Marvel is celebrating Pride Month with Wiccan & Hulkling: Raid of Ultron #1, an anthology comic in the Marvel Voices line. The extra-sized issue features queer creators telling a continuous story centered on Wiccan and Hulkling as they host a party at their home. Enter Ultron, who busts it up so as to increase its intelligence by integrating Vision and Viv into its mind. Told over four vignettes, it’s a one-shot more about family than anything else.
Wiccan & Hulkling: Raid of Ultron #1 opens with Wiccan and Hulkling getting ready for a party at their house. Written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Stephen Byrne, it’s a short four pages to set up the story. As openings go, Kennedy does a lot to set up the characters who will play a part in the next three stories, sharing pertinent info about them through dialogue. The general party hook and the way Wiccan and Scarlet Witch split into groups work quite well for this format. That way, each creative team can do its own thing, yet a sequential story still unfolds.
Kennedy and Byrne wrap up the entire story as well with a final two pages. Frankly, their chunk is so short that it doesn’t do as much as one would like, with a final Ultron fight condensed to a couple of panels.
It’s portal time!
Credit: Marvel
Tegan Quin, of Tegan and Sara fame, writes the next vignette with art by Luciano Vecchio. Focused on Speed and Wiccan, the story really pops with great art by Vecchio as the two discuss Wiccan’s marriage while walking around a grocery store set. The conversation is natural, and given that Speed is a bit of an annoying sibling, his constant questions make sense. Quin’s focus on marriage and the answers Wiccan gives help elevate the character and his relationship to a more believable, adult level, as we’ve seen before. They’re still young, but they’ve been together long enough that they’re growing.
Vecchio’s style and detail never falter, with an incredible early layout featuring Ultron drones rushing our heroes, and both making short work of them. There’s something about Vecchio’s colors and linework that makes energy effects like Speed’s speedlines and Wiccan’s magic that practically makes it come off the page.
Next up is Zoe Tunnell and Rachel Stott in “En Garde,” which focuses on Hulkling and Phyla-vell fighting in a fantasy-style location. The conversation between the two focuses on Hulkling’s worry of getting bored in his marriage, which pairs nicely with Quin’s focus. Along for a telepathic ride is Moondragon, Phyla-Vell’s girlfriend, which adds a nice additional element. Tunnell adds a nice injection of humor thanks to our heroes barely caring about Ultron’s threats and attacks.
Stott does a fantastic job with the art, keeping the action intense and varied while mixing things up with a sword fight. There are also some great expressions, like Hulkling rolling his eyes and Phyla-Vell giving looks behind her glasses.
Josh Trujillo and Bradley Clayton take up the final story with Vision and Viv fighting Ultron and his sister in the Sanctum Santorum. This story also has a bit of humor, thanks to the ridiculous outfits the Ultrons are wearing. Mixed in with the cool Ultron designs and action is a serious conversation about Viv’s uncertainty about telling her father about her girlfriend.
Closing out this issue is an interview with Tegan and Sara by Angelique Roche. The focus is less about the comic, although it does come up. Surprisingly, Roche leaves Sara admitting she hadn’t read Tegan’s story yet, but that’s just a testament to the interview’s genuineness.
As far as gripes go, the overall read is surprisingly more about family connection than queer themes. There’s also very little romance, so some Wiccan and Hulkling fans might feel let down by that.
Wiccan & Hulkling: Raid of Ultron #1 succeeds most as a heartfelt anthology about relationships, family, and personal growth wrapped in superhero chaos. The oversized issue smartly uses its rotating creative teams to explore different corners of Marvel’s queer cast while maintaining a cohesive throughline centered on connection and commitment. While the Ultron conflict occasionally feels compressed and some readers may want more romance from its headline couple, the emotional honesty and standout artwork make this a strong Pride Month special.
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