What is it with comic books mashing characters together? Composite Superman, Combo Man, and now this guy! This is Ultra The Multi-Alien and if you don't like his mixed species, that makes you a space racist! Or, as some call them, a spacist! Let's take a look at this blender-bred Z-Lister!
Premiering in 1965's "Mystery in Space #103", Ultra was first a humble human named Ace Arn who lived in a future where space travel was as common as driving. While traveling through space, Ace crash landed on a far off planet and was ambushed by four aliens. While each of these aliens were of different species, they all shot at Ace with special lasers designed to turn their target into a member of their alien race. When all four beams hit Ace at once, he was transformed into a mix of each alien species, retaining their alien powers and his own free will. From the alien of Ulla, the upper right half of Ace's body became green and fuzzy and he gained super strength. From the alien of Laroo, the upper left half of his body was shiny and flat and he gained magnetics powers. From the alien of Trago, the lower right half of Ace's body became feathered and clawed and he gained the gift of flight. And from the alien of Raagan, the lower left half of his body became flashy and electrocuted and he gained the ability to project electrical blasts. Additionally, he gained a Hyper-Converter belt to help him switch between his human form and mixed alien form. By combining the first letter of each alien race (Ulla, Laroo, Trago, and Ragaan) with his name, Ace created the name Ultra as his superhero moniker. His solo adventures lasted eight more issues before Ultra became a lesser known character sometimes included in other titles.
When The New 52 rebooted the DC Universe, The Martian Manhunter led a team made up of Stargirl, Supergirl, Green Arrow, Animal Man, Equinox, Hawkman and Adam Strange to combat Lord Byth, an alien scientist who experimented with gene-splicing between alien species. When raiding his lab, the team discovered an infant alien named "The Ultra" who was a genetic combination of multiple alien races. The Ultra was created by Byth to be "The Slayer of Worlds", but after defeating Byth, The Martian Manhunter decided to raise Ultra to use his multiple powers for good.
Originally a lame superhero from the 60's, currently a hero in training, constantly forgotten among the DC Comics pantheon, Ultra is perfectly deserving of the title "Z-Lister". The premise for his abilities in both versions is admittedly unique and I'm glad they never phoned it in and used alien species like Kryptonians, Thanagarians, or Martians rather than creating new aliens when it came to his revamped origins. I'd like to see more of Ultra, but I'm afraid his New 52 incarnation might have too many powers. If only there were some kind of dial...no, a watch! Yes, a watch that could pinpoint a specific alien DNA sample and morph Ultra's body into that selected alien for say....ten minutes! Now that would be a great comic book story! And with that Ben 10 reference out of the way, I'd like to thank you for reading!
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When The New 52 rebooted the DC Universe, The Martian Manhunter led a team made up of Stargirl, Supergirl, Green Arrow, Animal Man, Equinox, Hawkman and Adam Strange to combat Lord Byth, an alien scientist who experimented with gene-splicing between alien species. When raiding his lab, the team discovered an infant alien named "The Ultra" who was a genetic combination of multiple alien races. The Ultra was created by Byth to be "The Slayer of Worlds", but after defeating Byth, The Martian Manhunter decided to raise Ultra to use his multiple powers for good.
Originally a lame superhero from the 60's, currently a hero in training, constantly forgotten among the DC Comics pantheon, Ultra is perfectly deserving of the title "Z-Lister". The premise for his abilities in both versions is admittedly unique and I'm glad they never phoned it in and used alien species like Kryptonians, Thanagarians, or Martians rather than creating new aliens when it came to his revamped origins. I'd like to see more of Ultra, but I'm afraid his New 52 incarnation might have too many powers. If only there were some kind of dial...no, a watch! Yes, a watch that could pinpoint a specific alien DNA sample and morph Ultra's body into that selected alien for say....ten minutes! Now that would be a great comic book story! And with that Ben 10 reference out of the way, I'd like to thank you for reading!
Facebook: The Panel Biter
Twitter: @ThePanelBiter
Podbean: Panelbiter.podbean.com
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