Comic Review: Ultimate X-Men
Some of my view on this particular title have changed, but many of my initial thoughts have stayed the same. I would rate it, now, as maybe a 2.5 or 3.
Comic Book: "Ultimate X-Men" (Ongoing Series)
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Tom Raney
Available: At most online comic shops.
Background/Summary: Following quickly on the heels of "Ultimate Spider-Man" came "Ultimate X-Men." This was the same concept as the re-telling of the Spider-Man story, however it varied widely in approach to the original story material.
In Ultimate X-Men, the story, characters, costumes and events were hugely influenced by the X-Men movie, which had just come out. The artist and writer both admitted that the film's success had opened the way up for them to make drastic changes in the X-Men's origins and the story that they told.
As a result, the "Ultimate" X-Men dress in black leather and sport hip haircuts and are actually teenagers. Professor X, their mentor, is a young, 30-something man who is very active in their super-heroing.
The first six issues concentrate on their battle with Magneto and the introduction of Wolverine into the team, along with Colossus, Iceman and Beast.
Props:
+ For the art. As with the "Ultimate Spider-man" artwork, this is crisp and clean, but still possesses a contemporary look and feel to it.
+ For the radical re-designing of the characters and their origin story. This is both a good and bad thing. The good that comes out of it is that you don't have that been there/done that feeling. You have no clue as to what's going to happen.
Slops:
+ For the radical departure from the source material. Unlike the "Ultimate Spider-Man" team , which stayed true to the character's origin (but added and built up the story and characters), this comic re-does everything.
+ For the sex. Nothing is shown, but when you have Wolverine laying in bed next to 17 year old Jean Grey, there's very little left to the imagination.
Mad Minister's Verdict: This series has good art and decent writing, but it has nowhere near the potential that "Ultimate Spider-Man" does. The characters aren't endearing or real in any way, they're simply cut from the stock "too cool" comic character cloth and this makes them less believable as heroes and moreso, as teenagers. I mean, really, how many 17 year olds can fly a Blackbird jet at subsonic speed? How many 17 year olds have biceps that look bigger then Schwarzenneggar's?
Honestly, I would say to skip this one. If you have a thing for X-Men, pick up the newly re-vamped regular titles, "Uncanny X-Men" and "New X-Men" instead.
Mad Points: 1.5 outta' 5.