The first four issues of Ultimate Wolverine have slowly reassembled a broken Logan, fresh from brain-scrambling experiments and dark isolation. Condon’s take on the iconic berserker has emphasized identity and memory as Logan wakes up to a world ruled by Directorate X. Issue #4 ended with Jean Grey’s surprise reappearance and a hallucinatory animal fight metaphor. Still, Ultimate Wolverine #5 yanks us out of that trippy space and drops us into a dingy bar run by Victor Creed. Yes, that Victor Creed, only this time, he’s not a sadistic killer. He’s sheltering mutant kids and trying to stay off the radar. Things don’t stay peaceful for long.
Ultimate Wolverine #5 is a feral slow-burn that flips Wolverine lore on its head, and then rips its face off. It opens quietly: Creed, the Ultimate Universe’s version of Sabretooth, makes soup in a rundown bar and checks on mutant kids hiding in his basement. It feels like a setup for a different kind of X-Men story, gentle, gritty, grounded. Then Logan walks through the door like a loaded weapon, teeth bared, eyes empty. A brutal, blood-slick fight breaks out, dragging us through walls, memories, and a flashback to a campfire deal made long ago. That flashback turns out to be the emotional core of the issue, Logan begging Creed to kill him if he ever loses himself. Guess what? That day has arrived. The fight is only stopped when Black Widow shows up with tranq darts and a plan. Logan’s unconscious body is loaded into a van, leaving us with more questions than answers.
Credit: Marvel Comics
Ultimate Wolverine #5 feels like watching a brawl filmed in slow motion, but with the emotional weight of a betrayal. It’s violent, sure. But what hits hardest isn’t the blood, it’s the heartbreak underneath it. Condon pulls something rare here: he makes you feel bad for both Logan and Creed in the middle of a no-holds-barred showdown. Creed isn’t the snarling monster we know; he’s just tired, trying to help some kids survive. And Logan? He’s lost in the machine. There’s a real sadness to the idea that Sabretooth is the one person left who remembers who Wolverine was, even as he tries to put him down like a rabid dog.
This version of Creed is easily one of the most compelling reinventions in the new Ultimate Universe. Flipping the dynamic, Logan as the loose cannon and Creed as the reluctant protector, brings a whole new tension to their relationship. The flashback sequence, with its tight pacing and minimal dialogue, drives it home: these men once trusted each other. Now they’re dragging each other through walls and across blood-soaked floors.
Alex Lins on art duties kills it, especially in that campfire flashback. He uses negative space and off-center compositions to build tension without needing to go big. That restraint pays off when the claws do come out. The body horror moments, think limbs regrowing in sinewy tendrils, are peak disturbing. Bryan Valenza’s color work is top-notch, too. He goes from cozy earth tones in Creed’s bar to cold, clinical reds and blacks once the violence kicks in. You can feel the mood shift in your gut.
Credit: Marvel Comics
That said, there’s a pacing problem here. For all its intensity, Ultimate Wolverine #5 is still mostly set up. We get no real follow-up to the Jean Grey cliffhanger from issue #4. No clarity on the big-picture stakes. It’s like the series keeps teasing deeper revelations but then hits pause for another brawl or memory fragment. That’s fine once or twice, but five issues in, it’s starting to feel like emotional breadcrumbs without the full meal. Still tasty, but frustrating.
Finally, the last couple of pages dip in visual quality. Widow’s arrival, which should feel like a high-stakes twist, looks rushed. The choreography loses sharpness, and some of the expressions fall flat. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it does take the wind out of what should be a slam-bang finish.
Ultimate Wolverine #5 gives us one of the most memorable Sabretooth portrayals in recent memory, a nasty good fight, and a sobering look at Logan’s fractured psyche. The writing is tight, the flashbacks are meaningful, and the art (for the most part) lands every punch. But the bigger story is still dragging its feet, and we’re starting to notice.
‘Ultimate Wolverine’ #5 Review: Sabretooth Steals the Show (And Our Hearts?)
Ultimate Wolverine #5 gives us one of the most memorable Sabretooth portrayals in recent memory, a nasty good fight, and a sobering look at Logan’s fractured psyche. The writing is tight, the flashbacks are meaningful, and the art (for the most part) lands every punch. But the bigger story is still dragging its feet, and we’re starting to notice.
