Description: The
world was on the brink of destruction. Countless heroes died. The
Fantastic Four have disbanded. The X-Men are gone. Mutants are hunted
as criminals. But there is hope - in the form of an unlikely group of
young heroes gathered together to save tomorrow. Who, or what, is
Ultimate X?
Collects:
Ultimate Comics X #1-5
Authors: Jeph Loeb
Artists:
Arthur Adams
Published By: Marvel
Published
When: May 9 2012
Parental Rating:
Teen
Review:
Let me say up-front: I loved this book!
Fan reaction to Marvel's Ultimate Universe books was always very
mixed. What started as a burst of awesome creativity and re-imagining
some core characters ultimately collapsed. Fan reaction ranged from
frustration at (insert your favorite complaint – second-level
talent, stagnant and predictable stories, lack of diversity, etc.) to
indifference – good riddance, some said!
This story is set in that Ultimate Universe. It comes after the
death and destruction of Ultimatum, yes. But the story in this
collection is a new start. True, it is filled with darkness and
foreboding about the present and future, especially for mutants, yet
there are threads of hope woven throughout these stories.
The Origins in question are for James "Jimmy" Hudson
(son of Wolverine), Karen (Jean Grey), Derek Morgan, Liz Allan and
Hulk. One chapter for each of them.
In a world in which mutants are ordered to either turn themselves
in to authorities, or may be shot on sight, they need to move through
society as discreetly as possible. They are feared and hated.
The extent of that social reaction of fear and hatred is best
illustrated, in this volume, when Liz Allan turns into Firestar and
stops a school shooting in progress. Her teen-aged classmates show
more fear of her being a mutant than of the active shooter.
That fear is also apparent in the confrontation between Derek
Morgan and his police officer brother. As Derek soars far above
Chicago, mutant wings unfurled, the brother he is carrying aloft
pulls his service revolver and shoots Derek. He is ready to plummet a
hundred stories to his death and kill his own brother out of fear of
mutants.
Under the veil of secrecy that such fear and social ostracism
brings, this group of five mutants (granted, there is some in-story
discussion about whether or not to consider Hulk a mutant) finds one
another and bands together.
Jeph Loeb weaves these stories into each other, while introducing
a competing band of mutants, with beauty and dexterity. The only
narrative critique I'd make is that the question of who is the
narrator is sometimes ambiguous too long in each issue.
The art of Arthur Adams shows a good mix of both consistency and
variation. These are related stories with the same characters, so
consistency is a must, tying together characters, in the absence of
costumes or logos, through face and hair style and posture. He
achieves this well enough.
Yet each chapter varies in some artistic elements. The tale of
Derek, centered on the confrontation with his brother, is darker in
coloring and mood; the story of teenager Liz is saturated with high
school bubble-gum and candy tones, lots of more cartoonish pops of
shape and color.
When I finished, I wanted more. I wanted to hear more
stories and adventures of this newly gathered team. Alas, after the
Origins series ended with these 5 issues, the characters only
appeared in other books and series in the Ultimate Comics universe.
These stories, then, are of their individual origins and not the
origin of a new team of mutants. For that sleight of hand, I drop to
4.5 capes.
ISBN-10: 0785141014
ISBN-13:
978-0785141013
Language: English
Pages:
136 pages
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