During Marvel’s “Next Big Thing” panel at C2E2 today, Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski unveiled story details and cover art for Marvel’s upcoming series “The Rise of Ultraman.”
- “The Rise of Ultraman” will be written by Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom with art by Francesco Manna.
- Marvel Comics and Tsuburaya Productions announced their collaboration to produce all-new stories based on the classic Ultraman series at the end of last year.
- The story will of course center on the pop culture icon, Ultraman.
- The Ultraman franchise debuted in the 1960s and the stories have been depicted on both the page and the screen.
- Marvel Comics will now be able to add to this iconic character’s legacy.
- “Ultraman #1” will hit stores later this year.
What they’re saying:
- Writer Kyle Higgins: “A few years ago, thanks to my time on Power Rangers, I was able to discover and learn more about Tokusatsu. With its wildly different conventions and inspirations, Tokusatsu — and Ultraman in particular — has been a huge source of joy for me. It’s a genre so ripe with possibilities, even down to what we conceive of in the structure of Super Hero storytelling. It’s both an honor and a privilege to bring Ultraman to Marvel.”
- Writer Mat Groom: “Monsters in fiction have been embodying all that is dark and scary in our world for as long as we’ve been telling stories. But I don’t think anybody understood the immense scale of our most pressing problems quite like Eiji Tsuburaya. He imagined the darkness looming overhead as tall as skyscrapers— alien and unknowable and ANGRY. But he also imagined us being able to stand up to those monsters, by rising above our worst impulses and embracing a nobler way of being. He imagined ULTRAMAN. What does that mean in this complex, contradictory world of lies? We’re going to find out…”