- Written by: Deniz Camp
- Art by: Terry & Rachel Dodson, Jonas Scharf
- Colors by: Fedrico Blee, Edgar Delgado
- Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
- Cover art by: Mark Brooks (cover A)
- Cover price: $5.99
- Release date: December 31, 2025
Ultimate Endgame #1, by Marvel, on 12/31/25, promises explosive consequences for The Maker’s long-anticipated return, but what emerges from the Dome is more confusing than game-changing.
First Impressions
The opening sequence grabbed immediate attention with a flashback depicting the Maker murdering King Zuras of the Eternals in a cold, calculated display of power. The premise felt weighty and consequential, setting the stage for a story about worlds colliding and certainty meeting chaos. But pretty quickly, the momentum scattered across too many subplots and locations, diluting the impact of what should have been a cohesive, driving narrative.
Plot Analysis
The comic opens with the Maker executing King Zuras in the Eternal City of Olympia, then immediately cuts to December 2025, just 30 minutes before the Dome that seals the Maker’s prison disappears. Iron Lad and his team of heroes are spread across the globe, coordinating a massive uprising against the Maker’s Council. Peter Parker reclaims Richard’s picotech suit from Tony Stark’s legacy technology and prepares to fight alongside the Ultimates, while simultaneously saying goodbye to a devastated MJ and worried family. Meanwhile, Doom and Reed Richards are outside the City with a plan to seize control once the Dome drops. Iron Lad broadcasts a final message to all Ultimates, rallying them as heroes no matter what comes next.
When the Dome opens, instead of the Maker stepping out victoriously, something strange happens. A massive dust storm blankets the area, followed by the shocking revelation that the Dome slams back shut with the Ultimates inside. The team initially believes Howard Stark (Peter’s father) has reactivated it from within, buying them time, but the math doesn’t quite add up. Heroes and villains alike cross the threshold, entering the City to discover Children of Tomorrow, genetically engineered super soldiers waiting to defend their maker. Combat erupts immediately, and Tony gets hit hard, his situation becoming dire.
In the middle of the chaos, a mysterious figure emerges from the dust. Peter mistakes him for Howard Stark returning to save the day, but the reveal is someone else entirely. A Death’s Head cyborg appears, speaking in a broken accent and helping the heroes escape through a dimensional tear, while repeatedly mentioning something called the “Immortus Engine” that isn’t working. The issue ends with the network down, the situation worse than anyone anticipated, and a lot of unanswered questions hanging in the air. The final page reveals what happened to The Maker, and it’s not what you think.
Writing
Deniz Camp’s dialogue carries weight in the character moments, especially the farewell between Peter and MJ, where you feel the genuine tension of sacrifice. But the pacing is severely compromised by jumping between too many locations and perspectives simultaneously. The Maker’s opening scene ends abruptly after one page, then the story cuts to 30 minutes before his return, diluting the impact of that shocking moment. By the time you reach the actual opening of the Dome, the energy has been spread so thin across subplots that the main event lands without the punch it deserves. The structure works against the narrative rather than for it. The script tries to juggle global uprisings, family goodbyes, a secret plan, and the Maker’s return all in one issue, and none of it gets the breathing room it needs.
Art
The Dodsons’ artwork outside the Dome shows clean line work and decent action composition, but the rush is visible in the roughness of certain panels. Characters sometimes lack the sharp detail they should have at this scale, and some scenes feel hurried, particularly in the dialogue-heavy moments where faces could use more expression. Jonas Scharf’s work inside the Dome is more visually interesting, with better use of dynamic angles and clearer spatial relationships. The color work by both Federico Blee and Edgar Delgado maintains mood well, especially the sickly greens and yellows of the corrupted City, but the inconsistency between the two art teams creates a jarring tonal shift that undermines the visual momentum of the story.
Character Development
Peter Parker’s journey in this issue is emotionally grounded. His reluctance to leave his family, contrasted with his sense of responsibility, makes his character arc feel earned. MJ’s reaction brings real weight to his sacrifice. Iron Lad continues to show the burden of leadership, making impossible calls and rallying people even when he admits uncertainty. These moments work because they’re rooted in genuine conflict. But the sheer number of characters on screen means most of them get nothing to do, turning established heroes into background voices. This dilutes the potential for meaningful character beats that could have elevated the emotional stakes.
Originality & Concept Execution
The concept of a global uprising coordinated across multiple simultaneous fronts is fresh and ambitious. The idea that the Maker’s own return would backfire in unexpected ways had potential. But the execution stumbles when the big reveal, the thing readers waited years for, amounts to a cryptic figure saying broken sentences and gesturing vaguely. There’s no clarity to what happened, why the Dome returned, or who this mystery person actually is. The story promises a defining moment and instead delivers confusion wrapped in visual noise. That’s not mystery, that’s poor pacing disguised as cliffhanger.
Positives
The emotional beats between Peter and his family, particularly with MJ, carry genuine weight and justify the personal stakes of his decision to fight. The global scope of the uprising feels epic without being ungrounded, and the writing convinces you that this movement is real and has momentum. The first page with the Maker and King Zuras establishes clear, brutal stakes about what kind of threat the heroes are facing. When the script focuses on character choices and relationships rather than plot mechanics, it genuinely resonates.
Negatives
The rushed artwork from the Dodson team outside the Dome undercuts the tension in crucial moments. Lines lack the precision you’d expect from artists of their caliber, and character expressions sometimes blur together into indistinct faces. More critically, the Dome’s return and the reveal of the mystery figure are supposed to be the issue’s defining moments, but they land as incomprehensibly weird rather than dramatically satisfying. After months of buildup about the Maker’s return, the story opts for cryptic confusion instead of a clear, impactful moment. The pacing spreads the narrative so thin across multiple locations that nothing hits with the force it deserves. You finish this issue asking more questions than you’re satisfied answering, and not in a good way. The spread-too-thin approach means the Maker’s actual return barely registers as a moment at all.
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
The Scorecard
Writing Quality (Clarity & Pacing): [2/4]
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): [2/4]
Value (Originality & Entertainment): [1/2]
Final Verdict
Ultimate Endgame #1 is a comic that mistakes ambition for execution. The premise of coordinating a global uprising while the Maker returns has real potential, and the personal stakes for Spider-Man land emotionally. But the issue squanders its biggest moment by delivering a cryptic, confusing non-answer when readers needed clarity and impact. The rushed artwork from the Dodsons underscores the feeling of a comic that didn’t have time to breathe or think. Unless you’re completely caught up on the Ultimate line and prepared to wait for next month’s answers, this issue asks you to pay five dollars ninety-nine cents for the privilege of being confused. It’s ambitious, sure, but ambition without execution just leaves you frustrated.
5/10
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
Connect With Us Here: Weird Science DC Comics / Weird Science Marvel Comics
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.
Weird Science Marvel Comics 