Ultimate X-Men Ultimate Collection - Book 1

In the Afterword by Bill Jemas (at that time publisher and president of Marvel Enterprises), he states that the purpose of the creation of theUltimate Marvel titles was to get new readers, younger readers, started into the Marvel Universe. He did an excellent job. I'm just young enough to have missed the comic book craze of the late 80's, and as such they weren't a big part of my life growing up. When I got into graphic novels recently, I eyed the Marvel U, especially X-Men, very warily. Here was a sub-universe with dozens of spin-offs (X-Factor, Excalibur, etc.), 'What Ifs?' (1602), alternate dimensions (Earth X, Age of Apocalypse), and hell, even varying versions of the original bit (Amazing, Uncanny, X-Treme, New, Astonishing, Etc.). Having been a longtime fan of the X-Men via the wonderful 1990s cartoon, I decided to try Ultimate X-Men. I was in no way disappointed. Ultimate X-Men is not only a fantastic new diving board for new readers, but I'm willing to bet it will impress the staunch Marvel-verse fans out there as well. The characters are fleshed out appropriate to their temperaments, with an age alteration and some background alterations in certain places. Overall, an excellent read, and I look forward to reading the whole series.

I had never heard anything about this title prior to my purchase of this book. I was surprised at how this title started. Getting the team together so quickly and taking on foes within the first chapter sucked me in instantly. A fresh look at this team is what an old comic collector like me needed to get back in to buying comics. The artwork by brothers Adam and Andy Kubert brought back some great memories of past titles. In the first 6 of the 12 chapters you will see the X-Men going against Magneto alongside the Brotherhood of Mutants.(Quicksilver,Scarlet Witch,Blob,Toad,and Mastermind) This is probably the best story I've read about the X-men with It's fast pace and easy reading. No story of theirs had ever held me in for long. In the next 6 chapters we get to see Wolverine start to discover his past within the Weapon X program. We also get introduced to Nightcrawler and we see Beast get his blue fur. Having read comics for many years and so many different titles in my time, I never thought I would come back to the X-men to get me started in collecting comics again. I am confident anyone looking for something to add to their collection will not regret it.

I can appreciate the impulse to push the reset button on long time superhero comic books like "X-Men" and "Spider-Man." After all, we are talking about four decades worth of stories, repeated encounters with Magneto and the Green Goblin, each one diluting the potency of the characters. Plus, if you go back and read the first dozen episodes of either the original comic book "The Uncanny X-Men" of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby or the new and improved "X-Men" concocted by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum (and then John Byrne), it takes a while for both of those series to hit stride. Writer Mark Millar was given a free reign with this project, but clearly "Ultimate X-Men: The Tomorrow People" was constructed to work whether you came in with issue #1 of Volume 1, Giant-Size X-Men, or Volume 2. I was here for all three, so part of my appreciation for this first six-issue story arc from Millar, pencillers Adam & Andy Kubert, and inker Art Thibert (w/Danny Miki) is how they have reconstituted elements from both of the origins. So I remember Quicksilver and the Silver Witch being part of the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants as well as Storm and Colossus being recruited for the international version of the X-Men. Anyhow, here is a list of things I liked about "The Tomorrow People" without spoiling the actual story: I liked the idea that in the beginning the X-Men were just Professor Xavier, Cyclops and Marvel Girl. This reconstitutes the idea that there were always the core of the group. Actually, they would be the heart (Jean Grey), mind (Professor X), and soul (Scott Summers) of the X-Men. Having the Beast and Iceman be part of the second wave is fine with me, as is jettisoning Angel (and Banshee from wave two). You have to have limitations on how many merry mutants are running around in the group. On the other side of the equation Wolverine is now the world's best assassin and is working for Magneto. That is obviously a nice little twist on the tale. The mutant hysteria is in full swing, so that the necessity of all the world's mutants having to pick which side of the coming war they want to be on makes a whole lot of sense. This just underscores the idea that "X-Men" was never just a standard superhero battles supervillain type of comic book. I really appreciate the way the ante has been upped both in terms of the Sentinnels and Magneto. This time around the big purple robots are going around and not just picking up mutants, they are executing them on the spot. But the chief attraction of this sotry arc is Magneto. The original X-Men was one of the few times in the history of Marvel Comics that the first issue of a comic book actually came up with the greatest villain in the history of the entire series. What I liked most about what Millar et al. came up with is the idea that given the powers Magneto has, there can only be one big battle between him and humanity. I mean, with his powers, taking over the world should be relatively easy. Even in the

This is not your daddy's "X-Men." Heck, in my case, it's not even MY "X-Men." I started collecting the adventures of Xavier's team of reactive "freedom fighters" right near the end of the decade long run of writer Chris Claremont. I loved Fabian Nicizea and Scott Lobdell's take on the team. I bought (most) all of the books plastered with an "X" on them. And I HATED the Ultimate Universe idea. I didn't care that is was an idea of Joe Quesada, whose every other move in the business of funny books was something I agreed with. I didn't care that Brian Michael Bendis was doing the first book and he was a favorite writer. I didn't care if Mark Millar was doing this "X" book and I thought he was great in filling Warren Ellis' shoes in THE AUTHORITY.I didn't care that I loved the Kubert bros (that is, ultimately, why I gave issue #1 a try). I thought the idea of "re-booting"was a cop-out to a muddled universe and that there could be nothing there. I. Was. Wrong. DEAD. Wrong. Not to give away the end to issue one, but the moment I saw who Magneto's personally selected assassain was, I was irrocavably hooked. It was a brilliant reveal that made perfect sense. And it was fun... Millar crafts a tale of fun, suspense and action and he has a great turn at humor and dialogue. He doesn't care who the X-Men were, but who they ARE. A bunch of kids with WAY too much power, emotion and responsibility. And they have to stop a madman? Who just may be right? Because these are not "established" characters with thirty years of backstory, you never really know whose side they are on. Anyone could be taken out at any time. Storm is too important and too popular a character in the "old" Marvel U to really be in any danger. But here, in this new ballgame, you're never really sure. The motivations and the results are all new, but somehow familiar. And when that new character is introduced, you cannot wait to see what's the same and what's different. Are you an "X-Men" fan? Are you a resistor like I was? Give up and give in...

This hardcover combines the first two story arcs in this series: The Tomorrow People and Return to Weapon-X. Millar's take on the X-Men is new and refreshing. Using Marvel's new Ultimate universe, changes have been made to continuity to conform to the new story line. The team is different, the characters younger, and their powers a little stronger. The writing is tight and humerous, and the stories, especially the first one, are riveting. Millar does a good job combining characterization and action. These two story lines, especially the first one, are wonderful. The series has started to go downhill a little since, but this book is a must read for any X-Men fan.