I've sort of fallen into a pattern with Ultimate X-Men of liking the early parts of the story and being ultimately disappointed with the ending, but Millar and company have hooked me once again with the beginning of the fourth story arc, introducing Kitty Pryde and the Phoenix force at the same time. The characters continue to develop, with subtle (and less subtle) characterization showing up in Colossus, Professor Xavier, Jean Grey and Cyclops among others, and as always the plot is a background element at the beginning, which seems to play to Millar's strengths. It was also good to see Kubert back on artwork, serving up more recognizable characters and solid action storytelling.
Much as Kitty was the teenage viewpoint character for Claremont's X-Men, Millar uses her as the wide-eyed outsider/typical teen in this issue to give us a fresh look at the team we've come to know over the past twenty issues. Kitty's attempts to go to a party and her reaction to her phasing powers are very much an everywoman type of characterization. Millar and Kubert deliver a terrific sequence showing off the powers as well, full of the fear and chaos that those powers could create for someone but lightened up with some humor as well.
Kitty's viewpoint allows Millar to reinforce some elements of the book while also moving the characters and their setting forward. Further hints about Colossus's sexuality and Xavier's brainwashing appear in the story, and it was fun getting a glimpse of the Danger Room and hearing about how the X-Men dealt with their powers at first. Since Ultimate X-Men started right in the middle of the action, these origin details are sort of left up to the imagination, and it was nice to have them filled in a bit.
The story also contains a few examinations of mutant politics that the book has handled so well. The conversation between Xavier and Kitty's mother was revealing, not only furthering the story of the danger that Xavier puts these kids into but exploring how a woman with a scientific bent might deal with her daughter being a mutant. I also really enjoyed the further hints about the consortium of anonymous billionaires backing Xavier, a definite story point for the future that has been slowly built up in the background.
Ultimate X-Men, like Ultimate Spider-Man and The Ultimates, has an edge and a "new" approach that makes it stand out. However, it is as different from Spider-Man and The Ultimates as the Ultimate titles are from other Marvel books, and the mixture of characterization and action in this title continues to make it a favorite, even though I don't ever seem to enjoy the endings of the story arcs as much as I enjoy the beginnings.
