Hitch has apparently been doing some work on his next project with Millar already, though I can't specifically remember if he said he'd started it last year before Ultimates was done. He did also have time free to do commissions last year as well.
Has there ever been a Marvel EIC as unpleasant as Quesada? I know Shooter was supposed to be a jerk to creators, but Quesada is pompous and rude with the fans, which is worse. His 'My shit doesn't stink' interviews would get me so mad that I've resolved to never read one again. I don't even think his creative decisions have been good since Jemas left.
It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that Millar didn't have the script for #13 done by the time Hitch was finished with #12. Millar was working on Civil War at that time, dealing with being one of the architects of the Marvel "New World Order", and generally doing a lot of self-promotion. Plus, the book was supposed to end with #12 and it only moved to 13 issues because Millar realized he couldn't end the story with what he could get into #12. The fact that he had to write an extra issue would mess with all kinds of scheduling plans. (It also wouldn't surprise me if Millar knew he couldn't finish the story in issue 12, but when he tried to write the script for issue 13 he realized he didn't have enough story for a full issue and had to take some time to figure out how to expand what he had to fill a book. I recall the announcement for the 13th issue of the Ultimates being kind of sudden.)
I'm a bit more surprised about Marvel blaming Hitch for the delay - they publicly stated before that they were waiting on Neary, now they're suddenly claiming that Hitch is the delay? That's ... odd. Really odd. Like someone forgot who they were supposed to blame for delays this week. That's not just unprofessional, that type of inaccurate finger pointing can cause the types of wounds that cause artists to declare that they'll never work for a particular editor/writer/company again...
Marvel unprofessional? No change there then. They've not acted like a professional company in a while now.
Also, I recall Millar complaining that JRJR (on Wolverine) was so quick that he was getting issues done before Millar had written the following ones, so perhaps that's an indication of how fast Millar works.
Well, I wouldn't blame Mark Millar for hanging back to write ULTIMATES 2 scripts when they were actually needed - after all, if he'd written them all up-front, they'd have been two years old by the time they reached the shelves. Aside from being a bit stale in their pop culture references, presumably it would also mean that he'd be waiting a long, long time for his royalty cheques. There are all sorts of good, sensible reasons to hold back and wait to see how the notoriously slow artist gets on.
As for Quesada's public comments towards Hitch... there are two readings here, one of which is that Quesada is throwing Hitch to the wolves, and the other is that he's fed up covering for him. Normally, though, Marvel tend to stick by their late creators long beyond the point of absurdity. So it's very unusual for them to do something like this.
Out of interest, does anyone know how long Bryan Hitch has left on his exclusive contract?
Can't help thinking that a script with the pop culture references left out would be an improvement...
Heroes will no doubt become the 2007 random reference of choice. 'Save the cheerleader' has already appeared.
They'll have to try hard to top the Lost ones. Especially the awful shapechanger (was it morph?) who had Charlie's felt tip band aids for one scene.
I just hope that Madureira has pulled his finger out and is doing some work, or we'll have to go through this with Ultimates 3 too...
Apparently there's a joke around the Marvel offices that now that Final Fantasy XII is out, we'll never see Ultimates 3.
One thing I doesn't get: how can Marvel keep delaying one of there top books, because Neary is busy with Wisdom? It's like they don't even pretend to be trying anymore.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Ed McGuiness has turned in all his Ultimates 4 art before Mad has finsihed with his.
Guilherme: It sounds like the art was late getting to Neary for one reason or another. While waiting for it, Neary took another inking job (his perogative as a freelancer) and tried to complete it on time (which he should try to do as a professional). If that's the case, it's tough to fault Neary for the delay.
I am so psyched for this! This should be some sweet stuff 
Matt
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