Writer: Jonathan Hickman / Penciller: Bryan Hitch / Inker: Andrew Currie / Colour Artist: Alex Sinclair / Letter: VC's Joe Caramagna Editors: Michelle Marchese, Will Moss, Tom Brevoort / Collects: Ultimate Invasion #1-#4 / TP / Marvel Comics
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Review by Paul Dunne
24th May 2024 (Released 27th March 2024)
The Pitch: The Illuminati must gather once again to stop the Maker! One of the last survivors of the original Ultimate Universe, the Maker plans to ensure that Earth's Mightiest Heroes never become heroes at all - and then he can reshape a defenseless universe into exactly what he wants it to be! Timelines and dimensions collide - and at the end of it all, the world outside your window will be forever changed! But how does Miles Morales factor into the Maker's plans? Fresh from masterminding the Krakoan era of X-Men, visionary writer Jonathan Hickman presents his next revolutionary epic alongside superstar artist Bryan Hitch, who helped redefine superhero comics with THE ULTIMATES!
I missed out on Hickman, by and large. His great Marvel experiment, spread across The Avengers, The Ultimates, Fantastic Four, Secret Warriors, and for its finale, Secret Wars... Was something I was getting in fragments out of order, broken in time. Just the way Hickman would have wanted! One thing you can glean from whatever Hickman writes in the Marvel Universe(s) is that he likes revolution. And that revolution will always follow Stan Lee's dictat that comics feature not change, but the illusion of it. HOX/POX seems to have laid a lot of groundwork just for the sun to set on the Dawn of X. The wheel has come back all the way around. The illusion of change.
So how much excitement should we greet Hickman's new Ultimate Universe with? How much will we read only to have it undone later? How much should we embrace the illusion of change? Hickman upends the status quo of entire systems like no other writer. In that chaos, he feels at home. Here we have The Maker, one of the better Marvel villains, escaping from his hidden prison in a terrific sequence, and sets about remaking the world. Like his multi-dimensional self Reed Richards, he uses insane technology and his own vast intellect but shot through with ruthless ambition. His is not a philanthropic mission, but one of selfish egotism. He wants to go home, but he wants that home to be one of his design, and therefore the world must follow. The Maker's plans are actually seen to fruition, so we get to see what a world without heroes looks like. His first move is to intervene in a small moment that alters the world when he stops a tiny spider from biting a high-school student. It's a genius move on Hickman's part. Spider-Man is the spiritual lynchpin of Marvel, the one that all others must follow and the one that sets the tone for all the Marvel Universe could be.
Ultimate Invasion becomes a book of reversals and side-steps away from the expected. Hickman renders the Maker as the protagonist, allowing him to wax philosophical about his hideous plan. Unlike the regular Marvel protagonists, however your sympathies cannot lie with him. His journey home will nullify the potential of some, erase others and in the end, enslave the world to a lie and conspiracy the size of which make Loki blush. He wants to be not only the Maker of this world, but it's master. His is the mission we stay with throughout the book. Even moments with other characters feel like they're only happening because he wishes it, or taking place under his gaze... As such, the heroism in this book comes in small, almost suicidal doses.
You can feel concepts like the Hellfire Gala spilling over into this, and the implied cultural fascism of Krakoa lingers in the air of The Maker's Latverian city and its news channels spouting the coded, almost communist language of The Maker's imperialism. What he takes away is the music of chance. What he brings is order, backed by destruction and implied, insidious terms like 'acceptable losses'. It's a fascinating 'What if?', even if The Maker's proselytising becomes a little confusing at times. Strangely, It's Ultimate Universe, the one-shot by Hickman and Stefano Caselli, David Curiel, and Joe Caramagna that best encapsulates everything going here, but weirdly this has not been included in this trade. This is an oversight and I hope Marvel finds room for it in the inevitable HC release or in the Ultimate Black Panther trade, but this seems unlikely as it's clearly the closing chapter on of Ultimate Invasion.
Hitch seems under fire often on social media for committing the cardinal sin of artists in 'not being quite as good as he was at his peak'. I feel this is a little mean-spirited when considering he gets the scope of Hickman's world-building and world-breaking and that the people levelling those claims probably could not do it better. I still feel the excitement of his pages and the awesome scale they represent. For this kind of big-budget, Hollywood-style Nolan-esque work, he's still one of the best around. Currie's inks reinforce Hitch's lines nicely giving things a nice, clean feel. There's stuff happening and you can see it all clearly, which is something of a must for this type of book. Alex Sinclair gives us bright, realistic colouring whilst still reminding us we're in a Marvel Universe. Everything feels of a piece and at home where it should be. This doesn't lean into the wilder aspects of Marvel’s characters but the wilder aspects of its strange science and Sinclair colours accordingly. Caramagna letters expertly as always, putting a sinister chill in The Maker's voice and reassuring authority in Howard Stark's. This is an interesting start to the new Ultimate's line and one hopes Hickman's attention stays with it for the long haul.
Ultimate Invasion is available now.
