Marvel Comics
Ultimate X-Men #84
By Zak Edwards
July 18, 2007 - 13:59

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Robert Kirkman
Penciller(s): Yanick Paquette



Ultimate X-Men #84

uxm84.jpg
Ultimate X-Men had hit an all-time low last issue with an abysmal conclusion to a story involving the Morlocks which served no purpose.  Things have been going downhill since Kirkman ‘killed’ Xavier, brought him and Beast back from the dead, and then, rather than developing his other, more interesting stories, Kirkman gives us Morlocks.  Not anything about Beast or Xavier, or the legacy project mentioned by Nick Fury, or even about how the new school's doing, just Morlocks.  All of the cool things Kirkman has been developing have been put on hold, and there have been some very cool things he could have done.  So with this issue, after going downhill for a few issues things have gone up a bit, but not much.

Kirkman seems to be relying on making Ultimate versions of things in order to keep audiences interested in this title rather than developing good stories.  At least things have picked up a bit now that Bishop has finally put together his team after interviewing what seemed to be every character in the series.  This underground team is a pretty good mix of characters which includes Storm, Wolverine, and the long absent Angel and Dazzler.  Pyro being in the group is cool as well, but my favorite has got to be the re-appearance of Betsy Braddock.  I have always wanted to see her be used again, and finally she seems to be.  The introduction of Ultimate Stryfe does not excite at all as he appears to be fairly stereotypical cowardly fanatic who preaches at a crowd and then runs at the sight of any danger.  The character interactions are fairly good, but the series needs a serious overhaul, maybe its time for Kirkman to give the reins up to someone else.  The underground X-Men are much more interesting than the group still up at the Xavier Mansion, who’s motivations seem to contradict themselves.  Cyclops, the boy who shut down the X-Men, approves of the new team after spending all this time preventing one from existing.  There is no news on how the school is doing, which could make for a very good story.  Either way, this issue is an improvement from the last one, but that’s not saying much.

The art has certainly improved, now that Pascal Alixe has been replaced by the more competent Yanick Paquette.  While the art remains more rough, it works better with Paquette.  Characters look better, with less lines making them all seem like senior citizens rather than teenagers.  I enjoyed the art much more this time around.  Hopefully everything continues to improve.  For a series that has counted Brian K. Vaughan, Brian Michael Bendis, and Mark Millar as contributers, Ultimate X-Men should be a lot better.

5/10    Still not great, but hopefully improving.

As always, feel free to e-mail me your opinion at zak@comicbookbin.com

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