It’s the week following San Diego Comic Con! Time for a wild slate of news in Comics Disassembled, the column where I highlight ten things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics! Or, maybe not because, uh, it wasn’t that crazy. So, let’s look at the week that was in comics, and we begin at the end, or the endgame, as it may be.

The Ultimate Universe, Not in the Endgame

I’ll be honest: I’ve been hearing some unusual things about the Ultimate Universe for a few months now. A lot of it oriented on, “Wait, is it going to end when The Maker returns and the countdown in the books comes to a close?” I heard some convincing things on the side of “Yes, that is a thing.” (Important note, before any hypotheses take hold: None of that came from Jonathan Hickman)

But it evidently is not, as it was revealed at San Diego Comic Con that despite the line’s first event being called Ultimate Endgame, we are in fact not in the endgame now. Even more than the announcement of that event and the reveal that Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s Ultimate Spider-Man run will conclude with its 24th issue, the fact that Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski said more will come from the line after those stories wrap stood out.

It won’t be coming from Hickman, though, at least not on the Ultimate Spider-Man front. He’s done what he set out to do, and its finale with the aforementioned 24th issue will close out the story he set out to tell in that series. That doesn’t necessarily mean Checchetto is off the book — he really loves Spider-Man — but if he sticks around, he’ll be doing it with a new writer. I know some were bummed out that this story will conclude, but I’m thrilled it is, because that means we’re getting a true rarity from Marvel: a tight, focused run primarily from one creative team that was meant to tell a story and it did it exactly as planned. No cancellation. No relaunch. No tomfoolery. Just a good story, told well. I like that, and it will hopefully result in an evergreen series of collections — or even one jumbo-sized release! — when it’s all said and done.

Ultimate Endgame itself should be pretty great, if only because I cannot wait to see what a massive crossover written by Deniz Camp is like. It has to be a huge story because it’s going to bring together the casts of all five Ultimate titles into one book and feature The Maker’s return, which feels even bigger than these stories typically feel. That’s a lot. But if anyone can do it and make it feel like something worthwhile, it’s Camp, especially with his Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion collaborator in artist Jonas Scharf along for the ride. This is very promising, and I am intrigued.

Last note on these: It’s very funny that they’re releasing these two massive issues on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. I am sure they’ll still move, but if there are two Wednesdays that are likely to ensure people don’t go to the shop this year, it’s those.

I did want to drop a quick note on Marvel’s other big announcement at the con, which related to the current space Marvel event Imperial. The first two books spinning out of that story as part of the space Marvel micro line were revealed, and we even learned about the three titles that will follow. It’s kind of funny how it played out, as a while ago, someone asked me in one of my Mailbags what I was hoping to see from the post-Imperial line. What was announced was exactly what I said I hoped to not see happen. It’s very much oriented on typically Earth-based characters, with the first two titles being Planet She-Hulk and Nova: Centurion and the three that follows being Black Panther: Intergalactic, Exiles, and Imperial Guardians. The creative teams are fine, but the whole thing just feels uninspired. And I was really, truly hoping for more than that. I could be wrong, though! Maybe it will be better than that in reality, but I don’t think I’ll be there to find out in November.

Dav Pilkey, Printing Money

Congratulations in advance to Dav Pilkey, Scholastic Graphix, and its ascendant manga program, as the former pair have found a way to leverage the latter to potentially appeal to the rarest of creatures amongst the youths: those who have not already been swayed by the wider works of Pilkey. That’s right. They’re making manga out of Pilkey’s work, with it all beginning next April with Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga. Now, a very large percentage of age appropriate kids have probably already read Captain Underpants, but they haven’t read an adaptation of the first Captain Underpants story done in a manga art style by artist Motojiro, which will likely ensure that some readers double dip while others experience it for the first time.

This is such an easy and smart decision it’s honestly kind of wild. When I saw it, I just kind of nodded to myself, as if to say, “That makes sense.” And it does. Manga is enormously popular with kids, and so is Dav Pilkey. So, what would happen when you combine the two? Spoiler alert: Lots of success, I’d wager. But I guess we’ll find out next April when it releases. If you’re a comic shop that does well with the younger set, I’d stock up just in case.