loeb's stuff and Joe's work is amazing. Superb artwork in my opinion. I'm probably gonna read it a couple times. Yo lo leo por ti Biroons

[gugesbri]

The story looks great, but,
Is there anyway to purchase a digital/downloadable version of this series?
I love Joe Mad's work but it seems that Marvel dropped the ball in the printing of this book.

As a person who has been working in the graphic design/publishing industry since the early 90's I will honestly tell you all that Marvel Comics has damaged this book's color quality!

The RGB to CMYK conversion was poorly handled.
Unless Marvel can correct this horrendous mistake in printing, and, based on the pre-printed version of the gatefold cover by Joe Mad that we've seen on-line, this book would look better as a digital download comic.

The color de-saturation of the printed version is criminal!

Responses please.

Cheers,
Gustavo

[paullavallee]

Yeah I agree with the poster above. Some of the small panels are hard to make out. Either because of lack of ink, or too dark of colours. Sounds like a printing problem. But on the overall, I've very impressed, as always with MAD's work. He's just really good! And I'm gald he's back in comics!

[eworks]

Yeah I noticed that with the colors. On the last page where they show the cover for the next issue it's too saturated. The digital pic looks way better.

[madmad]

wow
joe mad is a GOD!
i got a copy of each, my comic store receieved tons of copies
i did not had a chance with the incentive cover
anyone got it?

[gugesbri]

eworks said:

Yeah I noticed that with the colors. On the last page where they show the cover for the next issue it's too saturated. The digital pic looks way better.

I agree with you 100%!!!

Gustavo

[maverick1104]

Okay, besides the printing being dark....how was everyone's take on the pencils? I personally had a grin across my face the whole time I was flipping through the book. It's been what, six years or so since Mad! was doing interior work for comics? What a great feeling this was to flip open the pages and see my favorite artist returning with some of the best work of his career so far. This issue was action packed from the get-go and I don't feel like its going to let up until the end. Welcome back, Joe! We missed you!

Okay, the coloring. I for one loved the coloring and know that Chris works his butt off on each page of this series. I feel bad that the book got printed much darker than the previous work we've seen because this will make people feel like there needs to be an inker or that its the colorist that is at fault. Marvel has done this before with the printing of the Joe Madureira: Visionaries book (reprinting Joe Mad!'s Uncanny X-Men run). Chris has done a wonderful job on this issue especially with the rain and snow effects. I loved those scenes. I can't even imagine what this book would look like now if there was an inker on it. Great job, Chris. There is very few that can even get close to your beautiful colors.

Now, for the story. This is my first time reading the Ultimates so I am at little bit of a "huh?" point trying to figure out whats going on, but for the most part, the story made sense and actually makes me want to find out whats next. I've always enjoyed Jeph Loeb's writing and continue to do so with this series. I really like what Loeb does when he writes (ie. writing to the artists strengths). He let Joe Mad! have fun with all this action in just the first issue, but still got in a great opening story. I can't believe how many projects this guy has. This guy is a machine!

Oh, how badass was Hawkeye? Freaking awesome!

Man, I can't wait till next month! We got the new Wizard at the end of December featuring an interview with Loeb and Mad! (I THINK! COULD BE WRONG!). We also have issue #2 of Ultimates 3 coming out along with the Marvel spotlight featuring the Ultimates with interviews and such. Oh, and Iron and the Maiden: Brutes and Babes (a full issue devoted to the concepts and designs of that series that will most likely have Mad! artwork). Ah, this holiday season will be a great one!

[drazen]

maverick one question - when is this Iron and the Maiden thing supposed to be out? Cuz I would like to get my hands on it

[maverick1104]

Okay, let me correct myself....its called Iron and the Maiden: Brutes, Bims and the City. Its advertised as gurateed in stores 1.16.08. This is what is says,

"Now, with the first arc of the series wrapped up, Aspen is proud to present this very special sketchbook issue showcasing the multitude of character designs, background concepts, cover layouts and original sketches that brought the world of Iron and the Maiden to life! Featuring art by Francis Manapul, Joel Gomez, Michael Turner, Jim Lee, and original character designers JOE (Ultimates 3, Battle Chasers) MADUREIRA, Jeff Matsuda, and Blur Studios, along with many others, this is THE definitive source book for all your Iron needs!"

-It is 32 pages long and is issue #1(so that may imply that there will be more issues like this??)

And I also went back and read the preview for the next Wizard....it didn't say anything on Mad! I swore I saw it in there before, maybe on a previous preview, but I would say don't get your hopes up on that one. Sorry. But with saying that, the next issue of Wizard IS the 2008 preview issue, so hopefully we see something on the Ultimates.

[jettison]

Colors are really dark....Very hard to see all of the detail in the pencils.....

Freaking amazing work tho....

[Sketchlogic]

Boy, i dont know where to begin, but i swear, i think Joe is often underlooked in terms of his interior design skills...did you guys see the d**n architecture in this book!? Wow.....thats just the TIP ofthe iceberg. The man's panel to panel...it is absolutely incredible how this guy can keep ALL the action, the stuff he LOVES to draw and yet, be so amazing with how the story flows along, WHILE at the SAME TIME, keeping the 'not so fun' stuff (according to him lol) looking absolutely amazing. This book is just too much, Chris' colors are top notch as always and expected, really pushing the bar with this book Liquid . The printing was rather...im not sure, 'filmy, smokey' lol, but it didnt detract at ALL from the quality of the art and colors. Hawkeye cracks me up lol!, he's a smarta**, but a smarta** i love LOL.