Reacting to widespread criticism concerning the cover stock used in its popular Ultimate line, Marvel Comics has announced that starting on February 5, all the Ultimate titles will be upgraded to a new thicker paper stock, while maintaining their new high-gloss finish. According to Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada, 'Although the new cover stock on the Ultimate titles was actually the same stock used on the entire Marvel Universe line, the high-gloss film laminate gave the illusion of it being thinner, because the added weight of the laminate forced the corners to flop.' Retailers did react strongly to the new covers (see 'Rick Ralsten of the Time Capsule on Marvel Ultimates Cover Stock,' for example), and the message did get back to Marvel, which acted quickly to remedy the situation for next month's books. Retailers will be examining Marvel's 'fix' next month, when it appears on the cover to Ultimate Spider-Man #36, but according to Quesada, the publisher is 'confident that the upgrade in paper stock will be the perfect solution.'
