I’ve been looking for these for a while … signed books that were issued with certificates of authenticity from Malibu. So far I know of nine:
All New Exiles: Infinity, 1
Lord Pumpkin: 0
Prime: Infinity, 1
Rune: 1
Rune vs. Venom: 1
Siren: 1
Ultraforce: 1
The Lord Pumpkin is the only one that was issued pre-Black September. The others are all numbered to 2,000.
They are really nice looking books and certs. I pick one up whenever I see a copy selling for a few bucks.
The seven titles that were relaunched after Black September each got a variant cover for the No. 1 issues (there were also painted variant covers for the Infinity issues and additional covers for the All New Exiles).
I don’t have the overall numbers, but the painted variants made up 20 percent of the print run. I don’t think the painted covers necessarily look better; they just look different. It was also apparent that the Ultraverse was heading in an entirely new direction. There is a whole lot of Marvel on those covers, including the Spidey-Prime with his hair hanging out.
But man, I miss $1.50 comics …
Prime is the only one with a UPC code on the painted version.
These aren’t too hard to find on eBay. The easy way to tell them apart is that the regular issues have a UPC code on the front and the painted ones don’t (apart from Prime … just be careful with that one). They’re pretty common in larger lots.
There are also signed-and-numbered versions of many of these with Ultraverse COAs.
I gotta be honest … I only get out to movies occasionally but I don’t remember anything about this one. And nothing about this ad from the interior pages of Siren 1 makes me want to see it. Dude looks kind of … wait, holy crap, that’s Voldemort!
If you look at the names attached to this film it’s hard to figure why it bombed. Kathryn Bigelow directed, James Cameron wrote the screenplay, and Ralph Fiennes (blondie up there), Vincent D’Onofrio and Angela Bassett starred in it, yet it didn’t even make $8 million on a $42 million budget.
And you didn’t see a lot of web addresses in advertisements back then. Complete with the http://www thing. I tried to go to the web site but it wouldn’t load.
The reviews weren’t horrible. Rotten Tomatoes rated it 61% positive.
By the mid-1990s the concept of the “Zero Issue” had been pounded into the ground. So for the Black September relaunch, the new Ultraverse started instead with”Infinity” issues. Try sticking that one into your comics cataloguing software.
Eight comics got the treatment, including Black September. Each had a regular all-black cover (title and price were in bright colors) and an alternate illustrated cover. These books were meant to stand out on a comics shop shelf, and they look fantastic. Both versions are eye-catching and mysterious.
The black covers are not hard to find, and really cheap when you do find them. The illustrated covers are a lot tougher to find. They’re usually easiest to buy if you are getting them as part of a large lot on eBay. According to the books, the painted covers made up 20 percent of the print run.
My scans look a little crinkly, but the actual books are a perfect flat black. I was eating a pot pie while I scanned them in and didn’t bother taking them out of their bags.
There is actually one more All New Exiles Infinity variant. You can read about it right here.
Siren is the only title here that was not a relaunch of an original Ultraverse title.
In the interest of being complete, here are the Black September books, even though these were covered in another post.
I think I got all of these books as part of a larger lot of about 100 books on eBay, and spent less than $20 shipped. That’s how it goes sometimes when you are collecting Dead Universes.
Another alternate black cover. Well, mostly black. Too bad it has a big ol’ UPC code box stuck out there.
Eliminator was a four-issue mini-series (if you count the 0 issue it ran from 0-3). The No. 1 had two versions. One is the Black Cover Edition ($3.95 cover price) and the other has a regular illustrated cover ($2.50).
I don’t think it had anything to do with Black September. I guess the black cover was just so you couldn’t tell that Mr. Eliminator is dressed like a Mardi Gras pirate. And Siren is in this issue, perhaps to remind the titular character that they were due back at the circus by 6 p.m.
I’m not sure of the scarcity of these, but they are pretty common on eBay and online retailers and they are always pretty cheap. I bought one for about a buck on mycomicshop.com. I’d love to know the print run numbers.
Ultraverse Flashback 