Ultimate Wolverine #16 marks the conclusion of yet another Ultimate Universe series. Ultimate Wolverine has been a rollercoaster ride. At its best it competes with Ultimate Spider-Man as one of the more compelling titles in the publishing line. But then there are the issues that just land incredibly flat, even with big ideas behind it. With that in mind, let’s see if Ultimate Wolverine #16 can end this series on a high note.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Alessandro Cappuccio
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Travis Lanham
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE #16 SOLICITATION
“YEAR TWO OF THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE NEARS ITS END IN THE FINAL ISSUE OF ULTIMATE WOLVERINE!
Wolverine and Phoenix track Magik right into the demonic dimension of Limbo for an epic, devastating showdown! To escape Illyana’s realm of dark magic, a final sacrifice must be made, one that will lead directly into ULTIMATE ENDGAME #5!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
Ultimate Wolverine #16 is emblematic of the problems this series faced. It did everything it could to make Ultimate Magik and Colossus threats that needed to be taken out. But it is in the manner they are taken out that failed to land as a reward for the entire journey this series was. The ending for Ultimate Magik speaks to that as we are left with an ending that feels like a lot of content was cut in order to give this series an “ending.”
Ending That Falls Flat
After Ultimate Colossus and Magik took out The Opposition there was this feeling that the gloves were off. That was on top of all the mental and physical torture both Ultimate Jean Grey and Wolverine were put through. But for all the things we’ve seen these characters go through we were treated to an ending that felt tame.
A big thing there was the lack of any sort of punch to the Limbo rescue mission that Ultimate Wolverine and Jean Grey go on. There is zero connection to the characters that they save. Chris Condon couldn’t even bother to the characters be any X-Men fans are familiar with. Even when there was that opportunity to have Jubilee, Psylocke, Beast, etc. make their Ultimate Universe debuts here.
It all spoke to how it felt like Condon and the Ultimate Universe’s editorial were holding back because of Ultimate Endgame. They couldn’t go all out with this being an X-Men reference chance because things are saved for other place. It is something we saw impact the ending for Ultimate X-Men as well.
Ultimate Magik Goes Out Like a Punk
It does not help things that Ultimate Magik is taken out in one panel. After all the build up of how powerful and connected to the state of the Ultimate Universe she is not treated as someone of her stature. She is comes across as a nuisance that just needed to be taken out.
That is after we spend the opening getting more details about her origin story. Condon takes one last chance to help connect the reader to Ultimate Magik. All of that is for not as we see she is simply found in her sleep by Ultimate Wolverine. When he finally wakes her up Ultimate Wolverine simply kills Ultimate Magik with a stab through her stomach.
There was no big fight or Wolverine struggling to put an end to the last remaining person who tortured him. He just gets to walk up and finish the job of killing one of the members of The Maker’s Council. This not only hurts who Ultimate Magik ultimately was but also everything that has been built in this version of the Ultimate Universe. Specifically, with how much we were lead to believe The Maker’s Council was this incredible force.
Alessandro Cappuccio Artwork Carries
The only thing that ends up saving Ultimate Wolverine #16 from being a disastrous ending was Alessandro Cappuccio’s artwork. Cappuccio does everything possible to get over the serious stakes of what is going on. There is a strong tone set for how this is the final gamble that Ultimate Wolverine and Jean Grey are taking. This is even without having an actual big fight that happens in this issue.
And while Ultimate Magik’s backstory ends up falling flat, when it comes to the design it hits all the notes you want emotionally. You can see how much pain and struggle that Ultimate Colossus went through to save his sister. Ultimate Magik’s dark mode also looked great and made you wish we saw that version of the character in a final face off against Ultimate Wolverine.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ultimate Wolverine #16 is a disappointing ending for the series. For all the build up of Ultimate Wolverine, Jean Grey, and Magik’s characters we got an ending that felt completely rushed. That is best exemplified by the lackluster final confrontation between Ultimate Wolverine and Magik. When all is said and done this Ultimate Wolverine series lands as one that will be easy to forget because of this disappointing end.
Story Rating: 2 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 4.5 Night Girls out of 10
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