"The Return of the King" is Volume 6 in the "Ultimate X-Men" series and the title, of course, refers to Magneto. In the first volume in the series the X-Men fought Magneto and not only defeated him, but also apparently killed him. However, this turned out to be one of Professor X's mind games; he convinced Magneto that he was Erik Lensheer, unaware of his past life as a mutant terrorist. When the Brotherhood of Mutants discovers Magneto is still alive they find him and remove the mental blocks Xavier had placed in his minds. We are now back to the beginning in many ways, except this time around both Magneto and all the homo sapiens are very wary. In fact, the Bush Administration has Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. going after all the mutants, including the X-Men. Since they already have Xavier in custody, stopping Magneto is going to be a problem.
Actually, stopping Magneto is always a problem. For a long time I have been convinced that Magneto would actually win and the reason I liked the first volume of this series so much was that I thought it recognized this fact by having Professor X and the X-Men going up against Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants go at it just once for all the marbles. In the end Magneto should have been dead because he should be unstoppable in a rematch; indeed, look at what ends up doing in this one, extending his magnetic reach across the entire planet. Besides, if you can explode nuclear reactors, why stop at just one? Magneto is simply the most dangerous super villain in the Marvel (or Ultimate) universe. When they were retooling him they should have ratcheted down his power level a couple of notches (Actually, they should do the same thing for Xavier as well).
But since Magneto winning would mean coming up with a new title for the comic book, Magneto has to be defeated. Once again the key is getting his helmet off of his head and while I like the way that happens this time around, I still do not really buy that anybody could get close enough to actually do it. Besides, as is often the case with these Ultimate titles, things end up reflecting the blockbuster movies (e.g., Magneto, living in a plastic cage). Clearly one of the defining elements of the X-Men today is the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr and the first issue of "Return of the King" provides an encapsulated version of their history (as well as a new explanation for how Xavier ended up in his wheelchair). Certainly there is something to be said for the ongoing debate that the pair have been having for over a decade.
Collected in "Return of the King" are issues #26-33 of "Ultimate X-Men," written by Mark Millar, and illustrated by Adam Kubert and David Finch, with Ray and Ben Lai. The most interesting addition to the X-Men mythos this time around is the sub-plot in which Wolverine finds a way to get Cyclops out of the way so that he can make a move on Jean Grey, especially given the intriguing idea that Logan and Scott are Charles and Eric, the next generation. Most of the relationships between the Ultimate X-Men (e.g., Colossus and Wolverine, Beast and Storm) are more interesting as well. Sometimes I think the "Ultimate X-Men" is overloaded with ideas, but for those who remember Marvel's Mery Mutants from the very beginning the changes are always something to think about.
Final Question: Since the Ultimate version of Nick Fury is African-American (apparently there were Howlin' Commandos in the Vietnam War), does that explain why Colin Powell was omitted from the White House discussions while Dick Chaney and Donald Rumsfeld were not? Just curious at that rather interesting omission.
This book opens by showing us how Magneto and Prof. X worked together, how their friendship deteriorated over several years, and, in more detail, how Magneto crippled Xavier. Then it moves into the present day and Magneto's progress on his refuge for mutants as well as the unpleasant scene where he deals with plans for a satellite mutant tracker. Meanwhile, the X-Men-in-hiding are dealing with Magneto's brotherhood in the hope of rehabilitating their image.
Is the rumor that Wolverine deliberately left Cyclops to die in the Savage Land true?
In the grand tradition of comic book villains, Magneto tells our heroes something of his frightful plan for eliminating the human-mutant relations problem. The X-Men have only a week to find Magneto's hiding place and save the world. (Let me just say that a machine, different from and much more powerful than the one used in the first X-Men movie, is involved.) The final battle certainly kept my interest.
During most of the action, Professor X is being held prisoner in a S.H.I.E.L.D. detention camp for mutants suspected of being terrorists. He refuses to betray his students, of course. I reread his words of encouragement to a fellow prisoner after rereading earlier volumes and those words became a little unnerving near the end. Why?
Because of what Prof. X tells Nick Fury and what he tells Magneto when they meet again late in the book. You won't have to have read the earlier volumes to speculate on whether or not Xavier is telling the truth. I'm afraid that he *is* telling the truth. If so, that would explain a couple of his moves in earlier volumes that I found incredibly stupid -- and would make this version of Prof. X a little scary. Ignore the "9-12" age group recommendation. While they might enjoy the action, I think you need to be older than that to fully appreciate this book.
Magneto is getting ready to destroy the entire human race, except for a token man and woman. The X-Men are in hiding, although they do make an attempt to rehabilitate their image and track down Magneto. Prof. X has been moved to that detention unit for mutants in Cuba that was threatned in "Ultimate War". Cyclops is not dead (was anyone expecting he would be?), but he's not in good condition. Of course the X-Men will save the day, Prof. X will escape, and Magneto will be foiled, but there'll be plenty of fighting, explosions, and a threatened nuclear meltdown.
Loved the part where Storm meets the Beast's parents, not to mention having my suspicion about Xavier's cat confirmed.
The final scene between Xavier and Magneto is my favorite part of the book.
