This was the big summer event (though it lasted 8 months) for Marvel and I was very excited about it going in. Bendis had been hinting at this storyline since he started on the Avengers, and the mystery of who is a skrull/who to trust was very interesting to me.

The first issue starts the event with a bang. The invasion starts with a full on assault on earth (which is contrary to the title, this is not a secret). But most importantly the Skrull agents who infiltrated earth’s superheroes start acting.

Three important characters are revealed to be Skrulls: Jarvis, who neutralized StarkTech. Hank Pym who captures Reed Richards. DumDum Dugan, who takes care of the SHIELD. Meantime the Avengers (both teams) are lured to the Savage Land and face a Skrull ship full of old versions of themselves, as well as some dead characters. Who are they? Are they all Skrull or is someone back from the dead?

This is a great first issue, so I was very excited for this story. That excitement lasted longer than it should have, because I kept enjoying every issue even though nothing much happened, but I thought that something bigger would come soon. Unfortunately nothing much else happens.

Only one other superhero is revealed to be a Skrull, Spider-Woman, but we all suspected her way back in New Avengers. I was disappointed about this revelation, so much that I still thought Bendis was faking us out I thought Spider-Woman infiltrated the Skrulls. But no.

At first we thought Mockingbird was the real one just because she knew something nobody else knew (so the Skrulls can recreate humans on the DNA level, duplicating powers, but they can’t duplicate memories?!?!?). Instead everyone from that ship was a Skrull. EVERYONE!!

As soon as Reed is free, he finds the solution to the Skrull’s disguise (how come he couldn’t think of it before?!?!?). And we don’t even get an explanation to how they did it. Another tease was the “he loves you” phrase they used, which seemed like a huge deal, but in the end nothing comes out of it. Bendis kept trying to fake us with Skrulls lying to Iron Man and Sentry, but they were just messing with their minds. In the end they just didn’t have any impact.

There were some very cool action scenes, mainly big battle scenes between super-skrulls and the heroes. They were nice eye candy, but they didn’t advance the plot at all. The heroes were stuck in the Savage Land for 5 issues, which was part of the Skrull’s plan, to keep them away from the battle. But that doesn’t explain how they intended to defeat them in the Savage Land. The only obstacle they had were the fake Avengers, which they defeated very easily once the surprise was over.

But the worst offense was the last issue. The choice of narrating the end of the invasion in past tense was simply ridiculous. Knowing that it was all over just took away any tension from reading the issue. But the way it all ended was way too quick and easy. Someone might as well snapped their fingers and end it all. Basically Thor contained the poison coming from Jan, and he destroyed all ships in space!?!?!

Jan’s death made all heroes angry, but why did Osborn care about her? Worst of all, the fight was basically over when Osborn shot the Queen. One single shot and the battle is over?!?!? Not to mention that all heroes were already on to the Queen, so it’s not like that shot was so hard to do that everybody is grateful to Osborn. Anybody with a gun could have done that!!

Then we get back everyone who was impersonated, alive. The explanation is that they needed the genetic source, but it’s just too convenient for me. Also where did they get the genetic source for the heroes of the 80’s? Those people were not switched out, but they still had the source to create the old Beast, Jewel, Emma Frost, Hawkeye etc… That’s never explained, even though it was part of the big surprise at the beginning.

And Mockingbird IS back, but that will be explored in their mini series I assume. Which brings to the new status quo of the Marvel U. Tony Stark is out, Osborn is now in charge of everything. That’s just ridiculous. Even if the public doesn’t really know who Osborn is, the people who put him in charge do, and they should know he’s crazy!! And just because Stark was defeated during the invasion, he becomes a villain? Ok, maybe they were looking for a scapegoat, I can buy that.

But putting aside how we get to Dark Reign, I do think the concept is interesting. Now a group of evil/not evil/maybe evil/ex-evil people are n charge of the world, let’s see what they do. Reading Secret Invasion: Dark Reign also helped answer some questions about this group, and I am curious to learn who is Osborn’s “friend”. I still wonder why Emma Frost is in the group though.

This interesting premise doesn’t really justify the poor execution of Secret Invasion though. The only excellent aspect of this series is Lenil Yu’s art. He has really established himself as a superstar artist. I’ve liked his style ever since his early days in the X-Titles, I am glad he’s reached this level of notoriety in the comics industry.

Even though it hasn’t been that long since I read this, I had to re-read it again and go into more details about this series.

The first arc (1-3) lays down subplots of the big theme of this series, that is the Ultimates in foreign countries. But the big issue in this arc is Hulk’s trial. Somebody leaked information about Hulk’s real identity, which brings to the trial. But this is just a formality, he’s obviously going to be executed. I like the way Fury tricks Banner into thinking he got away, when it was clearly not possible. Hank helping Bruce was unexpected, but it was the perfect “ending” to Banner’s fate, hiding and on the run.

In the second arc (4-5) some relationships are spotlighted. Cap and Jan always hang out with Bucky, it’s clear they have a huge difference of opinion. Meanwhile Tony proposes to Natasha, even giving her an iron suit. But Thor is at the center of attention when he attacks the police in Italy. Everybody thinks he’s delusional after his brother Gunnar Golmen explains Thorlief real story. I liked the big fight to take Thor down, he’s is not to be messed with. Gunnar’s story is pretty believable, up until the last scene when Loki tells Thor that there is a traitor among the Ultimates. Obviously Thor wouldn’t know that, so Loki is not in his mind only.

Next there’s a fun issue about the Defenders, who make a pathetic debut despite Hank’s help. But Hank is pathetic himself, trying to sell his Ultron idea to Fury, while at the same time being bullied by Cap. The Defenders come back in the Annual 1, drawn by Steve Dillon. This is a one shot about a killer and how badass Nick Fury is.

Starting in issue 7 the big bad starts his strike against the Ultimates, finally revealing himself. Loki is real and he’s been manipulating reality against the Ultimates. First he leaked the information about Hulk (with the help of the traitor, Natasha!!), then he had Thor imprisoned, now he kills Hawkeye’s family and implicates Cap. All this without lifting a finger basically. He had his allies do everything for him. The Liberators are superheroes from European and Asian countries, all created in order to destroy the American superheroes who meddled in other countries affairs.

They basically take over the US in just a few hours, so this is a huge event on the scale of Secret Invasion. The Ultimates obviously get free and start a huge fight, even Hulk appears and helps, but it’s Thor who takes the fight against Loki to the next step, bringing his Asgardian army to fight Loki’s army of monsters.

This action is all fun, but what I like about this series is the premise of US people interfering with foreign countries, which is obviously very relevant to the real world. In fact, after this fight the Ultimates decide to be independent from the government, which is a nice and obvious conclusion to this series. We don’t get to see what happens to Hulk though, which I was very curious about. But the final pages are dedicated to Steve Rogers and Gail right before Steve goes to war and becomes Captain America, a nice ending for this 26 issues series.

The art by Bryan Hitch is stunning as always. I can’t give him enough praise for his work here. I think it was well worth the wait (not that I read this in monthly). I had a lot of fun reading this series, Millar and Hitch gave us a fun and enjoyable story with good characters.

After Bendis, Brian K. Vaughan comes on board and give us interesting story arcs. At first they all seem disconnected, with their own ending. But they are also part of the big puzzle, and they are all utilized in the final arc.

The first arc Tempest (46-49) introduces Mr. Sinister and Apocalypse. It’s a completely different concept, with Sinister having allucinations of Apocalypse. Vaughan keeps it ambivalent enough that at the end we wonder if Apocalypse isn’t real afterall. A few mutants have cameos, including Northstar (nice nod about Colossus homosexuality), Sunspot, Marrow. The art here is by Brandon Peterson, which I’ve always liked. I particularly like his Storm, she really looks badass with that haircut and clothes.

Cry Wolf (50-53) brings back Gambit, who was introduced in a guest arc by Chuck Austen. I am not a fan of Gambit and I never understood why Rogue liked him. Same here, he just messed with the X-Men to kidnap Rogue, but she still likes him. Not only that, but he’s dumb enough to believe the Fenris twins. I don’t see why Rogue had to leave Xavier for Gambit, but at least they’re not regulars anymore. The triangle between Iceman/Rogue/Kitty gets annoying, but I guess teenagers are like that. I did like the relationship between Ororo and Logan. I also quite liked Andy Kubert on the art, his style is slightly different here, it felt a little bit darker to me. Don’t know why.

The Most Dangerous Game (54-57) is about Mojo/Longshot/Spiral. The setup is similar to the original concept, but it’s all less fantastic and more grounded. For example Mojo is not an alien, but an albino. Vaughan really plays with our knowledge of the previous version of these characters and give us a suprise ending reversing Longshot and Spiral’s innocence. He also starts a relationship between Angel and Dazzler which feels natural.

Hard Lessons (58-60, Ann 1) includes a few shorter stories. There’s a one-shot with Xavier averting a bank heist which felt a bit weird due to Steve Dillon’s pencils. Xavier looked more like a twisted old man in Preacher than a leader and educator. I liked the two part about Storm after Logan, it develops their relationship but it also integrates Lady Deathstrike into Storm’s past. That first motorcycle scene reminded me of Akira. Finally, the annual goes back to Rogue and Gambit, involving Juggernaut (he’s in love with Rogue?!?). Gambit and Rogue have already kissed too often in my opinion, it dilutes Rogue’s powers and struggle with them. But at least this time the kiss meant something. This is a nice twist on the Rogue/Ms Marvel story.

The last arc is Magnetic North (61-65) and it’s about the return of Magneto. However this arc is about getting Magneto out of prison, and it all starts with putting Lorna Dane inside Magneto’s cell. At first it’s a mystery what happened to Lorna, then slowly it’s revealed that everything was part of Magneto’s plan. At the end we get a series of action sequences with many different characters, including Emma’s Academy of Tomorrow, the Ultimates and the Brotherhood. Many of the characters introduced in previous arcs are chess pieces in Magneto’s grand plan (Longshot, Havok, Polaris etc…). Even Mystique finally appears (as Xavier’s ex!) and she’s also part of the final twist that gives Magneto his freedom.

The art for the majority of Vaughan’s run is by Stuart Immonen, his angular style was a bit jarring at first, but it quickly grew on me. His facial expressions are very good and his action scenes are easy to follow. I really enjoyed his work here.

Vaughan’s run was very enjoyable, but I particularly like how he put together all the pieces in the last arc. He also developed some of the character relationships, which is always part of the X-Men mythos. Overall this is a very good run.

After the initial Mark Millar run, Brian Bendis steps in this series writing a team book for the first time. He starts focusing on Wolverine, who is aided by Spider-Man and Daredevil (both very familiar characters to Bendis). The plot revolves around rogue ex-members of Weapon X, who kill themselves rather than be captured.

This is just the introduction to a larger anti-mutant conspiracy inside the government, which is the focus of the second part of this short run. Before that big finale though, Bendis introduces some new mutants, like Angel and Dazzler. One issue is about a very dangerous mutant who involuntarily kills everybody in his town, Wolverine is sent to kill him in a very chilling finale. It’s a very quick read, so much that it felt like a short story (I had to cound the pages after I was done), but the end is very powerful.

Back to the conspiracy, a rogue group of high officials of the government believe that Xavier has mentally controlled the President into a pieceful reconciliation with mutants. Meanwhile Emma Frost is introduced as the leader of another group of mutants, a pacifist educator group that includes Havok, Polaris, and Beast. It’s fun to see another group of mutants who are not part of the Brotherhood or the X-Men. I like this version of Emma, a definite departure from 616. At the end Beast is a victim of the Sentinel attacks, which is a huge blow to both the X-Men and Emma’s group.

The art is handled by David Finch, who does a good job at flashy action. His style is reminiscent of the Image style, particularly Marc Silvestri. This is where Bendis and Finch started their collaboration that later went on to New Avengers.

Bendis managed to re-introduce many mutants into the Ultimate universe, and his successor actually picked up on them and integrated them into his run.

Ultimate Spider-Man continues to provide high school drama and comedy, mixed with superhero action/adventure. I must admit that this series really reminds me of Buffy the TV Show. There’s a lot of character drama about teenagers, mainly Peter and MJ. But there are also a lot of other characters around them, either their classmates, or some new superheroes/villains (though, too many of them are teenagers, what a coincidence!).

In Irresponsible (40-45) a new super-powered teenager is introduced, however he’s not as responsible as Peter, so makes a mess. Luckily for him both Peter and the X-Men are looking after him. I don’t remember who Geldoff was in the 616 universe, did he have anything to do with the Clone saga? There’s also a nice character moment with Aunt May talking to her psychiatrist, trying to deal with everything that happened to her. Her guilt goes way beyond Uncle Ben and covers Captain Stacy and Gwen.

Issue 46 is a flashback to around issue 21, which I thought was odd. It adds a new adventure at the end of that issue, this time involving Sandman. This is just an excuse to lead into the mini series Ultimate Six, which itself is just an excuse to have the Ultimates involved in Spider-Man. It’s a very simple story pitting Osborn and other villains against the Ultimates and Spider-Man. It’s very action oriented, but it could have been told in 3 issues, instead of 7.

Cats & Kings (47-53) is about two story threads revolving around Kingpin. I liked the thread about JJJ and the political candidate. When Peter and Spider-Man confront JJ, he realizes he’s been unfair to them. We learn why he was so against Spider-Man, and there’s a very touchy scene with Peter. On the other hand we have two new teenage girls: Elektra, who works for Kingpin (this version is very different from the original Miller one), and Black Cat, an amusing but ultimately unlikely love interest for Peter. This is also where we find out about Kingpin’s wife (too similar to the 616 version).

Hollywood (54-59) is a light-hearted story with Doc Ock showing up during the filming of the Spider-Man movie (lots of cameos there, Bendis had a lot of fun). When Peter finds himself in Brazil I really thought he was in a very difficult situation, but the solution was very obvious. Gwen finally finds the truth about Peter, it was really inevitable. But it gives himi someone else to share his secret with and who can cover for him.

Unfortunately that doesn’t last long, but in the next arc Carnage (60-65) is introduced and murders Gwen. I found that shocking, since Gwen just had a very nice talk with MJ, and they seemed to really hit it off. But Conners really messed up and Peter is now responsible for another death. I really loved the epilogue issue, where Peter just has to deal with Gwen’s death. Another fine character issue.

After such a dramatic turn of events, Bendis gives us a more light-hearted two parter starring Wolverine, in the classic body-switch story. This was really just a fun story and even Bendis appears at the beginning of the comic almost apologizing for it. Next we get a two parter featuring Johnny Storm as the new student. I would have liked for Johnny to stay as a regular of the cast, but he’s gone by the end of it. The last two parter features Doctor Strange, or his son. This brings Peter to his nightmares about Gwen’s death, and we’re back to full on drama.

But that drama is nothing compared to the Hobgoblin arc (72-78) with Harry back into the real world after SHIELD has been taking care of him. Norman really messed with his head, so Harry is now doing whatever Norman implanted in his mind. During this arc MJ is annoying and does not listen to Peter, even though she should know better. I think Peter was right in being angry with her, and he broke up with her for her own safety. That was really hard to do, but I felt for his motivations. The last issue is all about MJ after the break up, she realizes what she did and still loves Peter. At this point I really don’t see them being apart for long term, they just seem to be meant for each other.

This continues to be my favorite Spider-Man series, really giving us some interesting characterization and some fun action. Mark Bagley continues to impress, and I still think his style is more suited to Spider-Man than the current Trinity series. Bendis also seems to have a lot of fun introducing the Ultimate version of many secondary Marvel characters, unfortunately he cannot delve too deep into their characterization, since Spider-Man is the star, but I like reading their appearances every once in a while.

I haven’t loved Grant Morrison’s run on Batman so far, it had its ups and downs. However it was clear that he had an overall arc in mind since the beginning, and it seems to culminate in this infamous storyline.

I enjoyed this story more than previous ones, I felt it was tighter and it did feel important, like an event. In the first half of the story it seems like the Black Glove (as a group or individual) has defeated Batman, leaving him as a bum on the streets.

However once the Zur En Arrh Batman surfaces it’s clear that Batman had a fail safe. This is one of those mad but genius ideas Morrison often has. A subconscious identity that Batman implanted into himself, in case somebody tried to mess with his mind. How cool is that? And it also looks cool.

As everybody noted, Morrison took inspiration from old Batman stories there were more sci-fi than urban, but he managed to incorporate them as dreams, or subconscious. Bat-Mite is another example of it, a character that hasn’t appeared in a while and doesn’t seem to exist in current continuity, but it now represents Batman’s subconscious. Or maybe he’s something more… from the 5th dimension?

I haven’t read those old Batman stories, but I do enjoy the references by reading annotations online. Before reading annotations I am always a little bit confused, but still entertained. Once I get what Morrison was trying to do, I enjoy it even more.

When Jezebel is revealed as a villain I thought it was too obvious, but when Bruce is also revealed to have known all along, I was happy. Morrison’s Batman is always prepared, so I was mad at myself for ever doubting him.

The ending though was disappointing. Batman is obviously not dead, so why even pretend with the helicopter explosion? Is Bruce taking the opportunity to “retire” or taking a leave? That would be an explanation I can deal with. Unfortunately we do NOT get any explanation for that or for the biggest tease of the year: the identity of the Black Glove/Dr. Hurt.

It was teased that it would be revealed at the end of RIP, as well as the biggest secret/event for Batman. What was that? Some things about the Waynes are said by Hurt, but are they true or is he just playing with Batman? And is the Black Glove the Devil? Or Batman himself? We just don’t get a clear answer to these big questions.

And that’s disappointing for a storyline called RIP, not to mention all the hype about this storyline by the creators and the editors.

Tony Daniel’s style is pleasing to my eye, I guess I grew up with the Image style so I can appreciate it even today. I love his Joker, he’s really scary looking. His purple Batman also looks cool.

As a story by itself it was a very cool one. But it fails to give the promised answers we were all waiting for.

Tarot’s role is finally explained thanks to Charity’s help, even though she doesn’t even know it. Tarot is connected to the sould of the world, and her job is to guide humanity through that connection. But she’s not the first one, many other women before her had that connection.

This is typical of the DC characters, they all have a history and predecessors that filled the same role through time. The only exceptions are probably the Trinity. In this case a new role is created by Busiek, but it’s a little too abstract for my tastes, too magical. Still, this explains a long standing question since the beginning of the series.

The backup story also answers questions about early characters of the series, Konvikt and Graak. We already knew about Konvikt’s past, but here we get the full story and his “partnership” with Graak.

In the meantime Morgaine and Enigma find Konvikt and lure him to their place. I am not sure what they need it for, I thought the alien they saw in their dreams was Despero, and since having someone who is not Despero doesn’t work, I don’t understand what can Konvikt do for them. But it’s clear that Morgaine knows about the Worldsoul, judging by the last page (a nice image that I had no problem recalling from the first story. Also a nice shortcut).

We’re already halfway through the series and am enjoying it so far. It’s not a groundbreaking story, but it’s a very well done comic book story with epic proportions. I am glad I decided to read this.

This is a true story of how author Brian Fies and his family dealt with his mom’s cancer. It was originally serialized online for free, then later published as a GN.

When thinking of this type of story one thinks of a drama or even tragedy. But this is different. It’s a very honest look at a tragic event in a family’s life, but it also tries to be light-hearted at times.

The tone of the book feels more like a cartoon, complete with funny looking characters with funny names. There are obviously very emotional scenes, but they’re not tearjerkers and certainly don’t feel manipulative in the least.

Another important aspect of the book is to illustrate medical details of the disease, without feeling boring. The way Fies manages to convey details is both informative and entertaining. He doesn’t go too deep into it, not for too many pages at a time, so it doesn’t distract from his family story.

And the family is without a doubt at the center of the story. We get to know his family well, we read some episodes from their past that helps understand them a little bit more, as well as understand their different reactions to the events.

Luckily I have not had a close member of my family deal with a terminal disease, even so I really enjoyed this book. But I can imagine that this story would make an even bigger impact on those have suffered through a similar event. Highly recommended for anyone.

I’ve already reviewed the 2nd and 3rd volume of the Ultimates, but I never got to review the first volume here, also I didn’t remember much about the story details, so I thought I’d re-read Ultimates, and I am glad I did.

The first issue is about Cap during WW2, with lots of action and allusions to future storylines. I’m not sure why any soldier wouldn’t believe in Cap, but it was an introduction to him anyway. Notice how Bucky is very different from the original one, even more important considering Brubaker’s Cap series in 616.

The next two issues are focused on building the team, but it all comes into fruition when Cap is found in ice. Millar is trying to place this series firmly in the real world, not only depicting Bush, but also many other celebrities. Also all members of the team have a reason for being there, with Stark, Pym and Banner at the heart of it. I also really liked the way Rogers is portrayed, as a man out of time.

Issue 4 takes place after Ultimate War and the big battle with Magneto. The team is now busy with their own lives and projects and scattered all over the world, without any real threat. Which brings to Banner injecting himself with Hulk serum to give them a villain to fight. I loved the talk about which actors would play the Ultimates, particularly Nick Fury…

Issue 5 is the big fight against Hulk. This is not a clean fight, Hulk actually kills a lot of people. Which makes him even more of a loser when after wards he tries to explain himself. Freddie Prinze Jr is Hulk’s target, which is a bit funny. Incredibly not even Thor managed to put Hulk down, only the Wasp… I like that Hulk is just a dumb monster, there isn’t much characterization or conflict between the two personalities, it’s just simply Hulk-smash.

Issue 6 is a more quiet story that sees Tony, Cap and Thor bond during dinner, while Hank Pym beats his wife unconscious. This is typical Miller, making his characters into assholes or just not sympathetic. Pym beating his wife is not new to the Ultimate universe, but I don’t think it was ever this bad.

Issue 7 sees Pym missing and Jan at the hospital. Here’s where we learn about their past, as told by Betty. Cap is infuriated to discover this and goes looking for Pym.

Issue 8 is clearly a homage to the Matrix. We have Hawkeye and Black Widow entering a building dressed in black leather and proceed to kill everyone. It’s a huge fight sequence, ending with the reveal that these were all aliens disguised as humans, the same ones that Cap fought during WW2. This will be the main plot of this arc, which is ironic considering that it’s the same plot Bendis is writing for the Avengers in Secret Invasion. Other members of the team make their debut also, but they’re little more than cameos (Pietro and Wanda).

Next in issue 9 we get a big fight between Cap and Pym, which frankly feels really dumb to me, but that’s reflected by Jan’s attitude towards Rogers after wards. Meantime SHIELD prepares for a big assault on what they think is the Aliens HQ.

10 starts with a flashback to Cap during WW2, facing the big alien leader. This is all a preamble to the final fight. Meanwhile Jan discovers that SHIELD and other organizations have been infiltrated by the aliens (again, SI vibe here), and the SHIELD attack was a trap. A bomb explodes and they’re all dead. Yeah right…

The rest of the issues (11-13) are the big final battle, including an explanation for the aliens (Skrulls or Chitauri) motive. The Ultimates don’t seem to be able to fight them off, so they use Banner/Hulk. The way Cap manipulates Hulk is funny.

The aftermath of the battle sees Jan rejecting Pym and going to Cap, I am curious to see where that goes.

This feels like a fun series, where characters are flawed and have lots of fun. There are a few interesting moments between the main characters, but mainly there are big action scenes. These wouldn’t work as well if it weren’t for Bryan Hitch’s art. The man certainly knows how to draw and he went all out in the details. There are big splash pages with spacecrafts drawn with tiny little details. His faces are inspired by real world people (not to mention celebrity appearances), but they are not photo-realistic to the point of feeling static. It’s clear that Hitch really wanted to insert every single detail here, which is why it took so long to complete.

I’ve gotta say this feels a little bit hollow, as if it lacked heart. It’s still a lot of fun, and the art is gorgeous, but it’s just missing something. I do believe that volume 2 had more heart. Now I really want to re-read volume 2 as well, just to complete the story (even though I read it not too long ago, my memory is really short).

Contrary to Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men has a more adult approach. Even though the X-Men are teenagers here, they don’t really have to deal with the typical teenage life, instead they feel more mature and deal with “adult” situations, like war between races.

Mark Millar’s run on the title is mainly about the opposing forces of Xavier and Magneto. The first arc already starts with the Sentinels hunting down mutants, thanks to Magneto’s Brotherhood terrorist attacks. We are quickly introduced to new recruits of X-Men, and then the fight begins. This didn’t feel like the first arc of a new series, more like the culmination of a longer series. The final battle between Xavier and Magneto in Washington was epic, though I didn’t know that Xavier had telekinetic powers.

I like the slightly different characterizations, everybody is definitely more playful and less serious than the 616 universe, them being teenagers. Wolverine is even more of a badass, and he gets Jean first! Colossus is also less innocent, which might be the biggest change in characterization.

The second arc is all about Weapon X and the introduction of many more mutants. Nick Fury is also involved, and in the end he saves the mutants. I like that Nick Fury has a prominent role in all Ultimate titles, making this little Universe very tight. Note that the first two arcs are basically the same subjects of the first two X-Men movies.

Next we get a short 2 issue story by Austen and Ribic about Gambit. A forgettable fill-in story.

Millar is back with a character story, almost summerizing the relationships and what happened so far. I like that even though the Brotherhood is opposed to X-Men, they still have normal relationships with each other. Xavier has lunch with Pietro and Wanda, Scott chats on the phone with Toad. Even the Beast has a web friend, who’s really Blob. I thought this was just a fun joke, but it’s actually an important plot point. And obviously we learn that Magneto is not really dead.

The next arc is about Xavier and Moira’s son. I like that Millar combined Proteus and Legion into one character, they’re basically the same anyway. When David possesses Wolverine he states that he’s found the perfect body, but then he jumps to another body soon after. I thought this didn’t make sense, but when it was revealed he jumped into Betsy I could kind of understand. It was a nice twist, but the biggest impact was the death of so many innocent people.

Next we have the Hellfire Club and Phoenix. I don’t buy that Xavier would just accept money from an anonymous party and not suspect anything during the party at all. I also didn’t feel the club members had much characterization, and by the end they’re already dead. I also don’t buy that Xavier wouldn’t believe the existence of the Phoenix, instead blaming it on Jean’s mind. Kitty is also introduced in this arc, already having a big adventure with Wolverine and Scott. The other problem I had with this arc is Beast falling for the dumbest trick ever. Telling his chat-girlfriend about Magneto just felt so dumb, totally out of character for a science man like himself.

Now that Magneto is free (but why did he kill the primate mutants?), he’s again the focus of the series. But it’s not enough for him to be the center of the last long story arc, he also gets a mini series starring X-Men and the Ultimates. Ultimate War is basically just a long setup for the last arc, just an excuse to pit X-Men against the Ultimates. I really felt that Nick Fury declaring X-Men traitors was forced. It wasn’t the first time he dealt with them, plus he’s friend with Wolverine.

It all comes down to the final arc, Magneto’s big plan of destroying humanity while saving its art and animals. The X-Men are now fugetives and without Xavier, no matter what they try to do, they are hated by the public. The most interesting characterization is between Cyclops and Wolverine. It was a shock to learn that Wolverine did try to kill Cyclops only to get Jean, and that’s also how Magneto was defeated in the end. The scenes with Cyclops at the bottom of the pit were very disturbing. But the way Cyclops forgave Wolverine was very cool, even giving him a clue for his lost past at the end. Apart from Xavier and Magneto, Scott and Wolverine had the best characterization.

Unfortunately anybody else was basically forgotten. Sure Colossus had a big conflicting moment, but it felt forced. Even Beast’s conflict didn’t feel natural at all, while Storm felt as blank as her movie counterpart. And these are the main cast, let’s not even talk about the guest characters.

The art was mainly by Adam Kubert, who is one of my favorite artists. His layouts are always fun and inventive, his line is cool and clear. Even his occasional painted pages were a treat to look at. But he’s not the fastest artist (though he’s not too slow either, at least at that time), so he was mainly helped by his brother Andy Kubert, then by Chris Bachalo (who also drew Ultimate War) and finally by David Finch. Overall very good artists.

Overall this was a plot driven run, with good characterization for some mutants, but for the most part limited to “look how cool and different I am”.