Written by: Deniz Camp
Art by: Juan Frigeri
Colors by: Federico Blee
Letters by: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover art by: Dike Ruan (cover A)
Cover price: $5.99
Release date: May 5, 2024
The Ultimates #1 leaps forward six months after last year’s Ultimate Invasion to find Tony Stark and Doom developing a plan to recreate a world of heroes before The Maker escapes his prison.
Is The Ultimates #1 Good?
File The Ultimates #1 by Deniz Camp under the heading of “technically proficient.” Camp’s first issue, presumably under the architectural eye of Johnathan Hickman, sets up the players, moves them into place, and gives readers tons of exposition to explain what’s happening. That said, the missing ingredient is “excitement.”
Picking up after Tony Stark, aka Iron Lad, and Doom time traveled six months into the future from when the Maker’s Council launched an attack on NYC, the fledgling team spends several pages assessing their situation. Captain America is still trapped in ice. Thor is gravely injured after his prison escape, and Sif watches over him as his warden and potential ally.
First, Stark and Doom break out a chalkboard to discuss options. Using a combination of mathematics, 4-Dimensional planning, and the Immortus Engine, Stark and Doom plan to send a series of devices (“origin-boxes”) back in time to recreate the origins of Earth-6160’s mightiest heroes before the ticking clock of the Maker’s prison inside the City runs out.
During their planning and development, Captain America thaws out and joins the team. He doesn’t take the news of his 70+ year suspended animation very well, but he eventually settles down to lend his leadership skills to their plan. When he hears what Stark and Doom are planning, Cap tells the scientists that their plan won’t work because revolutions have to start with people believing in a cause. Handing them powers isn’t enough.
Of course, the plan fails as Cap predicted, so Stark and Doom literally go back to the drawing board. This time, the Ultimates opt for the personal approach.
The story shifts to catch up with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne who operate a pest control business. After refusing a distasteful request to exterminate a family of Moloids living in a restauranter’s basement, their exterminator’s van is destructively stopped by the Ultimates with a plea to join them. We learn through the dialog that Hank has been suffering from dreams about ants and memory problems due to a head injury. He knew about the origin-box sent to him and didn’t have the heart to use it or tell Janet about it.
During the chat to convince Ant-Man and the Wasp to become who they were meant to be, Captain Britain arrives with the Black Crusade to put down the Ultimates.
Janet eagerly activates the origin-box to become the Wasp and jumps into battle. Hank takes some convincing because he’s had dreams about Earth-616’s Hank, and he’s afraid he’ll repeat the same mistakes and commit the same harm as his multiversal counterpart. In the end, Hank accepts his destiny as Ant-Man and squashes the attackers when he converts into Giant-Man.
What’s great about The Ultimates #1? If it wasn’t clear enough from the description above, this issue gives you all the meat and potatoes a new reader needs to jump into the latest incarnation of the Ultimates Universe and get a very firm handle on everything that’s happened, the goals of the heroes, and the stakes. To Camp’s credit, this issue is as thorough as it could possibly be. Further, you could almost skip last year’s Ultimate Invasion altogether (which is a positive since it was terrible) and still be on fairly solid footing, excluding the details surrounding the Maker’s temporary imprisonment and the attack on NYC.
What’s not so great about The Ultimates #1? At the risk of sounding vague, the issue is almost entirely devoid of “Oomph!” There’s no wow moment or sense of thrill to excite you for what comes next. In effect, it lacks the emotional hook that gets you to care about these characters and what happens to them. Except for a brief outburst by Cap when he learns what happened to him, this issue is emotionally flat, which leaves you with all the excitement and drama of reading a High School history book.
How’s the Art? I like Frigeri’s art style. His lines are clean, and the hero poses and overall action (what little there is) look good. Plus, Federico Blee’s coloring is on point. In total, Frigeri’s style suits this material better than Bryan Hitch on last year’s Ultimate Invasion.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
The Ultimates #1 is a perfectly serviceable introduction to get readers on board with the new Ultimates Universe, the heroes, their mission, the stakes, and the timeline. Frigeri’s art is rock-solid, and Camp’s script is technically, thoroughly proficient, but the story fails to deliver any emotional beats that give the reader a reason to care.
6.5/10
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