Aztek: The Ultimate Man

    (DC, 1996-1997)
™ and ©1996 DC Comics

(From the Slings & Arrows Comic Guide)

Grant Morrison and Mark Millar teamed up to provide a new hero for the end of the century: naïve and unworldly (he’s been brought up in a Tibetan monastery), inexperienced but nevertheless bred to battle the Shadow God. While he’s waiting for the latter to show up, he has to find a place for himself in Vanity, an ugly city. In #1 he’s involved in the death of the city’s resident super-hero, Bloodtype, and from then on he becomes a target of the city’s various ganglords, who don’t want a super-hero around. A team-up with Batman (6#-7) against the Joker sets him firmly within the DC Universe. This is followed by a closer look at the Q Society that trained him. The Society is revealed to have connections to Lex Luthor when Aztek is given a new past so that he can continue to live in Vanity.

The artwork by N. Steven Harris and Keith Champagne, neither of which sound like real names, is pretty good, with clean lines and clever use of shadows (though the faces out of costume need work). Perhaps Morrison and Millar took too long to get to the point, although the title’s humor and the lack of their familiar psychobabble was refreshing. With Aztek’s cancellation, his future was played out in the JLA. ~NF

Jump to issue:
   NotesWriterArtist

#1

  8/1/1996
  $1.75
  $2.50
6 copies available from $1.40 		 1st Appearance of AztekGrant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#1 Variation A

  8/1/1996
  $0.00
  $15.00
No copies available 		Dynamic Forces variant signed by N. Steven HarrisIncludes Certificate of AuthenticityGrant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#2

  9/1/1996
  $1.75
  $1.25
10 copies available from $0.75 		 Versus Major ForceGrant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#3

  10/1/1996
  $1.75
  $1.50
3 copies available from $0.75 		 1st appearance Death DollGrant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#4

  11/1/1996
  $1.75
  $1.75
3 copies available from $1.99 		  Grant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#5

  12/1/1996
  $1.75
  $2.50
3 copies available from $1.50 		  Grant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#6

  1/1/1997
  $1.75
  $8.00
4 copies available from $5.25 		 Versus JokerGrant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#7

  2/1/1997
  $1.75
  $3.25
3 copies available from $4.00 		  Grant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#8

  3/1/1997
  $1.75
  $1.25
1 copy available for $7.99 		  Grant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#9

  4/1/1997
  $1.75
  $1.25
1 copy available for $1.00 		 Versus ParasiteGrant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

#10

  5/1/1997
  $1.75
  $7.50
3 copies available from $9.95 		 Final issue; Aztek joins JLAGrant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris

Book #1

  5/1/2008
  $19.99
  $16.00
1 copy available for $16.00 		 Collects Aztek: The Ultimate Man #1-10Grant Morrison, Mark MillarN. Steven Harris