In this review of Ultimate Hawkeye #1, we get a one-shot where Charli Ramsey continues his war against Roxxon, only to find them waiting on him.
ULTIMATE HAWKEYE #1
Writers: TABOO, B. EARL & DENIZ CAMP
Artists: JUAN FRIGERI, MICHAEL STA MARIA
Main Cover: R.B. SILVA
Variant Covers: CARMEN CARNERO, EJIKURE, LEE GARBETT, LEIRIX, DAVID MACK, DECLAN SHALVEY
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: September 24, 2025
This review contains spoilers
The Ultimate Hawkeye has been a break-out new character for this iteration of the Ultimate Universe. With such an interesting backstory and fresh costume, it seems fitting that they would get their own one-shot to further flesh out their deal separate from the mainline version.
Ultimate Hawkeye #1 opens with a prologue section, as Roxxon collaborator and arm’s dealer Ulysses Klaw runs through his security protocols. The cyborg is paranoid, as several of his friends and colleagues in the arms dealing business have either suddenly gone silent or been publicly taken down by an arrow.
2.3 miles away, on a rooftop, Hawkeye knocks an arrow into their quiver. They’re equipped with special gear that allows him to fire arrows from long range distances and hit targets with precision. They let loose their “hunter-killer arrow” at breakneck speed, breaking through Klaw’s defenses and killing the arms dealer.
Later, Hawkeye accepts a mysterious invite to a Roxon-affiliated gala of some kind. Entering in disguise, and witness some bizarre, Eyes Wide Shut-esque, human trafficking sex dungeon, they plans on gathering evidence before making a clean getaway. However, it turns out the whole party was a set up to capture them. Hawkeye is drugged and captured.
When they awaken, Hawkeye is required to solve a series of Saw-like traps, which leaves their hand grievously wounded. Before they can escape, Hawkeye is forced to enter one-on-one combat with another of Roxon’s detainees: Ronin. It’s explained by the devious Exterminatrix that if either one refuse to fight, their family will die. The two battle, and while it appears Ronin has the upper hand, Hawkeye manages to blind the ninja with one of his arrows. It’s revealed this Ronin, as in the mainline-616 universe, is Clint Barton, having been forced to join Roxon before Stark could give him the Hawkeye origin-pod.
Hawkeye refuses to kill his maimed foe, so Exterminantrix does, converting his mass into gold. Hawkeye passes out and is kicked out onto the street. However, a note left by Exterminatrix taunts them, claiming they are now the new Ronin of the Ultimate Universe.
New to writing for the Ultimates Universe is Taboo and B. Earl. While I’m usually skeptical of when publishers hotshot talent from multi-media to “write” comics (especially when their paired with industry staff), I’m willing to give the Black Eyed Peas member as pass as an important indigenous voice.
Ultimate Hawkeye #1 suffers from a lack of cohesion between the prologue (by Camp and Frigeri) and the main plot (by Taboo, Earl, and Maria). While both sections show Hawkeye hunting elites, they have noticeably different tones. The prologue presents the character as hyper-competent hero through an omniscient third-person POV, while the main story depicts them as flawed underdog from Hawkeye’s perspective. Furthermore, Hawkeye’s out-of-character references to cartoons like South Park and Max Fleischer feel inconsistent with previous portrayals.
While there are incongruities between writing philosophies, the art in Ultimate Hawkeye #1 remains solid throughout. Frigeri brings his usual heat to the Ultimates’ character designs and actions, even paying homage to Kirby with Klaw’s weapon here, it should be noted how talented Maria is in keeping with the Ultimate-aesthetics. His rendition of Ronin is just different enough from the usual iteration to as to not feel out of place in this continuity, while simultaneously remaining as iconic as the original character design as conceived by David Finch.
While Ultimate Hawkeye #1 is a little uneven in terms of tone, the action and conflict of the story feels right at home for an Ultimate book. Despite it perhaps being overhyped in its importance to the upcoming Ultimate Endgame, I still had a genuinely decent time reading it. I hope some elements of this character carry over into whatever future Marvel has for the Ultimates.
