Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1

Ultimate X-Men (2001) (Collected Editions) #1-2

by Mark Millar

Collecting the groundbreaking first year of the Ultimate X-Men in one colossal trade paperback! The world stands on the brink of genetic war, Mankind has made the first move, launching an army of giant, cybernetic executioners called Sentinels--programmed to target and eliminate the mutant DNA strand. Now, Magneto and his mutant terrorist cell are preparing to follow through on their threats of Homo sapien genocide. The only force that can prevent total five awkward teenagers and their crippled mentor!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Mark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.

His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.

Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 'Ultimate Collection' starts off with Ultimate X-Men, Vol. 1: The Tomorrow People, which just throws readers in at the deep end with the typical everyone hates mutants reality with the Ultimate extra that everyone really really really hates them; and boom, a certain Mr Magneto makes his move, just when the X-Men thought things couldn't get any worse. An OK debut for the Ultimate X-Men, but one that I expected a lot more from. And I've never been a big fan of Kubert art, and this didn't change my mind at all.

The second half of this book covers Ultimate X-Men, Vol. 2: Return to Weapon X, in which we get to see a fair few other mutants including Rogue and Nightcrawler, get more of this Wolverine's origin and finally get Nick Fury's take on the mutant issue; but the real kicker here is a delightfully cold and dark incarnation of the Weapon X team of mercenaries and scientists. A big step up from the first volume, more than enough to hook me on to this series. 8 out of 12.

2022 read, 2017 read, 2011 read

[Molly™☺ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Offering nothing new, this iteration of the iconic team barely does anything to distinguish itself. Heck, even the stupid love triangle managed to worm its way in. Whilst staying true to the original isn't inherently bad, experimentation is also greatly appreciated when it comes to storytelling. Sadly, the Ultimate Universe has missed their opportunity to create something distinct with this one.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads thinks that I've read this before, but I'm not sure. None of it seemed familiar to me, with the single exception of the bit where the X-Men appear on a Japanese talk show. And it's possible that I just saw that page on Facebook or something.

Whether I've read it previously or not, it was certainly interesting. I didn't initially care for it--Adam Kubert's art is vaguely irritating for some reason. I particularly don't like how he will occasionally draw women with ludicrously slender waistlines. Like fit-through-a-mail-slot slender. Wildly improbable. And we start kind of in the middle of the action, with Magneto's first attack already in the past and the Sentinel program in full swing.

In spite of these misgivings, I was drawn in, and started to dig the story. It's a remixed version of standard X-Men history, par for the course with an Ultimate book. This volume covers the first year of the title, covering two main storylines: The Sentinels, and Weapon X. One of the high points for me was probably Wolverine getting in some good verbal digs at Sabretooth during a fight.

As a long-time X-Men fan, I enjoyed this. If you're unfamiliar with the group, your mileage may vary. Of the various Ultimate titles I've read, this is not the best (that would be either Ultimate Spider-Man or The Ultimates,) but it's still fun.

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Millar is awesome. I've only read a few Claremont and Whedon X-Men books, but this is the best X-Men I've read so far. And I'll explain why, in detail.

The thing is, there's no set version of the X-Men as characters. That's the beauty of various writers and different stories, it's a varying spectrum of characterization. I would argue there are specific, recognizable qualities inherent to each character, and it behooves the writer to stay close to those qualities so the reader can better enjoy the story, instead of be distracted by how deeply "miswritten" or "misinterpreted" those characters are. And I think Millar has done just that.

The X-Men are neurotic, that's a fact. They're goofy, melodramatic, indecisive, and morally whimsical. They are also, like in many books, teenagers. While Millar's romantic dialog feels forced, I also recognize how terribly awkward and abnormal teenage romance can be. And in the context of the outright "soap-operatic" X-Men, I think the dialog and characterization are just fine, if not great sometimes. For cartoon mutants, sure, they're totally well written.

Turns out I was reading Book 1, not Volume 1, hence 336 pages. I mention this because some criticism of Volume 1 is, I think, nullified by the end of the story arc in Volume 3.

One such criticism was Wolverine's seemingly short lived double agentry for Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Well it turns out there's total legitimacy to that. And we find out exactly why. He's been playing both teams, ever the rogue, the entire time. Because the Brotherhood tracks him to Weapon X, unlock all the mutants' cells, and destroy Weapon X. If you ask me, I think his double agentry makes perfect sense within the larger narrative. So while it seems like a misstep in Volume 1, by Volume 3 Millar fully redeems this as a great plot twist.

Andy and Adam Kubert's illustrations are phenomenal, especially for 15 years old. Seriously. This is probably the best X-Men art I've seen so far, (with the exception of Stuart Immonen in Bendis' All New X-Men), and the best I've seen from the Kuberts in a Marvel comic.

I have little criticism other than the product placement and the kidnapping of the President's daughter. For real, there's more product placement here than televised professional football. Coke. Weber. McDonald's. Fubu. Just bizarre. But coming off the 90s I totally get it, it was a generation of corporate love. And Marvel probably got bonus points for all the advertising. Then the latter was just a trope written out of convenience, probably. Oh no! The President's daughter! Whatever shall we do!

Overall, this kicked ass. It was a tight, fun, sometimes Millar-intense comic. There was great allegory for humanism and moral dilemma. Solid dialog. And excellent artwork. I think the Ultimate Universe may be where "it" is at.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, I'm so disappointed with this. I've been an X-men fan since I was a kid and I've been trying to slowly read through most of the modern X-men stuff that I missed once I stopped reading comics in the late 90's. I thought I'd try out the Ultimate universe X-men as well. And while I always appreciate a good modern updating, this was not what I was hoping for. I don't mind changes being made to the characters and storylines, I just want them to actually be good and also still have some of the essence of what made that character special and sets them apart.

Aside from the many inconsistencies and motivational flip-flopping, the writing here simply just isn't good at all and the whole thing was a bit obnoxious and frankly, BORING.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fine. I cant see the Ultimate universe X-men being all that different from the main universe X-men.

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief History:

When I first heard about Marvel making a separate X-Men series entitled “Ultimate X-Men,” I was a little hesitate in reading it at first because it was going to be a totally different version of the classic X-Men series that I grew up with. But when I read this small collection of “Ultimate X-Men” stories written by Mark Millar along with artwork by Adam Kubert, I was actually blown away by how interesting and exciting this collection really is!

What is the story?

This collection of stories from Mark Millar’s run on “Ultimate X-Men,” which basically started the series, collects both volumes one and two from the “Ultimate X-Men” series which were called “The Tomorrow People” and “Return to Weapon X.” In “The Tomorrow People,” the X-Men are recruited by Professor Xavier and they try to fight against Magneto and his Brotherhood of mutants as they try to wipe out all the humans on the Earth. In the second story “Return to Weapon X,” Wolverine’s old adversary Colonel Wraith comes and kidnaps the X-Men and forces them to work for him. Can the X-Men escape this vicious villain?

What I loved about this comic:

Mark Millar’s writing: I will admit that when I heard about the new “Ultimate X-Men” series, I thought that these new revisions of the classic X-Men characters that I grew up with would turn out to be terrible. But I was totally surprised by how this collection turned out to be! Mark Millar has done an excellent job at rewriting the classic X-Men characters by transforming the teenage X-Men that started out during the 1960s to teenage X-Men that grew up during the 2000s era. Mark Millar made the characters come much more alive by giving them mannerisms of teenagers during the 2000s, while giving each character a certain depth to their personalities. I also loved the changes that Mark Millar incorporated into these characters such as making Colossus be apart of the Russian Mafia instead of being the simple and humble farmer boy that he was portrayed in the mainstream universe, or making Storm into a more hip teenager as opposed to the regal beauty she is portrayed in the mainstream universe. These changes really made me relate to the characters even more and it is definitely easier for the current audience to relate to these characters also.

Adam Kubert’s artwork: I really enjoyed Adam Kubert’s artwork in this collection as it does have that scratchy look and sometimes, the characters’ heads are a little lop sided, but they are detailed in expressing the characters’ reactions to the series and it gives this collection a sort of gritty feel to the stories. I also loved the way that Adam Kubert illustrated some of the action scenes in this collection as they are detailed and exciting to look at. My favorite image in this collection was during the “Return to Weapon X” storyline where Colossus stops a whole train with his bare hands. This scene was brilliantly executed and I just cannot stop looking at this brilliant scene of Colossus stopping the train with his bare hands.

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The characters: I just loved how the characters were portrayed in this collection from “Ultimate X-Men!” They are hip but they have a lot of depth to their character. I really enjoyed Colossus’ slightly different interpretation of his attitude from the mainstream universe as he is portrayed as being outspoken and tough. However, Colossus still maintains that friendly nature that he is famous for in the mainstream universe. I also loved what they did with Storm as she has a more bubbly personality in this universe and yet is willing to fight anyone who harms her friends. I also loved the fact that Jean Grey is portrayed as being a confident and caring person in this universe as it really made me really love her character.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection Book One” is a brilliant collection of stories from the first run of “Ultimate X-Men” and any fan of the “Ultimate X-Men” franchise will definitely enjoy this small collection!

[Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

Millar has a knack for creating rich characters and engaging dialog, with just enough humor to keep it fun. After meeting Mark at Wizard World Chicago 2007, I can say that his writing is most definitely a mirror of his personality.

If you've ever wondered where to start with X-Men, but were concerned you'd encounter flat, stereotypical hero archetypes, this is the book for you. Millar will suprise you. And the art is simply amazing, to boot.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holds up better than I expected. I know everyone likes to bag on Mark Millar now (and not without some just cause), and I may be somewhat influenced by nostalgia here, but I thought this was pretty well plotted. The dialogue is certainly cringe at times, but I suspect any realistically rendered teenagers from the year 2000 would sound cringe. I think some of it comes from Millar trying to maintain a PG-13 rating without leaning to heavily on censored ($&@!) words like a lot of other writers do. It’s overly crass and sometimes problematic, but not any more so than what else was being published at this time.

The art holds up even better. The Kuberts and an all star team of inkers, colorists, and letterers make this book look better than many contemporary ones. This collection also contains the script of Bendis’s attempt at issue 1, which is very interesting. I have to say, I definitely prefer Millar’s first issue.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I posted my review for Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection vol. 1 on Facebook, my friend Andy (who is much more well read in comics than I am) used it as a platform to launch into a diatribe on his dislike for Mark Millar's Ultimate X-Men. I had made mention in my Ultimate Spider-Man review that there was good Bendis and bad Bendis, and while taking a shot at Millar, Andy lauded the good Bendis: "This was Bendis I liked. Taking his time in setting up a new universe where superheroes are not a thing yet. Only to have the auspicious start torpedoed by the time Ultimate X-Men debuted because Millar is the opposite of subtle and he introduced mutants by having them already fighting giant purple death robots on page 1." This got me thinking as I began reading Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection, Book 1 whether Bendis and Millar's approaches to both books were mutually exclusive.

As I began reading this collection, there were other things that bothered me more than Andy's complaint about Millar's "unsubtle" approach. What Andy says is valid, I guess, but the impact is lessened if one decides they really don't care about continuity. I tend to view continuity as an impediment to good story telling, so even though I valued Andy's opinion going into Ultimate X-Men, I wasn't going to let it be the only thing to inform my opinion about this book. I had been familiar with Millar's work from previous reads of books like JLA and The Flash but every time, he was always collaborating with more established writers like fellow Scotsman Grant Morrison (who is one of my favorites) and Mark Waid. Ultimate X-Men is one of my first forays into a series where Millar's work stands front and center. Could Millar and Bendis have collaborated in a way that both Spider-Man and X-Men could exist in a universe where Sentinels run around trying to kill mutants? Probably. But the fact of the matter is that things like racism and things like the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide are not subtle, so we should not expect the Sentinels or the ideology that created them to be either. Sure, their existence could inform Bendis' take on Spider-Man, but teenagers like Peter Parker tend to be more concerned with their little ponds than the oceans, something that seems obvious in Ultimate Spider-Man. I'm willing to give both Bendis and Millar a pass here--they both appear to have been hired to work on the "Ultimate" universe because they were both up and coming writers at the time and the "Ultimate" line was essentially an experiment from Marvel editorial at the time--would books for established heroes sell if their continuity were restarted? The answer ended up being "yes" but at the time no one could have known that.

Actually my problem with this book have to do with some major plot holes that Millar seems stymied by, especially with Wolverine, who plays a major role in both of the arcs presented in this collection. In the first arc, Wolverine has the ability to do something that he had never previously been to do. It isn't explained apart from having something to do with the Weapon X program, and it just seems like a convenient thing to avoid the obvious flaw in a particular plan executed by Magneto, who is allied with Wolverine at the beginning of the book. Unfortunately, it's glaring and kind of comes off as lazy story-telling. In the second arc, after dealing with the denouement of the previous arc, Wolverine immediately sets off to engage the Weapon X program and it's leader, Wraith. These characters had shown up in the first arc where they attempt to ambush Wolverine at an airport, but the fact that Millar made the narrative decision to address some of Wolverine's origins immediately after the set up arc for the series seems poor and rushed. I think it would have made more sense to establish Wolverine with the X-Men a little more before immediately going into the Weapon X stuff.

It isn't that I hated Ultimate X-Men--but like with Spider-Man, you take a chance when trying to recast a series that produced such brilliant story arcs as "Dark Phoenix". There are some things to love here--the Wolverine/Jean Grey/Cyclops love triangle is more interesting here than when Claremont and Byrne hinted at it during their Uncanny X-Men run, but by that same token Jean is a much more interesting character here--I think when Lee conceived of her she was just there to be an object of Cyclops affection and it was only later, when Claremont and Byrne made her almost god-like that she stopped being a cookie cutter character, but even in the "established" Marvel universe, Jean's existence in the X-Men was to drive the actions of male characters. While Cyclops does fulfill the "leader" role in Ultimate X-Men, it often feels like he is only in charge in the field and that Jean is actually the true leader of the team. On that account, I'm really interested to see where Millar is headed with this.

I guess it is easier to read these books in hindsight, after we have seen how they have influenced countless movies and effectively the first step in creating something like the MCU. Andy told me that these books seem to make these heroes "movie-ready" and I find that hard to disagree with.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I never told anyone I killed Magneto, Jean. Murder is the line we must never cross. Don't you remember what we were talking about earlier?
Professor, please. This isnt Funny.
......Professor?"

[Josephine (biblioseph) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, wow. Really cool. I didn't read all the extra stuff at the back, I was too itchy to get onto the second collection...

Alright, part one is Tomorrow People, which is such a great story because I love Magneto against Professor X. (I saw First Class prior to reading this, so I was primed for good chemistry, and even though they only meet face to face for a short time, you know these guys have history. It's different than the movies, but they're killer, for sure.)

Next part is Return to Weapon X, which was a source of conflict for me, sympathy-wise! I'm an Iron Man fan, and having SHIELD, apparently, anti-mutants was tearing me apart. But ah, Colonel Fury came through for me in the end. Good story, not as strong as Tomorrow People. The ending, I knew it was coming because by accident spoiled some stuff when I skimmed through Vol 2 of the Ultimates, but yanno. Still. I think Jean Grey is my favorite character.

A note to fans of the trilogy and somewhat reboot of a prequel, (I mean, either that or we can pretty, pretty please take Wolverine: Origins out of the canon) Rogue is, I mean, what? What is her story? I really would like to find out what she thinks she is doing. Mostly because you really connect with her in the first movie. Also, I'm a mystique fan from the movies, she needs a cameo soon. Wolverine fans will most likely be delighted with the harder-to-sympathize-with assassin who's background is much more complex in these comics, yay! All in all, you've just got to accept they're basically the same people, just different events have defined them because it's the Alternate Universe. Groovy?

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read almost all of this before - and I remembered little to nothing of it!
I got the Ultimate Collection dirt cheap with some other stuff I actually wanted. After reading this first volume I downgraded my previous rating from three to two stars. Millar ist just so boring! It's all just style over substance, played for shock value, with very little to no actual characterization to make a reader care about any of it, just "big" empty event stuff like the worst, forgettable summer blockbusters imaginable.
While I actually liked his Ultimates this "reimagining" of the X-Men only works if you already know the 616 originals, some of whom are played against type, but again, that only plays if you know the "actual" characters.
Plotwise, everything depends on some assumed shock value. But as stated above I simply don't care. Not even about the art.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this take on the beginning of the X-men and the story of Weapon X. I admit that I haven't read many graphic novels or comic books on either topic, but from what I have learned from the tv series and the movies, this was darker and grittier. I only wish that marvel had the rights to the X-men as there were many hints to other franchises in this (S.H.I.E.L.D. , Captain America, Spider Man and probably more). Reading this has definitely awakened a thirst in me to read more.

[Kati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork and great story. This was my first X-Men comic book - though I'm a big fan of the movies - but I hadn't even finished it yet and I was already ordering Book 2, so that's telling. Like always, I was mostly interested in Charles and Erik's story. Which was quite interesting in this volume. I'm curious what happened to Magneto and if Professor X knows...

[Evan Dossey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eh. I'll let this review be a stand-in for all of Mark Millar's run on the "ultimate x-men" title, which he launched as the sister title to Bendis' (far superior) "Ultimate Spider-Man" title. Millar is known for his bombastic, offensive, and utterly moronic attempt to tell 'mature' (i.e. sex (PG13) and violence (Pg13)) superhero stories to appeal to teenage audiences. His ouvre is defined by this kind of shit. I sound negative, and for the most part I do dislike his work, but some of it I love.

Like this.

There was a period of time where he truly defined the Marvel Universe, and it lasted from about 2002 to 2006 (UXM #1, Ultimates, and Civil War). This was after he had jumped onto The Authority at Wildstorm, a superhero book that first took the 'government sanctioned real-world peacekeepers' angle that was definitive in the early-to-mid 2000's. He wrote some other shit here and there - a Spidey run, a Wolverine run, Ultimate FF -as well as his indie work, but really those three titles helped showcase the adaptability of many Marvel properties into filmic language and influenced the initial direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For better or worse, his storytelling instincts are forever imprinted on DNA of a decade of superhero storytelling.

"Ultimate X-Men" came about as a way of simplifying the X-Men saga after a decade of increasing convolution during the 1990's. Really, 1990's X-Men is maybe that series' apex in more ways than one. It features some of the most famous stories and the broadest cast of characters, as well as some of its most recognizable visual motifs. It's also essentially unreadable. Look, I know the series was better during the 70's and 80's, but the 90's is what the modern comics are always chasing nowadays.

So UXM starts with Millar distilling the team back to some of the core characters, mostly those seen in Singer's 2000 blockbuster + Beast, Iceman, and Colossus. Millar's version of Xavier is so much more two-faced and abominable, and his Magneto is an outright cult leader. I can go without his Xavier, but I adore his take on Magneto. Magneto is a villain who was turned antihero, like, 40 years ago at this point. Even his greatest act of villainy (at the end of Morrison's New X-men) has since been retconned to maintain the utility of ole' Mags in other X-Men stories, and he's now one of the stars of the mainline franchise.

Millar has 6 major stories. The first two are the best (one of which plays with the Weapon X stuff for Wolverine, as all X-Men stories must constantly do I guess). The 3rd is good, but features weird art shifts between Kubert & Bachalo - whom I love individually, but sort of don't think work well trading off. The 4th is shitty bullshit that doesn't go anywhere and engaged with the Phoenix stuff that no UXM writers are ever able to really figure out for the remaining 2/3rds of the series. The 5th is a crossover with The Ultimates that doesn't really go anywhere. The 6th is a "return of Magneto" story that just...sucks. Anticlimax after anticlimax.

So I love the first two arcs and will always revisit them fondly, even though Millar's primary mode is "write everyone like a asshole." The rest, eh.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Marvel Ultimate Universe was a big deal when it first came about in the year 2000, with fresh imaginings of Marvel's core properties by dynamic new creators without the yoke of decades of intricate continuity. It was a chance to explore the core of the characters and rebuild them from the ground up. (And to, you know, pitch movie studios looking for comic book stories.)

Really though, twenty years on, Ultimate X-Men just isn't all that good. It's not all that groundbreaking, it changes very little about the status quo (aside from the totally edgy decision to let Wolverine bang Jean Grey right off the bat), and it consistently goes for cheap shock and gratuity over a real attempt at mature storytelling. Mark Millar is writing, as usual, a movie treatment dressed as a comic book, and the Kuberts' art is good but not great. There are some good ideas, but they are unfortunately overshadowed by Millar's affection for his own cleverness.

In all, it's a decent, quick read, but Ultimate X-Men hardly lives up to what the line claimed to be. It lacks both the pathos of Ultimate Spider-Man and the sheer cynical joy at breaking things of The Ultimates. It's considerably better than Ultimate Fantastic Four, but that just makes it a pretty average X-book. Weight of expectations against reality forces me to drop this from 3 stars to 2.

[RafaCSQ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gravitate towards 3.5. I enjoyed this, but I'll settle with 3 because, considering the opportunity they had, they could have done something better and more daring.

The first part, The Tomorrow People, is nice. Nothing too different than what we are already used to in mutant stories though, except for some twists in characters personalities. But it was enjoyable, and got me interessed in this version of the X-Men. Kubert did a great job here in my opinion, a pity that the book had some gutter loss that got in the way of splash pages.

The second part, Return of Weapon X, was interesting. A good idea that could have been explored further. But yeah, some plot holes and the lack of proper explanations, and the ending was a letdown. I get the heroic non-killing thing, but Ultimate universe is so cruel that it feels unrealistic here is some situations. Also, I feel the other artist wasn't on the same level of the previous volume.

So yeah, I enjoyed my time with this book, and I'm gonna keep reading. Similarly to Fantastic Four, both felt like a waste of potential in their first volume.

[José Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great start

You can tell that Millar didn’t know much about the original 616 X-Men and was mostly inspired by the movie version, but he handles it in a fun enough way.

That being said, I do have issues with a lot of his characterization of… pretty much everyone, along with his weird emphasis on the age gap between Jean Grey and Wolverine (which was and still is creepy in the mainline Universe) but Millar's dwelling on it just makes it worse.

I do really enjoy his focus on Magneto's inherent hypocrisy as a holocaust survivor wanting to exterminate humans for being "inferior" to mutants.

It’s overall a solid enough reinterpretation of the X-Men that you might like if you really love the first three movies and don’t mind Millar's trademark writing quirks.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like volume 2, I really enjoyed this newer take on the X-men. I liked the way the team came together, the way they characterized the various characters, and the fairly epic plotline. The artwork as a whole was really good too, with some great multipage spreads. Occasionally the facial expressions were a bit funny, but I think that as the only thing lacking in the artwork. Looking forward to reading more in this series!

[Brian James · Rating 2 out of 5]

In late 2018 I came back to Marvel comics in a BIG way (after 35 years away). It's still a daunting task going through the many trades I've bought but i took a quick look at some of the first I bought (the three U X-men volumes). I can't STAND the cheesy almost Manga-esque artwork and the dialogue isn't killing me either. This isn't a Marvel era that will grab me, clearly..

They go on ebay today.

[Mahika]

not sure which ultimate x-men i read but it was one of em so just going to shelve this.

swiped this off my friend and it was such a fun time—really had me wanting to just dive back into my comic book days. nothing like superheroes huh?

a series of me finally updating & reviewing my goodreads

[Jonas Mccaffery · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember liking this series when it came out 17 years ago, but rereading it now (*sigh*)
This revamp of the X-Men is like their uniforms: sleek, modern, and unimaginative. If you can redesign these characters, why do they look and act so similar to the older versions.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew this was going to be dark, but I wasn’t expecting it to also feel so lackluster. All of the early 00s trends weren’t great either (re: “fatty”, etc.) and didn’t like the age gap shoehorned relationships. I didn’t expect it all to feel so…lazy.

[Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fine I like the intro to the world but I don't know why this is gonna be my first X men run. I think I'm Gonna finish it. I like where it goes because I already read volume five. But I heard it gets better when robert kirkman takes over so that will be sometime in the near future.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going through the Marvel 'Ultimate' titles and this one wasn't too bad. Some of the others are cringe-worthy - little plots and really unlikeable characters.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collecting the first 12 issues of Ultimate X-Men from 2001. This is awesome. I really, really liked this run. I am actively looking for Volume 2 now.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com...

[Anthony Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

a retelling of the start of xmen. good art work. an enjoyable comic

[Jonathan Waugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a time capsule of a very specific time. Some stuff is still pretty cool but a lot of it has not aged well at all