Ultima Manga

Around 1988, when Origin and FCI were creating Japanese versions of the Ultima series, the Japanese publisher JICC published four manga based upon the games.

Ultima: The Terror of Exodus
Main article: Ultima: The Terror of Exodus




 * Publisher: JICC.
 * Author: Seiji Tanaka
 * Published: Aug. 15, 1988.
 * Length: 252 pages (first 8 pages are in color)
 * Original List Price: 880¥ (about US$7)
 * Summary: When the dark god of evil, Exodus, arises once more in the realm of Sosaria, it resurrects the evil magicians Mondain and Minax and with their aide threatens to plunge the land into eternal darkness. Its up to the four chosen "Dragon Warriors" of prophecy to defeat it: Genji, a futuristic space explorer; Aida, a peaceful, animal-loving cleric; Lennon, a paranoid and often disgruntled bard; and Bigelow, a mechanized robot with a capacity for human emotion.



Quest of the Avatar

 * Publisher: JICC.
 * Author: Yuko Tanaka
 * Published: Aug. 29, 1989
 * Length: 252 pages
 * Original List Price: 900¥ (about US$7)

The first eight pages of this volume are in color, with the rest of the comic printed in black-and-white. The manga interprets the events of the NES-port of Ultima IV, fleshing out the sparse narrative of the game. It diverges a lot from the game.

The story follows the quest of the fifteen-year-old boy Deane, who was adopted in infancy by a druid of Yew after the murder of his mother, a knight of the Order of the Silver Serpent. The story revolves around his search for his adoptive brother Shiva, a druid who went missing in an attempt to become the Avatar.

In Quest of the Avatar, many of the characters have switched genders as they did in the NES port. Iolo, for example, has become the fourteen year old girl "Io." Julia is now a thirty-eight-year-old male, still named "Julia," and Katrina is the ten-year-old boy "Kati."

A complete English transcript of the story can be found here, and a complete scanlation based upon this work can be found here. Art examples in color and black-and-white can be found here.

For more information about the heroes, read Heroes of the Ultima IV Manga.

The Fall of Magincia

 * Publisher: JICC
 * Author : Hiroyuki Watanabe
 * Published: Dec. 15, 1990.
 * Length: 248 pages
 * Original List Price : ¥980

As with previous Ultima manga, the first eight pages of the comic are in color, with the rest in black-and-white. Unlike previous volumes, however, Fall of Magincia does not reinterpret one of the games but instead features a wholly original story based on the destruction of the proud city of Magincia.

As the tale opens, Britannia's seas are being ravaged by monsters under the command of the sorceror Vitor, head of Magincia's merchants. The young pirate captain Susadora and his gang -  accompanied by Rani Sentri, captain of Britannia's special forces  -  are commanded by Lord British to find arms strong enough to stop Vitor, as well as discover a mysterious truth about Susadora himself.

A complete English transcript of the story can be found here. 

The Maze of Schwarzschild

 * Publisher: JICC.
 * Author: Seiji Tanaka
 * Published: Nov. 15, 1991
 * Original List Price: ¥980



Little is known about this publication. Other than the title and the cover, it is known to be a direct continuation of the "Exodus"-maga, complete with the heroes of said story.

One bit that did surface is the illustration shown at the left. It shows an asteroid that is engraved with the Codex Symbol and the three people that are most likely the hero role call. However, from these bits no conclusion can be made about the story, other than it seems to be rather strange (outer space after all...).