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ULTIMATE X-MEN #11
"Return to Weapon X Part Five: Sins of the Past"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Adam Kubert
Inks: Joe Kubert & Art Thibert
Colors: David Stewart
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Ultimate X-Men continues to be the comic-book
equivalent of a good summer blockbuster movie. You don't want to look too
closely at the logic or the plot lest you find some holes, but for surprises,
action and beautiful pyrotechnics, this is the place to be. Millar and Kubert
serve up some more nastiness in the form of the Weapon X project, as well as a
surprise ending that I should have seen coming but didn't, and basically this is
as always one of my favorite books.
Which is not to say its
perfect. There are messy details that get swept under the rug, such as the
notion that an Iraqi rocket launcher could tear open Wolverine's adamantium cage
when his adamantium claws couldn't, or that Millar still seems entirely unclear
on what exactly Professor X's powers are. Rather than simply telepathy, he seems
to have been gifted with the entire spectrum of psychokinetic abilities, from
telekinesis to pyrokinesis, at incredible range, and that's fine, except that
we've never been told anything like that.
However, these are minor
issues in the face of the fun I have in reading this book. The flashback to the
Gulf War was a nice way to clue us in on a little of the pasts of Wolverine and
Nick Fury of this world, as well as establishing a link between them that's
pretty important to the story. Doesn't hurt that it's an effective portrayal of
Wolverine as a weapon, helping to build up the scary and dangerous mystique that
he's lost in the mainstream universe through years of bad stories and
overexposure.
Aside from the bloody fights
and the big explosions, Millar does have character bits underneath all this.
Jean Grey's reconciliation of sorts with Wolverine was a nice moment, and Fury's
screening of his message was a funny and cute side bit. I'm also enjoying that
Wraith, while certainly a lunatic and sadist, is driven by the same concerns
that drive most of us, that being a loyalty to his friends and coworkers and a
love for his family.
Adam Kubert does a terrific
job here, and I love that the opening sequence, a war story of sorts, was inked
by his father and long-time war comics contributor Joe Kubert. Along with the
coloring, it gave that sequence a look that made it feel like a flashback, and
made for an easy transition into the story proper. The rest of it is making huge
military complexes and meeting rooms look imposing and impressive, and he
handles that well.
The finale of the book was a surprise to me, as I'd been expecting the obvious in terms of reinforcements and what we got was anything but obvious, except in retrospect. Overall, I'd say that the Weapon X story is shaping up to be better than the first arc of Ultimate X-Men.
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