Marvel has been at the top of the sales charts for decades now, but the quality of the books hasn’t actually fit the sales in years. That’s not to say that every Marvel book is bad, but the last few years have seen Marvel’s line getting kind of disappointing for fans of the House of Ideas. However, 2023 would see a huge change to the system with a reboot of the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Ultimate Invasion, from writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Bryan Hitch, saw the Maker from Earth-1610 create his own universe, except this one was going to be very different. The Maker intervened throughout the history of superheroes, making sure that the heroes who had been his biggest challenge never rose. Ultimate Universe #1 gave readers their taste of this new world, introducing the new Ultimates and the Maker’s Council, the rulers of the world. From there, we got Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, and Ultimate Black Panther.
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The Ultimate books became the most praised Marvel books on the market, and the line has expanded with ongoing series The Ultimates and Ultimate Wolverine, as well as the miniseries Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion. The Ultimate line was on top of the world until DC’s Absolute books came along, but even with their loss of the top of the sales charts, Marvel’s new Ultimate books are still amazing. While they aren’t as amazing as they were at first, these are still excellent books, and I’m going to rank these six comics for you. (This list isn’t going to include Ultimate Invasion, because it isn’t technically an Ultimate book)
7) Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion
From the beginning, fans were waiting to see when Miles Morales would make his way to the new Ultimate Universe. He was given a way to come there by the Maker, who invited the last survivor of Earth-1610 to Earth-6160, but Miles refused to leave with the Maker. Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, by writers Deniz Camp and Cody Ziglar and artist Jonas Scharf, brings Miles to the Ultimate Universe when his little sister finds the card that the Maker left for Miles, with the young Spider-Man jumping into action to find the toddler before she gets hurt. Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion has run for two issues, but if I’m being honest, it’s been a major disappointment so far, even with excellent creators like Camp and Scharf on the book. The problem with this book so far is that it’s so very basic. This is crossover 101 and it feels like its telegraphing the endgame of the first phase of the Ultimate Universe in the most obvious way possible. I wouldn’t exactly call it bad, but there’s just nothing here to be too interested in. So far, it’s just been a travelogue through the Ultimate Universe, which is fine for readers who aren’t reading the other Ultimate books, but it’s really doing nothing for anyone involved.
6) Ultimate Black Panther
The Black Panther hasn’t been having a good time of things in the years since the first Black Panther movie came out. After Ta-Nehisi Coates’s excellent run on the character ended, he’s sort of felt adrift, losing his solo title in the main universe and joining a rather middling run of Avengers. Ultimate Black Panther, by writer Bryan Edward Hill, Stefano Caselli and Carlos Nieto, was Black Panther’s ticket back to big time. Its success on that note has been mixed — it’s one of the lower selling Ultimate books — but it’s been a pretty cool ride so far. Hill uses the fusion the science and mysticism that has always been a hallmark of Black Panther to take Black Panther in new directions. If you’re a fan of Black Panther, you’ll love this book; it really is the best Black Panther book since Coates’s run on the character. It puts Storm and T’Challa back together, does great work with Shuri and Killmonger, and has had some awesome fight scenes. It’s not as involved in the main plot of the Ultimate Universe as much as The Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man, but it’s been a great ride so far. It’s way better than Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, and shows that the Ultimate Universe is doings its best to not bore readers by giving them the same kind of comics in multiple books, which is one of the biggest problems at Marvel right now.
5) Ultimate Universe/Ultimate Universe: One Year In
We’re going to count the two Ultimate Universe one-shots — Ultimate Universe #1 and Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 — as one book, since they’re both titled Ultimate Universe. Ultimate Universe #1, by Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli, brought readers into the Ultimate Universe for the first time, as Iron Lad (Tony Stark), Doctor Doom (Reed Richards), free Thor from Asgard, getting Mjolnir from Lady Sif, with Sif joining their mission against the Maker and his Council, and a fight against Captain Britain, with the end of the book previewing the first three Ultimate books. Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1, by Deniz Camp, Chris Condon, Jonas Scharf, and Alessandro Cappuccio, follow Director of SHIELD Nick Fury as he decides to destroy the Maker’s Council, with the story taking an amazing twist that you won’t see coming. It ends with a preview of Ultimate Wolverine, introducing readers to the new Wolverine. These two one-shots are sensational, setting the Ultimate Universe on its way and then setting up the next phase of the book. For me, One Year In was better than its predecessor, but they are both excellent reads.
4) The Ultimates
So, here’s where we’re going to get a little controversial. Fans love The Ultimates, by Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Phil Noto, and Chris Allen, and for good reason. Spinning out of the events of Ultimate Universe #1, this book is the epicenter of the battle against the Maker and his Council, with Iron Lad and Reed Richards working with Thor and Sif, unfreezing Captain America to search down the heroes who can help them defeat the Maker, and bringing together the Ultimates. including Ant-Man, the Wasp, America, She-Hulk, Human Torch, the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. It’s probably the most lore heavy of the Ultimate books, and Camp has shown that he’s up to the task of building so much of the Ultimate Universe. It’s an exciting book with lots of twists, turns, and surprises, and the art is fantastic, but it’s mostly a book for fans of the Avengers and their related characters. If you don’t like those characters in the mainline universe, you aren’t going to like them that much more here. However, if you want to get the epicenter of the Ultimate Universe, this is definitely the place to look for it. Compared to the next three books on the lists, it doesn’t bring the characterization as hard, which is one of the reasons I love these next three books so much.
3) Ultimate Wolverine
If I was ranking these books just by which is my personal favorite, this book would be number one. Ultimate Wolverine, by Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Alex Lins, tells the story of the Winter Soldier, the mutant assassin of the European Union. Wolverine was teased earlier in the Ultimate books, but it made it seem like he was dead. Because of this, fans were pretty surprised when this book was announced, and the first issue was exactly the kind of tour de force you’d expect from Condon and Cappuccio. In a lot of ways, this is basically the Ultimate Universe retelling of the Wolverine classic “Weapon X”, as we’re introduced to Logan and the leaders of the European Union — Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red — as well as familiar X-Men characters like Gambit, Kitty Pryde, Beast, and more.
This is a dark and violent book, and it does a tremendous job of setting up its lore and giving readers some amazing action. This is truly the ultimate Wolverine book, and it’s also the book that I’d recommend to X-Men fans who want a more traditional mutant superhero book than Ultimate X-Men. Ultimate Wolverine digs deep into the lore of both the European Union and Logan himself, as well as the war between the Union and the Opposition, and does a fabulous job with its characters. Condon is doing tremendous work with this book, and it gets better with every issue. Cappuccio made his name drawing Moon Knight with Jed MacKay, and he brings all of that skill here. The fill-in issues by Alex Lins are amazing as well, with Ultimate Wolverine #6 giving readers some amazing pages that even rival the best of Cappuccio’s. If you can only read one Wolverine book right now, go with this one. It blows the main line Wolverine out of the water.
2) Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man is the best Spider-Man book by a wide margin. When I say wide margin, I mean it. The difference in quality between this book and any other Spider-Man book of the last twenty years is from here to the Andromeda Galaxy. Ultimate Spider-Man, by Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, and David Messina, gives readers what they’ve been asking for — the return of the marriage between Peter Parker and Mary Jane. An older Peter Parker is given the ability to become Spider-Man by Iron Lad and takes it, and readers have been taken an awesome ride ever since it started. Spider-Man joins up with the Green Goblin, now Harry Osborn, and Dr. Otto Octavius to take on the Kingpin, leader of New York City, and his Sinister Six.
There is so much going on in this book that it’s not funny, and that makes it such an entertaining book (and it’s also pretty funny, in case you’re wondering). Hickman is a writer who is often thought of as better with plots and concepts than characters, but Ultimate Spider-Man shows that when Hickman wants to, he can write some fantastic characters. This book is full of twists and turns, giving readers everything they want. There’s a good chance that if you’re reading Marvel, you’re already reading this book, but I’m still not going to go too much unto this book’s particulars, because it’s so much better to experience it all for yourself. You need to be reading this book, and that’s all there is to it.
1) Ultimate X-Men
There are a lot of people who aren’t going to agree with his list, and I think that this might be the most controversial entry. Ultimate X-Men, by Peach Momoko, is nothing like any of the other Ultimate books. It stars a minor X-Men character, Hisako Ichiki, the mutant known as Armor, and a bunch of completely new versions of classic mutants. It’s not a traditional superhero comic; instead it’s basically a horror manga, set in Hi No Kuni, the Japan of Earth-6160. It’s a slow burn that doesn’t give up its secrets easily. However, those are the reasons why I love it so much and think that it’s the best Ultimate book. The other Ultimate books all use the same types of storytelling as the 616 universe, but Ultimate X-Men is an iconoclast. It’s actually pushing Marvel forward, not depending on the same old tired superhero tropes that have made Marvel so unexciting to read over the last decade. Peach Momoko’s watercolor art is beautiful, and every issue is a delicious feast for the eyes. Ultimate X-Men is the best X-Men book, taking all the basic concepts of Marvel mutant comics and using them in entirely new ways. It’s an amazing ride every issue, and it just keeps getting better and better.
What do you think is the best Ultimate Marvel title (or do you just want to scream at me for my placement of The Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man)? Sound off in the comments below.
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