Big Bang Comics #2
Big Bang Comics #2 (Summer 1994) is the pivotal second installment of Gary Carlson and Chris Ecker's Caliber Press anthology, and it delivers the first full-length story ever published under the 'Ultiman' name — a character whose roots stretch back to Megaton Comics #1 (1983) but who had only received a two-page origin teaser in Berzerker #2 before this issue. Alongside that milestone, the issue marks the first appearances of both The Blitz (Mack Snelling) and The Human Sub (Dr. Noah Talbot), two Golden Age Earth-B characters who would go on to play significant roles throughout the entire run of Big Bang Comics and its subsequent Image Comics era. The issue also deepens the series' central creative conceit — each story is a loving, period-accurate homage to a specific Golden Age creative team — cementing Big Bang as one of the most thoughtfully constructed Silver- and Golden Age tributes produced by the independent comics movement of the early 1990s.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Big Bang Comics grew directly out of character back-up strips that Gary Carlson ran in his Caliber Press title Berzerker, where the fan response was strong enough to convince Caliber publisher Gary Reed to greenlight a dedicated anthology series co-created with artist/writer Chris Ecker. The original editorial vision, as Carlson has described, was to publish a single oversized 'Big Book' introducing all the characters at once, but that concept was expanded into a multi-issue miniseries, with issues #1 and #2 together covering the Golden Age material that had been planned for that debut volume. Ultiman himself had a complicated pre-history: he first appeared under the name 'Ultraman' in Megaton #1 (1983), was renamed to avoid confusion with a DC Comics villain, and received only a two-page Berzeker origin before #2 gave him his first complete adventure. The series was edited by Gary Carlson and featured an eclectic creative roster including Chris Ecker, Stan Timmons, Mike Obre, Sheldon Moldoff, Curt Swan, and others, with Carlson himself writing the Ultiman story as a deliberate tribute to the Superman of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First full published story starring Ultiman (Christopher Kelly) — the character had only a 2-page origin strip in Berzerker #2 and a cover appearance in Big Bang Comics #1 before this issue.
- Ultiman was originally named 'Ultraman' in Megaton Comics #1 (1983); the name was changed to 'Ultiman' to avoid confusion with a DC Comics villain.
- First appearance of The Blitz (Mack Snelling), a Golden Age Flash tribute, in 'The Night of 1000 Stars and Stripes!' — a story in which Nazi villains animate an Oscar statue and The Blitz must stop it.
- First appearance of The Human Sub (Dr. Noah Talbot) and supporting characters Bubbles and Mora Talbot in 'Meet The Human Sub' — the character is described by the Grand Comics Database as combining elements of Aquaman, Bulletman, and NoMan.
- The Ultiman story ('Ultiman vs. the Sub-Oteurs') is framed as a 1940s tribute to Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
- Issue #2's contents fall within the 'Golden Age Pt. 2' section of the series; the original plan was to collect this material in a single oversized volume, which the Caliber run expanded across multiple issues.
- All three stories from this issue — the Ultiman, Blitz, and Human Sub features — were later reprinted in full in the Image Comics trade paperback 'Your Big Book of Big Bang Comics' (March 1998), which collected the complete Golden Age Caliber material in one volume.
Cast · 17 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Nazi villains have one of the Oscar statues come to life and The Blitz has to stop it.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).