Ultimate DC

[Steven C]

I always liked the "Ultimate DC" concepts. The Superman costume is pretty cool!

 

[Azrael24]

i like them, sorta. i hate this cause i want DC to make it for real but i hate it when people say DC copied Marvel. ive even had people say Marvel owns DC, i was like WTC?

i like the justice league, but i dont like the...teen titans??
the only one i like outa those is the green lantern/arsenal person!?

wish they had a black canary, a supergirl and a superboy

oh, and is that james gordon??

 

[Binker]

I managed to get at least some of the REAL stories behind some of the ULTIMATES.

So here you go. The REAL stories.

ULTIMATE SUPERMAN:

THE ORIGIN:
Rocketed from the dying planet Krypton, a lone baby lands in a Smallville Kansas field. Adopted by Martha and Jonathan Kent, the infant is raised like any other child, but the Kents soon learn their adopted son Clark is anything but ordinary. Under the Earth's yellow sun, he's developed powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.

THE CHARACTER:
It's six years removed from the world of TV's "Smallville," where Clark, Lex Luthor and Lana Lang all grew up together as friends. Clark's just graduated from university and has been offered an entry level job at the Daily Planet.

SUPPORTING CAST:
Lana is still Clark's girlfriend, but their long distance relationship is strained as Clark grows closer to fellow Planet reporter Lois Lane. Lois, a tenacious and clever reporter, is also the protégé of Planet senior writer Perry White, the man who mentors Lois and Clark in both their work and their personal lives. And just as Clark settles in Metropolis, billionaire industrialist Lex Luthor re-emerges after a four year disappearence from public life.

THE SET-UP:
After learning to control and master his powers while growing up in Smallville, Clark Kent moves to Metropolis and dons a costume to help protect the world as Superman.

ULTIMATE FLASH:

ORIGIN:
Crime scene investigator Barry Allen works in one of the fastest cities in the world - Los Angeles. Called to a crime scene inside Cadmus Labs Research Facility (a subsidiary of LexCorp), Allen's collection of evidence accidentally exposes him to a host of experimental substances, Invisible to the naked eye, tasteless, odorless... these compounds trigger something within Allen's biochemistry, transforming him into the fastest man alive!

THE CHARACTER:
As one of the top crime scene investigators in the country, Barry Allen is often called upon to tackle L.A.'s most bizarre cases. A one-man crime lab thanks to his keen mind and inhuman speed, the fastest man alive now has what it takes to stay one step ahead of the criminals.

SUPPORTING CAST:
L.A. Detective Jay Garrick is Allen's best friend and the only person who knows he's secretly the Flash. Even Assistant District Attorney Iris West, Allen's off-again, on-again flame, doesn't know his secret. Of course, she's got her own problems now that she's taken in her young nephew Wally West after years of parental abuse. Making things harder for Allen is that the rebellious Wally doesn't trust any cop, even if they're dating his Aunt Iris.

THE SET-UP:
After realizing he's gained the power to run faster than the speed of sound, Allen develops a slick running outfit to disguise his identity while investigating crimes as the Flash. While experimenting with his powers, Barry discovers a downside to his abilities: the more he uses his speed, the faster his body shows signs of aging. But just as Barry begins to master his power and gets a lead on the serial killer Murmur, someone else with superhuman speed calling himself Black Flash arrives on the scene. What's worse, he knows all of Barry's secrets and wants the Scarlet Speedster dead.

THE BIG PICTURE:
"I'lI never forgive you!" screams Black Flash as he pummels Allen in their first meeting. This grief-stricken foe stands revealed as none other than a future Wally VVest! Haunted for years by Wally's hatred, Allen eventually learns he'll make a wrong decision that costs the lives of two JLA teammates... and Iris West.

ULTIMATE TEEN TITANS:

THE ORIGIN:
It's 'N Sync meets superheroes. When the JLA emerges as media darlings after their battle with Despero, LexCorp manufactures its own superteam. Gathering a group of hip, good-looking teenagers with superhuman abilities, Luthor's PR team designs marketable codenames and costumes for each. Calling them the "Teen Titans" (a name the team hates), Luthor now has a cash-cow bonanza first, "superhero" team second.

THE CHARACTERS:
Placing ads in all the Hollywood trades, LexCorp holds auditions for the team. First to sign on is a young acrobat named Rich Grayson, who desperately wants to escape his life in the carnival act with his parents. Coming prepared with the code-name "Nightwing" he's more than a little disappointed to instead be labeled "Robin." Then there's Raven, a mysterious goth-chick who spent years living on the streets through a combination of street smarts and her control of her "living darkness." Escaping from the island of Themyscira was easy for Donna (who creates a last name In Troy), but escaping her big sister Diana's shadow may be harder; Donna is given the codename Power Girl (instead of the proposed name 'Wonder Girl'' to avoid trademark infringement with theJLA's Wonder Woman), which suits her fine since she wishes her presence in Man's World remain secret from her Amazon sisters. The arrogant Prince Arthur of Atlantis, a 19-year-old future king called Aquaman, wants to familiarize himself with the surface world before taking up his royal responsibilities; he insists he's the team's natural leader, much to the chagrin of the others. Roy Harper - given the name Green Arrow - was raised on an Indian reservation learning deadshot marksmanship with his bow; the wildcard of the team, Roy takes immense pleasure in ribbing team-mates (like calling Robin "Dick." or Aquarnan 'Artie"). The final piece to the Teen Titans make-up is accident victim Victor Stone, who LexCorp rebuilt as Cyborg.

THE FIRST ARC:
Marketed as a pop-star superteam, the Teen Titans are sent out to battle low-level supervillains and thugs, allowing decisive victories. But when the team discovers Green Arrow overdosing on Ecstasy after a rave with Raven, the Titans secretly buck their bosses in their off-hours to get their hands dirty, They take out an E lab without telling LexCorp, which wants to keep the team's image squeaky clean. During the raid though, Power Girl accidentally kills a dealer, creating rifts among members. What's worse - keeping all of their esctracurricular activities on the downlow proves tougher than they ever imagined, particularly when members like Green Arrow, Raven and Cyborg refuse to participate!

THE BIG PICTURE:
With a murder hanging over the team's collective heads, the Titans still participate in more nightly raids on drug dealers and gang-bangers, But as time goes on, their meta-human vigilante activities spark the first Ultimate DC crossover by attracting the attention of a rival team: the Justice League.

 

[MR.MXYZPTLK]

I love the ultimate teen titans and I don't see anything wrong with the flash costume

 

[Adam Tyner]

someone else with superhuman speed calling himself Black Flash arrives on the scene

Why would anyone call himself "Black Flash"? That's almost as bad as Anti-Spawn wearing a belt buckle with Spawn's face and a red circle/slash through it.

 

[Style]

Most of those designs are horrid. Well, John Stewart/ Green Lantern is barely changed, and I could live with Batman's design, but the other are blech.

But the thing is, while the Ultimate series is know for radical redesigns on the villains, the heros are pretty recognizable usually.Spiderman looks like Spiderman, except with exaggerated proportions. The Fantastic Four look like slightly updated concepts on the FF, but the departures aren't that big. Wolverine looks like Movie Wolverine.

So, radical redesigns on the heroes may be missing the point for conceptualizing "Ultimate DC." The Heroes should look the same or almost the same, but the villains should be pretty radically different, (sometimes.)

From a continuity standpoint, the DCAU is a pretty nice "Ultimate" version of the DCU, while "The Batman" represents the "Ultimate" redesign concept very well: Batman himself is very recognizable and traditionally drawn, (with Matsuda florishes,) and the villains are subject to interesting redesigns.