2004-02-16 Not Meeting X-Pectations :(

The Ultimate X-Men comics have, to date, proved to be the least successful of Marvel's character "re-imaginings" for a new generation of readers. The Ultimate X-Men fails to maintain a sense of believability that keeps other Ultimate titles (such as Ultimate Spider-Man and The Ultimates) fresh. Instead, Ultimate X-Men seems to suffer from one of the worse flaws of the 'original universe' X-Men stories: that is too-many throw-away characters with ridiculous 'can do anything' mutant superpowers. But the most unfortunate part of this collection is its rushed resolution - the whole matter Phoenix Force is effectively dealt with in half an issue (perhaps this will resurface in later stories)and the identity of Xavier's "mystery backers", having been built up since the start of the series, is trampled over in an equally dismissive way. That's not to say the 'Ultimate' magic is totally missing -- Beast's internet relationship has a very clever pay-off and the Wolverine/Cyclops niggling is always good value for money -- but you can't help but feel this is the poor relation of the 'Ultimate' family.