What's this? An issue of X-Men Unlimited with not one, not two, but actually three good stories? I'm keeping an eye out for the next sign of the apocalypse, because I actually found this issue, despite a big variance in tone between the three stories, to be pretty good, with the Jensen/Totleben story standing out as the high mark of the issue. Claremont and Larroca serve up a Kitty Pryde story that is more entertaining than anything they've done in X-Treme X-Men (providing you don't mind Claremont's writing style at a fundamental level), Edginton and Chiodo provide a dark and intriguing tale of Magneto (providing you ignore continuity) and Jensen and Totleben deliver a stunning examination of the new Beast.
The Beast story is easily the highpoint of the issue for me, and fills the X-Men Unlimited slot of the one good story in amongst a bunch of mediocrity that usually fills it. The basic idea of the plot is an interesting extension of the idea of mutation, and it stands right alongside the kind of new ideas that Morrison is exploring in New X-Men. In addition, Jensen has shown us a side of this new Beast that there isn't really room for in the action-oriented pages of New X-Men, exploring what he does on his own time and how he really feels about some of the changes he's been going through. And Totleben's artwork, with Jeromy Cox on colors, is drop dead gorgeous, reminiscent of Quitely's strongest work on New X-Men while retaining the detail and realism that Totleben is known for.
What the editors seem to have forgotten is that X-Men Unlimited is supposed to be made up of one good story and two poorly done inventory tales, because the other two stories this issue are enjoyable as well. Edginton and Chiodo's tale of Magneto is another exploration of a side of mutant culture that we've seen before, the idea of mutant exploitation. However, they throw in a twist in how the mutants are exploited, and they've chosen Magneto as their protagonist, which is an unusual touch as well. I have quibbles with Edginton's take on Magneto, which seems designed around the movie continuity, particularly since Magneto is believed dead in modern continuity. In particular, I thought the note to Charles Xavier at his school gave the game away, showing the school from New X-Men but a Magneto who existed before that time. Mind you, Edginton's take on Magneto's powers is pretty nifty, influenced by the big idea, no limit philosophy first begun in The Authority.
I was surprised, however, at how well Chiodo's painted and generally cartoony artwork worked for this dark in tone story. His choice of colors has a lot to do with it, as the sickly red and brown palette gives the sense that what is going on here is just visually wrong, but I also thought he did a nice job of making the opponent horrific rather than cartoony and goofy. His characters have an expressiveness and humanity that also makes the pain caused in the story stand out all the more.
The final story of the issue is the one where I expect opinions may differ a bit, and I'll be first to admit that my interest in the story stems from an interest in Kitty Pryde as a character. However, though X-Treme X-Men and most of Claremont's modern work does nothing for me, I thought this was a good examination of who Kitty has become and who life is treating her at college. The idea of Kitty working at a bar was kind of fun, even if it was a little over-the-top in presentation and a little Coyote Ugly for my tastes, and seeing that Kitty really didn't fit in at college either was a nice continuation of her iconoclastic personality. I also found her search for her father an intriguing revelation about the destruction of Genosha and a good motivation for her. And Larroca's artwork throughout is solid and strong, served much better by traditional coloring rather than the digital inking on X-Treme. However, as much as I enjoyed this story, I doubt very much that I'll pick up Mekanix, the book it is a trailer for. For one thing, while Kitty's motivations are interesting, Destiny's diaries were an interesting motivation that has gone nowhere in X-Treme X-Men, and I doubt this would be much different. And for another, Mekanix may well be a name equally as stupid as X-Treme X-Men... which is actually fairly impressive.
