REVIEW: ‘Ulimate Endgame’ Issue 1

Ultimate Endgame Issue 1 is published by Marvel Comics. Written by Deniz Camp, with art by Terry and Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf, colors by Edgar Delgado and Federico Blee and letters by Cory Petit.

The whole new Ultimate Universe has been building up to this issue. In Ultimate Endgame Issue 1, an Uprising tries to dismantle the Maker’s world, and a select team enters his dome. This is what Camp, Jonathan Hickman and many others have been building towards. The Maker has been sealed away in a dome, giving Iron Lad and the Ultimates the chance to prepare for his return and change the world in their favor.

There has been a two-year countdown in each issue of the Ultimates. But even then, it has been easy to forget that at some point, The Market was going to have to return. Ultimate Endgame Issue 1 shows the plans that have been brewing on multiple sides.

The Ultimates are unleashing their final uprising, gathering troops and changing public opinion. But the Maker’s Council has also had its own secrets, with moles within the Ultimates and weapons hidden away. You get to see both clash in this issue. There is a phenomenal sense of magnitude in Ultimate Endgame Issue 1, with momentum swinging in the way of the good guys for a change.

But in the center of that are four characters. Iron Lad, Doom, Spider-Man and America Chavez. The ones breaching the dome. It’s quieter with them, with nail-biting anticipation. No one has seen what’s inside, and the unexpected nature is terrifying. Inside, Ultimate Endgame Issue 1 becomes a technological horror story. It’s chaos and pressurized, a frantic fight for survival. The ending is a massive surprise, with the emergence of characters that were never expected to appear.

The characters are fascinating as the various series begin to come back together. Spider-Man has joined the main group. Camp shows understanding of the series he hasn’t been involved in by writing lengthy dialogue for Peter and his family. It’s ominous, considering the danger he’s about to be in. Entering the endgame, all those involved should be considered vulnerable. Anyone can die in horrific, devastating ways.

Iron Lad is confident stepping in, proud of his calculations. Doom’s emotions are difficult to judge fully, but he stays on mission. Iron Lad has shown himself not just as a tactical leader but also as one who can inspire. But one of the most frightening moments is when things happen that Stark hasn’t prepared for, and he hesitates. The Maker has been working away on his own demented ideas and has perhaps outthought Iron Lad already.

The art makes it clear that there are two worlds in Ultimate Endgame Issue 1. There are separate artists for inside and outside the dome (and the prologue). The Dodsons tackle outside superbly. They capture the scale of the battles, with conflicts happening all around the globe.

The Ultimates are everywhere, engaging with the Council on every front possible. It’s a mad scramble for supremacy. Scharf, who has worked on the other Ultimate Universe crossover, focuses on the prologue and any action in or around the dome. Anything associated with the Maker.

The slightly messier and tighter lines work wonders at showing off the nasty, repulsive world that man enjoys creating. Inside the dome is a mesmerizing, menacing machine creating god knows what. And those creations appear and look terrifying. They are technological monstrosities, freakish weapons made out of people. The prologue is captivating because Scharf emulates Jack Kirby’s work, which the insidious, maniacal Maker then besmirches. Just his grin is horrifying, let alone the despicable contortions he twists his body into.

The colors are also split between creators and locations. Blee colors outside the dome whilst Delgado works inside and the prologue. Blee uses prominent, vibrant tones that represent not only the danger the chargers are in, but the return of colorful superheroes to a world that The Maker so meticulously and ruthlessly engineered to prevent. Delgado uses muted tones that are washed out by the dome’s intense brightness.

The colors of the prologue are also special, because they recreate Olympia, the home of the Eternals. It really looks like Maker has wandered into the original series and obliterated it. The lettering is the standard font used for every issue in the new Ultimate Universe.

Ultimate Endgame Issue 1 is the beginning of the end. There’s a tremendous atmosphere to this story. There have been many times in the Ultimates where what they’re building towards and preparing for is hopeless. The Maker is too clever, and his Council is too powerful and evil to overthrow.

Iron Lad and Doom have frequently said they’re not working fast enough. We are used to feeling nervous and dread. But there’s no more time left. So, at a period of hope and real resistance, any feeling of futility is even more painful.

The merging of Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man, the primary series Ultimate Endgame Issue 1 bleeds into, is seamless. But it remains to be seen, and it’s worth being skeptical about, how the rest of the series and characters are implemented in the last stages of an entire universe.

Ultimate Endgame Issue 1 is available where comics are sold.