Review:Ultimate Origins #1

“It’s all connected,” Bruce Banner tells Spider-Man at the beginning of “Ultimate Origins.” “And they don’t want you to know.”

This scene, from early in “Ultimate Marvel Team-Up,” represented here by the team of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Butch Guice, opens the miniseries that Marvel promises will answer all kinds of questions about the Ultimate universe.

The scene then flashes back to World War II, where one super soldier project fails, and a year later, another is born. The origins of Ultimate Nick Fury and Ultimate Wolverine are revealed, as the connectivity Banner told Spider-Man about begins to be revealed.

I had lost interest in a lot of the Ultimate universe goings-on of late, but “Ultimate Origins” packed a lot of story, revelations, and nice art into one issue. While more is to come, “Ultimate Origins” #1 is a satisfying read in and of itself that sets up future issues of the series. The entire thing leads into the upcoming “Ultimatum” storyline.

– Matt Price