There are some fairly important and dark things happening in Ultimate X-Men this issue, including the ominous warnings about the Phoenix Force, the less-than-friendly rivalry between Wolverine and Cyclops and the emotional blackmail of Bobby by his parents and an opportunistic senator. Unfortunately, all of these serious storylines are undercut by some very cartoony artwork from guest artist Kaare Andrews. Andrews's work isn't bad... in fact, the storytelling is good, and when the story calls for something funny or sort of weird, it's terrific, but in general it's just not suited to the tone of the book, and the resulting cognitive dissonance makes this issue, like the previous one, a weak patch in an otherwise interesting story arc.
My biggest complaint with Ultimate X-Men has been with the mono-characterization that Millar gave most of the characters, giving each of them a sort of generic tough-guy with sarcastic sense of humor persona. This less than subtle characterization hasn't entirely gone away, but the characters are starting to distinguish themselves just as Millar's Ultimates have. A large part of this is down to his real teenager take on Kitty Pryde, who is at once likable and energetic as well as highly annoying to the adults around her. But the rivalry between Cyclops and Wolverine has given each of them new life, and Bobby Drake gets some character-defining moments in this issue as well.
There are a lot of slow boiling stories coming to a head this issue. The hints about the backers of Xavier having their own agenda come to fruition with that last page, leading me to wonder what kind of spin Millar will put on these classic villains in the next issue. In addition, Iceman's choice of siding with his parents or with his adoptive family comes to an unsurprising but well-written conclusion of sorts this issue. There are also stories still on the boil, including the Cyclops/Wolverine relationship and how the precocious Kitty Pryde will fit in at Xavier's, as well as the Phoenix story lurking in the background and the tale of Hank's cyber-romance, toned down from last issue's ill-considered spotlight to another subplot in this issue.
If only the artwork weren't so completely wrong for the book. Andrews is a capable artist... scratch that, he's a brilliant artist, one look at his cover work will demonstrate that. And his style would be perfect for some books. It's just not ideal for a somewhat gritty and realistic take on the superteam concept, where supposedly sinister and important events like a press conference designed to tear down mutant relations or a sinister Brotherhood operative carry with them a tinge of goofy humor. The style works for some moments, such as Kitty's surprising role in the defeat of the big enemy this issue or the revelation of the strange techno-organic nature of that menace, and the storytelling is solid throughout, but the exaggerated art style doesn't fit the relatively restrained nature of Millar's script.
Ultimate X-Men #24 is certainly readable, and contains a lot of great story and artwork that doesn't really hamper the intent of the writer as far as clarity goes. It's just that a certain style is called for on this book in order to make it really work for me, and both Chris Bachalo and Kaare Andrews just seem like odd choices of replacements for the style of the Kubert brothers.
