cyclops

‘Ultimate X-Men’ #7-9 is a black ops block party

Ultimate X-Men #7-9 goes for a more political look at the well-worn “mutant as a metaphor for oppressed minorities” story by making the formerly shady Weapon X folks completely aligned with the US government even if members of the government and military want to shut them down.

‘Ultimate X-Men #4-6- Cyclops, Politics, and the Kubert Bros

With a dose of political satire, some soaring team-up action grounded in character moments (Storm struggling with her power; Quicksilver’s daddy issues; Wolverine the reformed assassin), and a robust arc for Cyclops, Ultimate X-Men #4-6 is definitely an improvement over the preceding three issues. The “death” of Beast is a cheap storytelling ploy, and I am still skeezed out from Wolverine’s sexual liaison with Jean Grey, but Millar and the Kuberts end this first arc on a triumphant, if dark note albeit with some skeletons in the closet waiting to be brought out for the following “Return to Weapon X” storyline.

‘Ultimate X-Men’ #1-3 is an adequate, action heavy intro to the X-Men

Mark Millar and Adam Kubert’s work on Ultimate X-Men #1-3 really is the blockbuster action take on the X-Men, but there is enough flashes of characterization, pretty layouts (Not so much those ugly leather costumes.), and clever twists like Wolverine being a bona fide villain and Colossus’ old crime boss supplying Magneto with a nuke. It’s not a particularly deep comic and scratches the surface of the idea of “post-humanism”, but Ultimate X-Men #1-3 is adequate popcorn entertainment, which led to it selling like hotcakes. (Ultimate X-Men #1 was the number one book in December 2000 with 117,085 copies, and issues 2 and 3 stayed in the top 3 with numbers around the 90,000 range.)

‘Astonishing X-Men’ Gifted is character driven superheroics at its finest

Astonishing X-Men “Gifted” is one of those storylines that will make long term X-Men fans purr with delight beginning the Claremont era flashbacks in issue one. (Cassaday mimics Byrne’s art quite well.) It also can turn fans (like me five years ago) of the films and cartoons into mutie and comics junkies. Whedon pays homage to older X-Men stories without getting mired in continuity and quickly places his own stamp on the franchise by creating a new alien foe for them (Ord of the Breakworld), exploring the mutant as outsider metaphor with the cure of the X-gene, giving SHIELD a new branch (SWORD), and also bringing a beloved character back from the dead (Colossus) in a touching, visceral way that serves the long term storyline. However, the best part of Astonishing X-Men “Gifted” other than John Cassaday’s detailed, cinematically composed art and Whedon’s insanely quotable dialogue is the character arcs for each X-Man nestled in the bigger plot.

Cyclops #1 a fun start for a curious series

Despite being created in 1963 and having been a stalwart member of the X-Men for most of the intervening fifty plus years, this is the first time Cyclops (aka Scott Summers) has ever received his own ongoing series. Much of what defines the character – his taciturn nature, his strong leadership abilities, his devotion to Professor Xavier’s dream of peaceful co-existence between man and mutant – works best (or at all) when placed in a group setting, able to be compared and contrasted with the other X-Men. This series aims to sidestep that issue by taking advantage of the character’s current unique status quo: there are actually two Cyclops running around the Marvel Universe, the “real”, present day one, and a teenaged version, plucked from the past and deposited in his future as part of Brian Michael Bendis’ All New X-Men.

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