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ULTIMATE X-MEN #15
"It Doesn't Have to be This Way"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Adam Kubert
Inks: Danny Miki
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $2.25 US/$3.65 CAN |
After a two-month interruption for Gambit, the regular creative team of Ultimate X-Men is back, and they're back with what is
probably the strongest issue of the series so far. In addition to being a great
introduction to the team and a nice self-contained single issue, it's got
exploration of the characters beyond what we've seen before, some intriguing
ideas about how the battle between different mutant ideologies might spin out,
and a revelation about what really happened at the tale end of the first story
arc.
Over in New X-Men, Grant Morrison is tackling the notion of the X-Men going public, after many years of operation. Meanwhile, Millar is examining a similar idea, of what might have happened if Professor Xavier and his X-Men had been in the spotlight right from the start. The use of a magazine article as a narrative structure is not new, in fact it's been used fairly recently in Rising Stars and Powers, but it's an unusual and clever approach that
lends itself well to exposition. As such, this issue, framed by an article by
Xavier fo Timesweek magazine, is an excellent jumping-on point for new readers,
although it's never boring for continuing readers either.
The focus in Ultimate X-Men has been on action, so it's nice to get
an issue that slows down a little and shows us the team relaxing. I have a
fondness for the days when the X-Men would play baseball together, so it was
nice to see a brief game between the team this issue. I also enjoyed seeing how
the X-Men put their time and powers to use in helping people in ways other than
fighting evil mutants. The idea of finding missing children, helping farmers and
providing role models for underprivileged youth are hardly the traditional roles
of a super-team, but they are just as important, and it's nice to see this sort
of "quiet heroism" addressed in comics alongside the pyrotechnics.
While I don't expect we'll see
the action and violence go away, and I really wouldn't want it to, I do applaud
Millar for showing more range and imagination in the way conflicts play out. The
negotiations between Charles and the new leaders of the Brotherhood of Evil
Mutants were quite interesting, a nice way of shaping their goals into less
violent means. While they might still be an antagonist of the X-Men due to
conflicting goals, the idea of trying to redirect them by talking rather than
banging their heads in was a nifty little change of pace. I also enjoyed the
relationships between the team, whether it's the geeky friendship of Cyclops and
Toad or the hilarious Internet prank the Blob is playing on the Beast, a gag
that delivers a nicely timed punchline several pages after the setup.
Kubert and Miki are responsible for conveying this more quiet and subdued version of heroism, and they do a fantastic job of it. I particularly enjoyed their images that showed the X-Men helping out normal people, but I also appreciated their wok on the Guggenheim and Central Park. There are no costumed battles this issue, no shortcuts to set the characters apart, but that doesn't really give the artists any trouble at all. I'm also surprisingly pleased by the letters of this issue, as Chris Eliopoulos makes the mixed case lettering work much better than it has in Ultimate Spider-Man.
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