So, Wolverine broke time.
Massively. I won’t go into specifics in case you want to read the preceding crossover event where it happened, but in Age of Ultron we got rules set down in the Marvel Universe to answer the question of “Why don’t heroes just go back in time to fix everything?” A question that similarly was answered a little while before in DC by Flashpoint. Basically, that reality will cause a backlash when you try to mess with time.
While DC fractured into a new dystopian reality and then ultimately reformed with the New 52, Marvel didn’t quite go to those extremes, instead unleashing Galactus on an unsuspecting universe. In what would be its third major ending.
“There is no good nor bad, Rick Jones. There is just life and death.”
Cataclysm was more than just one book or one crossover story. It took more or less the structure of many modern events with a lead-in, a main event book, and a number of tie-in one-shots and mini-series. My main focus here is on the lead in series, Hunger, by Joshua Hale Fialkov, Leonard Kirk, Jesus Aburtov, and VC’s Cory Petit. And on the central event book, Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy, Jason Keith, and also Petit. Though you can see the full credits for all of the books below.
The lead-in series Hunger spins directly out of Age of Ultron and sets the stage for the broader conflict with Galactus. Fialkov, Kirk, Aburtov, and Petit deliver a cosmic epic in its own right. It spotlights Rick Jones and the Ultimate Silver Surfer, against the backdrop of the Kree/Chitauri War, as they realize that the 616 Galactus dwarfs the Gah Lak Tus swarm. It’s interesting how the prequel series largely deal with getting how the original Ultimate-specific methods of dealing with the swarm out of the way. Increasing the overall peril for Earth. Some gorgeous art from Kirk and Aburtov, with a really neat sequence for the crossing of Galactus from one universe to the next. As well as an emphasis here, and in the main event book, in Petit’s letters of the stylistic difference of mixed case and all caps between the characters from the two different universe.
Having Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley re-team for the main event book that works to end this chapter of the Ultimate universe feels fitting to me. Even if the Ultimates themselves were originally a Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch production, Bendis and Bagley kicked off the entire universe in Ultimate Spider-Man. We get multiversal shenanigans, heroes throwing themselves with reckless abandon at Galactus, and the destruction of New Jersey. My only real complaint is that it does kind of sidestep a lot of the previous upheaval from the broader Ultimate Comics line before this and does a half-assed approach to redeeming Reed Richards. That later kind of becomes an even weaker, maybe quarter-assed attempt in Ultimate FF. But I do think the quandary of wanting to stay alive does at least justify the actions in this series. And Bagley delivers a wonderfully ominous Galactus.
There are also three tie-in minis that deal with the other corners of the Ultimate universe. Largely they tie up loose ends for the second Nick Fury led Ultimates team, the X-Men, and set the stage for the All New Ultimates book spinning out of the previous volume of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. They add bits of flavour to the overall crossover, but aren’t necessarily integral to the main story.
“It’s not a Giant Man, it is an entity. This is an entity composed of cosmic-level energies.”
Like Ultimatum and Ultimate Doomsday before it, Cataclysm (as a whole by the fine folks mentioned below) didn’t conclusively put an end to the Ultimates universe, but it did mark another large turning point. The celebrity-obsessed, arguably cinematic side that inspired the MCU and the Avengers movie effectively came to an end here. It had kind of been shedding that identity for awhile, particularly after the death of Ultimate Peter Parker and the status quo upheaval of Jonathan Hickman’s influence.
And it largely ended the branding. While the universe continued on, the three books that came afterwards didn’t have a separate trade dress from the mainline Marvel Universe. Ultimate FF, Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man and All New Ultimates pretty much looked like any of the other books at the time. Continuing on for a couple more years before an ultimate end…
Classic Comic Compendium: CATACLYSM – THE ULTIMATES’ LAST STAND
Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand
Writers: Brian Michael Bendis & Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artists: Leonard Kirk, Mico Suayan, Mirco Pierfederici, Mark Bagley & Andrew Hennessy, David Marquez, Carmine Di Giandomenico & Lorenzo Ruggiero, Alvaro Martinez & John Lucas with Raul Fernandez, and Joe Quinones
Colourists: Jesus Aburtov, Nolan Woodard, Jason Keith, Justin Ponsor with Paul Mounts, Wil Quintana with Jim Charalampidis, Jordie Bellaire, and Rainier Beredo
Letterers: VC’s Cory Petit, Clayton Cowles, and Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics – Ultimate Comics
Release Date: May 28, 2014
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