If you want to read the entire Ultimate Marvel Universe, start here with Ultimate Spider-Man #1.
As I read through Ultimate Spider-Man, I decided to continue reading other titles in the Ultimate Marvel universe. Ultimate X-Men is the second ongoing series in the Ultimate universe, and the first to follow a superhero team! But these are not your parent’s X-Men. Ultimate X-Men reimagines the mutant struggle and places it well within a modern context. Author Mark Millar brings us a story of what it’s like to be a mutant in the wake of terrorism and political tension. Let’s start reading!
Today, I read Ultimate X-Men #1-6. I collected these in the trade paperback Ultimate X-Men vol. 1: The Tomorrow People. You can also read these issues in Marvel Unlimited.
Recap
The story opens with a gruesome scene. Large machines fill the night sky in Los Angeles. These machines are anthropomorphic and gigantic. Without warning, the machines begin killing bystanders on the streets. The event is not condemned, there are no heroes to fight these robotic Sentinels. Instead, it is celebrated by the media as a successful campaign against a mutant terrorist cell. This is the world we live in. A world where humans fear the threat of a new species: mutants.
The X-Men are a group of teenagers assembled by Professor Charles Xavier. The professor is an idealist who longs for peaceful relations between humans and mutants. To this end, he has assembled a team of mutants who are tasked with protecting humanity. Opposing Xavier is Magneto, also an idealist who longs for mutant liberation. But Magneto’s dream is achieved not through peace, but through conquest. Magneto’s team, called the Brotherhood, launches strategic attacks against nations and governments.
In this story, the X-Men fight against Magneto’s mutants, foiling his plans. Through the missions, they get to know each other and learn to work as a team. Their plans for peace are interrupted when the U.S. Government launches an attack against Magneto’s mutant sanctuary. In retaliation, Magneto attacks Washington, D.C. and only the X-Men stand in his way. Through teamwork and the help of their newest recruit, Wolverine, the X-Men manage to defeat Mangeto and restore a temporary peace between mutants and humans.
Review
Reading Ultimate Spider-Man, we are introduced to the world through the eyes of a teenage superhero. This world is full of adventure. The world we see in Ultimate X-Men is a much different world. This world is dark, gritty, and worst of all… it feels real. Mark Millar shows us that the world looks and feels differently for mutants. In doing so, he presents the X-Men as peacekeepers sworn to protect a society that not only hates them, but who would murder them if they had the chance. Magneto and the Brotherhood are terrorists who plan and carry out strategic attacks to destabilize nations and strike fear into the hearts of the people.
Reading Ultimate X-Men is entertaining, but it leaves a sour note. Even the happy ending of this story is unable to make up for the darkness the story presents. Millar does a good job of presenting a world that feels real, in all the bad ways. However, Millar also tends to cross some lines in an effort to be gritty or edgy. In some cases, it works for effect, like the gruesome opening act where a teenager and his dog are murdered in cold blood. In others, it just makes the story less appealing, like revealing Magneto’s tendency toward cannibalism. In one scene, Magneto mentions that it’s been a long time since he tasted flesh, human or otherwise. In another, Magneto warns humans that those who do not surrender to mutants will be used as foodstuff. These small details don’t add much to the story, and in my opinion, make it worse.
Overall, the story is entertaining, but I would recommend you only read it if you have a stomach for early 2000’s edginess.
Score: 8/10
Ultimate X-Men is a dark and gritty take on the world of the X-Men. The suspense and social topics ground the story, but it still suffers from early 2000’s edginess.
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