• Written by: Deniz Camp
• Art by: Juan Frigeri
• Colors by: Federico Blee
• Letters by: VC’s Travis Lanham
• Cover art by: Dike Ruan, Neeraj Menon
• Cover price: $4.99
• Release date: January 1, 2025

The Ultimates #8, by Marvel Comics on 1/1/25, brings forth the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy from the 61st Century to rescue one of their own from the present.

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Is The Ultimates #8 Good?

Recap

When last we left Earth-6160’s Avengers in The Ultimates #7, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes took a break from acts of terrorism to reflect on their devastating loss against Bruce Banner. Steve Rogers and Jim Hammond grabbed a beer at a local bar. Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne attended the Memorial Ceremony while Father Matt Murdock gave a heavy-handed speech about hate. Hawkeye blew up a warehouse. America Chavez murdered a squad of police officers sent to coral protestors. Sif and Thor traveled to the nine realms to assemble an army to face All-Father Loki, and She-Hulk had a tense talk with Doom. The issue ended with confirmation that Tony Stark is not dead.

Plot Synopsis

The Ultimate Avengers, sans Doom and Iron Lad, head out to a cornfield in the middle of nowhere to intercept a temporal anomaly Doom detected a mere few hours ago. The team is suddenly witness to the hard landing of a time-traveling spaceship containing the Guardians of the Galaxy from the 61st Century.

The future Guardians have come to rescue America Chavez, who was a member of their team until recently when the future plans of the Maker destroyed all time like a cosmic tidal wave rippling forward through history. At the moment of the big bang, the Guardians were scattered, and it was only now that the Guardians managed to track America’s location.

Unfortunately, America doesn’t remember anyone because the Maker’s Council destroyed her memory during her captivity and experimentation. Who does she fail to remember?

Captain Marvel is yet another wielder of Nega-Bands and America’s former lover.

Star-Lord is a mystical wielder of reality-bending power that doesn’t have a name.

Ultimate Nullifier is an ultra-power mega-scientist whose gadgets are strong enough to defeat Mephisto with one shot.

Cosmo Starstalker is a psychic powerhouse and the last remaining dog after all canines ascended to a higher plane of existence.

After a brief tussle where the Ultimate Avengers are massively outmatched, Captain Marvel shares her mind with America to show her the love they shared and the memory of the adventures they endured together. Ultimately, America chooses to stay behind to fight with her new friends while the Guardians of the Galaxy from the 61st Century leave to find the remaining Guardians still lost in time.

First Impressions

That’s it?!? I’m sensing a pattern wherein writer Deniz Camp and writer Steve Orlando are on similar career tracks at Marvel. Steve Orlando’s contribution to the 2099 line is little more than a series of contrived, loosely connected one-shots, only designed to introduce 2099 variants of existing characters, fill shelf space, and proclaim the characters now exist. The 2099 comics are, in effect, issue-length trading cards written with about as much drama, depth, and impact as a 2.5-inch by 3.5-inch Pokemon card. Here, Deniz Camp appears to be following suit. The story is pointless and serves only to introduce a team, so adjust your purchasing intentions accordingly.

How’s the Art?

Juan Frigeri and Federico Blee’s artwork is pretty darn good. Frigeri’s character designs for the future Guardians of the Galaxy look interesting enough, and Captain Marvel’s recounting of the end of all things looks pretty grand in scale, albeit as a brief montage. You have to give Frigeri credit for inserting as much energy and dynamic movement as possible into a dialog-heavy issue because the visuals are more engaging than they have a right to be considering the script.

What’s great about The Ultimates #8?

If you’re looking for a silver lining, it’s the introduction of a potentially cool variant on a familiar team. This time, Deniz Camp adds in the time travelers from the future twist as an imaginative prop to explain how the Guardians could be so gosh-darned powerful. With this future team on their side, the Ultimate Avengers just may have a chance against the Maker ten months from now.

What’s not great about The Ultimates #8?

There are only so many language translations and English synonyms for the word ‘lazy’. In every variation, this issue, and the series as a whole, could be held up as the definition. Deniz Camp gives you a cool concept team but couldn’t be bothered to create any cohesion for a throughline to make their introduction matter beyond just a glorified cameo. Camp handwaves an excuse to have the team show up, he manufactures a threadbare excuse for tension, and then the team leaves to be called again at some later point. Why not just assemble an issue with single-page character profiles and be done with it? It would certainly be a lot cheaper since you could get an assistant editor or A.I. to write it and provide just as much value.

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About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Final Thoughts

The Ultimates #8 is nothing more than a flimsy excuse, much like Marvel’s 2099 line, to introduce a team of variant characters. Deniz Camp’s paper-thin plot succeeds in giving readers an oversized cameo introduction before the Guardian of the Galaxy from the 61st Century Galaxy disappears until they’re needed later, and Juan Frigeri’s art is a treat, albeit a wasted one.

5.5/10

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