Ultimate Comics Wolverine #1 – Review

By: Cullen Bunn (Writer), David Messina (Penciler), Gary Erskine (Inker), Javier Tartaglia (Colorist), VC’s Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

Review: Poor old Jimmy Hudson. As character’s go he’s often gotten the short end of the stick. He was first introduced in Jeph Loeb’s facepalm-worthy Ultimate Comics: X, a series intended to be an ongoing before production delays saw it wound up as an extended mini. Then he shifted over as a regular cast member of Ultimate Comics X-Men though his growth remained stunted, imagined as half romantic foil for Kitty Pryde, half perpetually snarling anger-ball. Now, even when he gets the chance to star in his own mini-series proper, he has to share page count with dear old departed Dad.

Still, Jimmy does kinda suck, so whatcha gonna do? Other than his Daddy Issues I’ve never found him to be that interesting. I mean, compare him to Daken in the 616; that guy had it all. Cool tattoos, an edgy Mohawk, a third claw on the inside of his wrist…and he was into the guys as well as the gals. Plus, he totally hated his Dad and cut the Punisher up into tiny l’il bits. Meanwhile J-Huds is just this angry white kid – he reminds me of Ryan from The O.C. Not that I watched The O.C., you understand, it’s just that I’m hip and culturally aware and have my finger on the pulse of popular entertainment *remembers that The O.C. finished 5 years ago, hides away DVD box set*. Ahem.

Ultimate Comics X-Men #23 – Review

By: Brian Wood (Writer), Carlo Barberi (Penciller), Don Ho (Inker), Jesus Aburtov (Colorist), VC’s Joe Sabino (Letterer)

The Review: This issue really took me by surprise. Much like Brian Wood  often did with great success during his Vertigo series DMZ, this is a stand-alone tale that breaks  away from the title’s continuing narrative to address an otherwise undocumented   chapter in one character’s life. In this case it deals chiefly with Storm and starts directly after she and Colossus participated in the breakout from Camp Angel (around issues #10 and #11) leading all the way up to just about the present day (around about #19). Just as with DMZ, this change in gear offers its readership the chance to catch a breath from the dense plotting of the ongoing title and for Wood to explore one of his individual cast member’s histories in rich detail and with a tighter focus. It is – for me – easily the best issue of Ultimate Comics X-Men in months.

Ultimate Comics X-Men #22 -Review

By: Brian Wood & Nathan Edmondson (Writers), Carlo Barberi (Penciler), Juan Vlasco (Inker), Jesus Aburtov (Colorist), Joe Sabino (Lettering)

Review: I dig that whole line of thought that when you’re tasked with reviewing something you should do so in a kind of bubble. You can only really give your personal honest opinion – otherwise you’re just acting as an aggregate for the communal hum of the internets. As such, I make it a rule to only read other reviewers’ critiques on a comic until I’ve submitted my own for publication. This serves me well. Occasionally though, I have to stick my head above the parapets and make sure that I’m not veering wildly off target, blinded by a cantankerous mood swing or unnerved by a total misreading of the material on my own part.

Ultimate Comics X-Men prompts this second-guessing behaviour more than most. I scratch my head and wonder why most other reviewers seem to be almost floored by Wood’s handling of the material, proclaiming the book to be one of, if not the, best X-titles on the stands (Ultimate or otherwise). Either I’ve been missing something entirely these last few months or these guys are all smoking the same blend of off-brand crack.

Ultimate Comics X-​Men #20 – Review

By: Brian Wood (Writer), Carlo Barberi (Penciler), Juan Vlasco (Inker), Jesus Aburto (Colorist), Joe Sabino (Letterer)

The Review: In contrast to a lot of other readers and critics of Brian Wood’s time on Ultimate Comics X-Men, I seem to have had a hard time really vibing with the story he’s chosen to tell. I think it’s the slow-burn nature of the telling; Kitty Pryde’s evolved into the leader of the Mutant race, born out of revolution and war, and is now in the process of building her people a new nation. But since the Reservation X storyline has been in place she seems to be more of a pragmatic administrator than charismatic figurehead. It makes perfect sense for things to be this way of course but for me it lacks some pizazz. However, the way some people evidently feel about the title, they think this is the best thing to happen to the Ultimate X-Men in years… what am I missing? Is there something more going on here?

Ultimate Comics X-Men #19 Review

By: Brian Wood (Writer), Paco Medina (Artist), Juan Vlasco (Inker), Jesus Aburto (Colorist), Joe Sabino (Letterer)

The Review: Now that the Divide We Fall/United We Stand crossover has ended, the individual books of the Ultimate Comics line are free to go their own separate ways. It’s almost back to business as usual for the Ultimates and Spider-Man (though Spidey’s now part of Captain America’s team and Cap himself is, y’know, the President) but the X-Men find themselves in an entirely new situation. After successfully defeating Stryker and his Sentinel army, Kitty Pryde has become the de facto leader of the Mutant race. They’ve been given a safe-zone, a piece of America that’s all their own. Here, in theory, no-one should be able to bother or murderize them. It’s a fresh start for the series, but Wood chooses to play it sparse and dark – no times for smiles, hugs or celebrations just yet.

Ultimate Comics X-Men #18 Review

By: Brian Wood (Writer), Carlo Barberi & Agustin Padilla (Artist), Juan Vlasco (Inker), Marte Gracia (Colorist), Joe Sabino (Letterer)

The Review: A year and a half’s worth of plotting has been building up to this point – a decisive ending that opens up new beginnings. In the short term this is the last part that Ultimate Comics X-Men will play in the Divided We Fall/United We Stand crossover event, but in a wider sense this issue sees the mutant community finally secure some stable ground on which they can begin a process of rebuilding, a peace they’ve longed for since the events of Ultimatum. It’s slightly hurried in its execution, but still manages to produce some thrills amongst all the heavy lifting.

Ultimate X-Men/Fantastic Four Annual #1 – Review

By Aron E Coleite and Joe Pokaski (Writers), Dan Panosian and Mark Brook (Pencilers), Danny Miki and Troy Hubbs (Inkers), and John Rauch and Antonio Fabela (Colorists)

While I enjoy the occasional “Ultimate” comic, I’ve never been a huge fan of that universe.  I don’t plan on “converting” any time soon, but this issue sure makes a strong showing that the Ultimate U can offer a traditional Marvel story, while still maintaining its own flavor.

In the future sentiment has turned against all those with powers, and the X-Men have become a group of illegal freedom fighters. Eventually these X-Men decide to travel to the past to destroy the thing that started this hellish future: Reed Richards. As they invade, we see a rather entertaining fight between the FF of today and the X-Men of tomorrow. Twenty years of honing power and skill allow the X-Men to be victorious in capturing Reed, and the remaining FF decide to turn to the one group they believe can help them: the current X-Men. What follows is a typical mystery as the two teams work together to solve exactly what the future X-Men intend to do, and why they’ve only captured Reed, instead of killing him.

As a quick side note, the two things that interested me about the future X-Men were discovering who the new Captain America (yes, he joins the X-Men, and no, he’s not Steve Rogers) and the new Phoenix are (in this case, it is a character who is finally yet introduced in the Ultimate U) And if you think the future X-Men are cool, just wait until the last page reveals the future Fantastic Four!

Overall, this was an extremely entertaining plot, and I can’t wait for part two in two weeks! If you are a fan of the “regular” X-Men or the Fantastic Four these two issues would be a great thing to pick up to give you a taste of their “Ultimate” counterparts. (Grade: B+)

-M. Staples