Customer Reviews

Ultimate X-Men, Vol. 1

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Ultimates blew me away. I was hooked after just a handful of pages. Millar's Ultimates script has been intelligent, suspenseful, and naturalistic. There was no unnecessary exposition, no contrived exchanges, etc... It read like a well-written film. I bought this book blindly after hearing it was also written by Millar. I expected comparable writing. What I got honestly feels like Millar dug into his old diary and pulled out a script he'd written when he was twelve. This is not hyperbole, and I regret having to say that since I'm a great admirer of his Ultimates work. Do yourself a favor and browse through the first ten pages in an actual bookstore, and you'll see what I mean. Here's a sampling of how the writing is simultaneously expository AND juvenile:

Ahmed the arms merchant says: "A little birdy informs me that every cent you're paid by the Russian mafia gets wired back to your impoverished family in Siberia, Mr. Rasputin." Rasputin's response: "Just shut up and check the merchandise before I kick you so hard you'll be gulping with THREE adam's apples, Ahmed."

Jean Grey to a desk officer in the city jail, who's just asked her "What's up?" Jean: "Well, despite the fact that I'm an attractive young girl, what your brain is actually registering at the moment is a middle-aged federal agent with all the relevant identification. Now let's stop wasting my time AND yours and take a look at this MUTANT you boys said you found." Now what's the point of having her describe herself as an attractive young girl if the artwork already communicates that? Why not just SHOW her and then visually contrast that with what the officer sees? And why does she have to hold up a fake FBI I.D. if she's manipulating his mind?

If this kind of thing were only occasional, that would be forgivable. But there are similar "why'd they write that?" moments on every single page, and on many of those pages, it's in every single panel.

In The Ultimates, Millar allows us to discover who the characters are. Here, he spells out everything from their demeanor to their physical attributes to their horrible childhood traumas -- and he does it constantly. On every page. Even in the midst of a desperate battle against the murderous Sentinels. For instance:

Colossus: "Colossus to Beast - you still need that backup?"

Beast (carrying Bobby Drake): "Actually, everything's pretty much under control again now that I'm accustomed to Bobby's extra hundred and thirty pounds. You might want to lend Jean a hand, though. She looks pretty STRESSED for such an easy-going girl."

Bobby: "What? We're the ones who're completely SURROUNDED."

Beast: "Take it easy, Bobby. I've been getting shot at since my old man used to come home drunk and take potshots at me when I was sleeping in my CRIB."

That's just an example of how the book is filled with characters telling what the book should have been showing -- *and* telling it at the most inappropriate - the most unbelievable - moments. The dialogue is so dry and descriptive that after just a few pages, I stopped caring about whatever it was they were describing. I simply can't believe this kind of storytelling came from Millar during the same period he was producing a masterpiece in The Ultimates.

Sure, the artwork's uneven in places, as others have noted, but the real problem here is the writing. It's a big disappointment, especially coming from such a talented writer. It's stunningly bad.

I must say I'm surprised at the harsh criticism that is directed at the Ultimate X-Men series and this volume in particular. I was a skeptic when the whole "Ultimate" non-continuity line was announced a few years ago, but at this point Ultimate X-Men is the only X-title I bother with aside from Joss Whedon's excellent Astonishing X-Men series.

Ultimate X-Men is about more than just jettisoning 40 years of continuity and starting over. It's about a fresh start for our favorite characters. The X-Men always worked best as troubled teenagers and hated outcasts, and that part of the characters has been lost in the "real" titles in favor of complicated crossovers and constantly killing (and reviving) classic characters. I'd challenge anyone to drag your reprints off the shelf and re-read X-Men #1 and Giant Sized X-Men #1. The spirit of those two monumental X-Men issues flows through the pages of Ultimate X-Men. Criticizing Millar's writing style or Kubert's art is one thing, but I can't see how any objective reader can challenge this title's spirit or heart.

On to the actual stories collected in this volume:

The Tomorrow People starts much like Giant Sized X-Men #1 did, with the individual X-Men being identified and drafted to Professor X's cause. The team is redefined as a group of teenagers, just as Lee and Kirby's originally intended. This lends the characters some wild energy and emotional volatility that keep even the most mundane situations interesting. The other interesting revamp is casting Magneto and his Brotherhood as terrorists rather than just super-villains. Sure, Magneto has always been a terrorist, but more on a "steal some nukes" scale rather than "bomb government buildings and kill civilians". In a post 9-11 world, this type of character is all the more frightening. Magneto's cause is no longer the grand Evil of super-villainy, but rather the more insidious evil of racism and exclusion that can so easily ensnare even the most well-intentioned.

Return to Weapon X is even more fun than The Tomorrow People. Right off the bat, Xavier and company are kidnapped by SHIELD agents whose goal is to exploit mutants for military purposes. Among their past victims - Wolverine. The way these kids are treated - not just the X-Men, but the other Weapon X captives as well - makes for some incredibly compelling reading, as does the introduction of the Ultimate version of Nick Fury, one of the best characters in the Ultimate Universe. This storyline is high on action as well as character development, and is quite simply one of the best X-Men stories I've read in a long time.

I can see that Mark Millar's story and writing style have taken a lot of criticism here, but I found it completely enjoyable and completely refreshing. The X-Men all show strong personalities, as do Magneto and some (though not all) of his Brotherhood. The plot is solid and the dialogue is smart and edgy and so much more interesting than what has been recycled in Uncanny X-Men over the past two decades. Millar has successfully reinvented the X-Men with both a modern look and feel, and a true appreciation for the original X-Men stories that made these characters shine in the first place.

The artwork for this series is as solid as you'd expect from the Kuberts. I've never really been a fan of either Kubert brother's style, but they have come a long way and their art absolutely enhances the overall storytelling.

I highly recommend Ultimate X-Men, not only to new X-fans who might be bewildered by the continuity of the older series, but to old school X-Men fans like me. If you keep an open mind, you should find this book quite enjoyable.

In the Afterword by Bill Jemas (at that time publisher and president of Marvel Enterprises), he states that the purpose of the creation of theUltimate Marvel titles was to get new readers, younger readers, started into the Marvel Universe. He did an excellent job. I'm just young enough to have missed the comic book craze of the late 80's, and as such they weren't a big part of my life growing up. When I got into graphic novels recently, I eyed the Marvel U, especially X-Men, very warily.
Here was a sub-universe with dozens of spin-offs (X-Factor, Excalibur, etc.), 'What Ifs?' (1602), alternate dimensions (Earth X, Age of Apocalypse), and hell, even varying versions of the original bit (Amazing, Uncanny, X-Treme, New, Astonishing, Etc.). Having been a longtime fan of the X-Men via the wonderful 1990s cartoon, I decided to try Ultimate X-Men. I was in no way disappointed.
Ultimate X-Men is not only a fantastic new diving board for new readers, but I'm willing to bet it will impress the staunch Marvel-verse fans out there as well. The characters are fleshed out appropriate to their temperaments, with an age alteration and some background alterations in certain places. Overall, an excellent read, and I look forward to reading the whole series.

Wow, I have to say I was very disappointed with this effort at revising the X-Men. I've been away from comics for a long time but came back after seeing the Ultimate Avengers DVD with my kids. Naturally the first book I picked up was the Ultimates and I've been hooked ever since.

Millar's work on the Ultimates was first rate. His work on the X-men was not. In the X-Men Millar completely blows off characterization in favor of action sequences. The problem is that the lack of effort in developing the characters makes the action superficial. Who cares if the Beast gets "killed"? The inconsistent artwork doesn't help. In the beginning the art was awesome but as the story progressed the art deteriorated.

The hardcover format is awesome. The books look great and collecting a year's worth of comics helps hold the attention of an old guy like me. I bought Vol. 2 of the X-Men together with Vol. 1 so I'll give Millar another year's worth of stories to get his act together.

This honestly will offend a lot of old-school comic fans but will surely help to begin a new group of fans. I imagine that eventually the characters will become more like they are later and things will follow a similar course of events. This is decently illustrated and this edition just looks very nice overall. Also the story is top notch if the reader can put aside all preconceptions on what the x-men are supposed to be. With characters being introduced in entirely new ways and in completely different order, this "universe" of the x-men is sure to unfold nicely.

"Ultimate X-Men" was the second title released in the "Ultimate" series, just after "Ultimate Spider-man" came out. Spidey was awesome, but with what little information that had slipped out regarding the new X-Men relaunch, the book looked to be disappointing. But it wasn't.

The new title is nothing short of gripping from page one. Scribe Mark Millar has done amazing things with the retelling, taking risky liberties that pay off. His X-Team initially starts off with Marvel Girl(who sports a punk rocker's hairdo) and Cyclops(Every bit the same boyscout in the Claremont run) who recruit Beast, Storm, and Colossus. Their first mission is to retrieve Bobby Drake, who's being hunted down by Sentinals, but Magneto has his own agendas as well.

The differences from the original are mostly good. The characters are far from being as lighthearted as their normal universe counterparts. Beast's mother refuses to speak with him. Colossus was a Russian arm's dealer and Storm, a small-time carjacker and pickpocket. Magneto is every bit as charismatic and frightening as he well should be. And Wolverine ... well, let's just say he's working freelance.

Millar's dialouge is always very strong and well thought out. Through the first storyarc, he'll do thinks that will make you balk and then appreciate the originality of it all. The Kubert brothers' art works perfectly, always detailed and well paced.

Now, what's bad? Very little. With such a large cast of mutants, many fan-favorites don't make appearances until much later on, if at all. Mystique was a full fledged member of the team in Millar's rough drafts, but not at all present in the final work. Nightcrawler, a personal favorite, appears in the second storyarc collected here, and plays a significant role, but is absent from the later issues. But one should read this for the story, not the charcters. In addition, the second story doesn't seem to really go anywhere. It's good, not as good as the first, but it seems there was more that could've, or should've been done with the plot.

All-in-all, this collection isn't a must-have, but a good read and worth owning if you're a fan of the X-Men. It may not be perfect, but it comes darn close.

I can appreciate the impulse to push the reset button on long time superhero comic books like "X-Men" and "Spider-Man." After all, we are talking about four decades worth of stories, repeated encounters with Magneto and the Green Goblin, each one diluting the potency of the characters. Plus, if you go back and read the first dozen episodes of either the original comic book "The Uncanny X-Men" of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby or the new and improved "X-Men" concocted by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum (and then John Byrne), it takes a while for both of those series to hit stride. Writer Mark Millar was given a free reign with this project, but clearly "Ultimate X-Men: The Tomorrow People" was constructed to work whether you came in with issue #1 of Volume 1, Giant-Size X-Men, or Volume 2.

I was here for all three, so part of my appreciation for this first six-issue story arc from Millar, pencillers Adam & Andy Kubert, and inker Art Thibert (w/Danny Miki) is how they have reconstituted elements from both of the origins. So I remember Quicksilver and the Silver Witch being part of the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants as well as Storm and Colossus being recruited for the international version of the X-Men. Anyhow, here is a list of things I liked about "The Tomorrow People" without spoiling the actual story:

I liked the idea that in the beginning the X-Men were just Professor Xavier, Cyclops and Marvel Girl. This reconstitutes the idea that there were always the core of the group. Actually, they would be the heart (Jean Grey), mind (Professor X), and soul (Scott Summers) of the X-Men. Having the Beast and Iceman be part of the second wave is fine with me, as is jettisoning Angel (and Banshee from wave two). You have to have limitations on how many merry mutants are running around in the group. On the other side of the equation Wolverine is now the world's best assassin and is working for Magneto. That is obviously a nice little twist on the tale. The mutant hysteria is in full swing, so that the necessity of all the world's mutants having to pick which side of the coming war they want to be on makes a whole lot of sense. This just underscores the idea that "X-Men" was never just a standard superhero battles supervillain type of comic book.

I really appreciate the way the ante has been upped both in terms of the Sentinnels and Magneto. This time around the big purple robots are going around and not just picking up mutants, they are executing them on the spot. But the chief attraction of this sotry arc is Magneto. The original X-Men was one of the few times in the history of Marvel Comics that the first issue of a comic book actually came up with the greatest villain in the history of the entire series. What I liked most about what Millar et al. came up with is the idea that given the powers Magneto has, there can only be one big battle between him and humanity. I mean, with his powers, taking over the world should be relatively easy. Even in the end, he can only be defeated because of an Achilles heel sort of situation. But what really matters here is that this fight is for all the marbles, win or lose, live or die. This is such a big story that I can understand why as long as we are talking rewriting history fans are wishing that this had been the script for the original "X-Men" movie.

The second story arc here, "Return to Weapon X" (issues #7-12) does not really focus on the character of Wolverine. True, he is a key part of the solution for the predicament our Merry Mutants have found themselves in this time around, but Weapon X is now a big time secret government program run under the auspices of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury that has a rather impressive little roster of mutants in its service: Juggernaut, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Sabertooth. Think of them as the government's answer to the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and that pretty much accounts for all of the mutants belonging to groups at this point in the series.

Despite being on a first name basis with the President of the United States, Xavier's School for Gifted Children is hit by Colonel Wraith and his shock troops, both human and mutant. Now Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and the others will serve the greater good and help the government fight fire with fire (the only good mutant is a mutant with a neural implant). Of course, since this is a comic book, the person in charge of this government program is psychotic and perfectly willing to do anything to do anything to get the job done (or did I mention already that Wraith was in charge?). The main part of the story arc has to do with the X-Men regaining their freedom, but this is also mixed up with Wolverine's search for his past and Nick Fury's search for an illegal genetic operation violating the Superhuman Test-Ban Treaty.

"Return to Weapon X" is not as good as the first story in the series, but it is hard to compete with Magneto when you talking about the X-Men, whichever version of the group is involved. Millar's story is certainly complex enough and you can see all sorts of things being set up for down the road. As long as you are not offended by the very existence of the series, you should find "Ultimate X-Men" or any of the other titles in the Marvel series to be at least entertaining and quite possibility compelling. At the very least, you should be able to appreciate the tweaking.

This hardcover combines the first two story arcs in this series: The Tomorrow People and Return to Weapon-X. Millar's take on the X-Men is new and refreshing. Using Marvel's new Ultimate universe, changes have been made to continuity to conform to the new story line. The team is different, the characters younger, and their powers a little stronger. The writing is tight and humerous, and the stories, especially the first one, are riveting. Millar does a good job combining characterization and action. These two story lines, especially the first one, are wonderful. The series has started to go downhill a little since, but this book is a must read for any X-Men fan.

This series does get better, but this first volume is seriously flawed. I refer you to the brilliant review written by Brown Rage from 2006 for his great points on the dialog and artwork, and I'll just skip those elements in my own review.

Mr Millar, the writer, seems to have a fundamentally hard time writing likable characters. It is well known that he hates super-hero comics. Yet, apparently to pay the rent, he keeps writing about them, usually in completely over-the-top reincarnations or re-imaginings in which he gets to transform them into jerky versions of themselves.

Take a look at his work in the Ultimates, Civil War, or Wanted, wherein you can see him writing stories that revolve around self-centered and arrogant people acting out.

Which brings us to his re-work of the X-men. The X-men is no sacred cow for me, mess with them all you want. But the book still needs to have some internal logic, and some compelling characters that you care about (beyond the reference to the mainstream incarnations in other books). But in Ultimate X-men, the characters are all asinine, arrogant, mean, stupid, or just plain irrational.

Most troublesome are the irrational characters, and most troublesome of those is Professor X. His actions and motivations are completely inexplicable, and seem to change from page to page. The only compelling and consistent aspect of his "vision" of mutant/human harmony is the incredible wealth he and his students are able to tap into- the only motivation I can see for any of the X-men joining up with him. (This character only gets worse in the second volume, btw.)

But the other characters fare no better: all get turned into shallow, strutting, and overly verbose bastards at the hands of Mr Millar. There's not one character among them with whom it is possible for the reader to identify.

Besides the characterizations, another absurdity is the way the characters' powers work. In this "Ultimate" incarnation, the characters' powers have apparently been jacked up to ultimate levels.

Why argue with this? Because it robs the narrative of internal logic and dramatic tension when we see: Colossus stop a speeding train by standing on the tracks, Storm easily fry Sentinels with one lightning bolt, Jean and the Professor perform experimental animal-organ to human transplant surgery by telepathically tapping into the minds of some research doctors we are supposed to believe exist somewhere off-screen. At one point, Magneto stops hundreds of Sentinels at once, then simultaneously reprograms them with his powers as they all levitate in the air. I don't care that the original Magneto could never have done that: it is just stupid in and of itself.

The technology that Professor X, SHEILD, and the Weapon X program is supposed to have access to is also ludicrous. I'm sorry but A) there is no way the X-men fly around in a B-2 Bomber. Just not going to happen. And B) the B-2 cannot "beam" people up into it, doesn't have VTOL, can't hold more than 3 people, it cannot turn invisible, it cannot hover, and it certainly cannot hover unseen, and unheard, and without knocking people over, above a crowded city square. And I don't care if this is the near future, and there are mutants and super-powers, there is no way SHEILD has invented clothing that can allow people to walk through walls and turn invisible. It is just cheap and easy storytelling to invent preposterous technology like this every time you need an easy plot device or narrative short-cut.

In conclusion, this book is a bloated mess created with a minimum of thought and a maximum of contempt for the characters, coherent dialog, narrative logic, and, I dare say, the human race itself.

Points are given for the artwork, the beautiful format, and the fact that this series improves over time (like when Millar finally stops writing it).

This is not your daddy's "X-Men." Heck, in my case, it's not even MY "X-Men." I started collecting the adventures of Xavier's team of reactive "freedom fighters" right near the end of the decade long run of writer Chris Claremont. I loved Fabian Nicizea and Scott Lobdell's take on the team. I bought (most) all of the books plastered with an "X" on them. And I HATED the Ultimate Universe idea. I didn't care that is was an idea of Joe Quesada, whose every other move in the business of funny books was something I agreed with. I didn't care that Brian Michael Bendis was doing the first book and he was a favorite writer. I didn't care if Mark Millar was doing this "X" book and I thought he was great in filling Warren Ellis' shoes in THE AUTHORITY.I didn't care that I loved the Kubert bros (that is, ultimately, why I gave issue #1 a try). I thought the idea of "re-booting"was a cop-out to a muddled universe and that there could be nothing there.
I. Was. Wrong. DEAD. Wrong.
Not to give away the end to issue one, but the moment I saw who Magneto's personally selected assassain was, I was irrocavably hooked. It was a brilliant reveal that made perfect sense. And it was fun...
Millar crafts a tale of fun, suspense and action and he has a great turn at humor and dialogue. He doesn't care who the X-Men were, but who they ARE. A bunch of kids with WAY too much power, emotion and responsibility. And they have to stop a madman? Who just may be right? Because these are not "established" characters with thirty years of backstory, you never really know whose side they are on. Anyone could be taken out at any time. Storm is too important and too popular a character in the "old" Marvel U to really be in any danger. But here, in this new ballgame, you're never really sure. The motivations and the results are all new, but somehow familiar. And when that new character is introduced, you cannot wait to see what's the same and what's different.
Are you an "X-Men" fan? Are you a resistor like I was?
Give up and give in...