It’s the final issue! Howard Stark has little time left and it’s up to him to stop the Maker from undoing all time and space. Between The Maker, and Kang, the fate of this world will reside in either one of their hands. Who is it that Howard will choose? What choice does Iron Man have?
After three issues, Hickman managed to take what could’ve been a 12-issue series and condensed it down to 4 issues, making for a tighter, and compact story that centers on the origin of the new Ultimate Universe. And for what it’s worth, witnessing Howard Stark’s journey as he tries to stop the Maker’s plans to create a better world than the one he found is compelling and a perfect jumping-off point for the new ultimate universe which feels familiar yet wholly different. Hickman resolves some story elements while leaving some dangling threads that will hopefully be answered in the following line of Ultimate books that’s been announced. For the most part, it’s a solid story with a solid conclusion that leads to a new beginning. It’s interesting thinking about the original ultimate universe and what life was like pre-MCU, compared to this new universe post-MCU, and how that might’ve inspired some ideas within this series with Howard Stark being a central character, but it works in context to everything in this story.
Bryan Hitch was there as one of the architects of the original Ultimate Universe, so it’s pleasant to have him draw all four issues of this series. He does an exceptional job illustrating this book. Aside from Hitch’s trademark widescreen action layouts and panel work, Alex Sinclair does a fine job embellishing the pages with his color work, keeping it as uniform to the style of the ultimate universe as can be. Joe Caramagna does an effective job lettering the book and giving characters different color pallets to provide distinctive voices for all those involved. This is a good jumping-on point for the new ultimate universe, and with Hickman as the architect, I think readers will be interested in where he’ll take them next. Definitely a worthy add to ones pull list for New Comic Book Day.
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