Having escaped main earth, 616, The Maker has created a new reality, reshaping it so that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes never come to be. But what does the Maker want from Howard Stark, the Iron Man?
Hickman throws some interesting curve balls as this new ultimate universe 6160 is similar yet different from the original 1610 ultimate universe and the main 616 marvel universe. Much of this issue is focused on Howard Stark, his place within the world he inhabits. It’s interesting seeing how much he differs from his 1610 counterpart. He happens to have a more positive relationship with his circle of people, let alone, this iteration of Obidiah Stane functions in the same capacity as Rhody has to Tony as friends. That is one of the many interesting plot threads that begin to weave into a larger narrative as events unfold once Howard attends an event in Latveria. Hickman dives further into The Maker’s motivations as to why he chose to inhabit earth 6160 and why it seems to be important to him and the horrific lengths he’s willing to go to carry out his mission to reshape reality as he sees fit. Despite this, there is still mystery as to The Maker’s ultimate goal, and what that means for all involved from the main universe and 6160.
Bryan Hitch does an exceptional job illustrating this issue, displaying some familiarity with his well-established widescreen form of visual storytelling. While it is not on the same level as his previous work on the Venditti Hawkman run, it’s still superb and grand in ways that only Hitch could deliver, especially with Andrew Currie’s serviceable ink work. Alex Sinclair’s color work is one of the biggest highlights as it makes the book visually cinematic and sleek, reminding readers what made the ultimate universe so appealing due to its quality, cutting-edge aesthetic that set it apart from many books of its genre. Joe Caramagna does a splendid job lettering the book, focusing on the subtleties such as the kind of speech that is produced that sets the ultimate universe characters apart from the mainline 616 characters. This issue is well-paced, although despite this mini-series being four issues, I hope that Hickman will stick the landing with the remaining two issues given that there will be a following series after this one. All in all, there is a lot to unpack and speculate, but another solid issue that is eventful and worth adding to the pull list.
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