Ultimate X-Men, Vol. 15: Magical

Ultimate X-Men (2001) (Collected Editions)

by Robert Kirkman (Writer), Tom Raney (Illustrator), Salvador Larroca (Illustrator)

He's a media darling, a vital part of the X-Men dynamic and the newest member of the team. His name: the Magician Watch him live up to his name in ways you could never conceive. There is more - much, much more about this new mutant than any suspect. Meanwhile, a tormented Jean Grey is having great difficulty dealing with the results of the Shi'ar testing. Elsewhere...Dazzler stirs.

Collecting: Ultimate X-Men 72-74, Annual 2

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

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 2007

About the author

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.

Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.

In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that new member had a very brief appearance.

This starts off actually way different than I expected. The new member isn't who he seems, or is he? The X-men aren't taking chances and attack him because his powers are unstable. So the first half deals with that. The second half of this is Kurt going...well the nice way to say it, batshit insane. If this was 616 Nightcrawler I'd be annoyed, but this is a pretty interesting twist on a broken man/mutant.

Overall, was pretty good. First half was fun and exciting and kind of interesting ending to it all. Then the second half kicks in and it's jarring the jump in Nightcrawler's mood. He does some pretty terrible things. However, the very last few pages are pretty great.

I'm digging a lot of Kirkman's Ultimate X-Men here. Not amazing but good. A 3.5 out of 5.

[Bookwraiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I appreciate about Kirkman’s writing is that he doesn’t drag out plot lines endlessly or tease plots that he doesn’t intend to focus on in the near future. This is especially true in this volume where the mysterious Magician’s true nature hits the fan. Can’t say I loved the resolution of his story arc, but at least it was resolved. I also continued to love the characterization and character interactions between the team — even Nightcrawlers arc which I’ve noticed lots of fans hated. Ultimate X-Men is just damn good fun!

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice when a thread in a comic book pays off almost immediately. Magician was introduced in the last volume. He immediately gave off a weird vibe, and that weird vibe is explained in this volume. It's great. I would have hated it if this had been dragged out any further. However, I wasn't thrilled with exactly how it played out. It's a little typical to have everything degenerate into an all-out brawl immediately, because there's no way that two of the world's most powerful telepaths could have found another way to resolve the situation.

And I'm not a fan of where Kirkman is taking the character of Nightcrawler. Yes, it probably does have something to do with how much I love the original Nightcrawler. But I do get a little tired of the notion that Ultimate characters need to be bigger jackasses than the characters they're based off of, and Nightcrawler going off the deep end here seemed to come out of nowhere. He goes from sympathetic to Creepy von Stalkerson in just a few issues, with no real buildup. It also means that we don't really have to deal with Nightcrawler's homophobia. Because he's a bad person, case closed. I don't know, maybe this will work itself out, but right now, I'm underwhelmed.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magician storyline may be the highlight of Kirkman's run. Instead of a retelling of a major X-Men storyline, this is an entirely new storyline with a new character, but it's seeded with cool minor moments of X-history. This might have even broached a fifth star, but the annual at the end is a major klunker. The Nightcrawler personality change just feels forced. While it may end up somewhere interesting, I just don't believe any of his motivations during Kirkman's run.

[Chris Borror · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of Ultimate X-Men is 112 pages and contains issues 72-74 and Annual #2. These Kirkman written stories are definitely not as good as the previous volume. I wasn’t really a fan of Magician, so I’m glad he won’t be around moving forward. Also not a big fan of what goes down with Nightcrawler.

[Shane Stanis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Ultimate Year #16

Read for some mind games.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nightcrawler is easily one of the most popular X-men ever but he never really gained traction as a character in the Ultimate universe. He goes off the rails in this volume in a really unfortunate way. There is a real divide among mutants between normal looking mutants, who tend to be good, and mutants whose mutations mark them as obviously not human who tend to be bad. Nightcrawler was always an exception to that rule. He literally looks like a blue devil who leaves clouds of brimstone when he teleports. Despite that there was such an inherent goodness to the character, a kindness and spirituality that rises above the way the exterior world reacts to him. Robert Kirkman wrecks all that in this volume. Kirkman's Nightcrawler is totally intolerant of a gay team mate and so insecure he kidnaps Dazzler to "make her love him." It is an ugly plot line that ruins the character. Worse still Professor X's response and the nonexistent support offered to Nightcrawlers victim forcing her to quit the team damns that character as well. Even though this book was written in just 2007 it's stunning to think about how much attitudes have shifted in just ten short years.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magical (72-74). Oh hey, the Magician is exactly what I thought. This second volume isn't quite as bad as the Magician parts of the "Phoenix" story because Kirkman isn't treating the readers like idiots. And, the very ending is nice. But, it's even nicer to have this storyline done with [3+/5].

Breaking Point (UXMA2). Hard to know what to make of this total character assassination of ultimate Kurt. It seems to be passed off as PTSD from this time with Weapon X, but his sexual harassment and gaslighting of Ali is just next-level. Maybe it didn't seem as bad at the time, prior to #MeToo. Ick! [3/5]

[Krishnakumar Mohanasundaram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good album!

We come across a new mutant who joins the Xmen but little do they know that he is extremely powerful capable of controlling minds, manifesting anything living or non living - at one point he conjures up the whole brotherhood and fights them along with Xmen and makes his conjured up brotherhood lose the battle, gaining the Xmen's trust. The question is how can they stop someone so powerful?

On other arc, we find the new organisation inspecting jean - while the results come out false it is shown that the hellfire club is planning a sinister comeback- could jean be the host to the phoenix? Is the phoneix real?

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was pretty good and I enjoyed it. Not outstanding, but considering the dip in quality in this comic over the last few volumes, I enjoyed this one quite a lot in comparison. The story arc about "The Magician" was a fun one, and the relational drama continued in the final story was also an interesting dynamic. The art for the first half wasn't great, but not bad, but the artist for the last portion was quite good and I hope they continue for a while. Overall, a fun read, average to above-average quality.

[Marloges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two interesting story-lines which ended up being pretty short, but dealt a big hit for the X-Men as a whole. Magician ended up being a really interesting character and I really enjoyed this arc. Nightcrawler on the other end turned out to be a homophobic and creepy piece of... well, he's not likable here to say the least. Which is interesting in it's own way.

[Rangga Sukmawijaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kemunculan mutan baru bernama Eliott Boggs alias Magician terlalu mencurigakan. Ia terlalu kuat, terlalu cepat ikut serta dalam misi berbahaya, dan terlalu sempurna untuk jadi kesayangan media. Siapakah dia sebenarnya, apa motifnya menginfiltrasi markas X-Men? Sementara itu, persoalan Phoenix dalam diri Jean Grey justru semakin berbahaya.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

This run was basically "it was all a dream" with the sloppy introduction of a character and the eventual erasure of that character only a few issues later. I couldn't tell if Kirkman planned it or just wrote himself into a corner, but I wasn't impressed.

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that was interesting and full of twists.
The new guy was revealed to be really dangerous, Phoenix still boils behind all and Nightcrawler with all his annoying characteristics became an interesting one when he mentally broke down.
Good fun.

[Kimberley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lilli W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The actual main story was fine, it wrapped up nicely. But the annual was awful! They massacred Nightcrawler who I love in the main universe, it's just so bad. Sigh, next volume.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuff I Read – Ultimate X-Men #75-80

Once again I should preface this by saying that this is technically more than one arc according to the little things on the side of issues. It is a four-part story titled Cable and a two-part epilogue to Cable, so I’m just treating it as one six-part arc for the purposes of my review. So there! Anyway, Cable begins the first time that the Ultimate X-Men have to deal with time travel, and it does take good advantage of that to throw some twists into the Ultimate line. First of those is the twist that this time it is someone coming back to kill Professor X to save the future from some horrible turn of events. Or, at least, that is what Cable says when he travels back. Cable, by the way, turns out to be Wolverine from the future, which is hilarious in many ways, but he does pose good threat to the group. Another not-so-twist is that Bishop comes back at the same time as Cable, or near enough, and is trying to save Xavier. Only in this Bishop is rather old and used to work with Cable. So it is nice to see that the X-Men future things are being condensed in the Ultimate line, because in the normal comics it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

But anyway, Cable fails to kill the Professor and instead injures most of the X-Men and kidnaps Jean. This leads to the rescue mission where Bishop takes command and leads the team against the future version of the Wild Pack and craziness ensues. The battle is fast and vicious, and the X-Men actually work together and tough it out and win. Professor X then drops a bomb by telling Cyclops that he loves Jean, which came as a bit of a weird moment, and I really don’t buy it. I mean, they tried to pull that in the mainstream book back around the time of Onslaught and I really didn’t buy it then, either, so here I just didn’t think it was that effective. I’m not sure if it was part of some plot to get Cyclops to let him sacrifice himself, but the truth is never really revealed because at the conclusion of the battle with Cable, Cable uses an explosive to seeming kill the Professor. And so the comic falls back on a different X-Men troupe, that of people believing Professor X is dead. And that happens so much in the mainstream comics that it really didn’t come as a shock when it was revealed that Cable was holding the Professor in the future. Really, just kind of ridiculously funny.

The other part of that battle was that Cable stranded Bishop in the future, and so he just sort of sticks around, and starts trying to convince people that they need to fight and learn more how to control their powers. A funeral follows and Scott, Jean, and Storm are given the school. Scott decides to disband the X-Men and concentrate on the school being a school. And so many of the people scatter. Colossus leaves to be with his boyfriend. Kitty goes back home to her parents. Bobby and Rogue stay in the school. Wolverine goes to try and find answers about his past. Nightcrawler escapes and goes off on his own. And Bishop tries to insist that the world needs the X-Men, prompting Scott to tell him to go start his own. So really, Kirkman has done a fair job of clearing the board that was left over from Vaughan. At this point most of the juvenile stuff is forgotten and the X-Men actually claim a pyrrhic victory. Not the best thing in the world, but at least then fought and won.

And if not for the weird stuff with the Professor, this arc would have been better. Kirkman obviously enjoys the more extended stories where the arcs weave together, and I have to assume that he will get back to all of the various plots that he introduced. Otherwise it is refreshing to see some higher concepts working their way back into the story. Strangely enough I have missed them since Millar left, as both Bendis and Vaughan kept the stories rather grounded to more mundane matters. It is refreshing at times to have a much more full-blown superhero story, even one involving time travel. And Kirkman has definitely shifted things with this, and I look forward to where he is taking the team. As for this arc, I give it an 8/10.

[Edward Cheer · Rating 4 out of 5]

See, this is what I was looking for! Payoff! The other writers before Kirkman would set up things that either were never paid off, or have yet to be (Like Apocalypse...).

"Magical" continues the plots behind the mysterious Magician, as well as Nightcrawler and I've gotta say... this is probably my favorite X-Men comic in the series thus far. The characters are all given their appropriate time to shine, while also explaining what was going from Volume 14. The story behind the Magician is well done, as you see a kid trying to fit into the X-Men by manipulating them all. I did find it odd that at the end, he just resorted to killing them all... as if simply talking it out with Xavier wouldn't solve the problem, but I guess living in Antarctica is a better choice.

But what really takes the cake is the story of Nightcrawler, and his stunted story of maturity. He acts on his rash desires and kidnaps Dazzler, but in his rash decisions, the rest of the X-Men immediately find him and Dazzler. It's brutal, it's tense, and I genuinely didn't know how the story was going to end. And it actually ends on a very bitter tone, courtesy of Rogue.

For what small problems I had in dialogue and character choices here and there, Kirkman is doing well at writing interest and real drama in the X-Men. It's tangible, you can feel it, and I personally couldn't put this comic down.

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Magician is who I thought he was. His arc concludes in a perfectly fine fashion.
But who cares about that! Let's talk about the blue teleporting elephant in the room.
Dazzler wakes up from her coma only to be immediately kidnapped by Nightcrawler , who is taken down by Rogue when she conveniently gets her powers back at the last minute.
I was intrigued by Nightcrawler's growing isolation caused largely by his own homophobia, but Kirkman just turns him into a massive creep and even has Rogue (who was in his mind) call him a monster. It feels like a cowardly decision to just make the person with some unappealing prejudices into a bad guy. This comic is pretty bad for making the non human looking mutants unpleasant people.

Should also be noted that Kurt hasn't done anything Wolverine didn't do. The whole thing is gross and bad, and I don't like it.

[Amory · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was weird. I didn't like Magician from his first appearance, and just found most of the time spent with him to be a waste. The only significant thing that happened in his arc was that the X-Men team as a whole realized what Wolverine, Fury, and readers already knew- some mutants are born with deadly powers and are uncontrollable. The Nightcrawler arc was also bizarre. I already didn't like that this version of him was homophobic, but adding a creepy stalker/kidnapper plot was completely random.
Rogue and Shadowcat had some good lines, and I liked the few times Jean Grey was on the page, but I'd honestly skip this during a re-read.

[John White · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is solid Raney and Larroca have created a really action packed series of stories.

The writing is ok the character Magican was interesting and good way to approach the team and the resolution of the plot was fine if a little disappointing. The annual issue does not sit well with the arc and the motivation of the main character really comes out of the blue ( no pun intended). Kirkman does pace the action well and this saves this story. It's readable but not the most fun collection of stories.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reprints Ultimate X-Men #72-74 and Annual #2. The X-Men deal with new recruit Magician and also find they have a traitor on their team when Dazzler is kidnapped. Ultimate X-Men and the Ultimate line are amazing in that four issues feel like a one or two issue story. The story isn't bad, but it seems like what happens in the issues could be accomplished in much fewer issues and the collections can feel like a rip off for their price.

[Viridian5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting to see how these alternate versions of the X-Men are, even as parts of them are rooted in the classic characters, though some of the Ultimate versions disappoint me, like Ultimate Nightcrawler. (Not that the 616 Nightcrawler gets much love or understanding from most writers either.) The Magician shows how dangerous some mutant powers can be.

Though sometimes I'm reminded very strongly that this is basically paid, official fanfiction....

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Magical" concludes the story arc with Magician (very interesting in my opinion). The Annual #2 gives more focus on Nightcrawler, who apparently has some issues to work out. And lastly there's a two page bonus comic about why Professor X would call his cat "Mystique." I still don't know why, and am actually more confused now. Oh well.

[David Basora · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I guess it's nice to know that I was kind of right about Boggs. But honestly, I don't know how necessary the plot points of this book actually were. Having Boggs exist was a reality check, but Kurt's mental break was unnecessarily timed with Jean's issues. I knew this series had a lot to cover before wrapping up, so this issue seems like it was a waste. Hopefully, it ends strongly.

[Jedhua · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book Info: This collection contains Ultimate X-Men issues #72-74, and Ultimate X-Men Annual #2. .


ABSOLUTE RATING: {2+/5 stars}

STANDARDIZED RATING: <2/5 stars>

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haha i've never read any of the other comics and randomly picked this up... The dialogue is a little cheesy haha but I like it. And the girls are so muscle tonned and skinny :( It makes me depressed..

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't crazy about this one. All the stuff with Nightcrawler was just weird.

Tune in to Previously on X-Men to hear our thoughts on this and other classic stories. http://previously-on-x-men.libsyn.com/

[Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why does Ultimate Nightcrawler have to be such a homophobic, creepy douchebag?!? 616 Nightcrawler is one of my favourite characters and a pure swashbuckling delight. Kirkman's destruction of Ultimate X-Men continues...

[C.]

I didn't know Kirkman had an Ultimate X run! I might have to break my embargo on the Ultimate line to check this out. . .