Ultimate Round-Up #0: 2024
I want to write about superhero comics on here, so I'm gonna do that. Specifically, Marvel's recentish relaunch of the Ultimate Universe, because these books are some of the best comics I've ever read and they are coming out RIGHT NOW, which is very exciting. I'll review all the titles month by month, but for now I'll just give a vibe on what's happening so far so that people who aren't familiar can follow along.
The intent of this project isn't to recap each comic, but to actually talk about them as works of art, because they mostly deserve that. This first post may be a little recap-y, though—hopefully just enough to make the future posts readable to the average person.
I'll split this into three sections: What this line of books is about, what the books actually are (this is basically a reading order), and my thoughts on the premise. Ultimately (get it?), I really highly recommend you read any of the books that sound compelling—all but one which have more than one issue out right now are phenomenal.
What this line of books is about
Here's the premise: The Maker, a supergenius evil version of Mr Fantastic from another universe (really, don't worry about it) has remade the universe with no superheroes—systematically preventing most from ever existing. Everything in these books take place in an alternate universe—no previous reading is required at all.
The Maker preventing a radioactive spider from biting Peter Parker.
Ultimate Invasion (2023) #1. Donny Cates, Johnathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch
He and a handful of oligarchs called the Maker's Council (all alternate versions of heroes or villains) rule the world. A teenage Tony Stark (Iron Lad) assembles a team of heroes called the Ultimates to fight back against the Maker and reclaim the world. After sealing the Maker in his base, called The City, for 24 months, Tony sends packages to certain people he knows are meant to be heroes containing what they need to become a what they were always meant to be: in a mid-30s married-with-kids Peter Parker's case, for example, a radioactive spider.
I want it.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #1. Johnathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto
Meanwhile, Tony begins to assemble a core group of heroes he calls the Ultimates to weaken the Maker's Council and prepare before the Maker returns.
The Ultimates Network (so far) assembled
Ultimates (2024) #6. Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri
At the same time, the mutant powers of a group of high school girls in Japan are beginning to awaken...
Hisako Ichiki: Armor
Ultimate X-Men (2024) #1. Peach Momoko
...and the king of Wakanda does war with the exploitative and cultish rulers of Africa.
The Black Panther
Ultimate Black Panther (2024) #1. Bryan Edward Hill, Stefano Caselli
The Ultimate universe takes place roughly in real time, with each series releasing one new issue a month, and each issue taking place the month after the last. Ultimate Spider-Man #1 released in January of last year (about a year ago) and a year has passed in the universe since then as well. For those keeping track at home, this also means that the Maker will be freed from The City in one year.
What the books actually are
There are currently 5 ongoing books in the Ultimate universe. Ultimate Wolverine only has one issue, and it came out in 2025, so I won't talk about it here. Here's what each book is, and how many issues it currently has. All of them are totally readable on their own—don't feel the need to follow ones you don't care baout to 'get the whole story.'
Ultimate Spider-Man - 13 issues
Johnathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto
Peter Parker is married to the love of his life and has two children—still, something's missing. When he is given the opportunity to become the superhero he was always meant to be, it begins to make sense. This Spider-Man teams up with a heroic Green Goblin to uncover and defeat Kingpin, the secretive ruler of New York City. This story is largely about realizing powers greater than yourself took away your chance at a better life, and fighting to take it back.
Ultimate Spider-Man is a damn good read. Classic Spider-Man with an great twist and some damn beautiful art from Checchetto. Twists and turns galore. If nothing else, read the first issue—it's pretty easily up there for best single issue of an ongoing I've ever read.
Ultimate Black Panther - 11 issues
Bryan Edward Hill, Stefano Caselli
Ultimate Black Panther is pretty much a fairly standard Black Panther affair, except he's fighting a villanous version of Moon Knight. Storm and Killmonger are there. It's the least interesting title in the line-up by far.
If you want to go completionist on this universe, read Black Panther, obviously. Otherwise, there's not a great reason to. The themes of this universe were really setting up this book to succeed, but it's yet to wow me (or really even interest me) in the ways the others all have. Too bad.
Ultimate X-Men - 10 issues
Peach Momoko
This one's not even about superheroes—not really. The "X-Men" are a group of high school girls in Japan, all coming to terms with their mutant abilities. At the center of them is Hisako, who is caught up in a horror-adjacent mystery that is only beginning to unravel. Totally unlike anything else going on at Marvel (or DC) right now.
Peach Momoko's watercolor art is beautiful—I will, frankly, read anything she draws. Frankly, this one is the hardest to follow month to month, because its a mystery. But it's still really compelling, and, well, Peach Momoko's art is beautiful. Worth a read, and probably less confusing if you catch up now as opposed to reading 10 issues separated from one another by 10 months.
Ultimates - 9 issues
Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri
In each issue of Ultimates, the team (usually led by Iron Lad, a teenage Tony Stark, and Doom, a mysterious and brooding version of Reed Richards) recruit one more hero to the Ultimates Network to prepare for their ultimate battle with the Maker. Camp also clearly has lots to say—each character has had real and poignant things taken from them by the Maker's Council and the capitalistic powers that be in the ultimate universe.
Read Ultimates. I don't give a fuck if you don't think you're interested: read Ultimates. It's not that hard to pirate comics, if thats how you read it. Read Ultimates. Besides being the most obviously thoughtful and political comic in all of these, its also fucking exciting. I guess I'm wary of setting expectations too high—but this is the best ongoing I have ever followed. Camp and Frigeri (and the semi-frequent guest artists, as well as letterer Dike Ruan) have something damn special here.
There's also Ultimate Invasion, a four issue miniseries to set up the universe, Ultimate Universe, basically a fifth issue of that mini, a brief story for Free Comic Book Day thats functionally another, shorter issue of Ultimates, and Ultimate Universe: One Year In, a one-shot about this universe's Nick Fury. Read these if you want to follow the universe, although I highly recommend the latter two if you just want to read Ultimates as well.
Ultimate Ultimate Ultimate. Just wanted to type it a few more times for good measure.
My thoughts on the premise
I'll keep this brief, because I'll get into it more once I start talking about individual issues, and, eventually, once these stories are more complete. For now:
It would be very easy for this to turn into a very typical power fantasy about the greatness of certain inherently special people. To an extent, that's kind of inescapable with any superhero story (or really many other maybe...? Its complicated, and not the point). But this really isn't what these stories are about.
The world is ruled by a secret fascistic, capitalistic oligarchy bent on forcing the attention ruled class inward instead of outward, towards how bad their world is. These are very much stories about people taking back control of their own lives. Sometimes it's fairly subtle, like in Spider-Man, but sometimes it's damn explicit (to its benefit)—in Ultimates #5, for instance, Hawkeye is reimagined as an indigenous two-spirit archer whose first act as an Ultimate is ecoterrorism.
Hawkeye
Ultimates (2024) #5. Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri
The Maker returns in 11 months.
Ultimate Invasion (2023) #1. Donny Cates, Johnathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch
this may get me to finally read comics
ReplyDeleteyeah ok i'm kinda getting convinced
ReplyDelete