Whilst I am not one of the fans of the Ultimate Universe who claims that Ultimatum destroyed the Ultimate line forever for future generations, I must admit it was quite a pleasant experience to read a story that takes place pre-Ultimatum. However that isn't to say that Hickman treads old ground that has already been covered. Instead Hickman takes a look at one of the more avoided areas of the Ultimate Universe, namely Ultimate Thor's origin.

I was a little worried when I first heard the premise as many writers have shyed away from Ultimate Thor's origin because one of the strongest points in his original appearance was that he was an enigma. He was hinted that he could be a God, and yet also hinted that he was just  insane and although it was revealed at the end of Ultimates 2 that he indeed was the Norse Thunder God himself we still didn't know a lot about him.

This is Hickman's greatest strength in this book. He tackles Thor's origin in a way that seems fresh enough to stand apart from mainstream Thor yet also gelling with the Ultimate Universe's semi-realistic feel.

The story itself is set in three different timelines, one in Asgard showing the dynamics between a young Thor and young Loki, another showing Nazis in WWII and another showing an adult Thor at an undisclosed point before Ultimates 1. Whilst the constant switching of timelines can be quite difficult to follow it is helped by the fact that the plot developments happening are all unique and memorable in their own right. The only issue I had is the Nazi plot feels very similar to a Hellboy storyline but that did not affect my overall enjoyment.

The art is equally as excellent as the story. Now despite that fact that I love Carlos Pacheco's artwork so much I would buy it dinner before taking it back to my place and do dirty things to it, I feel I can unbiasedly say that this is some of the stronger artwork we've seen of his in a long time. It stands heads and shoulders over his recent Ultimate Avengers arc. One of the strongest points were the Asgardian costumes that, while taking inspiration from their 616 counterparts, looked much more old and warrior like.

Overall this is an excellent start to an excellent miniseries and I look forward to seeing everything these two have planned.