Eventually, that original line devolved into rehashing concepts from the main Marvel Universe (WITH A TWIST!) and then collapsed even further into shock jock comics (do NOT read Ultimatum). By the time the line started really innovating, it was barely hanging on. We lucked into Miles Morales, the Ultimate Universe’s most high-profile creation, and he was saved from doom (literally) by that popularity when Earth-1610 was destroyed by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, and Earth-616 in the greatest superhero crossover event ever written, 2015’s Secret Wars.
However, despite its initial MASSIVE popularity, DC never actually chased this alternate universe line of books, likely because Marvel used it as a way around rebooting its entire universe, something DC had done *counts on fingers* at least three times by 2000 (one and a half, if you count Zero Hour and Final Night as the same story). Until Marvel’s Ultimates were dug out of their graves. By the guy who put them there.
There are some surface differences between the two lines, reflected in who launched them. Hickman, the meticulous planner who destroyed Earth-1610, schemed out an entire history for the new Earth-6160, the setting of Marvel’s current Ultimate comics, building it out around his great villain, Ultimate Mister Fantastic, and his desire to have a home of his own again, albeit one he shaped from its start.
From that foundation, Hickman has kept his hands on the reins for the excellent Ultimate Spider-Man, with truly terrific art from David Messina. He handed off the rest of the line to some utterly fascinating creative teams. Deniz Camp, fresh out of 20th Century Men, an indie comic that can best be described as “What if Humanoids published the Avengers?”, got his hands on the actual Avengers (The Ultimates). Teamed with artists Juan Frigeri and Phil Noto, Camp has created the best Avengers comic since the Secret Wars era, featuring Iron Lad and Doom finding and reactivating Avengers in preparation for a big fight with the Maker.
Bryan Hill and Stefano Caselli have Ultimate Black Panther, where a younger, more scheming T’Challa has his hands full defending Wakanda from Ra and Khonshu, the Maker’s chosen rulers of the rest of Africa. And then there’s a book I can’t believe is in continuity: Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko, a supernatural high school manga that’s also an incredible Shadow King story. The most recent launch is Ultimate Wolverine, recasting Logan as the Ultimate Winter Soldier, and I’m eager to get a look at it.
While Marvel’s new Ultimate line launched out of some meticulous planning, DC’s Absolute line just kind of exploded at us. It started in Mark Waid’s big event book with Dan Mora, Absolute Power, which was the Tron: Legacy of comics events: I have no idea what happened but I loved looking at it and want to keep looking at it. At the end, Darkseid made his way to an alternate Earth and fell back in time to that universe’s creation, infecting everything that grew out from its Big Bang.