By Jeph Loeb, Arthur Adams & various (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-464-5
Marvel’s Ultimates imprint launched in 2000 with major characters and concepts re-imagined to bring them into line with the presumed different tastes of modern readers.
Eventually the alternate, darkly nihilistic universe became as continuity-constricted as its predecessor and in 2008 the cleansing event “Ultimatum†culminated in a reign of terror which apparently (this is still comics, after all) killed dozens of super-humans and millions of lesser mortals.
The era-ending event was a colossal tsunami triggered by Magneto which inundated the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan and devastated the world’s mutant population. The X-Men as well as many other superhuman heroes and villains died and in the aftermath anybody classed as a ‘â€Homo Superior†had to surrender to the authorities or be shot on sight. Understandably most survivors as well any newly emergent X-people kept themselves well hidden…
This collection, re-presenting the long-delayed and much awaited Ultimate Comics: Ultimate X: Origins five part miniseries opens with the story of sixteen year-old wild-boy Jimmy Hudson, who terrifyingly discovers his true origins when he inexplicably survives a street-racing car-crash and is visited by a mysterious girl named Kitty Pride. She comes bearing a hologram message from the dead mutant-hero Wolverine which explains the boy’s incredible healing ability and the bony claws that keep inconveniently popping out of Jimmy’s knuckles…
“Karen Grant†finds all her carefully completed precautions to stay anonymously under the radar are for nought when her wannabe-boyfriend posts her picture on the internet, drawing the attention Tsunami-survivor Jean Grey was desperately trying to avoid…
When evil mutants Mystique and Sabretooth confront her in the mall where she works the result is spectacular destruction. Karen flees again, only to be found by Jimmy Hudson…
In Chicago winged vigilante Derek Morgan can’t escape his troubled past or hard-ass cop brother who wants to turn him in to the Mutant regulators. Fortunately that’s when jimmy and super-psionic Karen Grant show up…
In California Liz Allen thinks she’s sacrificed enough. Leaving New York, discovering she’s a mutant and having to put up with a half-brother dubbed “Tubby Teddy†who’s the spitting image of their deadbeat dad Fred Dukes – better known as the monstrous Blob – should be enough grief for any girl, but when Teddy’s only friend brings a gun to school and starts using it the siblings’ secret powers are exposed all over the TV News. Moreover his invulnerability is nothing compared to the fiery conflagration her own abilities spark off…
Before long the Allens are separated forever when she joins Karen’s runaways and Teddy trudges off to join the revenge-obsessed Quicksilver’s Brotherhood of Mutants…
The volume concludes as Karen’s “X†gang is forced to recruit some heavy-hitting power after Sabretooth almost kills Jimmy. Her solution is overwhelming overkill and she gets Bruce Banner to deliver a Hulk-sized lesson in punitive retribution, spurns Quicksilver’s offer to join forces against humanity and instead allies with one of the most powerful and Machiavellian men in the world…
Originally designed to form part of the post-Ultimatum stable of titles, X suffered perennial delays (five issues between February 2010 and July 2011) and the story instead became a prelude to a new Ultimate X-Men series, none of which is germane to the enjoyment of this classy “gathering of heroes†tale by the always impressive Jeph Loeb and the phenomenally impressive Arthur Adams (augmented by the digital inks of Aspen MLT’s Mark Roslan and colourist Peter Steigerwalt).
Even though far more upbeat and exuberant that the usual Ultimate fare, the trademark post-modernity and cynical, dark action is still here to deliver the grim ‘n’ gritty punch fans insist on, so this is a pretty good book for anybody thinking on jumping on to decidedly different world of Wonder: one which will resonate with older readers who love the darkest side of superheroes and casual readers who know the company’s movies better than the comic-books.
™ & © 2011 Marvel Entertainment LLC and its subsidiaries. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. All Rights Reserved. A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd.