The legendary Tokatsu hero Ultraman has gained a new lease on life thanks to Marvel Comics. At C2E2, Marvel Editor in Chief C.B. Cebulski unveiled the first story details and cover art for Marvel’s upcoming series The Rise of Ultraman, which will debut later this year.
The Rise of Ultraman #1 will revisit the classic Ultraman series, with the creative team of writers Kyle Higgins (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Winter Soldier) and Mat Groom (Self/Made) with art by Francesco Manna (Avengers).
“A few years ago, thanks to my time on Power Rangers, I was able to discover and learn more about Tokusatsu," said Higgins. "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.”
“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,” Groom added. “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...”
At the end of last year, Marvel Comics and Tsuburaya Productions announced a landmark collaboration to produce all-new stories based on the classic Ultraman series. Created by Eiji Tsuburaya, the original Ultraman series focused on Shin Hayata, who transformed into the mighty Ultraman to combat alien monsters.