Ultimate Endgame #4 is a very heavy comic book. Following Peter Parker’s death at the hands of the Maker, Doom is despondent…and time is running out to stop the mad genius from emerging from the dome he’s trapped in. Outside the Dome, Captain America and the Ultimates are on the ropes, and even assistance from Black Panther and the X-Men is barely turning the tide. Hope is fleeting, and growing ever smaller.
Unlike most events, Ultimate Endgame feels like it’s earned its escalating stakes. Part of that is due to the ticking clock built into the concept of Earth-6160, but it’s also due to Deniz Camp’s skillful scripting. Throughout his run on The Ultimates, Camp has highlighted that the Ultimates, and by extension, the rest of the heroes on Earth-6160 are at war. And war almost always requires some kind of sacrifice. For the Black Panther, he’s willing to sacrifice some lives in order to save Wakanda and the rest of the world from the Maker’s grasp. For Captain America, it’s the status he has as an inspiration as he fights onto the bitter end. The war even extends to the mental scale, as Doom is haunted by visions of the Maker tormenting him.
Camp also manages to pay off long-running plot points seeded in his Ultimates run during Ultimate Endgame #4. The reason for Cap’s single-minded determination? He’s still reeling from the events of The Ultimates #22. A slim ray of hope comes from the Guardians of the Galaxy, who promised to help America Chavez in The Ultimates #8. If you’ve been reading The Ultimates or the rest of the Ultimate Universe, chances are that you’ll catch these shoutouts. But even if not, it still makes for a compelling read.
Marvel
As if to underscore the despair that’s encroaching on our heroes, Jonas Scharf cranks the body horror up to 11. Not only does the twisted stalk that is the Maker start to speak, but his body is still in full Carnage mode, shredding through flesh and bone like butter. Scharf’s work is matched by Terry and Rachel Dodson, who bring some surprisingly gruesome imagery to the page. The final moment is pure nightmare fuel, to the point where I want to ask the creative team how they pulled it off and what inspired such horror. Dodson and Edgar Delgado’s color art also sears said horror into your brain thanks to the bright, vibrant colors, which should feel like a total mismatch but actually work in the book’s favor.
Throughout Ultimate Endgame #4, the Maker rants about how he is the “author” of the heroes’ lives and how he’ll decide how their story ends. It’s the grand concept that has made the Ultimate Universe a must-read, writ large: will the story end as the Maker played it? Or can the heroes defy him to the very end? Whatever happens in the end, Ultimate Endgame #4 has delivered a penultimate issue that mixes horror and hope, with the end result serving as an unflinching look at the price of free will.
You must be logged in to post a comment.