The Ultimates has been my favorite book for a long time, but I hadn’t been able to follow it issue by issue or give it the attention it deserves. Now that I finally have, here’s a summary to get you caught up.
First, Deniz Camp is an absolute gem. His ability to ground deeply human stories in a medium that often leans into the cartoonish is refreshing and at times downright electrifying. The Ultimate Universe has always been described as a critique of the world “right outside our window,” and Camp pulls no punches. His Ultimates reads like a running list of the problems plaguing modern society such as shadowy government forces, freedom fighters labeled as terrorists, and propaganda used to keep the public complacent.
What makes this take stand out is that, unlike the original line, this isn’t a traditional team book. The Ultimates are a movement. Not a handful of unstoppable heavy-hitters, but a collective built on the idea that ordinary people hold the power to spark liberation or more importantly, revolution.
The Ultimates So Far
The early issues follow Iron Lad (Tony Stark), Doom (Reed Richards), Sif, and Thor as they attempt to build a superpowered army capable of overthrowing the Maker, who remains sealed inside his technological fortress known as The City. Tony previously tried empowering would-be heroes with catalyst boxes, which ended in disaster, so the team shifts to a more personal approach. They recruit a thawed-out Captain America, Ant-Man, the Wasp, She-Hulk, the Human Torch, America Chavez, and a new Hawkeye. They quickly realize this world’s rot is too deep. This isn’t a threat you can punch into submission. It is systematic, calculated, and cruel, and one big splash-page showdown won’t turn the tide.
Inside the group, tension builds. Should the Ultimates be a symbolic movement or an actual army? Doom pushes for structure and strategy while Iron Lad leans into grassroots uprising and empowerment. Meanwhile, one of the book’s most compelling threads is Doom’s unraveling psyche. After years of torture at the hands of the Maker, he is becoming increasingly pragmatic, secretive, and unstable. Has the Maker finally broken this version of Reed Richards? Or is there still a hero buried beneath all that damage?
One thing is clear. The Ultimates aren’t fighting a simple war. They are fighting an ideological one, and time is running out.
Ultimates #18 And The Call To Action
The political pressure cooker of the Ultimate Universe finally explodes in Ultimates #18. Writer Deniz Camp and artist Juan Frigeri deliver a spectacular, world-changing moment that sets the entire world on its ear. The issue centers on Tony Stark hijacking the global airwaves, and broadcasting a direct message that exposes the shadowy powers controlling the planet. As Tony's speech plays out, Camp and Frigeri unleash a revolutionary montage of The Ultimates' members initiating crucial, coordinated actions across the globe. The issue culminates with Tony's powerful, final demand for people to RISE UP against their oppressors, a rallying cry that instantly sparks massive, chaotic resistance. The revolution has begun.
Are You With Us or Against Us?
The issue immediately pays off the promise of the broadcast, diving right into Tony Stark's public address while showing its global effect. Tony uses the airwaves to directly expose The Maker and his cabal, laying out their devious plans to keep the world under their boot. He clearly explains who The Ultimates are, what they've done across the globe, and firmly states that those currently in power do not have the public's best interest at heart.
As Tony speaks, the creators provide a phenomenal revolutionary montage, demonstrating the synchronized strikes by the team. We see Captain America taking out the country’s electrical grid, initiating large-scale systemic disruption. Other team members are visible in various locations, distributing medicine and aid. Crucially, Luke Cage is featured leading a charge of reformed inmates against their jailers, a powerful symbol of liberation from the prison system itself.
The reaction to the speech is instant and global. However, not everyone is moved: Wasp's minimal reaction is a chilling visual note, confirming her secretive alliance with HAND and Nick Fury and signaling that the heroes are far from unified. The issue culminates with Tony's demand for people to RISE UP, a call instantly answered by the chaotic, successful riot tearing through Times Square.
The Perfect Way To Fight An Imperfect World
Tony Stark's emphatic message serves as the ultimate escalation of the war he's been fighting against genuine oppression. Tony is not a puppet master; he is a revolutionary leader who, having exhausted all covert options, gives the public the one tool they need: the truth. His command to RISE UP is the moral compass of the entire series, necessitated by the depth of the corruption he exposes.
The Ultimates’ synchronized actions emphasize that their target is not a singular villain, but the entire corrupt system. By taking down the electrical grid, they prove the fragility of the powers that control daily life. Most powerfully, Luke Cage’s moment leading the inmates against their jailers transforms their mission into a global statement about liberation and equity: breaking chains and dismantling the systemic oppression inherent in the prison system.
The biggest dramatic tension is the rot within the team itself. Wasp’s detached, minimal reaction during Tony’s impassioned speech is a chilling counterpoint to the global fervor. Her coldness confirms her alliance with the secretive HAND and Nick Fury, making her a time bomb within the revolution. This internal betrayal ensures that the subsequent revolution will not follow Tony Stark’s righteous script. The riot, while successful, highlights the unpredictable volatility inherent in any revolution, regardless of how morally sound its origins are.
The Art of War
Juan Frigeri’s art is absolutely crucial here, successfully selling both the spectacle and the chaotic success of the uprising. The art doesn't just show the revolution; it makes you feel its force. The opening global montage is perfectly executed, contrasting the high-level strategy of Tony’s televised speech with the boots-on-the-ground reality of revolution. This includes the dark, silent power grid falling and the rush of inmates.
The true visual climax, however, is the Times Square riot. Frigeri uses the iconic, dense backdrop of the city to show the instant collapse of order. The art highlights the terrifying confrontation between the ordinary, rising civilians driven by sudden truth and fury and the cold, organized lines of the police in riot gear. This visual contrast is everything: the angry, organic mass of the liberated public crashing against the static, armored attempt at control. Frigeri makes The Ultimates feel less like a superhero team and more like a necessary, unstoppable force of nature that has successfully unleashed pure societal energy, whether they can control the ultimate outcome or not. The scene serves as a twisted mirror to life in America, where armed forces have been deployed to several “problematic” cities, especially those who have protested the actions of the government.
Conclusion & Verdict
Ultimates #18 feels like the final click you hear on a roller coaster before the cart comes barreling down. Camp finally cashes in all the tension he’s been stacking, and the result is a high-stakes eruption that hits with purpose. You can really see what Deniz Camp believes about evil. It isn’t some mustache-twirling villain. It’s systemic. It’s institutional. It lives in the open as the exploitation of the many by the powerful. In that world, someone like Tony Stark doesn’t just become a hero. He becomes a revolutionary armed with the only weapon that can actually topple these systems: the truth.
The problem is that revolutions aren’t clean. They’re righteous, they’re necessary, and they’re always messy. Betrayal and chaos aren’t exceptions. They’re the cost.
Tony’s broadcast is a full-throated call to action, a truth bomb detonated across the globe that forces everyday people to look their oppressors in the eye. The power of this issue comes from the contrast between Tony’s moral clarity and the world’s immediate descent into upheaval. The global montage and the chaos in Times Square make one thing clear: Tony won the battle for the public’s mind. But the Wasp’s quiet, unnerving distance hangs over everything like a blade, a reminder that the next act of this war is going to be fought from the inside.
This is a moment of real liberation, but one that promises even darker storms on the horizon. Ultimates #18 is political spectacle done right, a justified escalation that lands like a seismic shift. It’s easily one of the most defining and consequential moments in the Ultimate Universe yet.
Verdict: 8/10