While Spider-Man Unlimited has surprised me with its solid run of short stories, X-Men Unlimited has been considerably weaker, which is odd since there's theoretically a much wider variety of characters available for an X-Men Unlimited series. Of course, I hate half of those characters, which might explain my lukewarm reaction in general and especially to this issue specifically, which features one of my most-hated '90s creations in one story and a character created in the pages of Chuck Austen's Uncanny X-Men in the other. Still, while I have no fondness for the characters in this issue and generally found the writing and art on the lackluster side, there were some terrific moments in the first story, and a solid enough structure to both of them. X-Men Unlimited iteration two isn't a great read so far, but it's still generally stronger than the parade of awful fill-in stories that mostly made up the previous series.
In theory, Gambit is a character that I could like. He's a roguish thief who has been forced by circumstances into becoming a hero, which means that in the '80s he would have been played by Harrison Ford, and I probably would have liked him. It's just the angst and baggage that was attached to him in the '90s that killed my interest, and nobody has been able to resuscitate it. Nitz doesn't manage either, but he's closer than most writers have been with a light and fun caper story. It's fairly predictable in terms of what happens, but one little development, forcing Gambit to choose between using his powers or making money, is a very clever bit of writing, and is probably my favorite part of this entire issue. Also, Nitz does away with Gambit's cheesy accent, which is part of what makes his character unique, but it also makes him hokey, so on balance, I enjoyed the book more without it than I would have with it, regardless of the inconsistency with past portrayals.
Speaking of past portrayals... X-Men Unlimited, like Spider-Man Unlimited, has the idea of pairing up new (or new-ish) writers with established artists, but in this issue, the artists don't come off as very seasoned. Both Georges Jeanty and Staz Johnson have done exceptional work before on other Marvel titles, but the work here looks rushed and at times even amateurish, lending credence to the fill-in impression that these anthology books give off in the first place. Johnson comes off better than Jeanty, but neither of them are doing their best work on these stories. Whether it's the rushed nature of the stories or the support work of inks and colors, both of these artists have done (and no doubt will do) much better work elsewhere.
Mike Raicht, an editor at Marvel, takes his turn writing a story that focuses on Cannonball of the X-Men and his brother Josh, who is, despite all apparent similarities, not Angel of the X-Men. Leaving aside that the character is one I outright don't like, Raicht has a story that has a pretty solid structure. Two brothers who don't know each other that well bond, a problem arises that draws them closer, there's a cute bit of banter at the end that signifies a stronger bond. Some might consider that a spoiler, but given that the structure is so familiar, I think anyone who has read comics before will see it coming. Raicht is shackled by the bizarre notions of Southern living that have defined Sam's family since early on, which seem like they come from a much earlier era rather than any kind of reality, but he writes an OK tale of two brothers. It's just that the characters he's working with have so many flaws that I can't bring myself to care overly much, and there's no great spark to the plot or dialogue that makes it stand out as anything new and different.
What we have here are a couple of stories that pretty much define the term "run of the mill." Nothing shockingly new or outrageous, just solid enough that you can see why they'd be published by a major company, but not something so good that you want to see what these creators do next. Nitz comes closest to hitting that peak, as his Gambit tale has elements of a classic heist and roguish archetype that makes me curious to see what he could do with a bit more room, but this book is still definitely only for the X-fanatics who somehow aren't having their needs met by the other dozen X-titles.
