Customer Reviews

Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2: Return to Weapon X

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite the title and the cover art for this second trade paperback volume in the "Ultimate X-Men" series (collecting issues 7-12), "Return to Weapon X" does not 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.

I think that one of the main strengths of the Ultimate comic books is that they emphasize story arcs that take multiple issues (six in this case) so that a dozen issues into the series we have only dealt with two major stories instead of a self-contained episode with a new villain every single month. This should help the well from running dry too quickly. Writer Mark Millar along with Penciller Adam Kubert (with Tom Raney & Tom Derenick) and Inker Art Thibert (with Scott Hanna, Joe Kubert, Danny Miki, & Lary Stucker) are having fun tweaking the "original" X-Men stories and creating some new dynamics (e.g., Storm is interested in Hank McCoy, Nightcrawler does not speak English) so I think that those who have been reading the X-Men since issue #1 of "The Uncanny X-Men" (or issue #1 of "The Giant-Size X-Men") will enjoy the differences more than neophytes and appreciate the way key stories resonant (e.g., Jean Grey is Marvel Girl and not Phoenix when she steps over the line this time around).

"Return to Weapon X" is not as good as the first volume 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.

I subscribed to the ultimate Xmen as soon as it came out.. and here's what I think....

I thought this six part storyline rocked.. The Xmen are better than before and The Weapon X Project is a 100 times more evil and (This is important) credible than it's ever appeared in the 'Wolverine' books.

Originality is the key as while Millar draws on all the heroes and villains from marvels stock, but the story line keeps you on tether hooks till the end. Issue 12 was a finale..

Best line in the book 'First rule in a fight, Always protect your family jewels' and then Logan wises Sabretooth as to this old adage... hehehehh..

But...

A serious problem with the WHOLE Ultimate Xmen series is the static storyline..Too often I felt that there was more to say but i feel Millar was working under constraints.. Not enough space given to flesh out the charachters. This was a major bummer and hopefully something will be done by Millar in the upcoming issues.. ..

The art credits varied from the kubert bros and tom raney.. I found it sometimes too sketchy and imprecise (Interchanging looks between different charachters) and I did not understand at all the raid on the X-mansion.. however I loved the scenes of painted art mostly in the dream sequences. ...

Well this book was good, but Volume 1: The Tomorrow People was better. This book introduces many new and important character's to the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Including Juggernaut, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Sabertooth, and Nick Fury. The story tells of the Weapon X program kidnapping and basically enslaving the X-men and their leader, Professor Charles Xavier. The X-men are forced to do everything that Professor Xavier has tought them is wrong. Using tiny explosive chips planted into each of the X-men's heads, they are forced to do as they are told, or else KABLOOEE! I also like the fact that the whole Cytorak, or whatever its called, crystal was not included. Some of you may not understand, but taking out things like that make the story less confusing and more realistic. The day Marvel start incorporating things like "magic crystals" and such into the Ultimate Universe, is the day I stop reading them. I have come to expect a level of "realism" from these books. Anyway, this book also hints at the future creation of the Ultimates (the Ultimate Universe's version of the Avengers).

So sue me, I'm a dyed in the wool Wolverine fan. And after reading "Wolverine: Enemy of the State," that has been further validated for me. What I find is that Wolvie could be "diluted" for a younger audience and not lose any of what makes him great.

I read the back cover insert with a letter from Joe Quesada mentioning that Ultimate X-Men was going to cater to younger readers and to an audience who can't quite follow the current continuity of the regular X-titles. I think that description fits for this comic title. I enjoyed this TPB, mainly because it collected issues that I never felt the need to buy individually every month. Since I collect about eight titles a month, you can see why I feel that way.

Wolverine's back among the X-Men and being hounded by the Weapon X program again, but this time the X-Men are taken captive. This is the first appearance in the series of Nightcrawler, who speaks more German and is a very likable character. We're also introduced to a recurring villain, Wraith, who's lovably evil and a real jerk, allowing his troops to riddle Wolverine with bullets while he's being held captive, just to watch his healing factor make him better so they can start over. I love the speech that Colossus makes where he explains why Wolverine will save the day, only to have Sabretooth walk into the complex a moment later, dragging Logan by his feet, unconscious after they hit him with napalm!

This story features a decent rescue and a great battle between Logan and Sabretooth. No Weapon X/Weapons Plus story would be complete without that. The dialogue is well written in this, as well as the interpersonal relationships. The artwork is inconsistent; the facial expressions are great, but the figures are very cartoony. I also find it a funny indication of the era that we live in that Storm and Jean have body piercings.

One thing I will say about these TPBs of this title is that I would not be able to read them out of sequence. Millar and the new guy, Vaughan, don't seem to believe in providing you with references to stuff that's happened in past issues to keep you caught up.

If you are an X-Men purist, and you don't like stories that vary from things you've already read in Uncanny or untitled X-Men, then leave this on the shelf. However, if you like your X-Men adventures to feel more like the animated series (Evolution) or the first two movies, this may be more your cup of tea.

When you pick up just about any of the new Ultimate universe books from Marvel, throw anything you used to know about the them out the window, especially when it comes to Ulitmate X-men. Juggernaut is a mutant now, and Wraith is an X-men villian. You cant say things dont make sense because of how they did things before, this is new, and better in my opinion.

I thought this was a very well written book. It was fun to see Beat's transformation, and Nightcrawler in his teen years. The penciling was second to none for the most part, things kind of went south toward the end in that department.

Overall it was a very entertaining read and a must have for any Wolverine fans, or those trying to wade into the Marvel Universe for the first time.

I for one am glad we didn't get another story relating Wolverine's experiences in the Weapon X program. I'm very glad Millar updated the story and stayed away from the convoluted and nonsensical story populating the main X books.

The program itself was very basic; use mutants to do human's dirty work.

Somehow, between X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and almost fifteen years of filler, that simple premise has got lost in floods of random codenames (Silver Fox, Sabretooth, X23, Maverick ad nauseum) and 'mysterious' backstories that never get resolved.

This is a good, clean read, and as far as I'm concerned, if you are reading an X-Men book to learn more about the Weapon X program, you really should stick to 'Wolverine', anyway. The X-Men are a team book and to always focus on one member as if he is the cornerstone of the team undermines the rest of the title.

Ultimate X-Men escaped the trap 'Uncanny' now finds itself in; once you deal with any refugee of the Weapon X program, thousands of Wolverine fans will expect stories in which the boring canuckle head is the angst ridden victim.

When I looked at the shelves and saw Ultimate X-Men Vol.1 last year, I didn't know what to think. Then I opened the book and it grabbed me by surprise. I had to buy this book. After I read it when I got home, I was very pleased in how Mark Millar took hold of the X-Men legacy. I was very eager to buy Weapon X when it first came out, which ended up being a year later, but let me tell you it was well worth the wait. It brought familiar faces into Ultimate X-Men, and it had a terrific story line too. I liked this story better than the Weapon X story in the Wolverine comic books. This book has it all. It introduces new characters like: Rogue, Nightcrawler, Sabertooth, Juggarnut, and more from the Marvel Universe. And yes of course it also has Wolverine. Just like the first story arc this one also has a very jaw dropping ending, but I will not spoil it for you, you'll have to go buy the book and find out for yourself. Now I'm just patiently anticipating the next story arc to come out. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I have.

this volume shows the government black ops organization called weapon X comes to reclaim wolverine and takem the x-men to the same fate. It is juggernaut rouge sabretooth and nightcrawler's first ultimate apperance. this was my first and still my favorite.

Mark Millar's second story arc on Ultimate X-Men is a step up from the first, but still suffers from some of the same problems.

The characterization is better this time around. You can start to see the forming of personalities with the X-Men. There is still too much generic dialogue.

This story suffers a little with Millar's re-imagining of the X-Men mythos. Millar picked seemingly random villains and made them part of the Weapon X project. Juggernaut especially didn't make much sense, as he wasn't a mutant in the first place.

There's been something disappointing about Mark Millar's first two story arcs on Ultimate X-Men. It certainly doesn't live up to the hype that's been built around it. Millar's "widescreen" type of story telling is ill-suited for X-Men, which has always flourished as a more character driven title.

Time will ultimately tell.

this was a great follow up to the great first arc The Tomorrow People. This arc introduces Nightcrawler, Rouge, Juggernaut and Sabertooth who all are ok with Nightcrawler being the best who was really characterized in his good 2 pages of english. The rest are pretty bland which keeps this from getting a 5 star along with the relative absence of characterization with most of the X-Men. Arc is pretty good other than that nothing special.