sineala - Tumblr blog

sineala · 5 days ago

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GenAI v. not GenAI round up.

So you can avoid them stealing things from you, the artist/writer, etc.

Note: The list has gotten so long that I had to reorganize. (Thanks for the suggestions.) I UXed it best I could. I'm updating the best I can as notes come in. As such, I'm adding an update date since Tumblr doesn't update the old blogs with the newer version.

Additional Note: GenAI, an algorithm and AI tools aren't the same.

GenAI requires vast servers to constantly run 24-7, kicking up harmful fumes which are killing people, absorbing hospital energy, vast amounts of water, and generally killing the planet using data stolen from real people. This is bad. (links at the bottom)

Algorithms I've gone into detail before what they are and how they work on my post about Why Spell Check is not GenAI. Click the link. Too long for here.

AI tools run on your computer and are programmed using your power, not external servers. It depends on your RAM. It's not taken with stolen data from other users. Things like Gaussian Blur, etc might borderline be considered AI to some people (though not really) and things like smart tools (smart lasso), but this is not equal to GenAI in an ethics violation. So environmental impact depends on where you live, but certainly isn't purposefully giving other people cancer because they want a picture of Miyazaki-style selfie of themselves while totally being ignorant of the meaning of Miyazaki's films making people want to bash them over the head with a clue stick. These tools CAN run on large servers, but most scientists aren't running say, how to find the next prime number on vast huge servers in poor communities. GenAI, which is being used for cancer cure stuff, etc is in poor communities. Chess AI is run locally on your computer, but doesn't have as huge ethics issues. Tools the save time, but don't kill people isn't an ethics problem.

As such this focuses on GenAI, itself and the servers it runs on being an ethical violation on so many fronts.

Pro AI counts as their user's data in and data out. All companies that are willing to sell their customer's data for AI falls here. Gross support of GenAI, saying GenAI is the future, screw the poor people, goes here. GenAI added to the program belongs here.

Neutral counts as No Data into GenAI or an easy opt out, but doesn't protect against AI content of any kind. Sliding scale for how much of each. I try to tell you by how much with links. Also some not sure or no clear Anti-statement. (Say Celtx who was threatening to go Pro-genAI, the strike happened and then they went silent on the issue... I'm wary of them.)

Anti AI counts as no data into AI no GenAI machine. If there is an anti-AI comment I can access then I'll link it.

Update: US time. August 5th Version, Afternoon

Pro GenAI websites/Programs:

Social Media

Facebook

Threads (owned by facebook)

Instagram

X/Twitter (Remember, Grok's servers gives people cancer)

Duolingo Language learning App

Youtube went pro-genAI. This is different from the algorithm. They are owned by Google. They are using people's handmade subs for hearing impaired for the Large Language Models, which has shaky legal ground. It's currently being sued over. They are also adding to it anything to detect facial scans. Which has shown problems with racism before: (ACLU): https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/news/biased-technology-automated-discrimination-facial-recognition (Facial recognition note by Buds-and-baubles. See reblog.)

Writing

Pro Writing Aid

Grammarly

Google Docs/Google- Going full on pro AI including Youtube. They are also suppressing anti-GenAI results on their search engine. (Duckduckgo isn't, BTW because I can see it on SearXNG.)

Microsoft Word/all Microsoft products Takes from and will feed their machine.

Proton as suggested by SF Stories (see reblog) is pro AI (as the reblog from McBitchTits pointed out) They are missing a spreadsheet, but have online and offline capabilities, plus a built-in VPN. They came out with their own AI tool: https://proton.me/blog/lumo-ai But also swears never to use their user's data: "Acknowledging these concerns and recognising that three in five (60%) workers would like to use AI despite four in five (79%) being concerned about the use of their private data for training purposes, Proton Scribe promises never to use data from users’ inboxes. The company backed up its claim by asserting that the standard end-to-end encryption makes this impossible." (https://www.techradar.com/pro/proton-is-launching-an-ai-tool-to-help-you-write-better-emails) I'd feel wary about that, especially if they get close to GenAI collapse. (Also that stat is crazy, either you're for it, or you're against it, if you're for it, you need to be on board with it using your data to feed the machine.). Proton's CEO also supported Trump.

Notion (I feel this was like a troll).

Art

Sites

Deviant Art Not only supports AI, but put a tool in and said they are going to steal your work if you like it or not for their machine. There is an opt-out, but they made it labo[u]r intensive. You have to check it off EVERY TIME. And you can reduce, not eliminate GenAI in the results. This tips it over into being Pro-GenAI still. (last note modified per Usagi-Zakura's reblog) Find a better site below.

Pinterest went pro-GenAI [link] making the site unusable since it was often used for inspo from the REAL WORLD and REAL images to create weddings, etc.

Art Programs (Raster, and Vector)+ Suites

Adobe Products. All of them. If you HAVE to use them (Some businesses require it), save offline because there is a film of at least some privacy protections there, so if you have to sue, you can say it violates US privacy law. Remember, contracts do not circumvent US law. Adobe wants to claim they don't feed their machine with your art, but that's not in the legal agreements and famously the legal agreements changed. Legal agreements can supersede other claims on the website, though one could theoretically sue for predatory practices, it's a harder case.

Corel won't feed the machines, but still uses AI stolen from other artists. Which sucks since Corel Draw is the second best overall for vector programs. (Plus I love Painter, but I bought the offline version to avoid AI). (Canadian company)

Photopea which is an image editing program went pro GenAI according to cat-of-many-faces in comments.

PaintTool Sai has NO AI in or out, BUT it's parent company is Systemax who is proGenAI. Search for in the page: "including natural language processing, computer vision, and reinforcement learning" Code for Pro-GenAi. They are made in Japan. Be wary. (BTW, Paintool SAI was bought by Systemax, so if you have the earlier version, you aren't supporting Systemax).

Online Art Programs

Canva Takes and feeds their machine. Alternatives are Presentation software. (See LibreOffice) and Moodboard software. Not sure? Milanote doesn't have GenAI (or the search engines are suppressing the results, which I found recently is a thing), but also no anti-AI stance. Creativit on Mac has a Moodboard function without AI (for now) No anti-AI stance, but snap.

Snappa has GenAI

Pixlr (This one hurt me personally)

3D Modeling

Sketchup went Pro-GenAI. The thing is that you can do the same thing in Blender these days with precise measurements.

Autodesk has stated they are Pro-Gen AI here. It is not clear if they will use your models to feed their machine. But be on guard. They make Maya and 3Dmax. You can replace it with Blender.

Art Sharing Clouds, Website Creation, etc (Specialized, not part of a Suite.)

DropBox went Pro-AI causing massive backlash against the company.

QuarkXPress added GenAI in 2025 [Link]

Figma has GenAI

Neutral ground:

Social Media

Tumblr (there is a way to opt out [Link] and they don't have an active AI machine.) https://www.tumblr.com/dookins/743519550598987776/heres-how-to-disable-third-parties-like-ai They did sell the data to OpenAI, but there is an opt out, and they block GenAI bots. The report about it is here. Shaky ground. Leans more toward Pro-AI. (See comments for correction and added last sentence).

Etsy allows GenAI, but still has some (minor) restrictions. I'd still be cautious. (Also be cautious of drop shippers). Complaints about too much AI and AI images+patterns made by Ai still exist on the website. They lean slightly more pro-AI, but still won't let it run completely amok, say like Facebook. They won't feed your work into a machine, but also don't ban it through robots.txt.

Bluesky They don't use an AI algorithm except for in the "Discover" section of their website, but while they are anti-GenAI strongly, they don't seem to block the Gen AI bots from entry, so you'd still have to use Nightshade or Glaze (links below). They also still allow people to post AI images/text on the website. There is no opt-out because they don't need an opt out. (Leaning towards strong position on AI, but I wish they would block GenAI bots).

Mastodon *might* have some anti-AI art community servers on it. When I looked there are some servers that are explicitly aggressive about being anti-AI in moderation. It's a bit difficult for those not tech savvy to use. Because of its decentralized nature (more so than Blue Sky) it's easier to filter for anti-AI art. Because it's decentralized, though, the rest of the servers ould have AI art.

Cannot find AI stances for:

Final Draft, Celtx (the Scriptwriting Software giants) Celtx was going to threaten pro-GenAI (I wrote them a strongly worded letter), the strike happened, they went radio silent suddenly, didn't add it... and now I'm wary... but they won't make an anti statement. Final Draft won't make a definitive statement either way?

BTW, I'm working on a Scrivener template set to replace them on that.

Search Engine Replacement

Searxng- If you super want to screw over Google, in general, and have some tech savvy, you can set up your own search engine through searxng. It's easier on Windows and Linux than it is on a Mac. (Mac you need Docker), but if you're determined on privacy, Searxng adds a layer of privacy. Some of it sometimes uses bits of AI, but most of it doesn't and you can fuss with the settings so it doesn't spit out AI results. At sheer minimum Google will stop spitting out weird videos on Youtube at you because in your private browsing, you searched for the origin of ball bearings while not logged in for a book and Google likes to break privacy laws.

Writing

Novelr Anti-AI stance (last post) here: https://www.threads.com/@novlrofficial/post/C_immJrotiC Earlier thoughts on AI here: https://www.novlr.org/the-reading-room/ai-and-you-emerging-technology-and-what-it-means-for-writers/ Unfortunately they are still partnered with ProWritingAid, which is pro GenAI.

Advanced proofreader powered by ProWritingAid.

This puts it into neutral ground. When they kick out ProWritingAid, then they can be anti. BTW, they aren't the only platform that is/or was owned by writers...

Talk is cheap, proof is in the pudding and the pudding failed. This leans them more pro-genAI than they know.

Obsidian-It's a writing and organizational tool. Plugins may contain genAI company doesn't vet them according to borealtwilight in comments.

Art

Sites

Newgrounds: Stronger on the no AI art side, but still allow pieces in specific cases, it's not a total ban. Allowed AI is highlighted in bold to make it easier to skim.:

AI-generated art is not allowed in the Art Portal. This includes using tools such as Midjourney, Dall-E, and CrAIyon, in addition fractal generators and websites like ArtBreeder, where the user selects two images and they are combined into a new image via machine learning. There are cases where some use of AI is ok, for example if you are primarily showcasing your character art but use an AI-generated background. In these cases, please note any elements where AI was used so that it is clear to users and moderators. Tracing and coloring over AI-generated art is something best shared on your blog, as it is much like tracing over someone else's art. Making art from scratch that is inspired by an AI piece is ok. Here are two good examples: Maiden of Flames and Hermin. Both pieces reference the AI art they are based on while being original pieces in their own right. Bottom line: We want to keep the focus on art made by people and not have the Art Portal flooded with computer-generated art. https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/help-information/terms-of-use/art-guidelines

Cara is totally anti-AI in contrast. You would be too if someone profited from your artwork by simply reversing it and changing the color scheme a little.

BTW, It's BS to call Backgrounds not real art. Tips it more towards pro-AI.

Online Art Programs

Milanote?- Moodboard software. To get full features you have to pay per month (which isn't ideal since the free version is very, very limited) There is no pro or anti-genAI statement I can find. But so far there is no GenAI on the platform. This is a *not sure* category.

Creativit- is offline, free and on Mac only Moodboard software. It's a pretty straight forward program, so no AI. Has snapping features and no frills. Since they are small, it doesn't have AI, but there is no anti-AI statement either.

Art Sharing Clouds, Website Creation, etc (Specialized, not part of a Suite.)

WeTransfer has a murky TOS statement. https://www.tumblr.com/kimyoonmiauthor/789157028107010048/we-transfer-went-to-the-genai-dark-side?source=share which I covered here. They swear they won't, but then they didn't specify they wouldn't in the TOS. As I said, you can sue for deceptive practices, but doesn't mean you will win.

Strong positions against AI

Social Media

Nothing so far. Please program something that's anti-AI.

Writing

Offline (mostly)

Scrivener (Creator vowed against adding GenAI during Nanowrimo scandal #2 on Twitter. Request for AI features has been denied.) Writing program. There is an active forum, and versions for Mac, Linux and PC. It is paid, but at ~60 USD, it's cheaper than most programs. There is usually a holiday sale around Christmas. It has a learning curve, but with an active forum with the programmer of it there to ask obscure questions it's not a dead zone. They often take suggestions and implement them over time. (Especially if you rank the importance, applications, etc) US company. Scrivener works with Mac, Windows and Linux (with some fussing): https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/tutorial-running-scrivener-3-1-5-1-under-linux-w-wine-64bit-with-activation/136046

Also has sharing and comparing versions capability as long as you have a cloud harddisk.

LibreOffice Open source and free Spreadsheet and Word processor program that can replace Microsoft Office (Word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, drawing, formula, database creator). Some people might have seen older versions where it was called Neo Office (now extinct) and Open Office. LibreOffice is still populated, plus the forums are super helpful if you get stuck. The UX is pretty intuitive if you've used Microsoft Word. Scrivener, BTW, supports exporting to odt (the native file) as well as .doc, and this can open both. The slight thing is that sometimes it doesn't export to .doc smoothly. And I DO wish more magazines, and agent (big clue here) supported .odt files since it is free. Part of the reason .odt isn't as supported is because Microsoft and Adobe have a deal with the devil with each other, so Adobe's Book formatting program InDesign doesn't support ODT. (BTW, if you have a good open source replacement for InDesign that supports ODT, let me know.)

yWriter is a free Writing program and like Scrivener, and has vowed against AI Last I looked it had some UX issues, but some people swear by it. The learning curve is higher than Scrivener because of the worse UX.

Dabble (as suggested by SF stories, see reblog) is a writing program. Similar to Scrivener. Has vowed against AI and to resist it. 108 dollars a year for Basic. It is almost twice the price of Scrivener who lets you update for fairly cheap. 29 dollars a month, v. 59 dollars for the whole program (Scrivener). Scrivener, for the 59 dollars a month has all of the same features of Dabble at Premium, making Dabble in total more than triple the price of Scrivener. You choose.

NovelWriter is an Open source writing program done offline. It has less capabilities than Scrivener or YWriter or Dabble. (Can't make templates, Can't save to cloud to compare) The GUI isn't as slick, but because of that it's super easy to use and lower entry in learning curve. (anonymous suggestion through inbox)

StudioBinder- is a script to video production software. Made an Anti-GenAI statement on their Youtube channel (see below).

This is not an official Anti-AI stance and might be tongue-in-cheek. But does look serious as something they are NOT interested in. Pricing is here: https://app.studiobinder.com/pricing

Phone/Online Writing

Ellipsus is an online writing program and vowed against AI [Link]. The main feature I like (which Scrivener doesn't have) is the ability to change spellcheck based on region/language. It is a requested feature of Scrivener, but lower priority. So if you have a Brit, you can get the spelling for the character. They are a German-based company in Berlin.

Writer P AKA Writer+ (app for when you're on the go) is a simple word processor app for your phone that doesn't use AI. (Find on the Android app store) The original programmer stopped updating, so Writer+ programmer took over and isn't out to make a profit since it's free in the spirit of the original app. It has subfolders you can use. Since it was programmed before GenAI it doesn't have AI. Intuitive, easy to use. Fairly easy to upload the files through three dots->share. The files can save to your card or phone with some settings fussing. Simple word processor.

Art

Sites

Cara.app (The creator of the website sued GenAI there is no chance they'll convert) is an artist website. Cara is trying to institute an auto Glaze/Nightshade into the website if given enough funds. People see it as a soft replacement for deviant art. (which went fully AI) If you believe in human art, please donate if you can. Zhang Jingna, the creator, is Chinese-Singporean. She lives in Singapore.

Artgram is an art posting website with a super strong Anti-AI statement It will delete all Ai art and has detection measures in place. And signatures added to the art so they can form you legal protection and make takedown requests. It is free to use.

Fur Affinity Hard ban on All AI use, not even backgrounds. Furry Art posting website. BTW, found this and Artgram on this website: https://brushwarriors.com/art-websites-that-ban-ai/ which does not show as any kind of result on Google, because Google is trying to block anti-AI content as of last week from the search results. (About the day after I posted the Grok gives poor people cancer). You can only find it using a searxng search.

Handmade vowed against AI (Selling any artwork with AI, and also drop shipping, etc) and promised to never sell itself for stock prices to prevent AI (as a replacement for Etsy.)

Art Programs (Raster, and Vector)+ Suites

Affinity (Suite program) swore to be AI-free and does Vector and Photos (I haven't checked out their InDesign equivalent). The UX is messy, I dislike the program and regret paying for it. Inkscape and Krita (both free) are better UX and do the same thing. The forums aren't as friendly since there has been an onslaught of people seeing it's supposed to be a replacement for Photoshop and Illustrator (Marketing by the creators of the program that the users disagree with), and the people of the forums don't like this advertisement and are sometimes really mean and snippy about it. The programmers aren't present. The capabilities of the program don't outshine basically Krita or Inkscape capabilities (both free). What is usually intuitive is not. UK company. If you're going to pay for a program, go for Clip Studio Paint which rivals Corel Painter. My review for Affinity Designer is here: https://www.tumblr.com/kimyoonmiauthor/776698728716337152/affinity-designer-2weaknesses-and-strengths Conclusion, can't outdo the free Inkscape. It has serious workflow issues. AND if the FREE Inkscape can import layers better than Affinity designer from an eps file, it's not worth it to switch. Just use Inkscape. Note that Vector programs are the most difficult to program compared to everything else. https://www.tumblr.com/kimyoonmiauthor/776572269385433088/tip-for-switching-from-adobe-illustrator-to AND I did all of the adjusting in order to do the importation correctly and still hated it. It's the UX. (Brits, dudes, sometimes you guys have the weirdest UX logic and I say this as a US person.). If I'm going to pay for a vector program it has to do better than the free one in UX and features. Not before then. Same with all of their others. For the Affinity programmers, BTW, hire someone Japanese to fix your UX, it's that bad. It's like crawling through a historically accurate Victorian house and trying to find the house keys. Learn thoughtful intuitive minimalism and prioritization of features. You're off doing zed that makes programmers happy, when you should be working on the core first that makes you money.

Clip Studio Paint is a mostly raster, somewhat Vector program that does comics, illustration and animation. They added genAI, but saw the light and decided to protect artists instead because of protest and removed it. It can do 2D animation, and generally is a replacement for Corel Painter and can do manga/comics, etc. I'd still recommend paying for the offline version rather than monthly subscription just in case they change their minds back, at least you'll still have the program AI free without worry about them stealing directly as you're drawing. There are tutorials and a good forum if you get super stuck. Based in Japan, so the UI and UX is really clean.

Tahoma2D is anti-AI and open source animation program. Takes a little getting used to, but is good for animations and doesn't crash as often as Animate. Programmers are in the forums and some bugs are fixed within hours. The forums are super responsive and helpful.

Krita is a raster-only open source and free, no AI. I'd rank it secondary to Clip Studio Paint (which is paid) I haven't tried the forums, but it's pretty intuitive and can stand for a lower level replacement for Painter, and do a lot of the basics of Photoshop. It's usually ranked higher than the equally open source Gimp.

Inkscape is a free vector program and no AI. It is harder to use than illustrator and has less features. But if you're doing smaller vectors for one-offs with less complexity, it'll do you after some learning curve. Best of the lot. I hate Affinity Designer which is the same thing, only paid. (Neither Affinity program was worth the money paid)

StudioBinder- is a script to video production software. But I put them also down here because it can also do Moodboards. Made an Anti-GenAI statement on their Youtube channel:

This is not an official Anti-AI stance and might be tongue-in-cheek. But does look serious as something they are NOT interested in. Pricing is here: https://app.studiobinder.com/pricing

Online Art Programs

ProCreate: Anti AI Stance as noted by mortavaine (in comments). It's an art Studio and can be used on an iPhone. 12.99 (currently) for the Art Studio one, time dealie, not reoccurring. 19.99 (currently) for the animation software. Based in Australia.

3D Modeling

Blender is a 3D art program and does not use GenAI. It can do 2D animation, but Tahoma is easier to use in this regard. It's open source and free. Plus there are plenty of tutorials. The forums can be touch and go sometimes, but there are plenty of sub Blender communities that might be responsive. It can also do animation. After Version 7-8 the UX vastly improved and a ton of features were added.

Art Sharing Clouds, Website Creation, etc (Specialized, not part of a Suite.)

Swiss Transfer: The Swiss government is going to put strict restrictions on AI and have pretty strict privacy laws. So they can't steal your content.

It has a better deal than WeTransfer did after the buyout.

In the fallout from WeTransfer there is also this list (but I haven't vetted it).

Because you need to send files to clients without breaking NDAs.

Scribus is a replacement for InDesign and can layout magazines. It doesn't use GenAI, BUT be careful since there is a AI gen named after the program. (Because of course they would.) The learning curve is hard and it's not as advanced as Adobe for things, but it can layout magazines decently. So click the link instead.

Davinci Resolve Pro is a film editing software that's super good. Their CEO came hard against GenAI: https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=205673 when it was brought up in the forums, as a request to add, there was a hard no from the CEO. There is a free version and a paid version. The forums are responsive. The programmers aren't always present. There is a healthy group of tutorials. US company. Clean UX. It does take a little bit of time to remember the shortcuts. Neutral. They won't take your data, but some of their tools are based on collected data. primary-blog-nothing-here. Cloud won't be used to train AI which they added after the whole Dropbox debacle. https://nofilmschool.com/blackmagic-ai-training-stance Note that AI tools is not the same as GenAI.

But you need a pro website...

Look up robots.txt and AI bots: https://www.cyberciti.biz/web-developer/block-openai-bard-bing-ai-crawler-bots-using-robots-txt-file/

Use cloudflare:

youtube

Use Nightshade:

https://nightshade.cs.uchicago.edu/whatis.html

which will poison the algorithm and collapse the algorithm faster. I've seen Youtubers who are popular use it on their images they post to videos, and it made the AI bros irate. Some tried SOOO hard to argue how hopeless it was and how programmers would break the consent of artists. (Yeah, and they might wonder why they are single).

Use Glaze:

If you can't use Nightshade, use Glaze. You can't use Nightshade and Glaze at the same time, but some OS's and machines can't use Nightshade, so the secondary option is to use Glaze. This will blur your image enough in a particular way to make AI unable to read it.

Push companies towards anti-AI

Protest and Petition

Several sites gave in at least halfway or partially when people protested openly to the application. Crowd beats company every time. (Unless there are shareholders, in which case the next tip will help)

Don't buy monthly subscriptions when possible

This tip was on several Youtube videos (don't remember the creators' name, sorry, but I know one was a guy a long time ago). Newly made features every time you want to buy helps motivate the company to update, but also gives leverage to you, the consumer to actively protest the application and write a (Audrina) letter to the company.

Protest Monthly subscriptions. There was a really good video on the enshittification of Adobe, and it started around then, because that's when they became a Stock power. Don't give Stock Power to companies.

Look for Open Source Projects

They aren't rich enough to run servers, so won't add AI.

Convince Employers/Institutions that AI is not copyright protected and bad for branding.

Our biggest obstacle is here. As long as institutions get kickbacks from Adobe, etc and get donated funds, they are more than likely to use it as primary teaching material, which then undercuts their policies about no plagiarism. Point out that free programs are good or sometimes better than the paid ones AND it doesn't undercut their own message and they might convert.

Take Away

The thing is you think you doing it alone will do nothing, but the more AI feeds on itself, AI images, the worse they become, and the less detailed so, denying it the images, adding poison or not being able to read the human text is eventually going to lead to an AI collapse.

And why not help that along?

I don't want to give cancer to poor people [Link] or make the planet burn faster [Link]. So GenAI collapse is everything I dream of. GenAI apocalypse is not.

#writing #useful #i have a scrivener compile format that will create really simple html for ao3 #ellipsus also has an export to ao3 button #for all your fannish needs

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sineala · 15 days ago

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Ultimates (Earth-6160) Reading Order

@viudanegraaa asked for a reading order, so I made one.

So you want to read the new Ultimates series? You might, naively, think, "Oh, I will simply start with Ultimates #1! Obviously that is the beginning!"

Ha. Not so much.

It is indeed the beginning of the team, but you should actually start five issues before that (a different miniseries and then a one-shot). Similarly, you might think that you can just read the Ultimates series straight through, as numbered, and that there would never be any important plot or character information in any one-shot, annual, or FCBD issues. You would also be wrong about that.

Thanks, Marvel. Doing great already. This is so easy and intuitive. I love comics.

Seriously, it's only been two years and somehow they've made an Ultimates series for which you already need a reading order. Amazing.

If you just want the reading order, skip to the end. If you want to know why you should read this series -- even if you didn't read or didn't like the original Ultimates universe -- then start at the beginning.

[I wrote this before Incursions #2 came out, and before the news about Ultimate Endgame, but I don't think it changes my recommended order.]

ABOUT THE UNIVERSE

Does this new Ultimates universe have anything to do with the old Ultimates universe? No. Next question.

Okay, technically, yes. But you don't have to have read the old Ultimates series to understand this. It would help if you knew who the Maker was. The Maker is one of Earth-1610's big villains. He is a completely psychotic version of Reed Richards. Some of his greatest hits include vivisecting Tony and also nuking Washington, DC. Possibly not in that order, I don't remember. There. Now you know who he is.

After the events of Hickman's Avengers run and Secret Wars, the only two people left from Earth-1610 are the Maker and Miles Morales. They live on Earth-616 now. Miles Morales is, of course, busy being Spider-Man. The Maker has been imprisoned (still on Earth-616) by the Illuminati, on account of all his wicked deeds. (The Illuminati aren't really active as a group anymore, but they're still keeping an eye on him.)

The Maker breaks out of prison and decides he would like to go be evil, and the thing he would like to do is rule an entire world. He has a bit of access to the multiverse and access to a time machine (with some limitations; he's also having some memory problems). He hops over into Earth-6160 (note the zero at the end), in their year 1963 (yes, it's so meta, Marvel), and decides to stay there and fuck shit up.

(So all of these people, other than the Maker, are new and different versions of themselves; they are not the same people we know from any other universe. You don't need to have read 1610 Ultimates, because these aren't them. Also, they're not assholes. I promise. It would probably help to have read some 616, though, just because a lot of the people who show up in 6160 are versions of people whose names you would recognize from 616. A few of them are fairly obscure canon pulls; you don't need to know them, but you will probably be excited if your obscure fave shows up.)

(Everything before the year 1963, in 6160, is roughly congruent to events in 616 and/or 1610, although not exactly the same. Steve appears to have grown up with Bucky in New York (as in 1610) but then went to war with a team that is definitely the Invaders (as in 616). Yes, he still gets iced.)

The Maker basically sets himself up as the ruler of his brand-new authoritarian dystopia planet, with a Council (that he also creates), which is the shadowy cabal helping him rule the world. All the existing countries of the world are basically gone and have been squashed together into new huge countries. There is no America anymore. China and Japan are the same country. Captain Britain is from France. The world map here basically has the same energy as that one Twitter account that smooshed two random countries together and made flags for them, where it looked like 50% of their tweets were deliberately trying to start a war in the Balkans. The map is (I believe) Jonathan Hickman's doing, but I assume having Fake Countries is probably how Deniz Camp gets away with most of his plot. He can't possibly be making any statements about the real world!

Big villains that are going to matter in the series include Bruce Banner. He's very evil. The Maker creates the City -- if you've read Hickman's Ults run, this should start seeming familiar -- from which he rules the world.

Since the Maker knows, essentially, who is going to end up being a superhero and what's going to need to happen to them, he puts a stop to that. A bunch of future heroes simply get killed. Some are imprisoned. Others just never encounter their superhero origin. Peter Parker never gets bitten by a spider as a teenager. Hank and Jan never get Pym Particles. Thor and Sif are imprisoned. A terrible catastrophe befalls the Fantastic Four on their spaceflight; three-fourths of them die. The Maker kidnaps 6160 Reed and tortures him for years and eventually welds a metal mask to his face. Reed calls himself Doom now. He is very traumatized.

You get the idea. The Maker is taking as many heroes as he possibly can off the board, so no one can oppose him.

Howard Stark is actually Iron Man, and he spends most of his life ignoring politics and just doing science (and running his company with Obadiah Stane), until he meets the Council and realizes this is really not great; Tony, his teenage son, encourages him to fight back, and Tony is frankly horrified that his father was so complacent this whole time. A bunch of shit goes down, involving the aforementioned time machine, and Howard actually finally fights back. Currently Howard (presumed dead) and the Maker (presumed ????; we just don't know) are trapped in the City for the next two years. Due to time shenanigans, no one can get in or out until two years have passed.

So the actual premise of Ultimates here is that Tony -- going by Iron Lad (and, yes, he might become Kang, we're not sure yet) -- now has two years to try to do as much as he can to fight back against the dystopian authoritarian government and take down the Council before the City opens up again and the Maker comes back. This is complicated by the fact that -- a little bit later in canon -- the Council stages a terrorist attack and frames Tony for it. So Tony is basically an enemy of the state. The state is really, really shitty.

But Tony has a few things going for him. He's a genius, he has Reed, he has the Maker's time machine, and he has the Maker's list of everyone who was supposed to get a superpower, what they were supposed to get, and what the Maker has done with them. So he's going to find everyone he can who's still alive, and give them their destiny back. He's going to offer them a chance to be the heroes they should have been. He's going to fight the Council the way he wishes his father had done. He's going to form the Ultimates, and together, they're going to fix the world.

And the very first thing Tony does, of course, is grab his new time machine and go get the iceberg containing Captain America.

WHY IS 6160 ULTIMATES THE BEST THING EVER?

With every issue I read, I become more and more convinced that Marvel editorial doesn't actually know they're publishing this, and I hope to God that no one tells them.

You know how Marvel Comics generally does not like to put out comics with actual political opinions? They don't state characters' political affiliations, they never name the US president, they have now committed to retcons in 616 in which the Vietnam War possibly did not exist and there was instead a war in a fake country next to it, and there is a growing amount of WW2-set canon where the Allies appear to be fighting Hydra and definitely not any recognizable fascist movements. You know, that kind of thing.

The Ultimates are a team of leftist revolutionaries who are attempting to bring down their fascist authoritarian government. And even though this is set in a universe where America does not exist anymore, the comic is really not shy about discussing a whole bunch of historical and current American problems.

Some things that have happened in this comic, in no particular order:

The gamma-bomb Hulk origin story is now 6160's version of the Castle Bravo nuclear tests, and 6160 She-Hulk is from one of the irradiated islands and is seeking revenge for the death of her people.

Reed Richards quotes the Communist Manifesto.

Tony runs a popular video channel teaching viewers how to make a Molotov cocktail with common household items.

6160 Hawkeye (a teenager who is Lakota and two-spirit and uses they/them pronouns, FWIW) is introduced in a story that I can only describe as "what if one of the Standing Rock protesters had extremely powerful weapons and could absolutely wreck as many oil pipelines as they wanted, wouldn't that be fucking awesome."

Steve has absolutely straight-up killed some Nazis and would absolutely like to kill some more. This is not a universe where he never killed anyone in WW2.

There is a full-page flashback of Jim Hammond setting Hitler on fire and then discussing how amazing it was, until Steve interrupts him. (Steve only interrupts him because the Ultimates need to kill more Nazis right now.)

One of the organizations the Ultimates are fighting are the "Red Skulls," who are Neo-Nazis who are pretty clearly white supremacists who have idolized both the Red Skull and the Punisher, who is a historical figure in this universe. I was not thinking Marvel would be willing to admit that this is a group of fans that the Punisher attracts.

There is an entire issue devoted to the injustice of the prison system, in which Luke Cage reads a lot of improving literature, radicalizes his fellow inmates (he starts by discussing how prison employment is slavery), and quotes Angela Davis. This comic includes the line "there are no good pigs." Definitely a sentence I was not expecting to read in a Marvel comic.

Basically, the entire series is about exhorting people to rise up against their tyrannical authoritarian government.

I suspect Deniz Camp is getting away with this because somehow people are not reading the words and have not figured out that this comic is actually doing this. Maybe people just don't read? I don't know.

It is honestly the feel-good comic that I need in my life right now. Terrible things happen every issue, and yet I feel a sense of hope. This is way better than when we got Secret Empire for 2016.

(Also, it's just… very well-written. The Luke Cage issue (#9) is amazing. My personal favorite issue for stylistic reasons, as I believe I have mentioned, is #11, in which Thor and Sif bring the revolution to Asgard, and the entire issue -- even the parts about the rest of the Ultimates -- is narrated as a poem in the Germanic epic tradition. You know, like Old English or Old Norse. It's in alliterative verse! It has kennings! Camp absolutely committed to the pastiche here. I don't read a lot of Asgard stuff -- it just doesn't usually click with me -- but I read this and I was like, "Okay, finally, here is an Asgard issue that is doing something that I completely get! Why isn't it all like this?")

IS THERE STEVE/TONY?

Sort of? I mean… they clearly like each other and are clearly good friends who have developed a rapport with one another in a short amount of time. They don't really have, like, 616 levels of attachment to each other. No one in this comic really expresses that kind of feeling in an overwhelming way, even the people who are canonically romantically involved. That's not the kind of book it is, you know?

Also, they're both pretty young. Steve is about the same age as he would be at this time in 616 -- early-mid twenties, probably. Steve reads as fairly young to me at several points in the series. Not like he's a kid, but he's a guy who has spent probably his entire adult life, such as it is, fighting a war, and has woken up out of the ice to find that America no longer exists and he is needed to fight another war. He's inexperienced, not in the sense of being, say, unbearably naive, but like the only lens he has to view the world with is that of Being A Soldier because that's the only thing he's ever really done. He is kinder and gentler in his interpersonal relationships than, say, 1610 Steve, but he doesn't have the wider world experience that someone like 616 Steve does in current 616 canon. Maybe he will eventually, but he's not there yet, and he knows it.

He knows how people behave a little better than Tony does, I think, and he's not afraid to correct Tony if he thinks Tony has something wrong. Tony even listens to him. Not about things like "Tony, you should get off the comms while you are currently undergoing surgery," but, you know, other things. So that tracks.

Tony is… younger than Steve. The only canonical statement we have about his age is that the news report, when he's been framed for terrorism, calls him a teenager, which would be a year and a half ago in canon now.

So we don't know exactly how old Tony is, which is probably a dealbreaker for some people. My personal theory is that he's 19. This is because, for meta reasons, that's how old Teen Tony was in The Crossing, and frankly it would fit with the way this series incorporates bits of 616 into the worldbuilding. The other is that Steve absolutely treats him like he is an adult -- he respects him and his decisions, he defers to him as the situation calls for it, and also at one point he offers him alcohol (Tony declines, because he says he does not drink), and I feel like he would do none of this if he thought Tony was a kid, or if he thought of Tony as a kid. Tony generally behaves like, well, a young adult -- someone who is perhaps inexperienced, but who expects to be taken seriously, and who is taken seriously by Steve. This is in contrast to how Steve treats, say, Hawkeye, who is canonically (probably?) 16, and who Steve (and everyone else, generally) does not treat like a complete adult, because they're not one, and they don't act like they are. But Steve and Tony? Steve treats Tony as an equal.

Also Tony might be Kang, which might be… bad? We don't know.

So I think there is at least some potential, but there hasn't been a lot of fandom creative activity yet, which means that now is the time to get in on the ground floor.

ABOUT THE OTHER ULTIMATES ONGOINGS

You might notice that there are multiple ongoing series set in the Ultimate Universe. Currently, in addition to Ultimates, this is: Ultimate Black Panther, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Wolverine, and Ultimate X-Men. None of these series are about the Ultimates, and if you're just here for the Ultimates, you can skip these without missing much. You will occasionally see some of these characters mentioned in passing, you know, the way comics do, but it's not a big deal.

If you really want to be a completist about Ultimates-related content, you might consider reading Ultimate Spider-Man, which is the series that Jonathan Hickman is writing, about Peter, who is in his mid-30s with a family (he's married to MJ), and he is just now learning how to be Spider-Man. See, Tony showed up -- a couple decades late -- and gave him his spider after all. Tony occasionally makes brief cameo appearances to provide more technology and so on and so forth. It's not essential, but Tony is there sometimes. Also, Uncle Ben is still alive!

Even if you don't read that, you might want to read the current Ultimate Spider-Man Incursions miniseries, which is about Miles Morales accidentally ending up on Earth-6160. It is co-written by Deniz Camp and Cody Ziglar, and it does in fact have the Ultimates showing up. As I write this, only one issue is out, so it's hard to say how relevant it will all be… but it is indeed by Deniz Camp and it has the Ultimates in it.

For lack of anywhere more specific to put it, I have stuck Incursions in the reading order below, optionally, in the spot where the first issue was released, in case it ends up being worth reading for Ults content. We will find out.

There will be an Ultimate Hawkeye one-shot in September. Deniz Camp will be one of the people co-writing it (I don't know if they've announced the other co-writers) but presumably it will be relevant to our interests.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the comics by Deniz Camp are the ones you really, really want to be reading.

OKAY, WHAT DO I ACTUALLY READ?

So, that entire premise that I described, above? None of that happens in the comic book called Ultimates. This is why you need a reading order.

What you actually want to start with is Ultimate Invasion, a four-issue miniseries by Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch, which is where all of that happens. Everything I described above (with the exception of the terrorist attack) happens in that series.

You then want to read Ultimate Universe (with no subtitle; this is NOT the same thing as Ultimate Universe: One Year In), which is also by Hickman, and it features the Ultimates starting to put the rest of the team together -- Steve is still in an iceberg, but Tony has the iceberg now. Tony and Reed then find, free, and recruit Thor and Sif. This is the one where the brand-new Ultimates are now framed for a terrorist attack.

Donny Cates was actually supposed to be the writer of Ultimate Invasion, but he got into a very bad car accident and Hickman stepped in and took over. After writing Ultimate Universe, Hickman switches to writing Ultimate Spider-Man exclusively, and Deniz Camp comes in and takes charge of the universe. And that's when the real good stuff starts.

And that, finally, is when you can start reading Ultimates #1.

…but there's a catch.

There is one more slight wrinkle in the reading order, because of course there is. The release order does not match the internal chronological order, affecting one issue.

There was a Ultimate Universe FCBD 2024 issue; this was the first issue of Ults canon by Deniz Camp that was actually released. It came out after Ultimate Universe but before Ultimates #1, and it does have a page of preview material from some of the then-upcoming Ultimates issues. But the bulk of the story is a brand-new original Ultimates story… and this story definitely takes place well after Ultimates #1, not that Ultimates #1 had even come out yet.

The FCBD story features Tony, Reed, and Steve trying to find and recruit a new member of the Ultimates. (I am being intentionally vague so as not to completely spoil how the team roster is assembled.) Steve isn't even awake until Ultimates #1, but in the FCBD story, the Ultimates have clearly been working together for some time. The hero they recruit does not show up on-page on the team until Ultimates #6, but they are briefly mentioned in Ultimates #5 in a way that suggests they have just gotten there.

So if you're reading these in universe-internal chronological order, you will want to read the FCBD issue before you read Ultimates #5.

If you want to read them in release order, I guess you can read it before Ultimates #1 and keep in mind that you haven't yet gotten to the issue where any of this will have happened, which is what the rest of us had to do when we were reading it as it came out.

Other than that, after that point, you can pretty much just read Ultimates straight through by the numbers… with one more exception, which is yet another one-shot.

You will want to read the Ultimate Universe: One Year In one-shot between issues #7 and #8, when it was released. You definitely want to read this, as it is by Deniz Camp and contains some important information about the Ultimate Universe that will be relevant in later Ults issues.

(If you decide you also want to read USM Incursions, that started coming out between #12 and #13. There was also a Ults FCBD 2025 but as far as I remember, it was all Spider-Man stuff; I can't remember if it was about this or not.)

THE ACTUAL READING ORDER

By internal chronological order, we currently have:

Ultimate Invasion 1-4 Ultimate Universe Ultimates 1-4 Ultimate Universe FCBD 2024 Ultimates 5-7 Ultimate Universe: One Year In Ultimates 8-12 (Ultimate Spider-Man Incursion 1+) Ultimates 13+

As I write this, #13 is the current issue, beginning the next year of the Ultimates. Presumably something line-wide will be happening whenever the Maker shows up (probably at either #18 or #24), but I don't know if any of that has been announced.

[Edit: They announced it. I guess we will all find out what Ultimate Endgame is soon enough.]

TRADES

I have not personally read the TPBs yet, so I cannot confirm whether the trades have put the included FCBD and Ultimate Universe material in the order I have listed above, but according to the contents lists, they do at least contain those issues.

Ultimate Invasion COLLECTING: Ultimate Invasion 1-4

Ultimates by Deniz Camp, vol. 1: Fix the World COLLECTING: Ultimates (2024) 1-6, Ultimate Universe (2023) 1, and material from Free Comic Book Day 2024: Spider-Man/Ultimate Universe

Ultimates by Deniz Camp, vol. 2: All Power to the People (releases Sept 16) COLLECTING: Ultimates (2024) 7-12, Ultimate Universe: One Year In (2024) 1

Judging by Amazon listings, there's an upcoming trade of USM Incursion and a trade of Ults by Camp vol. 3 (no title yet, containing Ults 13-18), both currently listed as releasing February 17 of next year.

So if you want to read this in paper, those are the trade paperbacks you would buy. Currently you can only currently purchase those first two (Invasion and Fix The World), but the rest are on the way.

There we go! That's how to read 6160 Ultimates.

#posts i actually wrote #comics reading lists

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