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Ultimate X-Men (Collected Editions) #1-6
Ultimate X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 1
The series that catapulted Marvel's mega-popular mutants into the 21st century! In ULTIMATE X-MEN, Mark Millar and Adam Kubert - joined by a standout lineup of blockbuster artists - reinvented Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine and more for a new era. Now, at last, their entire world-building run is collected in Omnibus form! Led by Charles Xavier, the X-Men are teens trained to use their genetic gifts to keep the peace between mutants and humans! But they're not ready for what's coming! Meet the Ultimate Universe's versions of Proteus, the deadly son of Professor X…the Phoenix, Jean's dark alter ego…and the master of magnetism, Magneto! See the X-Men go to war with their world's equivalent of the Avengers, the Ultimates! And get to know your favorite mutants all over again! Collecting ULTIMATE X-MEN (2001) #1-33 and #1/2 and ULTIMATE WAR #1-4.
1024 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2003
19 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Mark Millar
1,514 books2,560 followersMark 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 4, 2022
The Tomorrow People (#1-6). Millar offers a nice update of the X-Men that makes the characters seem fresh again thanks to more modern takes. Having a younger Ororo and Piotr hanging with the original X-Men is a bit odd at first, but grows on you. The use of Magneto as a truly international threat works well, mirroring his role in the original X-Men comics [4/5].
Return to Weapon X (#7-12). A very strong reimagination of Weapon X as a malevolent special forces organization which was sort of what it always needed to be. Also, a nice integration of Nightcrawler into the organization, and a great plot that puts the entirety of the X-Men at risk. The continuing story of UXM as a plot by Xavier is also of interest [4+/5].
Ultimate Gambit (#13-14). Chuck Austen offers a two-part fill-in introducing Ultimate Remy and it's every bit as bad as you might guess. It's not just that he totally derails the main plot, but that the story itself is entirely dull [1/5].
It Doesn't Have to Be This Way (#15). Ah, the old magazine-article-with-pictures issues of a comic. Rarely successfully, usually too wordy. That's mostly the case here, though there are a couple of nice surprises, some blatant, some low-key [3/5].
World Tour (#16-19). A good new take on the Proteus problem, primarily for its reflection on a realistic marriage between Charles and Moira (and oh, how easy it is to see this Ultimate Moria through the lens of Moira X). It also offers a pivotal turning point for the story of the unbeatable plotting of Ultimate Xavier. But the story itself feels like it's just going through the motions: Colossus' heel turn(s) seem very abrupt, and most of the battles against Proteus are just treading water [3+/5].
Resignation (#20). A nice coda to the World Tour that offers character insights into multiple members of our cast [4/5].
Hellfire & Brimstone (#21-25). A really interesting remix of the Dark Phoenix saga. It introduces Kitty Pryde and the Hellfire Club and also brings Jean Gray into contact with the Phoenix ... but it's not obvious if the Phoenix is real or not, which is a great twist. On top of that, we get Scott & Logan in the Savage Land _and_ a major advancement in the Magneto plot that's been running low-key since his "death". (There's one panel of Blob discovering that Magneto is alive that is priceless.) A pretty impressive mixture of plots. On the downside, issues #23-24 have really cartoony art that's out-of-style with the rest of the volume and unfortunately brings it down as a result [4+/5].
Ultimate War. This was the first big crossover for the Ultimate universe, and it has one of the harshest drag-down fights ever between the Avengers (Ultimates) and the X-Men. Despite all of that, it's a surprising amount of setup and wheel spinning. Oh, there's certain a lot of drama leading to "Return of the King", and there's a big, big change in the status quo of the X-Men, but beyond that, not much is resolved here, leaving it a little disappointing [3+/5].
Return of the King (26-33). After the setup of Ultimate War, this is a good final-Magneto story that presents him as a major threat and deals with him appropriately. It's also a great character piece for Scott & Logan, who have a rather shocking interaction, and it offers great arc movement for them and for Ultimate Jean Grey.
The last two issues are more coda to Millar's UXM than anything else, but they're pretty good coda, as we move characters and plot points into the next era. Though I don't remember anyone else presenting Xavier as manipulatively as Millar did, I'm eager to be reminded of how others continued this story [4/5].
Return to Weapon X (#7-12). A very strong reimagination of Weapon X as a malevolent special forces organization which was sort of what it always needed to be. Also, a nice integration of Nightcrawler into the organization, and a great plot that puts the entirety of the X-Men at risk. The continuing story of UXM as a plot by Xavier is also of interest [4+/5].
Ultimate Gambit (#13-14). Chuck Austen offers a two-part fill-in introducing Ultimate Remy and it's every bit as bad as you might guess. It's not just that he totally derails the main plot, but that the story itself is entirely dull [1/5].
It Doesn't Have to Be This Way (#15). Ah, the old magazine-article-with-pictures issues of a comic. Rarely successfully, usually too wordy. That's mostly the case here, though there are a couple of nice surprises, some blatant, some low-key [3/5].
World Tour (#16-19). A good new take on the Proteus problem, primarily for its reflection on a realistic marriage between Charles and Moira (and oh, how easy it is to see this Ultimate Moria through the lens of Moira X). It also offers a pivotal turning point for the story of the unbeatable plotting of Ultimate Xavier. But the story itself feels like it's just going through the motions: Colossus' heel turn(s) seem very abrupt, and most of the battles against Proteus are just treading water [3+/5].
Resignation (#20). A nice coda to the World Tour that offers character insights into multiple members of our cast [4/5].
Hellfire & Brimstone (#21-25). A really interesting remix of the Dark Phoenix saga. It introduces Kitty Pryde and the Hellfire Club and also brings Jean Gray into contact with the Phoenix ... but it's not obvious if the Phoenix is real or not, which is a great twist. On top of that, we get Scott & Logan in the Savage Land _and_ a major advancement in the Magneto plot that's been running low-key since his "death". (There's one panel of Blob discovering that Magneto is alive that is priceless.) A pretty impressive mixture of plots. On the downside, issues #23-24 have really cartoony art that's out-of-style with the rest of the volume and unfortunately brings it down as a result [4+/5].
Ultimate War. This was the first big crossover for the Ultimate universe, and it has one of the harshest drag-down fights ever between the Avengers (Ultimates) and the X-Men. Despite all of that, it's a surprising amount of setup and wheel spinning. Oh, there's certain a lot of drama leading to "Return of the King", and there's a big, big change in the status quo of the X-Men, but beyond that, not much is resolved here, leaving it a little disappointing [3+/5].
Return of the King (26-33). After the setup of Ultimate War, this is a good final-Magneto story that presents him as a major threat and deals with him appropriately. It's also a great character piece for Scott & Logan, who have a rather shocking interaction, and it offers great arc movement for them and for Ultimate Jean Grey.
The last two issues are more coda to Millar's UXM than anything else, but they're pretty good coda, as we move characters and plot points into the next era. Though I don't remember anyone else presenting Xavier as manipulatively as Millar did, I'm eager to be reminded of how others continued this story [4/5].
November 30, 2024
(Zero spoiler review)
Mr. Millar is something of an enigma to me. The first few books of his I read had to be 'objectively' the worst things he had written. I therefore cast this bigger name creator to the wayside, refusing to touch anything else of his for some time. Then I listened to some of his interviews and I found myself looking at him in a far more favourable light. Regardless of his writing, the mans authenticity and passion for comics shines through, and that can only be seen as wholeheartedly endearing, especially in an age where DC and Marvel seem entirely set on hiring writers who subvertly or overtly despise their core audience. Then I started reading more of his works, and I found myself enjoying, even relishing much of it. Ultimate X-Men on the other hand...
When you're given the chance to reinvent The X-Men, (presumably Millar was given creative control) there is no excuse for not knocking it out of the park. Given the outstanding work that came before (mostly thanks to Claremont) you've certainly got some big ass shoes to fill. Unfortunately, Millar's tootsies just didn't measure up.
From reinterpretations of beloved and far better stories, see Dark Phoenix and Weapon X, to the 'newer and edgier' character reinventions, all of which I didn't care for, this was pretty diabolical to be honest. At least until the Ultimates arc kicked in, and things were generally decent from then on in.
The Kubert's art (and the others) was generally great, even if the character designs were some pretty heavily cliched 90's nonsense. A short haired Jean Grey...please. The art wasn't always to my taste, but it was generally better than Millar's effort, which was solid at best and insipid at worst.
At the end of the day, it is the characters upon which my love for The X-Men was built, and ultimately blossomed into one of my favourite comics IP's. But these characters... I didn't much care for. My score might be a little generous to be honest. 3/5
OmniBen.
Mr. Millar is something of an enigma to me. The first few books of his I read had to be 'objectively' the worst things he had written. I therefore cast this bigger name creator to the wayside, refusing to touch anything else of his for some time. Then I listened to some of his interviews and I found myself looking at him in a far more favourable light. Regardless of his writing, the mans authenticity and passion for comics shines through, and that can only be seen as wholeheartedly endearing, especially in an age where DC and Marvel seem entirely set on hiring writers who subvertly or overtly despise their core audience. Then I started reading more of his works, and I found myself enjoying, even relishing much of it. Ultimate X-Men on the other hand...
When you're given the chance to reinvent The X-Men, (presumably Millar was given creative control) there is no excuse for not knocking it out of the park. Given the outstanding work that came before (mostly thanks to Claremont) you've certainly got some big ass shoes to fill. Unfortunately, Millar's tootsies just didn't measure up.
From reinterpretations of beloved and far better stories, see Dark Phoenix and Weapon X, to the 'newer and edgier' character reinventions, all of which I didn't care for, this was pretty diabolical to be honest. At least until the Ultimates arc kicked in, and things were generally decent from then on in.
The Kubert's art (and the others) was generally great, even if the character designs were some pretty heavily cliched 90's nonsense. A short haired Jean Grey...please. The art wasn't always to my taste, but it was generally better than Millar's effort, which was solid at best and insipid at worst.
At the end of the day, it is the characters upon which my love for The X-Men was built, and ultimately blossomed into one of my favourite comics IP's. But these characters... I didn't much care for. My score might be a little generous to be honest. 3/5
OmniBen.
December 10, 2022
The Ultimate Universe was a great idea. If only they didn't pick Mark Millar to write it. Everyone in this series is an awful person and I sympathize with the US government about not trusting the X-Men and wanting to send Captain America after them. Everyone is an edgy teen (or edgy 30 year old) and none of them have a distinct character voice. Almost half the run time in 40 issues is the team fighting Magneto, who is basically Stryfe in this series: infinite power, cartoonishly evil yet somehow still persuades people, silly hat. I feel a little bit of goodness leaving my soul after reading this book.
The pencils are great, though, and I liked the Hellfire Club reboot.
The pencils are great, though, and I liked the Hellfire Club reboot.
November 2, 2022
A fun reimagining of the x-men, the brotherhood of evil mutants, and a nice commentary on some of the issues of the early 2000s. The art varies as different talents are invited to guest ink. The story has Magneto in one of his more villainous roles. I loved this take on the characters and only regret it did not go longer. The writing is less dense than most x-titles of years gone by and the story lines are a bit simplistic compared with those of most titles. The books were intended to seize on the original Fox movie’s popularity and its sort of fun to take the books at that level of fandom.
January 21, 2024
This omnibus collection clocks in at 1,024 pages and covers Ultimate X-Men issues 1-33, the Wizard 1/2 issue, and Ultimate War 1-4. If you like alternate universe versions of characters, you can’t go wrong with this tome. Just keep mind, it’s just that, an alternate universe! Don’t go into this with any preconceived notions about the X-Men and keep an open mind. If you can do that, you’ll have fun. I definitely recommend this.
January 4, 2024
Mark Millar remixes classic X-Men bits into some of the most mediocre X-movies that never got made. It’s not clever, but it sure is LOUD. Skip this and stick with Bendis and Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, which is light years better.
November 14, 2023
An All-Star 21st century update of the X-Men. It is definitely a darker take on these characters..
April 8, 2025
Per parlare della prima originale Ultimate X-Men, bisogna parlare prima della prima originale Ultimate Spider-Man.
USM è una di quelle serie che ha superato la prova del tempo, perché prendeva due piccioni con una fava: rivisitava il mythos ragnesco per gli anni 2000, ma soprattutto, parlava di adolescenza. Esigenza narrativa + remake + grossa tematica portante hanno portato come risultato un prodotto leggibile da chiunque e, ancora oggi, fresco e accattivante. Ovvio che qualche dinamica all'interno della serie è propria dei primi anni 2000, ma ogni opera è pensata in primis per il pubblico del proprio tempo.
UXM, purtroppo, ha poco di tutto quello che può renderla una serie senza tempo, e tanto (troppo) del proprio tempo. Quasi mi sento di dire che è un prodotto reagente, nel senso che reagisce senza troppo pensare all'immediata esigenza di proporre la propria versione anni 2000 degli X-Men, con il risultato di portare tanto intrattenimento, tanta azione, tanto testosterone e personalità acidissime e al limite di moda a quel tempo, ma davvero pochi contenuti.
Non nascondo che all'epoca mi divertì. Ma la serie era tutta basata sul blasone pompatissimo di Wolverine e Magneto, concentrandosi sullo sparare grosso e alto sulle maggiori saghe (anche questo, uno dei pochi difetti di USM) che hanno reso famosi gli X-Men, senza fare qualcosa come fece la controparte ragnesca. Storicamente Mark Millar si documentò sugli X-Men il momento stesso in cui gli diedero il compito e - per il tempo che ha avuto - ha messo su uno spettacolo anche decente. Ma dire che questi sono gli X-Men, insomma, ne passa. Mi divertì, come dicevo: ma perché all'epoca cercavo Wolverine e ancora dovevo capire cosa fossero gli X-Men. E ancora oggi, se ripenso alle grandi scene della serie, penso al canadese e a Magneto. Degli altri ricordo poche cose, e quelle poche, di poco conto.
La stella in più va ad Adam Kubert. Uno dei miei disegnatori preferiti che, a quei tempi, raggiunse un picco che difficilmente ripresenterà gli anni successivi. Complice anche i colori del magnifico
Richard Isanove, i suoi X-Men avevano una fluidità di movimenti da sembrare vivi.
USM è una di quelle serie che ha superato la prova del tempo, perché prendeva due piccioni con una fava: rivisitava il mythos ragnesco per gli anni 2000, ma soprattutto, parlava di adolescenza. Esigenza narrativa + remake + grossa tematica portante hanno portato come risultato un prodotto leggibile da chiunque e, ancora oggi, fresco e accattivante. Ovvio che qualche dinamica all'interno della serie è propria dei primi anni 2000, ma ogni opera è pensata in primis per il pubblico del proprio tempo.
UXM, purtroppo, ha poco di tutto quello che può renderla una serie senza tempo, e tanto (troppo) del proprio tempo. Quasi mi sento di dire che è un prodotto reagente, nel senso che reagisce senza troppo pensare all'immediata esigenza di proporre la propria versione anni 2000 degli X-Men, con il risultato di portare tanto intrattenimento, tanta azione, tanto testosterone e personalità acidissime e al limite di moda a quel tempo, ma davvero pochi contenuti.
Non nascondo che all'epoca mi divertì. Ma la serie era tutta basata sul blasone pompatissimo di Wolverine e Magneto, concentrandosi sullo sparare grosso e alto sulle maggiori saghe (anche questo, uno dei pochi difetti di USM) che hanno reso famosi gli X-Men, senza fare qualcosa come fece la controparte ragnesca. Storicamente Mark Millar si documentò sugli X-Men il momento stesso in cui gli diedero il compito e - per il tempo che ha avuto - ha messo su uno spettacolo anche decente. Ma dire che questi sono gli X-Men, insomma, ne passa. Mi divertì, come dicevo: ma perché all'epoca cercavo Wolverine e ancora dovevo capire cosa fossero gli X-Men. E ancora oggi, se ripenso alle grandi scene della serie, penso al canadese e a Magneto. Degli altri ricordo poche cose, e quelle poche, di poco conto.
La stella in più va ad Adam Kubert. Uno dei miei disegnatori preferiti che, a quei tempi, raggiunse un picco che difficilmente ripresenterà gli anni successivi. Complice anche i colori del magnifico
Richard Isanove, i suoi X-Men avevano una fluidità di movimenti da sembrare vivi.
May 6, 2025
This collects Millar's run on Marvel's Merry Mutants, re-envisioning them for the Y2K. Surprisingly for Millar the book is relatively toothless, besides characters being generally more caddish. Reading his original pitch in the back of the omni helps me realize that the film's release really catalyzed this project as targeting film-goers: they wanted it to be comfortable for someone to jump out of the theater (it was no longer in theaters when this released, but you understand) and into a comic store and generally be familiar with the trappings. Thus, pretty toothless.
Which makes it all a mildly enjoyable endeavor at this point.
At the time though, it was invitingly fresh. If Morrison wasn't revitalizing the 616 over on New, it is possible Ultimate X-Men would have been a longer-lived flagship book akin to Bendis over on Ultimate Spidey. I honestly believe Morrison sunk this book.
The final volumes of this feel hampered by editorial mandates or Millar boredom—I know not which.
Overall this is a fun time capsule for me, but hardly necessary reading for the casual.
Which makes it all a mildly enjoyable endeavor at this point.
At the time though, it was invitingly fresh. If Morrison wasn't revitalizing the 616 over on New, it is possible Ultimate X-Men would have been a longer-lived flagship book akin to Bendis over on Ultimate Spidey. I honestly believe Morrison sunk this book.
The final volumes of this feel hampered by editorial mandates or Millar boredom—I know not which.
Overall this is a fun time capsule for me, but hardly necessary reading for the casual.
January 25, 2025
I’d love to give this 5 stars but that would signify that I believe it’s a masterpiece however; this was only the first volume of the two volume omnibus set….and boy was it fantastic. Mark Millar is a master at his craft, he almost convinced me to go back and continue reading the Uncanny by Claremont run, just to familiarize myself with the roots…but, not so fast. I’m going to continue absorbing X-Men during their modern years.
These first 33 issues including the short series of Ultimates vs. X-Men were great. A continuous page turner. I believe this is exactly what a comic book should be. Interesting character building with tons of fun, lessons, twists and turns. Can’t get enough of Xavier & Magneto.
Looking forward to the second volume and another great writer in Bendis, even though I’ve read not such good reviews. Nevertheless, I’d like to absorb it for myself.
These first 33 issues including the short series of Ultimates vs. X-Men were great. A continuous page turner. I believe this is exactly what a comic book should be. Interesting character building with tons of fun, lessons, twists and turns. Can’t get enough of Xavier & Magneto.
Looking forward to the second volume and another great writer in Bendis, even though I’ve read not such good reviews. Nevertheless, I’d like to absorb it for myself.
November 27, 2024
Surprisingly better then I expected but some of the characters feel like echoes of their 616 selves. For once Cyclops is a much more likeable guy then Wolverine, but Professor X just kinda sucks and I'm not a huge fan at how Magneto is treated. The storylines are definitely fun though but there are the edgy moments just to be edgy. The Omni does wrap up in a way though to where I could see myself not continuing down the UXM line. You can definitely see how much the original Fox movies influenced the plots and characters though.
November 30, 2025
Re-read in 2025, and it brought back great early 2000's memories! Millar brought the X-Men into modern times with some cool updates. The art direction really fell off for me around issue 18 of the omnibus.
September 11, 2025
El malogrado Universo Ultimate, con sus luces y sus sombras, tenía la virtud de permitir el acceso a las nuevas generaciones a la gloria del mundo Marvel sin el lastre de la continuidad. En ese sentido tenemos una entretenida revisión de la Patrulla X sin la randiciedad de los 60, el pop de los 70, la oscuridad de los 80, la exageración de los 90 y las miles de colecciones, tie-ins y eventos que hacen imposible afrontar la relectura completa de Patrulla en el universo 616.
Una narración (dentro de lo que permite el devenir de una colección tan larga) coherente, con muchos de los grandes momentos y personajes (aunque algunos significativamente distintos) que por desgracia muere abruptamente en Ultimatun de Magneto y que, quizá por eso se apresura demasiado en sus últimos números dejando cabos sueltos y tramas huerfanas.
Aún así lo importante fue el viaje.
Una narración (dentro de lo que permite el devenir de una colección tan larga) coherente, con muchos de los grandes momentos y personajes (aunque algunos significativamente distintos) que por desgracia muere abruptamente en Ultimatun de Magneto y que, quizá por eso se apresura demasiado en sus últimos números dejando cabos sueltos y tramas huerfanas.
Aún así lo importante fue el viaje.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews