by Randy Lander

ULTIMATE X-MEN #16 "World Tour: Part I" Highly Recommended (9/10) Marvel Comics Writer: Mark Millar Pencils: Adam Kubert Inks: Danny Miki Colors: Dave Stewart Letters: Chris Eliopoulos Editor: Ralph Macchio Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN Of the classic Claremont stories and villains, none bored me to death so much as Proteus. So it didn't exactly fill me with glee to hear that Millar was revamping that villain for his third big story arc on Ultimate X-Men, but this first issue looks surprisingly promising. Most of the focus isn't on Proteus, instead letting him build up in the background like a good villain, while the story continues to focus on the socially aware methods of the X-Men, perhaps the most important element that Millar has offered up in the title. Early on, this book was criticized (by many, including myself) as being empty-calorie action, but with the latest couple of issues, Millar is showing a greater interest in exploring characters and social action rather than physical. Proteus shows up in this issue in true horror-movie fashion, and I can't think of a more appropriate introduction for the character. Kubert does a fantastic job on the remote, rainy setting where we meet the villain, and on the horrific physical changes he causes in his victims. There's also a really solid physical sequence that hints at the power at Proteus's disposal, as well as sending the most important message that he is now in striking distance of humanity. After a particularly impressive villain intro, though, the book focuses in on what is keeping my attention, the notion of what the X-Men do now that they're less outlaws and more media darlings. Though Millar may have taken the notion of Xavier's Institute as more of a school from the X-Men film, the notion of assignments to find problems and solve them in the real world is a unique sort of curriculum. I also love that the X-Men have developed into little splinter cliques, an inevitability in school situations. It doesn't hurt that Millar has given each of these characters more of a voice over the course of the past few issues. Though they still all have the generic "edge" that defined all of them, there's enough of a personality in most of them to make their conversations more interesting. And the settings of the conversation, from roller-blading along Carnaby Street to a hot club in Soho to a quiet walk in Leicester Square, serve up the most important point of the issue: being an X-Man is cool. There's a sense of fun to what the students do, whether it's the good-natured rivalries they share with one another or all the free travel and excitement. Ultimate X-Men is more than just The Authority, done for Marvel instead of DC. Millar is examining elements of mutant-human relations that push the mutant racism story in much-needed new directions, and he's differentiating the team enough from Morrison's similarly-themed stories that the book is still fresh and different. Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.