Warning: Spoilers for Ultimate Spider-Man #11Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe has been a massive success, but one Spider-Man moment has shown just how successful the books’ real-time structure has been for the line. It’s not a perfect device, but it's still an impressive accomplishment and a neat trick that changes the way that these stories are being told.

In Ultimate Spider-Man #11 by Jonathan Hickman, David Messina, Matt Wilson, and Cory Petit, Uncle Ben makes an offhand comment that reveals just how clever the real-time flow of the new Ultimate Universe has been.

Ben and Peter Parker meet up at Aunt May’s memorial to commemorate a year since the supposed terrorist attack that killed her. Readers might not pick up on it, but it’s been almost exactly a year in real time, too. This synchronicity is one of the many factors that helps this universe feel so present, because it’s speeding forward just as readers are.

The New Ultimate Universe's Real-Time Structure Has Done Wonders for Its Overall Pacing

Especially in Ultimate Spider-Man

The original attack takes place in Ultimate Universe #1, the one-shot by Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli that came out almost exactly one year ago, on November 1st, 2023 (one year and three weeks Ultimate Spider-Man #11, to be exact). Ultimate Universe #1 features the false-flag attack on NYC, but in the year since, Ultimate Spider-Man has explored the attack's consequences, as Peter, Uncle Ben and Harry Osborn - who lost his father - deal with their grief in different ways.

The Ultimate Universe is still growing: check out Ultimate Wolverine #1 by Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio, available January 15th, 2025 from Marvel Comics.

This ing of time also has its own massive implications for the Ultimate Universe’s wider story. At the end of Ultimate Invasion, the miniseries by Hickman and Bryan Hitch that established this universe, the Maker, who created this world’s authoritarian regime, was locked away for precisely two years. Unfortunately, he was locked in his own time-dilated base known as "the City." Over the course of these two years outside, he’ll have thousands of years inside his prison to plan his revenge. The only question is what the world will look like when he emerges.

Most Initiatives at Marvel and DC Comics Like This Don't Work Half as Well

Yes, Fans Should Celebrate when Comics Scheduling Works Out

A cynical reader might scoff, saying that Ultimate Spider-Man #11 isn't exactly one year after Ultimate Universe #1, but it’s easy to forget just how hard scheduling comics can be, especially if you want the book to have a consistent creative team, and the month-by-month structure has been present since the start of the book. Part of that consistency is thanks to the rotating art team of Marco Checchetto and Messina, who trade off issues and arcs, with Wilson, the always-terrific colorist, providing an internal consistency in the art to match.

Modern comics are often criticized for being "decompressed," having their stories stretched out beyond the time that they really need to be told in. What might once have taken a single issue now might take four. Decompression happens both at a macro level - how long it takes to tell a story - and at a micro level - how much time a creator spends on one idea, story beat, or small moment. Telling stories in real time means that the creators of the Ultimate titles can’t be too decompressed in either way, because the universe has to move forward in real time.

Ultimate Spider-Man Isn't the Only Book Benefiting from This Structure

Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko Has Also Benefited

Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko has been another major beneficiary of the real-time structure. The book stars a cast of young students, and the real-time structure means that they get to go through the distinct, different parts of their school year issue to issue. The structure is reminiscent of the video game series Persona, which is also (mostly) set around the strict schedule of a school year. Momoko’s back matter on the often-seasonal Japanese cultural references she’s making only adds to the sense of realism that this real-time structure brings.

As exciting as this schedule is, it isn’t perfect either. The structure necessitates large time jumps between every issue, and there have been moments that could have been given more space. Similarly, the structure means that the easiest format for these books is relatively self-contained issues, meaning that the immediate fallout of any issue-ending cliffhanger has to be told in flashback or exposition, limiting the types of stories told. That said, these small complaints aren’t anywhere near big enough to majorly sour the positive impact the structure has had on plot momentum.

What Will the Next Year Hold for the Ultimate Universe?

And Can Marvel Stick to This Schedule?

The ultimate test of this format will be seeing whether all the books can stick their landings as they head towards the inevitable return of the Maker. The first step in this direction is the one-shot Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 by Ultimates writer Deniz Camp and artist Jonas Scharf, which promises to set up plot threads for the year ahead. However, a lot can happen in the space of a year, and hopefully all the Ultimate Universe books, not just Spider-Man, will continue to impress on this front.

Ultimate Spider-Man #11 is available now, and Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 is available December 11th, 2024, both from Marvel Comics.