The epic Ultimate Invasion comes to a close this week, and while we know the Ultimate universe is coming, there are super high stakes in play with this four-issue series. Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch have delivered a story about The Maker that should stand as one of his greatest yet, but can they stick the landing and satisfy in this mini on top of building a new Ultimate universe? The answer may surprise you.
Ultimate Invasion #4 is an extra-sized extravaganza featuring Howard Stark as the central hero in a gambit to stop The Maker, but also make him a time travel device. The issue picks up with Howard and Dr. Doom working together, and some interesting character work is happening here. The two are geniuses, though Howard knows something is wrong with Dr. Doom. Even though this issue builds towards a massive battle of hundreds of characters, it’s best when it’s subtle, forcing you to read between the lines. That’s evident in this scene and how it tiptoes around what happens post-battle.
I won’t spoil it, but Hickman is trying to set up some mysteries for the future while trying to satisfy the conclusion of this mini. It works mostly, although I did find it frustrating to have characters postulate characters may or may not be dead while others who were in the blast aren’t even mentioned. One can easily surmise who Kang is, but it’s never definitively answered and thus open-ended. In comics, you better see a face on a body, or it could be anything.
Gotta love that chunky suit.
Credit: Marvel
While Bryan Hitch’s art is highly detailed and dynamic (does anyone do a close-up on a face as good as his?) I did find the battle unnecessarily long and uninteresting. Hundreds of unnamed characters rush into each other with their fists clenched in a dynamic way, but there’s no reason to care about any of them. Even The Maker is hard to root for or against since he’s mostly been absent with a brain injury. There’s been just enough focus on Howard to gather his heroic intentions, but even he hasn’t had enough time on the page to understand truly.
The ending isn’t too shocking, either. While it does set up the potential for a new Avengers, the reveal is a trope at Marvel we’ve seen so much it won’t delight or shock. It’s just there. That goes for Tony Stark’s role by the end. Sure, there are new dynamics to play with going forward, but there isn’t a lot here to sink your teeth into.
That includes a new twist on how America is run and the role Tony Stark plays going forward. Most of this series ends up serving as a soft start to the Ultimate universe and has mostly been unnamed characters throwing themselves into battle and dying quickly. There isn’t much drama or interest attached to that. It’s possible once the Ultimate Universe does get a proper launch this miniseries will matter more, but it’s hard to find buy-in when these characters are so new without context.
Ultimate Invasion #4 subtly gives us some tasty nuggets, but is mostly made up of uninteresting fight scenes. It falters as you haven’t had enough time to get to know most of the characters. Thus, it’s a series of events that could lead to some interesting developments in the Ultimate Universe, but not enough to call this miniseries truly special.
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