Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 | Mark Millar, Geoff Johns

Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 | Mark Millar, Geoff Johns | A Fresh Start

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Ultimate X-Men: Ul...

	Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 Mark Millar, Geoff Johns Marvel Comics, 2006 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Collecting the first year of Mark Millar's groundbreaking ULTIMATE X-MEN - issues #1-12 - in one colossal trade paperback! Featuring an all-new cover by ULTIMATE HULK VS. WOLVERINE artist Leinil Francis Yu! The world stands on the brink of genetic war. Mankind has made the first move, launching an army of giant, cybernetic executioners called Sentinels - programmed to target and eliminate the mutant DNA strand. Now, Magneto and his mutant terrorist cell are preparing to follow through on their threats of Homo sapien genocide. The only force that can prevent total annihilation: five awkward teenagers and their crippled mentor! Plus: The inexperienced X-Men must rely on the enigmatic and unproven Wolverine when they become pawns of the mysterious Weapon X program. Can Logan go it alone against the shadow-ops organization that transformed him into one of the world's most lethal killing machines? Also featuring the rare ULTIMATE X-MEN #1/2!

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Incredible.

Great Stories here, and for a price that you can't beat. I hadn't read any of the Ultimate stuff from Marvel, except for Daredevil and Elektra, but the X-Men have always been my favorite, and I was intrigued by the way that they were "reborn" here. I would have to say that my favorite highlight would be what the Weapon-X program did to Beast. Peace and Love,
Jake

A Fresh Start

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.

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An excellent start to the series

This graphic novel collects the 12 issues in the first year of Mark Millar's Ultimate X-Men and covers two story arcs: 1) `The Tomorrow People' and 2) `Return to Weapon X'.

In the first story arc, `The Tomorrow People', the world is on the brink of genetic war after the emergence of mutants, humans who possess special abilities due to an activated X-gene in their DNA. In fear of mutantkind, mankind has created Sentinels, giant robots that can identify the mutant gene and are programmed with one directive: identify mutants and terminate them. We are introduced to two opposing mutant groups: the world's most powerful telepath Professor Xavier and his X-Men, who have a vision of a world in which humans and mutants can live together in peace and harmony, and terrorist master of magnetism Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants, who believe that mutantkind are the next stage of evolution, and are meant to replace mankind, not live in harmony with them. Magneto wants to bring about the all-out genetic war that he believes will result in mutantkind finally destroying humankind and inheriting the earth that he feels is rightfully theirs, whereas Xavier believes that such an all-out war would inevitably mean the extinction of all, man and mutant. But when the US government discover the whereabouts of Magneto's secret base - the Savage Land - and dispatch a fleet of Sentinels there to kill Magneto and all his followers, the life of every human man, woman and child in America is in danger, because Magneto will respond to this attack with terrible wrath, and determine to kill every non-mutant in America in one stroke. Can Xavier's X-Men stop this genocide, and the madman that is Magneto?

In the second story arc, `Return to Weapon X', Xavier's school is ambushed by Weapon X, a covert black-ops unit funded by the US government that uses mutants as living weapons against their will, brainwashing them and inserting neural implants into their brains to compel them to obey. Xavier and his X-Men are all kidnapped and taken to the secret Weapon X base in Finland. The X-Men are then sent on missions as operatives of Weapon X and are forced by Colonel Wraith - the head of Weapon X - to do terrible things. But when Weapon X attacked Xavier's school, they failed to capture Wolverine, a mutant with a healing factor that means he can recover from any injury. Wolverine was a former operative of Weapon X, who was kidnapped by them, brainwashed and routinely tortured for many years. He is the world's most lethal killing machine and he has a plan to rescue his fellow X-Men from the clutches of Weapon X, a plan that involves his former team-mates, Magnetos' Brotherhood of Mutants...

Comments: I found this to be a most enjoyable trade paperback, with two great stories, the first of which introduces us to the world of Ultimate X-Men and the second of which takes us deeper into their world. The characters are different from in the main Marvel universe (primarily because they are mainly teenagers) and this new start gives readers new to the X-Men and also former X-title readers like myself the opportunity to get back into the X-Men world without having to worry about continuity. The first story is competently told, with good guy Xavier and bad guy Magneto's opposing viewpoints on the place of mutants in the world, the horrors of the Sentinels and the X-Men doing their best to protect a world that fears and loathes them. The second story is even better, with the X-Men and Xavier pawns of Weapon X and its evil leader Colonel Wraith, the story being so compelling because of the terrible sufferings of the X-Men and other mutants as prisoners of Weapon X and Colonel Wraith, a villain who is even worse than Magneto. This trade paperback is a fine start to the Ultimate X-Men series, with well plotted stories by Mark Millar and largely excellent artwork by Adam and Andy Kubert, Tom Raney and Thomas Derenick. I intend to carry on reading.

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Not Bad

X-Men in 'Ultimate' universe. Although this is the first volume, there is not much origin in this book. It goes into a few details, not a lot, on Wolverine, but everyone else just exist as mutants from the get-go. There is no backstory or anything. This book contains two stories, each spans several issues. The book collects issues #1-12.

First story, the X-Men fights Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants, each opposing group with a different view of their place in society. The X-Men believe they can co-exist with humans and live in harmony, whereas the Brotherhood believes in mutants being the next race to succeed humans. This is a pretty interesting fight and would make a great movie. In the movies we see these groups fight but they left out the humans which are crucial to the story as they fight against the mutants with giant robots called Sentinels. This is an exciting battle and the artwork really comes alive in the story.

The second story is about a government agency known as Weapon-X whose purpose is to enslave mutants to do man's bidding. It is this story where we learn of Wolverine's past. There are some exciting battles here as well, but the only exciting part is the battle between Wolverine and Sabertooth which is way too short.

I felt the stories are lacking somewhat and the dialogue pretty bland. The book does a good job in explaining everyone's powers so even if you're not an X-Men fan, you will come out knowing all the heroes and villains pretty well. If you don't already know, there is always favoritism toward certain characters in X-Men comics. They love Wolverine and he is almost the main character that comes and saves the day. Jean Grey would be second most popular character since she is Wolverine's love interest. Villains vary from Sentinels, to notable humans, to Magneto.

The artwork is ok. Nothing really awesome that stands out. It is clean-looking and serious. One nod is they make everyone look proportional like real people as opposed to caricatures or too cartoon-like like in Ultimate Spider-Man series. The artwork is also not as glossy and plastic looking as in Ultimate Spider-Man which is another nod, but is also the reason why the artwork doesn't stand out as much and look quite bland as the writing. But ulimately (no pun intended), it was a good and quick read and will give you a nice superhero fix.

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The X-Men, 60% More Ultimatey!

This soft cover collects Mark Millar's Ultimate X-Men 1-12, plus the 1/2 issue by Geoff Johns. I've enjoyed a lot of Millar's previous work, especially The Ultimates. He has a knack for action and politics, and for crafting very enjoyable reads.

This volume... not my favorite Millar. A re-imagining of the X-Men for Marvel's new Ultimate Universe, instead of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, and Iceman, we're absent Angel but with the additions of fan-favorite Wolverine, and Colossus. This being the Ultimate World, their origins and drives are very different from, and sometimes sensationalistic-ally opposite to, the originals. The purest in me found some of them (especially the Wolverine angles) hard to digest, and while they did set the book apart, it seemed at times to be at the expense of creating vibrant characters in their own right.

The story deals with the formation of the team (recruited on Prof. X's behalf by a newer, sexier, Jean Grey), and their battle with Ultimate Magneto and his Ultimate Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (his children, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, as well as Toad, Mastermind, and others).

Like much of the Ultimate Universe, real-world touches like George Bush being President of the United States are thrown in. Also, the stakes are immediately much higher; as the story begins, on presidential order, Sentinels are hunting down and executing mutants without benefit of warrant or trial.
Great setup. However, the elaboration didn't flow as well as other Millar work I've enjoyed, something which was aided not at all by the artwork, from the usually excellent Kubert bros. Top-notch figures, dynamic action... but panel-to-panel story-telling was difficult to follow and, at times, downright confusing.

Overall, a mixed bag. Enough to challenge my preconceptions but not shatter them.

As an added bonus, the soft cover provides the original Ultimate X-Men script by Brian Bendis, which is a VERY different take from Millar's version as well.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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