Wizard's Ultimate DCU

A couple of years back, Wizard Magazine commissioned a series of pictures of what would a DC version of the Ultimate Universe be like. Since we're in the Year of the Reboot, I thought that I'd post 'em so that you lot could have a looksee.

Superman - This one I'm a bit more blaise about. The use of the Kingdom Come "S" Symbol is interesting and invokes a futuristic feel to the rest of the outfit, which is kind of apt for "the Man of Tomorrow". Like it more than the ACTUAL DC reboot version, though that's just me. Probably wouldn't read this as a series though, as reading yet another Superman origin story would bore the pants off of me. Just jump straight into his early career just after his introduction if need be.

The Flash - I think that this one actually works, possibly because at the speeds he runs he'd presumably get a lot of bugs in his eyes and mouth... Nah, he's probably bugproof because of the Speed Force or something. And why not, it does everything else they can't explain the Flash books.

Green Lantern - to be absolutely honest, I'm very much a John Stewart fan when it comes to my Green Lanterns, probably because my love of JLU and the DCU to be honest. IF he had been Earth's only Green Lantern I'd have been cool with it, as most of the time he has the maturity and focus to actual sell the character without devolving into Hal Jordan. Seriously, if John was the star of the movie it might have actually made some money.

Batman - this one I really like. Has the essentials of the costume, but adds additional armour and rivets to actually make it look like it could stop the frequent gunfire that accompanies Bruce's nightjob. I also like the little details like the holster for his grappling gun, which makes for a more logical accessory to the belt than the current method, which I believe involve Bruce clenching it between his buttocks when he's not using it. Commissioner Gordon as Morgan Freeman is a nice touch, possibly a reference to Samuel L. Jackson being cast as Nick Fury over in the U.M., and since this was made YEARS before Batman Begins Mr Freeman being attached to the Bat Franchise here is just a coincidence. Heh, and I just realised that if he were the Commissioner than that would technically mean that would be the only appearance of an African American version of Batgirl as well, which would have been interesting to see.

And now the groups!

First the Teen Titans. I like Cyborg's design, it's a lot more streamlined than the current one, which seems as graceful as a Cyberman a lot of the time. I also like that he has more of his face exposed, which makes him seem more human whilst the loss of the fleshy sections on the arms paradoxically makes him seem more machine-like.

GothRaven I guess looks sort of interesting, though it depends massively how they were going to portray the character in the series. A girl who was raised in another dimension by monks or something would be less included to dress like that than a girl from this universe who had her powers and parentage suddenly thrust upon her for example.

Aqualad... well, he's shiny. I'll give him that. I do get a royal vibe from him, though I'm not really that up with the costume to be honest. It could work I guess, the fishscales incorpered into his trousers is interesting.

Robin's outfit...kind of works... I guess? There seem to be several elements in there that seem to have been used in later Robin designs, the mask looks like the lower half of Tim's Red Robin cowl for example, and I guess that it works as a balance to the above Batman picture but... Just seems a little off.

Donna, no. No, no, no. Nooo. I get that presumably she's meant to be filling in Starfire's role as "the sexy one", but this is just BAD. And the boots look stupid.

Roy pretty much looks exactly the same as Olle does in the comics. It's a good outfit, but it's kind of weird seeing him in green.

Firstly, the JLA in silhouette,

Andnow fighting Despero,

Alright, Bruce, Clark, Barry(?) I've covered, now the rest.

Wonder Woman: Not a fan, fails for the same reasons that Donna's does in the one above, in that because she's "the Sexy One" she's give the most revealling costume. Admittedly being Wonder Woman she technically doesn't need to wear armour as she's been submerged in molten metal before and come out unharmed, but it doesn't really scream "representative of an ancient culture and member of its Royal Family". Being able to see her butt every time there's a slight breeze would also make her loose cred with the diplomatic community. I guess that in story she could fill the role that Thor did in the first two series of the Ultimates, with no one believing her stories of being an Amazon created from clay and given life by the Gods, which would be an interesting slant in her story, I think.

The Atom: the costume looks good, and I am intrigued by this African American female Atom. Who is she? If she's the Atom does this mean that Ray Palmer hopefully doesn't exist? Would they end up pairing her up with John just because she's the only other black person in the group, which is something I've seen before in fiction and I think that it's stupid.

The Martian Manhunter: J'onn seems to be riffing ET in his appearance here, which I think is interesting for a number of reasons. Him being kind of squat is an interesting deviation from the normal human-sized and shaped version, or the version where he's taller and more willowy than a human being. Him being kind of short and dumpy could be translated as him being effected by Earth having greater gravity than Mars... I think, which would in theory be why he's in the control-room instead of fighting Destro.