Ultra the Multi-Alien
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Ultra the Multi-Alien was a science fiction superhero featured in comics published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Mystery in Space #103 (1965), pushing out Adam Strange and Space Ranger from that title. He was created by writer Dave Wood and artist Lee Elias.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Ultra was originally Earth spaceman Ace Arn, living in an unspecified future era when spaceflight was common place. Crashing on a world in another solar system, he was attacked by four aliens from different planets, each of who shot him with a ray gun to try to turn him into one of them. Because all hit him at the same time, he was changed to have one quarter of his body resemble the four aliens. The upper right of his body was green, hairy, and strong. The upper left was blue and had magnetic powers. His right leg was like a bird's, with a small wing that enabled him to fly. His left leg was a bolt of lightning.
He combined the first letter of the worlds the four aliens were from, along with the first letter of his name to come up with: U-L-T-R-A, his new name. He soon found a device to convert back to human form, to make it easier to move in society. His series lasted until issue #110 (1966), when Mystery in Space was cancelled. He would not reappear until Animal Man #25.
[edit] Starman
The character eventually appeared in Starman #55 (1999), in which Ultra, along with Space Ranger, is riding in Space Cabby's cab and looking for Starman IV's cosmic staff for the Space Museum. Each regales the other with a different interpretations of Jack and Mikaal rescuing Starfire from a space pirate.
[edit] Infinite Crisis
Ultra's most recent appearance was as a background character in the Infinite Crisis event. Having apparently somehow traveled back in time to the present era, Ultra was one of the many spacefaring heroes who aided Donna Troy in the fallout of the Rann-Thanagar War. He also recently appeared in Superman & Batman # 31 (2007), apparently overwhelmed by the power of the four alien races in him.
[edit] Trivia
- Ultra was one of Wizard Magazine's "Mort of the Month", a featurette showcasing comic characters considered low-quality. Yet the character appears to have a strong following.
- Grant Morrison used him both in his run in Animal Man (In issue #25 Ultra and other pre-crisis characters appear in comicbook limbo) and in the Aztek limited series (Though not shown, Ultra makes two appearances)
