ULTIMATE HAWKEYE #1 Review

Written by: Taboo, B. Earl, Deniz Camp
Art by: Juan Frigeri, Michael Sta. Maria
Colors by: Federico Blee, Alex Sinclair
Letters by: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover art by: R.B. Silva, David Curiel (cover A)
Cover price: $5.99
Release date: September 24, 2025

Ultimate Hawkeye #1, by Marvel on 9/24/25, launches Charli Ramsey into a labyrinth of violence and betrayal when a their assassination campaign against Roxxon yields deadly consequences.

[Author’s Note: If you’re wondering what’s going on with the pronoun confusion below, it’s because the comic goes out of its way to intentionally make Charli’s pronouns ambiguous without making a formal declaration. Better to err on the side of caution.]

First Impressions

This comic book opens with the promise of a high-stakes thriller but trades suspense for a dizzying obstacle course of unlikely set pieces. Every page looks stunning, yet the story seems to have left its logic behind in the weapons locker. Reading it feels like watching a colorful car crash that no one bothered to explain.

Plot Analysis

The story begins with arms dealer Ulysses Klaue nervously monitoring his ADAPToid security system, only to be assassinated by a precision-guided arrow. Charli Ramsey, the new Hawkeye, is introduced as a reluctant recruit drawn into the clandestine battle against the Makers Council after the disappearance of the original Hawkeye. Charli infiltrates an illicit gathering, but things spiral out of control as she/he/they blunders into a deadly “trial by puzzle,” dodging traps and making impossible choices about hammers, rulers, and spiritual riddles.

Instead of a slick infiltration, Hawkeye finds herself/himself/themself ensnared in a sadistic maze reminiscent of a reality-show fever dream, culminating in a brutal showdown with a character called Ronin. Hostages, threats, and a family held at gunpoint: the story escalates with each turn, but the “twists” pile up faster than they make sense. As Charli battles Ronin, the narrative leans on violence and spectacle, peppered with tortured references to poetry and ancestral trauma.

At the climax, Hawkeye is forced to choose between killing or being killed—her/his/their every move manipulated by Roxxon’s puppet masters, who orchestrate this circus of pain for their own twisted amusement. After a fight full of broken fingers, blinding tricks, and emotional flashbacks, she/he/they refuses to kill Ronin. The hosts, unimpressed, decide the right to the “Ronin” title is hers/his/theirs, provided she/he/they obeys their threats.

The comic closes with Charli battered, traumatized, and vowing revenge, clarifying nothing about her/his/their rivals, future, or what any of this was supposed to accomplish. A single bow remains unstrung: was it all worth it?

Writing

Taboo and B. Earl’s writing tries to juggle stakes, action, and pathos but ends up dropping everything at once. Dialogue ping-pongs from campy to melodramatic, characters’ motivations switch on a dime, and the story is powered by rules that seem made up just to keep the plot moving. The issue is stacked with cryptic riddles, poetry fragments, and arbitrary tests, yet not a single twist lands with any emotional weight. It’s just chaos in purple tights.

Art

Michael Sta. Maria’s art and Alex Sinclair’s colors are the sole saving graces here. Every page bursts with detail and mood: sweaty tension in the opening, stylish shadow during the trials, electrifying action in the fight sequences. Characters leap from the panels, the costumes look fantastic, and every setting pops enough to make the eye linger. The story might be throwaway, but the visuals are the sort that make a reader want to tear out pages and nail them to the wall.

Characters

Charli Ramsey is introduced with a hint of psychological depth—her/his/their complicated family life and poetic quirks, but she/he/they mostly reacts rather than acts, and her/his/their choices are so arbitrary they’re hard to care about. The villains are evil for evil’s sake, spouting threats with the subtlety of a cartoon alligator, and Ronin exists solely to get punched and scowl. Everyone’s a prop, nobody’s a person.

Positives

The comic’s art is nothing short of outstanding. Every page pulses with energy, creative layouts, and vivid color, dragging the reader’s eye along even when the story loses coherence. Frigeri’s pencils, combined with Sinclair’s striking palette, deliver dynamic action scenes and lush cityscapes that are genuinely worth admiring. If comics were scored solely by spectacle, this one would vault effortlessly to the top.

Negatives

The plot is a patchwork of forced set pieces, each less plausible than the last. “Choose the weapon or the ruler”? “Pick a color on the Medicine Wheel”? The contrived obstacles and wild tonal swerves make it impossible to care about the stakes or the outcome. Characters barely develop, their decisions make no sense, and any emotional arc collapses under the weight of manufactured nonsense. It tries to be clever and lands squarely in the absurd.

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

Final Thoughts

Ultimate Hawkeye #1 is a visual knockout chained to a plot that reads like a fever dream at three in the morning. Readers coming for the action will find plenty to stare at, but anyone searching for meaning, coherence, or character will leave with their hands empty and their heads spinning. Put simply: high art, low sense, and a wasted shot at greatness.

5/10

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