Ultimate Universe: Two Years In is published by Marvel Comics under their Ultimate line. The one-shot is written by Deniz Camp and Alex Paknadel, with art by Patrick Boutin, Phil Noto, Francesco Manna, Lee Ferguson, Javier Pulido, Federico Blee, Guru-eFX, and Erick Arciniega, and lettering by Travis Lanham.
The one-shot follows the Ultimate Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy after meeting with America Chavez and learning the true order of everything and what was stolen from them, as they search different realities and time periods for Guardians that have been lost and disbanded by The Maker's grand design.
The story itself delves into heavy Marvel Cosmic territory, which I've always been a huge fan of, and with Deniz Camp behind the wheel, readers can expect the story to lean into heavy absurdity and abstract storytelling with equal amounts of heart to back it up. The story, whilst enjoyable, does feel extremely bittersweet and a little self-aware in moments, as while the protagonists of the story are trying to recover and save what was taken from them by The Maker, us readers who have kept up with comic book news are very aware of Marvel's intentions to end the Ultimate line next year, which gives this story a very meta-commentary that I think was part of the intention.
The Devil's In The Details
I really enjoyed the core cast, and while they were a twist on pre-established characters from the main Marvel universe, I found them all extremely unique and would have definitely loved a world in which they got their own ongoing titles. There seems like so much fertile ground for storytelling there. Unfortunately, though, I think this falls a little into the negatives of the book for me. As stated, the Ultimate universe is going to be ending in the next year, and it's very unlikely that we'll see any of these characters again after Ultimate Universe Endgame. I know this criticism can't really be reflected onto the one-shot itself, but as a reader, you can't help but get a bad taste in your mouth a little bit after reading it.
I thought it was really cool to feature a lesbian relationship as a core aspect of this book and Ultimate Captain Marvel's motivation. As typically Marvel and Disney have tried to shy away from controversy, I know the comic space holds more room for these stories traditionally, as it's a medium filled with queer and minority voices. However, it would have been very easy for Marvel to censor this out of fear of potential backlash. So, everyone who worked on this book has my appreciation.
The big talking point that I think most people are hyped about is Ultimate Daredevil, and I definitely think he lives up to the hype. This is a take on the character that really came out of left field, and nobody is going to expect it. I really don't want to talk too deeply about him as, again, much like the rest of this book, he's best experienced going into blind, but needless to say, it's a massive loss we're getting introduced to him now.
The rest of the core cast are all fun and inventive takes on past characters. I thought Ultimate Ultron in particular was a really inventive and unique take on two past characters, and their personal arc in the story was quite tragic but not necessarily nihilistic, but more hopeful. I was also quite ashamed by how long it took me to catch onto the obvious Star Lord/Madrox storyline.
How We Move Forward
Okay, the next paragraph is going to focus on spoiler territory for this one-shot, and I believe it would be in your best interests to read it before reading on. You can skip to the art section if you don't want to be spoiled.
So, Ultron's revelation, which makes for a big twist in the third act of this book, is that destruction and calamity are inevitable and that it's impossible to save and restore everything, which America Chavez previously believed. Thus, the Guardians should amend their mission statement to save and restore what they can. On the surface, I think this sounds very nihilistic, but on reflection, I think it can be read more as a hopeful and touching sentiment about how often times life is simply out of our control, and our time is better spent focusing on the aspects we can control and appreciating the memorable moments and people we meet along the way and what they meant to us. By only focusing on the bigger picture and getting tangled up in foolhardy goals, we're losing time and energy on the precious aspects of life.
My mother passed away fairly recently, so the ideas and themes in this book really resonated and spoke to me. In fact, it probably helped me process my grief a little bit. It's more of a personal statement, but I really want to thank everyone who worked on this book for that reason.
Again, this can be read as very meta to me, as if to say, "Yes, it's sad that what we built is ending, but what matters most is that it happened and created great stories and memorable moments.”
Artistic Narrative is Important. Talking About The Art
Now onto the art of the book, and as I mentioned in the credits section of this review, a lot of people worked on this book to make it happen. I think when you read the comic book, it's easy to see why, as the art is able to match the complex and sometimes surreal narrative. The core art throughout the book reminded me slightly of the mid-2010s Brian Michael Bendis era on the Guardians of the Galaxy title, which I think, aside from Dan Abnett's reinvention of the characters, is the most iconic run as it came out alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and was a lot of people's exposure to the team. I think I'm going to be heavily biased toward this art style for that reason, but I still think it's a great style.
I also feel like the tone and art styles for each encounter with a lost Guardian often feel appropriate and really add their own narrative commentary. The obvious example and highlight of this is the encounter with Ultimate Daredevil, in which Javier Pulido turns the book into an old-school retro pulp look for a few pages, which really highlights Ultimate DD's role as a metaphysical being who has control over reality and even sees him use the panels of the comic book to his advantage. I think this is the kind of narrative storytelling that is extremely special, and I wish more comic book creative teams did it.
The Final Verdict
In conclusion, this comic book is definitely bittersweet and can be viewed as a fleeting “what could have been”, but the creative team make the best with what they've got to tell a deep and truly poignant tale full of surprises that are destined to make any fan of Marvel Comics smile.