Ultimate Wolverine #11: You Dropped a Bomb On Me

For the first time in a while, something substantial has happened in the pages of Ultimate Wolverine, but it proves to be a bit of a double edged sword. 

I believe I’ve said it before, but Ultimate Wolverine’s biggest problem since it’s sixth issue is the underdevelopment of it’s supporting cast, specifically “the Opposition”. While it’s true that most Wolverine books usually focus on only him, Ultimate does something slightly different where it not only gives the audience this universe’s version of the character, but also an entire supporting cast to work with. 

While the Eurasian Republic’s rulers, the Rasputins, get development both in here and other separate Ultimate titles, the same cannot be said for the Opposition outside of Sabretooth, who only appear in this book specifically. As a result over half of the comic’s cast ends up feeling rather flat. I assume that this issue is also due to the limited amount of time the new Ultimate Universe has as well. It’s hard to develop characters that will only be around for roughly a year, but there still should be some time allotted to explore. By the end of this issue, half of the cast is gone but what is supposed to feel like this huge dramatic moment falls flat given the Opposition’s lack of meaningful development. 

Chris Condon handles the events in the story well enough, but the lack of meaningful interactions between the characters leading up to the issue’s dramatic climax makes it feel more like shock value than something we should feel bad about.There are a couple of other interesting developments, but they also feel a bit rushed.  

Alessandro Cappucio’s pencils still do their work, but outside of a couple very well drawn scenes, they do little to elevate the overall story.