Ultimate Wolverine #1: The Weapon X Legacy

In an era of a massive volume of stories to read, watch, listen, and think about, it takes substantial work to break through the noise of everything around. It’s not necessary enough to tell a fine western, murder mystery, or romance. There needs to be an elevation of the premise, a refinement of the genre scaffolds, or even a formal technique reinvention to enthrall audiences that get more sophisticated as they continue to engage and experience. For Marvel comics, the recent breakthroughs have been the new Ultimate universe titles, thanks to clear visions, strong talent, and a sense of cohesion lacking in the main line. It should then come as no surprise that the newest addition to the imprint would also claw its way through. 

Ultimate Wolverine #1 – written by Chris Condon with art from Alessandro Cappuccio, colors by Bryan Valenza, and lettering from VC’s Cory Petit – kicks off the second wave of the new Ultimate universe with a vicious espionage story. More information is given about the Eurasian Coalition run by Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red, before dropping the Ultimate Winter Soldier into a combat mission. This version of the Russian assassin is none other than Logan, captured at a previous time and mentally reprogrammed to serve as a weapon of the Rasputins. 

The large Coalition is home to a bulk of mutants in this universe, (seemingly separate as of now from the Children of the Atom mutants seen in Ultimate X-Men) using the powered beings as extensions of the state. Standing against the ruling class is The Opposition, an organization of mutants fighting for their freedom. The two representatives of the resistance in this issue are Mystique and Nightcrawler, in garbs pretty typical of their standard characterization. Kurt is dressed in the vestments of a priest while Mystique looks appropriately armed as a militia fighter. Even with a teased history, the Winter Soldier brutally battles the duo, following his programming to the letter. 

Condon’s script is a cohesive tapestry of past and present, weaving the fractured threads of the Winter Soldier’s conversion from mutant to weapon with the assault on the Opposition hideout. It’s an effective skeleton to hang the debut issue on (not counting the short story in Ultimate Universe: One Year In), offering both the similarities and differences of this Wolverine all at once. The feral man caught in a cycle of violence against his own agency is clear and present, even as Logan is wrapped in a new costume and muzzle. 

That structure also allows Condon to burrow straight into the core of this story and the defining feature of Logan that is twisted by the Maker: survivor. Repeatedly emphasized by Dr. Prostovich, the scientist running Directorate X who warped Logan into a killing machine, the survivor is the single characteristic that sets him apart from all other mutants. Condon wastes no time in laying out the narrative thesis of this series, indicating what may ultimately (no pun intended) be Logan’s saving grace and his greatest albatross. 

Another key strength of this issue is the new vein of genre that Condon is tapping into for the Ultimate universe. Instead of the epic, sweeping worldbuilding of Ultimate Black Panther or the body horror coming-of-age tale unfolding in Ultimate X-Men, Condon dives straight into an espionage story that feels akin to a work like Bourne. There’s an elevation of the pure pulp sensibilities seen in previous works within the genre, blending that Bourne touchstone with a bit of the essence from Barry Windsor-Smith’s ‘Weapon X’ storyline and a dash of the Frank Miller utility in the writing. 

Resulting from that alchemy is a strong debut that functions with excellent precision and could play silently, thanks to the harmonious artwork from Cappuccio and Valenza. Implicit in the storytelling is the trust between creators as Condon knows when to cede the microphone to Cappuccio’s visual storytelling (which sharpened over the multi-volume spanning Moon Knight). There’s a sense of confidence in the artwork that tempers the book, resulting in a declarative statement. Cappuccio knows the stylistic approach and delineation in tone that ensures that this issue feels unique to the series, rather than falling into step with his work on Moon Knight. 

That confidence comes from the beautiful rendering of the shadowy figures and awe-inspiring natural expanses. Cappuccio brings a new sense of scale and an enthralling picturesque approach to landscapes that offer only a mission to the Winter Soldier. These settings allow for an expansion of Cappuccio’s panel compositions, playing in wider, more cinematic layouts. Blowing out those panels offers a new perspective to the artwork and melds well with the elevated genre storytelling apparent in Condon’s script. 

Cappuccio is also given more reign to depict the action thanks to that genre-shifting, taking advantage of the mutant characters to add new flares to the artwork. Mystique’s shapeshifting and Kurt’s teleportation feel like natural touchpoints for Cappuccio’s exaggerated style, giving an air of swashbuckling action and primal fear in the sequence. Even with these more complex elements, Cappuccio remains an ingenious action choreographer, maintaining intense clarity while playing up the shadows, smoke, and muzzle flashes for the atmosphere. 

Even in the flashback beats, Cappuccio gets to do something different by playing up some of the body horror elements of the spy genre, with mental and bodily experimentations. Those moments are drenched in shadow and lack depth in expressions that strip any sense of humanity from the Rasputins and the Dr, resulting in them feeling cold and clinical to the point of inhumanity. Layered in these scenes is a lack of blocking of the characters in the same physical space, always separating Logan via the reflections of his stasis tube or the glass pane of an observation room. 

Cappuccio could draw them as aliens and it would be the same level of disconnect on an emotional level, which hammers home the twisted reality of this universe. What chills even more is the fact that they are human-like (well, mutant, technically) but hold that deep capacity to inflict pain. A well-placed caption or omniscient narration could convey that same information, but allowing Cappuccio to signal it in the visual storytelling reinforces the idea of his competency and the unified vision of the book. Story and characterization can transcend the words printed on the page, elevated through the linework and rich colorscapes.

The great throughline of the issue is Valenza’s coloring, which harkens a bit to Rachelle Rosenberg’s work on Moon Knight with Cappuccio but quickly diverges into something original. That sense of a shared palette is mostly evident in the plane sequences, which operate in a tighter space that feels more akin to the oppressive environment of New York. Valenza quickly expands into a color style and effect that trades the mystical hues for those originating in the world, whether that be vials of chemical baths, the haziness of snow-filled landscapes, or the sterile lights of a clinical space. 

Laying that vital sense of coloring down then allows for the more expressive elements to pop. The tone setting in the church gives a somber atmosphere that paves the way for the brutality within the action beats. A stark contrast to the cool blues and greys of the house of worship is the explosive orange background. Sparking on the page like a firecracker, these backgrounds blend straight into the muzzle flashes firing while depicting the overwhelming totality of the Winter Soldier’s killing intent. It oppresses any other emotion on the page, shutting down Kurt’s fear and prayers, the calm collection of Mystique, and the futile resistance from the other Opposition members.