Fresh off his indie books Our Love is Real and Sacrifice (and announced gigs on Boom! Studios' Fanboys vs. Zombies and Higher Earth and Marvel's John Carter: Gods of Mars), Marvel has announced that Sam Humphries will join current scribe Jonathan Hickman to co-write Ultimate Comics Ultimates. Starting with issue #10, Humphries will begin his gradual transition into eventually becoming the book's ongoing writer, much the way Hickman inherited Secret Warriors from Brian Bendis according to Marvel's Next Big Thing live chat this afternoon. The issue will be illustrated by Luke Ross and feature a cover by Kaare Andrews.Hickman explained how Humphries got the gig in the live chat, writing, "I wanted to work with somebody who has a fresh voice and who is clearly talented. I'm ecstatic to be working with Sam, he's got some real game."

Humphries likewise praised Hickman for taking the book to an entry point he was excited to contribute to. "When Hickman hits a book, he comes in with big plans. He's a big picture thinker. At the end of issue #9, everything gets thrown off a cliff--figuratively," Humphries wrote, "Something happens that nobody in the Ultimate Universe can walk away from. Everything changes for all the characters and how they relate to each other. S.H.I.E.L.D., the City of Tomorrow and other major institutions get shaken up."

The new writing team's collaborative style was characterized as reciprocal, with Humphries commending Hickman for giving him room to work. "Jonathan has been very generous with his ideas. From our very first conversations he's been encouraging me to write what I want to write and focus on what I want to focus on. We're very much moving in the same direction," Humphries wrote.

Acknowledging the differences between his indie work and upcoming Ultimates duties, Humphries explained that when it comes to the many genres of comics, his love is real.

"I may have published and distributed a pretentious comic about having sex with vegetables," Humphries wrote, "but I grew up with super hero comics like everybody else, loving them and being inspired by them. There are a lot of lessons that I love. I'd love to able to work on Ultimates for a long time."



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