Ultimate X-Men - Volume 13: Magnetic North

"Ultimate X-Men, v. 13" by Brian K. Vaughan ------------------------------------------------------------- This was a strong entry into the "Ultimate X-Men" series, which has had its share of disappointing story arcs. This volume, however, was a good read -- an imprisoned Magneto engineers an escape attempt which brings four supergroups in conflict -- the X-Men, the Ultimates, the students at Emma Frost's academy, and the remnants of Magneto's own Brotherhood Of Mutants. Oh, and there's SHIELD action as well: Nick Fury gets played for a chump. Overall, this was pretty good! I was surprised to see the Ultimates get taken down so easily (though I'm not complaining) and thought the characterizations for the various X-ies were pretty good... The rivalry between Scott and Alex Summers, in particular, was far less tedious than in various other versions, and had a glimmer of a real, interesting sibling relationship, a glimmer that has been largely missing over the decades. An entertaining book, worth checking out. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

i have to agree w/ the other reviewers: all of vaughan's books for ult. x-men up to now have been varying shades of terrible and unreadable. this book does a good job of redeeming him, and makes us wonder what the problem was before. the story is fairly solid, the cast is there (introduces ult. mystique), and we get to see emma frost, cypher, cannonball, sunspot, havok, polaris, and northstar. there are some less-than-believable moments, but overall it works and def. lays the foundation for some good stories to come. has def. got me back to looking forward to ult. x-men instead of dreading it!

I had to admit, after reading some of the latest Ultimate X-men volumes, I didn't have particularly good expectations for this one. I bought it mostly just to continue having my collection up to date. But I was more than pleasently surprised when I read this. I've been wondering where Mags has been for a good long while now, and was glad that they brought him back into the mix with an elaborate plan (a bit corny, but it worked) to escape from the "Ultimates' Clubhouse". The fact that Polaris and the rest of Emma Frost's Academy of Tomorrow was a definenite plus factor in my book. Most of the cast was there, even throwing in a surprise return at the end. And Colossus got some special attention, which made me happy. Overall, the art was good and the writing was good, so I was definently satisfied. If you haven't been reading the latest volumes of Ultimate X-men because of shoddy writing, this is definently one to pick up to rekindle your interest, especially with a promise of things to come in following issues.

Some idiot below me made a really asinine comment about this book which couldnt be father from the truth. This book is quite exciting and Brian K Vaughn is an author more people need to pick up on. This book, runaways, ex machina and especially Y:the last man are fantastic graphic novels if you are into thrilling reads

Ever since "The Return of the King" story ended, the Ultimate X-Men took nose-dive as a series in terms of its writing quality. Granted, many of the stories were good means of passing the time, but nothing one really craved, the thrill of the next issue or volume of the series was vacant and gone... but that's all in the past. "Magnetic North" brings the fun and anticipation back to the series. Synopsis: Emma Frost has regrouped her "X-Men alternative", and given many of the Ultimate X-Men's supporting good-guys a place of their own, but all goes awry when Polaris' powers go nuts and innocent lives are lost as a result. Havok leads an insubordinate team of Ms. Frost's pupils to liberate Polaris from her prison cell, one that she has the misfortune of sharing with none other than the first and true master of magnetism, Magneto. What ensues is a chaotic battle between the X-Men, Frost's students, and the Ultimates... with a clever, if not predictable, scheme of Magneto and the Brotherhood tied into the mix. All this plus something about Colossus that we have all been inkling is finally made clear. Pros: The cast! A heady brew of characters from throughout the series comes to play on the pages of this collection, and fans of the series should be very pleased. Also, no one is made "lame" as has been the ranking negative for recent volumes that have contained debuts into the Ultimate universe, ex: Mr. Sinister... I still can't get over how badly that one was done, but I digress... Also, the story itself is just simply fun to read. Cons: The Ultimates are made to look a bit fascist and foolish for no reason that lends to the plot in any way, and Magneto's scheme, although I must say I had fun seeing it play out, was overtly predictable and I doubt that such a sophomoric plan would have been devised by such a potent strategist as Mags, nor would I believe such a flimsy plot could foil our more intelligent heroes... Overall: This is a very fun read, but at the same time very susceptible to petty deconstruction and criticisms; yes it's a little goofy and even a bit insulting to one's intellect, but it's a comic book about super heroes and the campy feeling is essential to the enjoyment of the story. It's not the best graphic novel/TPB out there, far from it in fact, but it is entertaining and provides a speck of hope that the stories will just keep getting better, as opposed to getting worse like the Ult. X-Men had been...