WHEN WE WERE ULTRA: Who Invited The Space Viking? (GODWHEEL)

I used to be a big ass wrestling fan.  I'm still intrigued with some aspects (like the thought that goes into booking), but I really have problems watching the product today.

I bring this up to evoke March 26th, 2001.  That was the night where Titan Sports, the unholy fiefdom of Vince MacMahon, incorporated their sale of WCW into the ongoing storyline.  Vince showed up on the last WCW Nitro to gloat, only for son Shane to announce he bought the organization out from under him.  The possibilities were endless...and were quickly dashed to pieces as the 'Invasion' storyline that resulted was made up mainly of Vince putting over his product by making their product look stupid. As. Fuck.

And after reading it, I am convinced that Godwheel was the Ultraverse's March 26th, 2001.

Argus is the last of the Gods of Vadhala.  His fellow Gods have slain each other, and the three items that will jumpstart the Crucible that empowers them all have been scattered to different points along the Godwheel, a giant, well, wheel made of cosmic stuffage and containing countless worlds.  Since Argus is rapidly running out of energy to keep him alive, he plucks a number of people from the Ultraverse that will help him get those objects.  Given that these people include the evil sorcerer Boneyard, the demonic Lord Pumpkin, the evil version of Mantra Necromantra and a frozen shell of Prime that Necromantra revives called Primevil, there is a bit of conflict about how to go about it.  So this results in two groups--one virtuous, one not nice a'tall--racing to obtain the three objects.....

Even thought it's a little bit all over the place, I think the idea behind this weekly crossover event is sound--what this shapes up into is a throwback to the Silver Age Justice League of America.  You know the storytelling template I'm talking about--there's this threat with three components, the heroes split up into smaller teams, resolve the threat and reunite for the Big Ass Fight.  And the real gimmick that drives the event is actually quite appealing.  You see, the four issues of Godwheel are flip books (the Ultraverse went hard on Flipbooks, frequently using them to tease new titles including an anthology, Ultraverse Premiere, that was used to test new concepts).  And each issue is written by a different writer, and is split into two parts that are drawn by two different art teams.  So readers picking up this event due to the much teased participation by a major Marvel character ends up getting a pretty accurate picture of the range of writers and artists that they'll encounter in the future.

...and it works even better because each individual issue seems plotted to each writer's strength.  Thus, Dan Danko and Chris Ulm can focus on the world-building in the initial 0 issue, Hundall can work on characterization, and Mike W. Barr can...deal in general chaos.  And the artists chosen are the best mix of known names and up and comers--I was pleasantly surprised that Scott Benefiel got to do a chapter given how much I appreciated his work on Hardcase, and let's be honest, no one does final Big Ass Battle better than George Perez.  If you approach Godwheel as just an Ultraverse issue and excise the Marvelness, it's a very effective sampler for new readers of what they can respect.

But...that f'in Marvel Guest Star.

Godwheel wants you to know this is The Event That Guest Stars Thor.  Every issue has Thor's picture in the logo box on both sides of the Flip Book.  The last book of the mini screams out on its cover 'Thunder Strikes The Ultraverse.'  You'd expect Thor's presence to be a Really Big Deal.  Well, in actuality in issue #1 we see that Argus can detect another dwelling of Gods, prompting a panel of Thor's lower leg sitting on a throne.  Then, in issue #3, Argus opens a portal looking for someone to help get all these pesky Ultras off him, George Perez pops up on pencils just in time for Thor to burst through the portal and blacken all of Argus' hundred eyes.  The other Ultras coo and fuss over him, and he uses Mjolnir to send everyone where they want to be.

You see why I brought up March 26, 2001.  We get three and two-thirds of a straightforward Ultraverse crossover, then a Marvel character literally shows up at the very end to clean house and prove how much cooler he is.  And if you weren't fond of major Ultraverse villains like Rune, Lord Pumpkin or Rex Mundi, rejoice because Loki has arrived on the last page to become the linewide Big Bad.  This is not about further defining and pointing potential new readers to this company--it's to remind them how much more awesome Marvel characters are.  It's not surprising that once the decision is made to reboot the line with Black September, the place is chock full of Marvel heroes either visiting or being visited by the Ultraverse.  While I was mildly engaged by Godwheel, the ending just lands like a awkward fart.

I think that if this was left solely as a Ultraverse mini, Godwheel would have worked better.  I really liked the jam band nature of the product, and while it isn't top tier, it does entertain with a nice overview of what the world has to offer.  It's perfectly fine.  If only the Space Viking hadn't crashed the party and drew all the attention.

But at least it wasn't The Pheonix Ressurection.  And we'll examine that mess next time.

(Don't worry too much, though--we've got Ultraverse Year Zero: Death of The Squad after that.)

Until then....why be meta when you can be ultra?