Unspoken Issues - Black September 30th Anniversary Event - Part 6.5 - UltraForce/Avengers #1

The countdown to Black September is over — and the reality-warping finale kicks off in UltraForce/Avengers #1. Jesse and Chris return to Unspoken Issues to dissect the last big crossover before the Ultraverse is forever changed. With Warren Ellis writing, George Pérez drawing, and nine inkers throwing down, this issue pulls out all the stops. Alternate timelines, character amalgams, body horror, multiversal melting, and some truly disturbing imagery all collide in a wild farewell to the pre-Black September Ultraverse.Set ten years after a divergent version of Avengers history, we meet an alternate team featuring Prototype, Topaz, Alexander Swan, a battle-hardened Jan (no longer the Wasp, now going by Black Widow), and Thor. What begins as somewhat of a retelling of Avengers #1 quickly spirals into multiversal chaos, as warped fusions of Marvel and Ultraverse characters (Hulk + Ghoul?! Female Mantra + Ben Grimm?!) roam a collapsing reality. Pérez fills every panel with visual madness — some pages pack in over a dozen cameos, including creator-owned deep cuts and haunting body-horror fusions that are pure Ellis. Chris and Jesse revel in the weirdness: from Vision crawling out of a man fused to a wall, to Loki going full maniacal god, to a priest version of Thor wielding a massive wooden cross. And in true Ellis fashion, the book pulls no punches — there are deaths, mutilations, and a sense of hopeless unraveling as worlds tear apart. By the end, identities blur, characters forget who they were, and the reset button is ready to be pushed. It’s the comic book equivalent of a cosmic fever dream — and the most metal farewell the Ultraverse could ask for.