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

		Notes	Writer	Artist
	#1 Date:  8/1/1996 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $2.25 7 copies available from $1.15	1st Appearance of Aztek	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#1 Variation A Date:  8/1/1996 Cover Price:  $0.00 NM Guide:  $15.00 No copies available	Dynamic Forces variant signed by N. Steven Harris; Includes Certificate of Authenticity	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#2 Date:  9/1/1996 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $1.25 12 copies available from $0.75	Versus Major Force	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#3 Date:  10/1/1996 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $1.75 4 copies available from $0.75	1st appearance Death Doll	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#4 Date:  11/1/1996 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $1.50 4 copies available from $0.75		Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#5 Date:  12/1/1996 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $2.50 3 copies available from $1.50		Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#6 Date:  1/1/1997 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $7.50 3 copies available from $4.75	Versus Joker	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#7 Date:  2/1/1997 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $2.25 2 copies available from $2.25		Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#8 Date:  3/1/1997 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $1.25 2 copies available from $1.25		Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#9 Date:  4/1/1997 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $1.25 2 copies available from $1.00	Versus Parasite	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	#10 Date:  5/1/1997 Cover Price:  $1.75 NM Guide:  $7.00 4 copies available from $7.00	Final issue; Aztek joins JLA	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris
	Book #1 Date:  5/1/2008 Cover Price:  $19.99 NM Guide:  $16.00 1 copy available for $16.00	Collects Aztek: The Ultimate Man #1-10	Grant Morrison, Mark Millar	N. Steven Harris