Hey, they can’t all be gems, folks.
In 1938, National Comics (that which would become DC Comics) launched Superman in Action Comics # 1. In a phenomenally short period, he would become an icon of popular culture, not just in America, but around the world. It is said that Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus, and Superman are the most universally recognised fictional characters on Earth.
The appeal of Superman has been dissected and analysed by people with more letters after their names than I have and I’ll leave it to those experts. All I know is that the Man of Steel served as the archetype for an entire genre. Superman’s super-profits for National transformed the industry. From then on, comic-book publishers would devote considerable energy to creating the next super-hero to capture the hearts and allowances of youngsters everywhere.
The next three-quarters of a century would see only a handful of creations achieve the stratospheric popularity of Superman, and occasionally, briefly surpass it. Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine. Dozens of other characters displayed enough imaginative spark to hold their own as solid, reliable performers for decades. And then there were some super-heroes that came with quirky aspects such that, while not long-lived, were remembered, and not always fondly.
The Silver Age of comics had more than its share of these, and to-day, we’re going to take a look at a prime example . . . Ultra, the Multi-Alien.
“DC’s newest bizarre hero” debuted in Mystery in Space # 103 (Nov., 1965). In order to make room for him, the previous lead feature, Adam Strange, got the heave-ho. This wasn’t quite as peculiar an editorial decision at it would seem. The Champion of Rann had fallen on hard times---thanks to, of all things, Batman.
For the past few years, the sales of Batman and Detective Comics had been spiraling downward. Most of the blame for that could be laid on the ill-considered decision to turn the two books into science-fiction titles, pitting the Caped Crusader against alien crooks and bug-eyed monsters. And it didn’t help that “Batman in Space” suffered from the worst art of any top-tier DC character.
It was humiliating for DC’s second-most famous star to be run into the ground, so publisher Jack Liebowitz assigned editor Julius Schwartz---the man who had revived the Flash and Green Lantern and the Atom and virtually created the Silver Age---to take over Batman and Detective Comics. That meant taking Schwartz off of Mystery in Space and its imaginatively detailed adventures.
And who assumed control of Adam Strange, hero of two worlds? Why, Jack Schiff---the guy who just got fired as editor of the Bat-magazines.
Schiff would have been the first to tell you that science fiction was not his strong suit. During his time as Bat-editor, he had argued with the suits-in-charge that the Masked Manhunter had no business messing around in an SF milieu. But it wasn’t even good science fiction, and that fell back on Schiff himself.
To make things worse, when Schwartz went over to Detective Comics, he took Adam Strange artist Carmine Infantino with him. Infantino, along with inker Murphy Anderson, was largely responsible for the sleek, space-age elegance of the Adam Strange series. Lee Elias was assigned to take over the Mystery in Space chores.
Elias was a reliable journeyman artist, but his work lacked the inspiration of Infantino’s stylised architecture, alien vistas, and graceful figures. Elias’ characters looked short and squat and clumsy, and his depiction of the fantastic world of Rann was unimaginative. It wasn’t that Elias was that bad---for one thing, he had a good sense of composition---it was just that his work paled in comparison to Infantino’s.
As a result of the changes, the magic was gone from Adam Strange, and his series took its final bow in the summer of 1965. DC had lost faith in the title’s other regular character, the Space Ranger, as well. Most likely, he had been sticking around on the coattails of Adam Strange---something had to fill the back of the book---but with Strange gone, DC wasn’t expecting the Ranger to do any better. The trend of the day was super-heroes and they needed one that also filled the space theme of the magazine.
Thus begat Ultra, the Multi-Alien.
His origin, written by Dave Wood and drawn by Elias, was a complicated affair that required so much set-up that the main conflict had to be resolved in the last page and a half of the story.
It began with our hero, dauntless, dashing space pilot Ace Arn, already in trouble. While delivering passengers and cargo from Mars to Jupiter, the Earthman’s space cruiser is caught in the magnetic field of a freak comet. Arn safely jettisons his passengers and crew, but is unable to abandon ship himself before it is caught up in the tail of the comet.
“The blazing comet soars on,” the captions inform us, “cutting a brilliant path through our universe! And in its wake, a captive . . . the spaceship carrying Captain Arn, frozen in suspended animation. On and on the great mass hurtles through the black void of space---and into another sun system . . . .”
Eventually, the comet explodes. Freed from its magnetic pull, Arn’s spaceship crash-lands on a near-by asteroid, coming to rest when it slams into the rocky wall of a cavern “housing a maze of strange equipment---and the lifeless body of an alien being!”
You just know this means a flashback.
On this asteroid, sometime previous, a criminal scientist, Zobra of the planet Ulla, was demonstrating a new invention for his four lieutenants. It was a handgun which discharged a ray, transforming its target into the species of the person holding the weapon. It also put the victim under the mental control of the gun-wielder.
Zobra distributed four of the "life-guns" to his henchmen---one from the planet Laroo, whose natives possessed magnetic power; a being of living lightning from the planet Raagan; a bird-man of the world of Trago; and one from Zobra’s world, where all had tremendous strength. The rogue scientist’s next step was to design a machine which would enable him to control the sun of their system. With this, he could blackmail those worlds into submission. Zobra ordered his flunkies back to their native planets, to wait until he completed his sun-controlling device.
The flashback presses the fast-forward button a bit. Now, Zobra has perfected his blackmail machine. From his secret cavern laboratory on the asteroid, he contacts his lieutenants by televisor and gives them the news. But caught up in his own gloating, Zobra suffers one of those “Awwww, man!” moments when he accidentally breaks a phial of suffocation gas and dies of asphyxiation. Bummer.
Now we know where Ace Arn’s spaceship has crash-landed. Arn stumbles from his ship and finds Zobra’s body. He also finds the scientist’s plans for his sun-controlling device. Arn can’t read the alien language, but he figures they must be important. He steps out of the cavern into the open air to clear his head.
Meanwhile, since the flashback, each of Zobra’s underlings has gotten the idea of snatching their dead boss’s invention for himself and has been speeding to the asteroid P.D.Q. They all land on the asteroid together and spot Ace Arn holding the plans. The four fire their transformation ray-guns at the Earthman.
Arn is struck simultaneously by all four beams---and is transformed into a bizarre amalgamation of the four aliens. His right arm and the right half of his head and torso adopt the green-furred form of a super-strong being from Ulla, while the other side turns into the pale-blue smooth-skin appearance of a Laroonian. Below a pair of white trunks discretely provided by the Comics Code Authority, Arn’s right leg transforms to that of a Trago bird-man, complete with talon and ankle wing, while his left leg turns into living lightning.
The composite effect allows Arn to retain control of his own mind. And there is a bonus. He now understands alien languages and gains the instinctive knowledge of how to use the acquired characteristics of his new form.
Since we are now on page eight of a nine-page tale, Arn makes short work of the four interplanetary crooks, and then takes stock of his situation. From Zobra’s records, which he can now comprehend, Arn discovers his plot to conquer his solar system. He also learns that the transformations induced by the ray-guns cannot be reversed.
The bad news piles on. Arn has no idea of where he is, or even when he is, since he was in suspended animation during the comet’s flight. With his newly gained knowledge, he manages to repair his spaceship, but finding his way back to Earth is doubtful, and even if he does, it will be as a multi-alien freak.
Before leaving the asteroid, he decides that his old life is over and assumes a new identity. He takes a name formed by the acronym of the planets from which his new body is formed -- Ulla, Laroo, Trago, Raagan, plus the first initial of his own name, Ace Arn---Ultra!
The Multi-Alien series ran only eight issues, ending in Mystery in Space # 110 (Sep., 1966), when the title itself was cancelled. But that short span saw a slew of concept changes and developments.
The tinkering started with the next issue, # 104 (Dec., 1965). The premise that Ultra was lost in time and space is scrapped by page two, when he finds getting back to Earth isn't much more difficult than following the directions on Google Maps. As it turns out, no more than a month or two has passed since his encounter with the comet in space. However, this sets up a new wrinkle when Ultra makes his way to “Dalesville, U.S.A.” Under cover of darkness, Our Multi-Hero sneaks up to the home of a Mr. and Mrs. Blake, and their grown daughter, Bonnie, whom we discover is Ace Arn’s fiancée.
Ultra peeks through a window and sees Bonnie weeping over his photograph, while her parents wonder how long it will take her to get over Ace’s death. Realising that his present appearance would have difficulty finding social acceptance, Ultra determines to let Bonnie continue to believe that Ace Arn is dead and leaves her to find a new life.
Incidentally, this scene highlights one of Lee Elias’ weaknesses as an artist: his inability to convincingly depict the conventional elements of a futuristic society. The era of Ultra’s adventures was never specified, but clearly it was set sufficiently in the future that space travel from planet to planet was as routine as commercial air flights are to-day. Yet, the Blake home was drawn as your basic 1950’s tract house, complete with front walk and mailbox. The same was true for the city of Dalesville; it looked no more in the future than downtown Mayfield where Wally and the Beaver hung out. Buildings, cars, clothing were all squarely mired in the then-present. It was an element of quirkiness in a series that didn’t need any more of that.
The bulk of the tale deals with a mysterious mist drifting through space and settling over populated worlds. Nothing emerges from within the mist and no-one who enters it returns. When a television announcement reports that the mist has appeared over a portion of Mars, Ultra zips over to the Red Planet to investigate, figuring his composite structure might offer some form of immunity to whatever lurks within the cloud.
As one would expect, the local authorities take a decidedly non-PC attitude toward the Multi-Alien. Actually, they leap to the conclusion that Ultra is the agency behind the mist and open fire on the airborne figure. (The single ankle wing of his Tragonian leg somehow, à la Prince Namor, enables Ultra to fly.) A few bolts of lightning from his left leg persuade the Martian police that he is one of the good guys. Or, at least, to stop shooting at him, which also works.
Ultra discovers that those absorbed within the mystery cloud come under the thrall of its villainous creator, Doctor Taxo. Taxo forces the people under his control to commit crimes on his behalf. Using the alien knowledge acquired by his transformation, Ultra creates an antidote to the mist’s effects. Dr. Taxo escapes to Earth and modifies the composition of his mist to have a toxic effect on Ultra’s unique physiology. Then he releases it over a near-by city, which just happens to be Dalesville.
Of course, Ultra saves the day, and the plot provides an excuse for Bonnie Blake to meet the Multi-Alien, who is forced to pretend he does not know her.
Bonnie will play a part in most of the remaining stories, and the initial thought is to view the premise of Ultra as a monster, permanently set apart from his own society and the girl he loves, as DC’s effort to channel its own version of Ben Grimm, the Thing. But the actual storyline doesn’t play out that way. Once the public sees that the Multi-Alien uses his powers to help mankind, it accepts him despite his appearance. Even Bonnie Blake is not repulsed by him. In that fashion, Ultra closely paralleled Metamorpho, the Element Man, whom DC introduced the previous year.
In re-reading the eight Ultra stories in preparation of this piece, I was struck at how Dave Wood, who wrote all of them, maintained a stronger sense of continuity than was usual for DC’s second-tier titles. The next issue, # 105 (Feb., 1966), opens with Ultra enjoying the admiration of the people for bringing Dr. Taxo to justice in the previous story. He then takes a moment to land in Mayfield . . . er . . . Dalesville and discovers that a documentary film has been made about the baffling disappearance of space pilot Ace Arn. Arn’s unknown fate will be a running background element until nearly the end of the series.
Bonnie Blake gets a three-panel walk-on, as a plot device to twist the knife in Ultra’s heart a little more.
Ultra has begun to establish the usual trappings of a super-hero by now. He has a secret headquarters concealed in a hollowed-out mountain, and it comes equipped with communication devices and a laboratory. These will come in handy when he goes up against his next foe, Doctor Dynamo of Venus.
The criminal genius commits interplanetary robberies by the use of his de-molecularizer ray, which disintegrates the valuables of other words, then reconstructs them in his underground hide-out on Venus. When Ultra confronts the villain in his lair, it permits Jack Schiff and Dave Wood to fiddle with their concept a bit more.
Dr. Dynamo attempts to kill Ultra with the de-molecularizer. Instead of dissolving the composite crime-fighter, it changes him back to his normal form. When the human Ace Arn proves to be no match for Dynamo and his other super-weapons, the space pilot uses the de-molecularizer to transform himself back into the Multi-Alien. Unfortunately, the device is destroyed in the final battle with Dr. Dynamo. Arn is once again trapped in his weird patchwork form, but he now knows that the transformation can be undone.
“The Outlaw Ultra”, from the next issue, shows that the Multi-Alien’s status as a super-hero is even more established. Not only do the lawmen of the planets in our solar system view him as a good guy, but various criminals have banded together to eliminate him as the thorn in their side. One of these crooks, Zarno, visits Dr. Dynamo in prison and learns a crucial bit of information. During his trial, Dynamo saw a newspaper article on the mysterious disappearance of Ace Arn. A photograph of Arn accompanied the article and Dr, Dynamo recognised him as the man Ultra had become after being exposed to his de-molecularizer.
Assuming that Ultra and Ace Arn are one and the same, the criminals kidnap Bonnie Blake and use her to lure the hero into a trap. It doesn’t work, the villains lose, and during the all-smiles wrap-up, Bonnie looks upon Ultra even more adoringly than before. “Especially,” she thinks, “when you may be Ace Arn!”
Schiff and Wood must have had second thoughts about that plot development, though. Bonnie’s suspicions are forgotten by the next issue and never mentioned again, even towards the end of the series’ run when events logically would have prompted them.
There is no villain in the Ultra story appearing in MiS # 107 (May, 1966). The dilemma results from the Multi-Alien’s own hand. Having learnt from his battle with Dr. Dynamo that his transformation can be reversed, Ultra uses his alien knowledge to reconstruct the de-molecularizer as best he can. He tests it on himself and, instead of regaining his human form, his alien components separate and become complete beings. Only the Ulla being has Arn’s mind; the others run wild, wreaking random damage. Bonnie Blake’s rôle in Ultra’s life grows larger when he needs her aid to remerge the four beings back into one body.
MiS # 108’s “The Invasion of the Colossal Creatures” is a routine story with no sub-plot contributions. Bonnie gets another big part in it, though. By now, you have to start wondering if Ultra isn’t an emotional masochist.
If he is, it doesn’t matter. The last two adventures in the series undo the whole concept. We don’t get two pages into MiS # 109 (Aug., 1966), when Ultra gives the device he created two issues earlier another shot. This time, it works! He’s restored to his human form, space pilot’s uniform and all.
Arn’s first act is to dash over to the Blake house and ring the doorbell. When Bonnie answers, she faints from the shock. Carrying her inside, Ace waits for her to awaken so he can tell her everything. Meanwhile, the television (looking remarkably like the old GE portable we had in our house back in 1966) blares a special report on the kidnapping of the leaders of the Interplanetary Unity Committee. Arn decides to investigate by using his machine to turn him back into Ultra. Taking a page from the Superman Secret Identity Measures playbook, he decides not to tell Bonnie the truth, so that her life isn’t endangered by the knowledge that he and the Multi-Alien are the same person.
When Bonnie revives, Ace explains his long absence with tried-and-true secret-identity dodge number four---that he had been marooned on a remote asteroid until being rescued by “someone who called himself Ultra.” After seeing that she buys that, he adds that he needs to leave right now to keep a doctor’s appointment, and she doesn’t protest or even question it. Clearly, we are in Mort Weisinger territory, now.
As far as the villains behind the kidnapped dignitaries . . . ah, who cares? The important thing is that Ultra wraps the whole thing up in time to change back to Ace and get in a little snuggle time with Bonnie.
Whatever pathos Dave Wood had invested into the Multi-Alien series---and truth to tell, some of his scenes showing Ultra hiding his secret anguish from Bonnie were effective--- was wiped away by giving him the ability to change to Ace Arn and back at will. The course of the entire series seemed to steer away from the distinctive and toward the prosaic.
The debut story set up the intriguing notion of a transformed man lost in time and space. There was not only the question of if he could get home, but if he still had a home or, instead, a world decades or even centuries since he left it, with everything he knew and loved gone to dust. By the second issue, that approach was cast aside, in favour of the premise of a man who was physically home, but as a freak who could not return to the life he'd known.
The social-outcast idea didn’t last long, either. By the next issue, Ultra was trusted and admired by the public at large. For all the impact his freakish appearance had, he might as well have been a rock star. Even the idea that Ultra could never tell Bonnie who he really was, so that she would forget Ace Arn and have a happy life with a normal husband, began to wear thin after a while. As Bonnie began to show more and more affection for Ultra as Ultra, it made less and less sense for him to hide who he really was.
The last Ultra story, “The Pied Piper of Pluto”, from MiS # 110, put the final touch on conventionalising the character. Here, Ace has miniaturised his transformation machine into a hyper-converter disc, inserted into his belt buckle. Now, not only can he revert from human to hybrid hero at will, he no longer has to rush back to his secret headquarters to do it. The hyper-converter disc enables him to make the change on the spot. Ultra, the Multi-Alien has become a true secret identity, now. During the course of the tale, he changes back and forth at his convenience. He’s one up on Rex Mason and Ben Grimm.
That marked the end of whatever unique cachet remained in the character. Except for his bizarre appearance, Ultra had run through every stereotype of the typical comic-book hero. As DC should have realised, from the way Marvel was nipping at its heels, “the typical comic-book hero” was no longer the way to go.
Replies
They should have paired Ultra with Metamorpho who had a similar look.
I'd never noticed that before. They were both split into quadrants, weren't they?
This is one of those strips I've heard about but not read, and would like to read some day.
I think creators need to please themselves as well as their audiences, as otherwise they don't have a standard for sorting out what works from what doesn't. DC introduced several features in the mid to late 60s that give the impression of having been created by people who were trying to give the audience what it wanted without being into it themselves. In contrast, one of the reasons Green Lantern and The Flash were good was that their artists, Gil Kane and Carmine Infantino, poured themselves into them.
Lee Elias's previous SF work had included the "Tommy Tomorrow" issues of Showcase and the newspaper strip Beyond Mars, which was written by Jack Williamson. Going back further, he'd also done stories for Planet Comics.
That is an excellent analysis.
Luke Blanchard said:
In 1965 I was in the midst of my personal Golden Age and sought out almost every super hero book produced by DC - the exception being their bizarre heroes like Ultra and Metamorpho. Luke's observations above are spot on - I was not a fan of Marvel's books at this point but their output at least seemed genuine while DC's attempts at hipness were the equivalent of Bing Crosby recording "Purple Haze".
Luke Blanchard said:
Captain Comics said:
True. That's what gets us such fondly remembered fare as Howard the Duck (which we remember, fondly, over here). Then again, it also gets you things like Brother Power, the Geek ...
While I'm fond of Ultra (it helps to first encounter him when you're under 10, I think) your analysis is pretty spot on. However, I will say the Pied Piper of Pluto is an absolutely awesome loser villain: Having failed twice to conquer other planets, he's "conquered" an empty world and now sets about kidnapping people to rule over. That's delightfully incompetent.
The scene where Ultra looks in through the window and mentally bids farewell to his love is reminiscent of a scene from Tales to Astonish #70 in which the Hulk, newly with Bruce's brain, spies on Betty through a window and mentally bids farewell to her. The Marvel issue appeared about six months earlier.
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