ULTIMATE IMPACT: REBORN #1 / Script by CHRIS CONDON / Art by STEFANO CASELLI / Colors by MARTE GARCIA & DAVID CURIEL / Letters by JOE SABINO / Published by MARVEL COMICS

My hopes weren’t high heading into Ultimate Impact: Reborn #1. The entire series seemed to be as hastily thrown together as the effort to close out the new Ultimate Universe. Still, with Chris Condon writing, I was willing to give it a shot, having enjoyed his work on Green Arrow.

Most of the comic is focused on Miles Morales, who took an accidental journey into the new Ultimate Universe in Ultimate:Spider-Man: Incursion. Before returning to his reality, he was charged with transporting a number of Origin Boxes: devices which can instantly give a person superpowers. Miles was meant to deliver these to Tony Stark.

Unfortunately, someone got wind of this and hired The Spot to steal them. The resulting fight ends with the boxes being scattered through Spot’s portals and into the hands of some random people. These characters, most of whom get a cover highlighting their new hero or villain look, are introduced through a series of vignettes across the comic. Also, there’s a new villain from the new Ultimate Universe Negative Zone called Hostilicus, who leads a cult that worships Annihilus.

Condon does his best to give us an overview of these characters. However, his tendency toward writing graphic novels better than periodic fiction works against him. We barely get the chance to know the new characters’ names, much less who they are.

The new Wonder Man fares best, having three pages compared to the other characters’ two. Then again, teens Max and Lola are forced to share two pages between them. They don’t merit a cover or codenames yet, though it appears they got a set of Captain Marvel’s Nega-Bands. We get little insight into Sightseer and Mogul beyond “cynical reporter” and “corporate weasel.”

The artwork for the issue is similarly serviceable yet uninspired. Steafno Caselli is one of Marvel’s more reliable house artists, with a good sense of proportions. Marte Garcia and David Curiel do a decent job on the colors and there’s nothing glaringly off-putting in the final product. Joe Sabino’s letters are clear and readable, but there’s little in the sound effects balloons that is inspiring.

Ultimate Impact: Reborn may have the most ironic comics title of 2026. There’s little here that makes any impact and nothing thus far appears to be reborn. Perhaps it will make more of an impression in a collected volume, but right now there’s little reason to keep reading.