For anyone who might not know, but is curious to know, the Ultimate Universe was a publishing initiative set up by Marvel Comics in the early 2000’s in order to provide a new continuity and new spins on classic characters as a way to get new readers interested in comic books.
Some of the books it produced were good, some of them weren’t, and some of them would go on to have an outsized impact on comic book culture and popular culture as a whole. Case in point: this is the universe where we got Miles Morales and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
But we’re not here to dwell on the past and to argue over which characters were good or bad, we’re here because Marvel has decided to relaunch the Ultimate Universe, this time with John Hickman at the helm, and it begins with “Ultimate Universe” #1…and the prequel series that set the whole thing up and was published before this book came out.
Written by Jonathan HickmanCover by: Bryan Hitch
Illustrated by Stefano Caselli
Colored by David Curiel
Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna
THE SPOILS OF VICTORY!
After the worlds-shaking conclusion of ULTIMATE INVASION, a new team of heroes bands together to save the future! From mastermind Jonathan Hickman and superstar artist Stefano Caselli, don’t miss out on this foundational issue for the new line of Ultimate Comics!
Welcome to Earth-6160 aka “The Ultimate Universe”. This Universe was set and ready to grow its own crop of heroes, but something happened to it that caused the course of history to radically change. A super villain called The Maker, who is essentially an evil version of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, has inserted himself into this universe and used his knowledge of superheroes to tweak Earth’s history so that he comes out on top and winds up as the supreme ruler. However, an accident sealed the Maker inside his fortress city, leaving the world that he spent so much time fine tuning and building to his likeness without their leader. This has led to a quiet war on Earth where everyone in charge is vying for a spot to make their own agenda a reality.
In this case, it means that Iron Lad–a younger version of Tony Stark in a universe where his dad is still alive and ruler of North America–teams up with another version of Reed Richards who has been forced to wear von Doom’s mask in order to free Thor from prison. What begins is a sequence of events that plunge the world into chaos, and a new age of heroes.
“Ultimate Universe” #1 is written by Jonathan Hickman, a writer known for big stories, big plots, and big ideas. He’s the guy that Marvel put in charge of the X-Men books and he is the reason why they’ve been hanging out on Krakoa for the past couple of years, so it makes sense that he would be the person that Marvel would turn to when they want a new universe with new big ideas.
Since Hickman is such a big idea writer, it would make sense to think that his work suffers when it comes to the little things, but funnily enough “Ultimate Universe” #1 is a pretty small and reasonably contained book. At its heart, “Ultimate Universe” #1 is a prison break story and it’s up to the script and dialogue to introduce the readers to new versions of classic characters, and it does a very good job. The new version of Iron Man is younger and more cautious, Reed/von Doom has a sort of Nick Fury role in trying to keep and maintain team cohesion, but Thor is the highlight of the issue. This is a version of Thor that never got to be King of Asgard and while he believes in doing the right thing and fighting with honor, he is still very upset with his lot in life. Also, he has quite a few moments with Lady Sif that are fantastic. All in all, this is a book that does a great job of showcasing familiar characters that old fans will like with just enough of a twist to make them unique and interesting.
Funnily enough, while “Ultimate Universe” #1 is some of Hickman’s best character and personal work, it does lose itself when it comes to the bigger picture. There are quite a few moments in the comic where the audience is just expected to know what’s going on and who complete strangers are. The thing is, it all makes sense if you read the Ultimate Invasion series that was published before this book came out, but if you haven’t you might be a little lost. This wouldn’t be so bad if the book had Hickman’s famous exposition pages (which is a storytelling device that is almost exclusive to Hickman’s work and should be patented) but they’re almost non-existent in this book.
The artwork for “Ultimate Universe” #1 is provided by Stephano Caselli and it’s the standard Marvel comic book art that you see in most of the big name Marvel books that are published. It has a heavy focus on realism with just enough cartoon elements to not break into the uncanny valley and seems to be more focused on making the story easy to follow instead of experimenting with style or pushing boundaries. At this point, there’s almost nothing left to say about the artwork other than it’s really well drawn and does a great job of telling a story in sequential art for one of the biggest comic book publishers in the world.
“Ultimate Universe” #1 is a decent first issue that introduces one of Marvel’s more famous experiments to a new generation of comic book readers. It’s got some great names attached to it and lays the groundwork for some interesting character ideas, but it’s less of a “good #1” and more of a “solid continuation of what’s been happening for the past couple of months”.
Final Verdict: 8.3- It’s good and creates a solid foundation for the new Ultimates Universe, but if you haven’t read the previous books you might get lost.
