Corruption, Espionage, and Superpowers: The Political Epic of Deniz Camp’s The Ultimates

Only two issues into The Ultimates (2024), readers are met with a jarring image: Captain America, the very personification of American ideals and patriotism, walking away from a burning White House. In his arms, he holds a young girl exhausted by the government’s exploitation of her power, now free from providing energy for what’s left of the country. When asked her name, she responds simply: “America.” This is just one of many incredible moments throughout Deniz Camp’s run of The Ultimates, a comic providing not just an entertaining superhero story, but a poignant commentary on the societal and political state of modern-day America.

Marvel Comics’ newest iteration of their “Ultimate Universe” is an alternate reality in which the brand’s core heroes never gained their superpowers. Instead, their futures were manipulated by the Maker–a jaded, egotistical, and omnipotent version of Reed Richards–changing the circumstances of their origins (for example, Richards squashes the radioactive spider on Peter Parker’s back). The Ultimates depicts an expanding team of the world’s remaining heroes who, upon discovering this, attempt to return these powers to their rightful recipients. In the midst of other stellar titles like Jonathan Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) and Chris Condon’s Ultimate Wolverine (2025), The Ultimates has cemented itself as the Ultimate Universe’s standout title; a constantly-engaging superhero story turned political drama.

The Ultimates is a perfectly self-contained story that thrives when at its most political. In their attempts to overthrow the Maker and his council, an all-powerful oligarchy capable of controlling public opinion, the Ultimates are quickly labeled as terrorists in order to nullify their influence and keep the council’s control of public opinion. Superheroes are born not from mere coincidence but as consequences of abuses of power. (For example, She-Hulk’s island serves as a nuclear testing ground, spurring her gamma-fueled transformation.) While the series is still filled with over-the-top villains like Captain Britain or the “Immortal Weapons of the Hulk,” they represent real-world issues as they serve systems like a corrupt oligarchy of billionaires or weapon- manufacturing corporations. The Ultimates elevates the comics that came before it by grounding them in our modern political climate, reinvigorating superhero stories with the hopefulness they were originally made to inspire.

While powerful on its own, The Ultimates is also infinitely rewarding for fans of both the stories behind The Ultimates’ characters and the larger Ultimate Universe. Deniz Camp understands that the majority of his audience has a pre-existing connection to his characters and their lore, and he uses this to strategically reverse the status quo and elevate his characters’ stories. A tragic example is his portrayal of this universe’s Reed Richards, whose origin story is marked with loss instead of rebirth. When he is given a look at the story of his heroic counterpart, Richards is gutted by the loss of a life and family he could’ve had and dedicates his life to rebuilding a Fantastic Four that he cannot (but should) be a part of. Instead of hiding from these characters’ decade-long histories, Camp faces them head-on by giving his portrayals a glimpse of the stories his readers have come to know, forcing his characters to either accept or reject these lost potentials. Heroes are born from seeing their possible futures, weighing their potentials for greatness and pain and choosing to fight despite the struggle. As Janet Van Dyne asks in Issue #19, “What would you sacrifice for what you believe?”

Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention Juan Frigeri’s stellar art, which perfectly compliments the

intensity and excitement of Camp’s writing. Frigeri understands that the Ultimates are a superhero team built

for the modern day and demonstrates this in each of his designs. The Wasp, for example, has a new sleek, tech-

heavy suit, yet still carries the bright yellow and black of her insect counterpart. While modernizing each character, Frigeri is still able to keep their bright, fun essences, a task which many of Marvel’s film adaptations have failed at. Keeping with Camp’s references to characters’ pasts, Frigeri includes numerous visual references to iconic Marvel covers/panels. For instance, when Clint Barton denies Tony Stark’s offer to become Hawkeye, Frigeri portrays him walking away from the Hawkeye suit in a trash can, a loving recreation of Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #50’s iconic “Spider-Man No More” panel. While Camp’s writing is incredible, it’d be incomplete without Frigeri’s breath-taking art.

As the Ultimate Universe reaches its end this year with Camp’s event series Ultimate

Endgame (2025), it is clear that the story of The Ultimates is the Universe’s utmost

priority. While the alternate reality concept is used well in Marvel’s other offerings, Camp’s writing uses its potential pitfalls–the influence of pre-existing stories–as fuel for impactful storytelling, using experienced readers’ knowledge to inform character arcs while simultaneously providing an engaging story for new readers. As time runs out for the Ultimates and their world, I have no doubt that Camp will stick the landing.

Rating: INDY

---

Maxine Messina is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, planning on studying psychology and music. When she’s not being radicalized by comic books, she’s usually busy being radicalized by TV shows or music instead.