Caselli delivers some fantastic art in the issue. The visuals are beautifully detailed and filled with great action and characters. Read Full Review

Ultimate Universe #1 blends together a sweeping story with epic artwork to present the next version of Ultimate Marvel, as only Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli could put it. Even if Hickman's left the main Marvel universe behind for the most part, he's proven he still has the chops to deliver the kind of barrier-breaking stories that made Marvel a major force in comics and will continue to do so when he and Marco Checchetto take over Ultimate Spider-Man. Read Full Review

Ultimate Universe #1 is a significant improvement over Ultimate Invasion in terms of clarity, focus, urgency, and purpose. Hickman is building a new universe that feels familiar but stands apart to tell new stories without the burden of Earth-616 continuity, and the art looks great. Read Full Review

Ultimate Universe #1 is a solid start of the new Ultimate Universe. It ends things in a very interesting spot and position that again has echoes of some other stories but really shakes things up moving forward. While Ultimate Invasion had my excitement for what's to come diminished, Ultimate Universe #1 gets that excitement right back to where it was. Here's hoping this is the real sign up what's to come. Read Full Review

Its good and creates a solid foundation for the new Ultimates Universe, but if you havent read the previous books you might get lost. Read Full Review

Ultimate Universe #1 is a step in the right direction from what can only be described as a messy start within the pages of Ultimate Invasion. Though it moves things forward in a way that justifies its existence, Ultimate Universe #1 falls prey to an uneven plot that focuses too much on its characters' interplay rather than the story at hand. Read Full Review

This is not your parents Ultimate Universe. Literally AND figuratively. Between the final issue of Ultimate Invasion and this issues printing, weve learned that this Earth is not 1610 (the actual Ultimate Universe), but a new universe with the designation of Earth 6160. This new world is turning out to be a very fun and interesting one now that the Maker is gone (kind of). Im excited to see how destiny shapes things (and Im extremely excited to see a married Parker couple again in a few months, as well as Peach Momoko's X-men). The future is bright for this line. Read Full Review

Ultimate Universe #1 is a squeaky wheel that gets the car past the finish line but definitely could have used more grease. The future seems bright for Hickman's new universe, but this isn't a roaring success. Read Full Review

Ultimate Universe #1 accomplished everything that Ultimate Invasion tried but failed to do. That is to create genuine intrigue into the new Ultimate Universe that is set on Earth-6160. Jonatan Hickman and Stefano Caselli did a great job with Doctor Doom, Iron Lad, Thor, and Lady Sif as the leads of this story. How the world responded to their actions in this issue leads to greater interest for three titles that will develop this Ultimate Universe. Read Full Review

Personally, I'm always a fan of alternate universes and seeing what twists are imposed on familiar characters, so Ultimate Universe #1 is like catnip to me even if I don't totally understand what's happening just yet or where Hickman is taking the narrative. Read Full Review

"-Ele Fez de Novo! Mais Uma Vez! Ele É Incansável!"

Ultimates meets East of West.

I probably loved Hickman’s Ultimate Invasion more than most and this exactly the type of follow-up I was hoping for. There was less space to tell expand the story in this one-off, but Hickman used every last bit of this issue to keep the momentum going for the new universe that is set to further expand in the coming months. This issue oozed with elements of grandeur — everything felt important. Hickman loves laying breadcrumbs to revert back to months down the line and I found myself trying to figure out where those might be hidden in this issue.

In terms of characters, I loved the addition of Thor’s personality to the duo of Tony’s Iron Lad & Reed’s Doom. They play off each other really well and each of them add a unique perspective to the mix. This version of Thor has the immediate gravitas of a classic God of Thunder and was equally matched with an impressive design to add to his intensity. One area where Hickman’s pacing felt rushed was when Tony & Reed were convincing Thor & Sif about Maker’s scheme. You have to suspend disbelief to assume these characters would blindly trust two strangers they’ve just met, but it was necessary plot advancement which didn’t spoil the ultimate outcome.

I also really enjoyed all of the nods and winks to this universe’s version of superheroes we’ll be meeting in the upcoming series, including the radioactive spider which will come into play in Hickman’s own Ultimate Spider-Man series and a shadowy panel of teasing Black Panther ahead of Bryan Hill’s series. Add in the tease of Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men as a backup story and I am so ready to dive deeper into this new universe and all the tension and drama that is bound to come with it.

The lack of Bryan Hitch’s cinematographic-style wide-screen panels were noticeable, but Stefano Caselli’s designs are more than serviceable in matching Hickman’s grandiose story. As mentioned already, his design for Thor specifically was impressive.

Hickman’s task of launching Marvel’s new Ultimate universe couldn’t be off to a more intriguing start. And if this special issue is any indication on what we can expect from Marvel’s new Ultimate universe, we’re in for a real treat. Editor Will Moss has shown that he’s capable of crafting a multi-series arc in the past and let’s hope he’s up for the task again. more

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motorik - Nov 1, 2023

Excellent review. I adore the Ultimate universe. One of thing that is confusing me though, perhaps you can explain? The new Ultimate Spider-man from Hickman is not the Bendis Ultimate Spider-man. How does that work? Cheers my friend!

derbycomics - Nov 1, 2023

Thank you! You're totally correct, these are all part of brand new universe so this new one will be completely different. In Hickman's Ultimate Invasion miniseries, Maker went to an untapped universe (Earth-6160) to enact his plans from scratch.

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Nice work from Hickman and awesome art from Stefano Caselli/Curiel. This is actually a story I want to follow just don't make them $7 an issue and people will be there.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the conclusion of Ultimate Invasion.

But this?

This is good.

Weirdly enough I think I liked Hitch's art more for the groundwork issues. Otherwise this is a great setup for what's to come. I really don't understand the negative reaction to Ultimate Invasion. We didn't get the old busted Ultimate Universe back. So what? Why try to repair something broken when you can make something new from scratch and have a chance to make it better?

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daspidaboy - Jan 19, 2024

from my perspective that a lot of people didnt like Ultimate Invasion was that it was super sluggish in the beginning, then it completely rushed to the end. I understood that the series wanted to introduce more world building and politics, but it needed more issues to flesh out everything. That's the main reason why people didnt like the ending for Ultimate Invasion, not because we want the old Ultimate Universe back.

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If the reboot of the Ultimate Universe has been anything so far, it's intriguing. That's what I was feeling all throughout this one-shot, as I think it did a pretty solid job of setting up some interesting things going forward for Earth-6160. I currently plan on checking out all of the new titles coming out of this and I really hope they all deliver. I'm especially excited to read Ultimate Spider-Man, as the creative team of Hickman and Marco Checchetto alone is enough to sell me.

Hell yeah

It feels much better, than Ultimate Invasion. I think it even brought me back some hope. I'm still not a fan of the lore of this universe and I don't want all series of this universe to be too much about it, those Maker's elites and etc. It's okay for some limited series and events, but there must be normal simple isolated stories too.

The preview of Ultimate X-Men is cool, by the way! It looks like some indie comic and I'm a fan of such. Okay, so, the next one is Spidey in January of 2024... Let it be good!

I really enjoyed this issue and I’m excited for what’s next. My only gripe is having to Google translate French to see what Captain Britain was saying. 😂

This is really Ultimate Invasion issue #5.

Is Jonathan Hickman really worth you shelling out $7 for 30 pages of actual story? I'm not convinced. His voice for Thor was good. And making Captain Britain speak only French was clever but a little annoying to be honest. At least Caselli's art was mostly very good.

Good but the Price does not justify the short length of this series. I hope Hickman's plan isnt to make his Ultimate comics more expensive.