In the aftermath of what took place in the Ultimate Universe: One Year In one-shot we are getting the debut of Ultimate Wolverine. Wolverine is making his Ultimate Universe debut with a secondary codename of Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier Wolverine new Ultimate Universe origin has him working as an operative for the Rasputin Family, the current rulers of the Eurasian Republic. What will the deployment of Ultimate Wolverine mean? Let’s find out with the debut issue.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Christopher Condon
Artist: Alessandro Cappuccio
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Cory Petit
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE #1 SOLICITATION
“THE MAKER’S ULTIMATE WEAPON! From rising star Chris Condon (That Texas Blood) and MOON KNIGHT powerhouse artist Alessandro Cappuccio comes the story of the ULTIMATE WOLVERINE!
In order to maintain control of their corner of the Maker’s world, three members of his council – Magik, Colossus and Omega Red – deploy their most lethal asset: The Winter Soldier! But WHO is the weapon behind the mask?” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
More than any other debut for the Earth-6160 titles Ultimate Wolverine #1 gives us so much backstory and not enough. The latter of which comes from the fact that the details about the Ultimate Universe version of Wolverine and mutants as a whole makes you want to know more. It is a feeling about the history of this version of the Ultimate Universe that made reading this entire first issue so exciting.
Christopher Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio nail making this debut issue act as both Ultimate Wolverine’s origin story and pushing the Ultimate Universe’s mutants narrative forward. It is a delicate balance with both the flashbacks to Wolverine’s origin and present-day events each complement one another. This is all done in that makes you really feel like a third party who can do nothing but experience what is going on. Tapping into that feeling creates a greater connection to what ends up happening with every character that appears here.
And certainly Condon and Cappuccio knew what they were doing in their character selection. Along with the obvious cast members in Wolverine, Magik, Colossus and Omega Red we also get the Ultimate Universe versions of Nightcrawler and Mystique. Keeping the appearance of other mutants to this select few makes the scenes have a greater focus.
Especially when it comes to Nightcrawler and Mystique. As soon as you see Ultimate Wolverine confronting Nightcrawler and Mystique you can’t help but think of Logan’s Earth-616 connection to these characters. It is a connection that Condon really taps into when it comes to Nightcrawler. There is a clear close brotherhood that these two had in the past. Which makes Wolverine’s transformation into the Winter Soldier and the way he kills Nightcrawler even harder to witness.
This in turn gives even more weight to the revelation about Ultimate Wolverine’s backstory as a former member of The Opposition, a mutant rebel group opposing The Maker’s Council. Even though we don’t see what Wolverine’s history is that detail is enough to make the Rasputin Family turning Logan into their Winter Soldier an even more tragic story. Now one of The Opposition’s toughest members has been turned against them. This sets up a lot of possibilities for Wolverine’s battle against The Opposition members to have a lot of emotions behind it. That is something we already saw with how Nightcrawler reacts to having to fight his former brother-in-arms.
Through Ultimate Wolverine’s backstory we also get more details about the status quo of mutants in the Ultimate Universe. The mutants that have been able to escape The Maker’s Council grasp have formed an underground rebel group located in each region. This detail shows that the Ultimates are not the only thing the Maker’s Council are concerned about right now.
At the same time, mutants are the Council’s greatest weapon as they are experimenting on them. This has been seen in Ultimate X-Men and now Ultimate Wolverine shows the Rasputin Family have a Weapon X like facility they are running. A facility where they are trying to figure out how to get control of powerful mutants like a particular psychic. Given how it is phrased it looks like a key sub-plot will be building up this mystery telepath, who likely is Jean Grey or Charles Xavier. This could feed into what could become a key plot point for the big Ultimate Universe event that is being built this year.
Alessandro Cappuccio art style is the perfect fit for Ultimate Wolverine. Cappuccio captures the brutal approach the Winter Soldier Wolverine takes. Whether it is jumping out of a plane without a parachute to slicing through The Opposition forces, the brutality is felt. That same vibe is carried into the flashbacks that really make you feel for how the Rasputin’s transform Wolverine into their Winter Soldier.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There is no messing around as the story in Ultimate Wolverine #1 is very reflective of its series lead. The Ultimate Universe version of Wolverine is even more no nonsense than his mainstream counterpart. That attitude comes with a heavy backstory that works into the greater Ultimate Universe narrative that increases overall interest in Earth-6160. What is presented creates even greater investment for the Ultimate Universe and mutants place in it.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
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