The Ultimates, Vol. 2: All Power to the People

The Ultimates (2024)

by Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri (Artist), Chris Allen (Artist)

A great jumping-on point for new readers eager to learn about the Ultimate Universe’s mightiest heroes!

Following recent explosive events and the loss of a teammate, the Ultimates regroup in their secret HQ and launch their bold new plan to change the world! But are they ready to meet the galactic travelers from a far-flung, Maker-free future known as the Guardians of the Galaxy? America Chavez is caught right in the middle, but where will her loyalties lie? Then it’s time to meet Ultimate Luke Cage, who has been quietly sabotaging the Maker’s Council from behind bars! And when Captain America and the Human Torch lead a team to recruit their old comrade Namor, they’ll have to get through the Red Skull Gang first! But when the time comes to remove Loki from his seat of power in Asgard, Thor, Sif and She-Hulk journey into mystery for blood, glory and rebellion — but discover a surprising new ally!

COLLECTING: Ultimates (2024) 7-12, Ultimate Universe: One Year In (2024) 1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Action

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this volume and all the characters! 🌎 🌏 🌎 🌏 🌎 6160!

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good continuation of the Ultimate Universe and the Ultimates in particular. This is the book that ties all the books together. All the different teams' work shows in the different styles.

H.A.N.D. and the Maker's council are planning the demise of the Ultimates, however, having the team on the back foot they are still active and using gorilla tactics to make small gains, but they know they are outmanoeuvred and outgunned. How will the team deal with the knowledge that they are destined to lose?

Both sides have traitors in the midst as well as trust issues. Who will win the information war, who will survive and is there anything worth saving anyway? I like the spotlight style issues/chapters. The countdown continues but is it utopia or armegeddon?

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a somewhat lacklustre first volume in every respect, Camp and Frigeri shift into high gear. The recruitment phase is largely complete, and the stories—still fragmented, with each issue covering one month in the characters' lives—are finally moving forward.

And here we are with a volume containing some good issues and others I liked less, but all gave me the impression that the plot was progressing towards something, with a predictable yet appreciable cliffhanger.

All in all 3.5* rounded up without regret

[Rory Wilding · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Jonathan Hickman has rebooted the Ultimate Universe for Marvel, which he has been writing Ultimate Spider-Man, as well as other creators have been putting their own stamps on characters in their own solo titles like the X-Men and Black Panther, Deniz Camp has been exploring the wider universe with The Ultimates. Following Tony Stark/Iron Lad as he assembles a covert ops network to fight back against the Maker's Council and take back their world, this resistance of underdog superheroes having been put through the ringer, through their exploration of this dystopian world that have shown radical takes on well-known Marvel characters.

Before we see the internal struggles that the Ultimates are going through, Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 shifts the focus towards the universe’s version of Nick Fury, who resembles more the classic Jack Kirby design as opposed to the Samuel L. Jackson model used in the original Ultimate Universe that would influence the character in the MCU. Depicted as the Director of H.A.N.D. – implied to be a reorganised S.H.I.E.L.D after a takeover of The Hand – Fury proceeds to meet with the Maker's Council, his current superiors, giving reports of the current efforts to eliminate the current wave of super-dissidents. While it is later revealed for Fury to rebel against this system, it turns out that he is just a simple cog in that system as a Life Model Decoy that the council can just reproduce on the reasoning that the expandable nature of the Director position helps ward off potential traitors within H.A.N.D.

As we return to the main series, the team takes time off to recuperate after their devastating battle against the Hulk who has mortally wounded Iron Lad, leaving him confined to a healing machine. With numerous members within the team questioning their role and actions, this becomes a major theme throughout this volume. In issue #7 where the Ultimates meet the Guardians of the Galaxy, which leads to a misunderstanding in the shape of a “pointless fight” as described by Doom, as well as some heavy cosmic ideas, it leads to a question about why would you fight for a timeline whose fate seems predetermined.

Similar to what Hickman has been doing with Ultimate Spider-Man with each issue taking place over the course of a month, Camp succeeds more with the episodic structure here as we see the expansion of the world-building, as well as individual storylines that focus on certain characters. The two most notable issues from this volume experiment with the format of comic book storytelling, from ##9 (drawn by guest artist Chris Allen) that tells the origin story of Luke Cage through every page told through the nine-panel grid, to #11 told entirely in splash pages as Thor and Sif return to the Nine Realms with the goal of spreading a revolution against Loki.

As densely packed Camp’s writing is, The Ultimates is not the most action-heavy given the number of characters that feature in every issue. Whilst you have guest artists like Jonas Scharf and the aforementioned Chris Allen, it is the main series’ artist Juan Frigeri who reigns supreme, especially when it comes to drawing radically different interpretation of well-established characters who you can see some familiar iconography. Given the darker subject matter than what you usually expect from a superhero comic, there is some graphic imagery which actually serves a purpose and not just there for the sake of edginess. Full plaudits for Frigeri who opens the tenth issue with a six-panelled page, in which Hitler is burnt to death.

Halfway through this series, the Ultimates themselves are expecting the return of the Maker in six months, and they realise they need to change their methods if they are hoping to fix the world. This continues to be the most exciting superhero team comic that Marvel is currently publishing, and with the recent announcement that the Ultimate Universe will be officially ending next year, it’ll be interesting how Deniz Camp will cap off everything.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.9 stars

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75
If you're not reading this, you're missing some of the best Marvel. And the best Avenges since...I'm not even not sure. A long time, Waid's run? Hickman's?

Almost every issue has complex and interesting turns of events that move the overarching narrative forward and developed multiple character arcs. I'm not even sure how Camp does it.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half of the first year of the Ultimates concludes, as the resistance builds. While not as maybe, exciting or potential as the first half, it still keeps building on the idea. It's conclusion isn't as exciting as the hulk confrontation from vol 1, but it's turning the corner.

With the introduction of a Ult Nick Fury, and his sad tragic role, it's revealed there is a traitor in our team's midst. Doom/Reed continues to claw at a solution as Iron Lad claws himself back together. Being introduced to new versions of the Guardians, Luke Cage, and Red Skull leaves potential for later, but you never get stay long enough to tap into it. The one shot focusing on Thor's crusade against Asagard takes a real swing at TRYING to be a epic poem, but falls a bit short (points for trying!)

There's still a lot of potential with what the Ultimates could be, let's hope Camp can solidify it in the next volumes.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume of the Ultimates continues the inevitable countdown towards the Maker's return, as new versions of familiar characters, like the Guardians of the Galaxy, Luke Cage, and Daredevil make themselves known.

Camp's storytelling continues to be top notch here. Each issue is a complete story that fleshes out the world of the new Ultimate Universe, and the ever-present threat not just of the Maker but of the Council that do his bidding is like the Sword of Damocles hanging over everything. There's an urgency, but also a sense of scale to the book that the first volume also had - it reminds me, oddly enough, of Hickman's X-Men run, which accomplished similar things in single issues as this series does.

And with only six months left before the Maker gets back...the next volume is going to be interesting.

[Elliott Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels right at home in Hickman's new Ultimate Universe. More consistent that what I've read of Camp's work in the past.

If you like Hickman's approach to comics, where macro scope is the focus, then you will enjoy this book. That said, it does have a bit more attachment to characterization than much of Hickman's work, which I take as a positive.

[MannyLikesPie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome, sometimes the issues are weird on how they tell a story but because it’s the avengers book I feel it only works here. My meaning is the introduction of new characters but I like it a lot, my favorite for right now

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this seemed to open up the Ultimates Universe even more.
issues included:
this Universe's Luke Cage.
the discovery of Namor .
Thor and Sif rallying troops.
the Guardians of the Galaxy.
plus that click keeps ticking ...six months..

[c · Rating 4 out of 5]

LUKE MF CAGE!!!!

(read in single issues)

[Pruett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A less focused outing this time with more ambitious ideas. I didn’t love the Guardians of the Galaxy, Loki, or (heresy, I know) the Luke Cage issue, but Ultimate Namor and issue #12 were really well executed.

This is one of the boldest books on shelves, but man do I wish we got more time with these characters between month-long time jumps. Especially with how big this cast is, most characters don’t get too much in the way of characterization. I don’t remember the last time America Chavez spoke in an issue before this one, for instance.

Anyway! It’s still heaps of fun. On to the third and final arc before things get nuts!

[Spencer Greenwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a huge fall off for me. The guardians issue throws tons of cosmic time travel crap into the mix that you just can’t possibly care about in the 10 pages it’s introduced. Then they go away. Really forced. The Thor issue was in poetry and obnoxious to read along with being boring. Overall I still care where the main plot line is going and there’s some great stuff in here from Doom and the other leaders. This should be the strong core book that’s benefitting from the storytelling in the other titles, but they just tried to do too much here.

[Andrew Golab · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way Camp reimagines and updates superheroes to fit modern problems and modern solutions is simply amazing. A special shoutout goes to both issue 9 and especially issue 10.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue be a little irked by the breakneck pacing of this book. We get drip fed the main story, so, even though the standalone issues are arguably the best ones, they still feel at odds with the central narrative. Too much is happening between the issues. I really wish the Ultimates book would have stayed a little more focused and we would have had a sister series to allow for these singe issue looks at the broader universe. It would have made issues like the Thor and Sif issue that’s written like and an epic poem more enjoyable if it didn’t feel like it was robbing us from the next chapter in the big story.

That said, I don’t want that to detract too much from what IS here, which is very good. I just wish we had gotten a little more of it before it so quickly careens towards its end (Assuming, of course, that the end is really approaching, and it’s not, as I am starting to suspect, a ruse of some sort-I suppose we could get a kind of Ultimatum ending where the heroes lose and then the whole thing restarts through time travel. Ultimates 4.0 or whatever one we are at by that point).

[Riley Pilgrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great volume. Camp takes more time to explore the aftermath of the last volume, and expand the worldbuilding too. We finally get to see Thor go back to confront Loki with Sif, America finally confronts her past as a Guardian, Cap finds out where Bucky went, and so on. Camp expands the roster, and world so much more this time. His take on Luke Cage is also really great, and I love how even after everything The Ultimates have done, there still hasn't been much progress in stopping The Maker. This is going to be a lot harder than before, and they're realizing that recruiting heroes isn't going to be enough. Camp has done a great job of creating stakes, and making all the characters so compelling.

I don't have that much else to say. The final issue here sets up a lot of interesting things to come in the next volume. Overall I really enjoyed this, and trust that Camp will keep delivering.

[Alex Sarll]

Unusually for a contemporary comic, Ultimates does work better read spaced out – not necessarily in its real time, month by month structure, but certainly not a whole trade at a sitting. Even then, a lot of the formal work (nine panel grids locking down the Luke Cage issue about the prison industrial complex; splash pages with bardic narration for the Nine Realms) come across a little forced and mannered, and my ongoing frustration with the mismatch between Camp's ambition and his weakness for clodhopping politics has now crystallised into a suspicion that he's American comics' answer to Pat Mills. The sinister secret rulers of the world manipulating the media to brand the Ultimates a terrorist network? A year ago I'd have been wary about some of the real-world implications of that, but given the self-evidently absurd treatment of antifa lately, yeah, fair enough. Trying to rechristen them the Ultimates Terrorist Network, though? Somehow, even in 2025, that's gilding the lily. And fuck knows why Ultimate Ultimate Jim Hammond has Quentin Quire's haircut.

Set against that, though, the times when it comes off. The Nick Fury issue, with its dark background gags and even darker twist. The meta digs at nobody reading comics anymore, pointless fights as precursor to team-ups, and most damning of all, "These twisted, depthless re-creations? These sad mockeries of what should have been?" That from the brilliant issue which re-imagines the Guardians of the Galaxy in the style of Grant Morrison at their boldest and most fantastical, and mostly pulls it off, not to mention creating my favourite new Marvel character in a long time: Cosmo Starstalker, the Ultimate Good Boy.

[Macqueron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comme pour le premier volet, les numéros des Ultimates sont très inégaux, mais avec quelques très bonnes idées narratives par instants. Cela prépare l’aboutissement de l’ensemble de cet univers Ultimate, qui compte par ailleurs de très bonnes séries (X-Men ou Spiderman)

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's that time of year again, when I inflate my books read count with graphic novels.

(this series is really good)

[Hugh Davies Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool stuff on every panel

[Odo · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of all the Ultimate books I'm reading, I'm loving this one the least. Just feels somewhat messy, at least in my opinion.
Highlights:
- Team is still reeling from the loss of Iron Lad. While he heals, they all go off an do their own thing to work towards peace.
- The Ultimates meet the Guardians of the Galaxy (Captain Marvel, Star-Lord, Ultimate Nullifier, and Cosmo Starstalker) from the future. They claim to have had America Chavez in their ranks, but she refuses to work with them. They warn that either Tony or Doom will cause unimaginable suffering.
- We get a story of Luke Cage and how he got his powers, ending up using them to help those wrongfully imprisoned.
- The Ultimates go to take down the Red Skull gang when they come across the body of Namor, dead but not decomposing. They defeat Grand Skull (Bucky), who gets away, and then lay Namor to rest at sea. (I'm sure this will come back up later)
- Iron Lad heals himself greatly by integrating the Immortus Engine into his body. I'm predicting this will backfire...
- Thor and Sif begin a revolution throughout the Nine Realms and cause much chaos and strife.
- The team experiences a group nightmare: Hulk killing the entire team. This nightmare is different from the previous "team killed in K'un-L'un" dream, and they find out that Doom used the Immortus Engine to break their rule of no time travel and saved the team from dying.
- The team needs to come back together and work towards a common goal, so they redub as the Ultimates 3.0.
- The Wasp is revealed as a spy for Nick Fury.

The showdown with the Maker draws closer. I hope we don't dive too deep into the time travel stuff.
Recommend.

[PhadeThe Plex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing the formula that made the previous volume work is a smart call. A big picture approach to the new universe but moments of focus on specifics to give it clarity and life, plus some action. One story here is particularly a standout, if a dark one, focusing on Nick Fury and his role in this new world. It’s unfortunately balanced out by one focusing on the Asgardians which is entirely in verse- a valid choice but not one that worked for me at all. There are also some developments as the Ultimates adjust to their massive loss at the end of the last volume which make a lot of sense, leading to a change of tactics, renewed purpose for some and fear for others. The work being done with Doom also has been pretty locked in because it’s keeping me guessing.

[✨! · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this volume suffers from a lack of focus. It still strives to be ambitious and experimental, but there isn't really any plan or connective tissue. The Ultimates are supposed to be on a strict deadline, so why does this feel like the story is spinning its wheels? What are they even trying to do???

I legit zoned out during the GotG issue (#8). The amount of exposition and weird sci-fi concepts given in like 5 pages was so confusing and overwhelming I stopped even trying to comprehend wtf was going on, and none of it even mattered anyway. The Luke Cage issue (#9) was interesting, but I thought its themes were too on-the-nose. The prose in the Thor issue (#11) felt really forced, and it didn't even make up for the difficult read by being clever. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, but the first volume had such a clear idea of what it wanted to accomplish, idk what changed

One Year In was CRAZY good tho holy shit 10/10

[Charles Korb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimates continues to be clear second best series in this universe. Rotating through the different ultimates to allow each one a to be a focus both makes the month to month thing make sense and gives all the characters their own time to shine. Sometimes it gets a little silly but overall still quite enjoyable.

I particularly like Doom, he is a blend of confident and broken that feels very real.

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Power to the People!


I bought the single comic book issues, but I am choosing this TPB edition to be able to make a better overall review about the storyarch.


This TPB edition collects “The Ultimates” (2024) #7-12.


Creative Team

Writer: Deniz Camp

Illustrator: Juan Frigeri


THE RACE AGAINST TIME CONTINUES

Deniz Camp is proving once again that he’s the ultimate mastermind of this project a new Ultimate Universe, where no doubt Jonathan Hickman and the other authors of the rest of Ultimate titles contribute with ideas, but genius Deniz Camp is the one calling the shots here, and I believe that he set what would happen in their “endgame” moment, and he’s basically leaving each other title to the creative freedom of each author as long they will have their respective titles in the right position when The City (current prison of The Maker (original ultimate Reed Richards)) would open.

The Ultimates got a devastating beat-down by the Hulk, where Tony Stark was in the brink of dying and the rest of the team was alive just because Doom (new ultimate Reed Richards) activates the Immortus Engine changing the timeline.

This traumatizing defeat, makes them to realize that they weren’t enough to face the threat of the reality manipulated by The Maker…

…the Ulimates more than a last line of defense, they needed to be a symbol to inspire people…

…all the posible people, not only metahumans or people who gained some super powers…

…ALL THE PEOPLE!!!

During the run of this second arc, the members of the Ultimates meet different separate situations, like dealing with “All-Father Loki” and his control of the Nine Realms, meeting with the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy stranded in the timeline due the changes made by The Maker (where in a small panel, genius Deniz Camp shows his conception of his own Ultimate Planet Hulk...brilliant!!!), Ultimate Captain America faces the Red Skull Gang and he won’t be the same anymore when he’d discover the identity of the Ultimate Red Skull (along with the shocking fate of Ultimate Namor)…

…but the key character here is Luke Cage that he will start a revolution in the national prison system that it’d be vital to the needs of The Ultimates desperately looking for people.

And in the end…

…there is a traitor in the midst of The Ultimates!!!

[Sam Whale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like Volume 1 of this series, All Power to the People is a near perfect book let down by one issue I really did not like. I suppose that is the problem with telling a different self contained story each month; with that clear a divide between each issue it's much more clear in your mind which chapters worked for you and which did not.

Issue 9 was the obvious highlight to me with this universes take on Luke Cage allowing a lot to be discussed on the prison systems in the Western world and on if being a criminal is really an immoral thing to be in a corrupt society. Issues 7 and 12 both do a good job focusing on the main story line at hand and both have lots of good character beats and more than one really cool twist. Issue 11 shows us what Thor and Sif have been up to and I believe was written entirely in poetic verse, lots a pithy and clever lines in that one. Issue 10 is also great and allows us to focus in on a handful of the Ultimates on a mission to kill a bunch of homegrown American Neo-Nazis. Steve and Jim are both especially great in this one and the twisted take on a classic Cap reveal was a lot of fun.

Sadly I found issue 8 to be incredibly dull. the entire conceit of the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy did nothing for me. In a world that has been so fresh otherwise they felt tired and oldhat, like something I'd be able to read in the 60's from Lee and Kirby. It was a real shame and I hope we don't see much more of them going forward.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Camp continues to offer a master-class in how to make amazing one-off stories that are nonetheless part of an ongoing narrative. If comic-dom learns one lesson from the structure of these very popular Ultimate comics, I hope it's that.

But, much as with the third volume of USM, this feels a bit like wheel-spinning, as Camp sets up for the final battle. The biggest casualty is that the big reveal of what really happened at the end of V1 is saved for the end of V2. Beyond that we get a lot of nice experimental stuff, like the Luke Cage issue, the Guardians conflict, and the Thor & Sif issue. Not all of it necessarily works. I found the poetic Thor & Sif issue dull. But it's still worth it for the experimentation.

Looking forward for the final volume, and I can't believe that Marvel has pulled the plug on this whole great experiment rather than continuing on with an Act II.

[Eva B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Power Man!!! Human Torch!!! Killing Nazis!!! A Bucky eviler than the Winter Soldier ever got!!! Guardians of the Galaxy!!! Bro they're using poor Roberto as a bloodbag, free my boy :( excellent as always and also ohhhhh man we're gonna be getting PymDyne angst the likes of which have been unseen since the divorce arc and I'm so ready. Also as a long-suffering Hank superfan it's so nice to see that in this universe it's Janet that's evil; give my man a break from the character assassination in alternate universes that taints his main-universe reputation! Bummed that the end is near but I'd also rather see 6160 end on a high note than get dragged out past the point of intention.