Ultimate X-men was basically my personal introduction into the Ultimate universe. Matter of fact, it was probably the first Marvel comic I ever purchased myself, having only being a fan of Archies Sonic the Hedgehog comics at the time, (Blasphemy I know, but heck, I loved em.) and only learning of the Marvel and DC mythos' from cartoons and movies. I have to say, my mind was screwed. Page one, BOOM! Wolverine's face got blown off. WTF!? If you haven't guessed, it was during the saga where Gambit was introduced, UX no. 52. Honestly I had no Idea what I was in for. I just saw the name, and Wolverine on the cover, so of course my eleven year old mind just think "hey, why not?". I had absolutely no freakin Idea what was going on, and had to piece whatever I could using memories from the cartoon. Of course I would soon find out all that was useless, and then took years to even figure out Ultimate comics had a completely different mythos from the original, that all the cartoons and movies were based off of. Admittedly I fell out of the series soon after, switching soley to Ulimate Spidey, and only getting to see the team again after they were massacred in Ultimatum. Seriously?
So now finally, after nearly two years the series has been relaunched, unfortunately without its beloved creator Mark Millar behind the helm this time. So like I said, the teams been massacred, and as I said before, this being the Ultimate universe, they're not coming back. Even Logan's gone. (Yeah, he died way before Peter Parker by the way. Wonder why no one's making a big deal out of that. The one guy who doesn't die finally dies! And Parker, who's died already in his original incarnation gets all the praise.) That's actually plays a big role in what got me interested in picking up the series, because here You have a new Wolverine on the front, by the way, no he's not black or hispanic or anything (well, far as I know). So speculation about this only lead me to one thing. This must be the guy with the claws on the cover of the first Ultimate X. Unfortunately I didn't read that series, so I knew nothing about him, until now that is. Basically we can call him Ultimate Daken, cause he's Wolverine's kid. ( I think were gonna need to do a family tree for this guy, especially after the recent revelation he had in his original continuity.) Apparently, he's no Daken though, (Thank God) and his name's Jimmy. (Get it? From James?) I still know nothing about him, but apparently things hae been kept secret from him.
All of the other X-men are being held in prisons, since of course, the "ignorant American government" is afraid of them, and only Kitty, and Kitty, Iceman, and Johnny Storm are in hiding. Jean Grey's apparently become a social worker or something, seeking out troubled families and their mutant kids, but of course without the help of Cerebro. She's in hiding herself too though, going as far as to change her hair style and color. Things don't seem to be going well though, when the currently family she visits shoots their daugther in her sleep.
The government is having trouble getting the public on their side about the whole mutant dilema. Everyone now knows the X-gene was a government project, and are now basically "embarrassed" about it all, and wont answer any questions. The preident even showing direct concern toward Nick Fury, who himself already has his hands full enough, what with Spider-man's death, a new Ultimates team in the works, a steeper budget and the loss of Captain America's support. Our comic ends back with Kitty, Johnny, and Bobby, basically in a Harry Potter 7 scenario, arguments back and forth, while listening to raido updates of what is going on in the world, and the girl being the stuck up one. After the bickering is over, Bobby stumbles upon a news article, featuring a picture of Rogue, Bobby's ex, and Kitty's rival, being attacked, as we caught a glimpse of earlier. The three settle their differences and immediately spring into action, forming their own mini-team.
This issue really doesn't compare to the epic start of the original, but of course, we have to remember, there's only one Millar, and spencer is not him. Howeer, that doesn't make it bad. It's great to finally see where everyone's been after all this time, besides just Kitty, who's become really unlikable after all this time. Wolverine having a teenage son is another great idea brought about by the Ultimate universe. I always thought Ultimate Wolverine was basically the same as the regular one, the same with Spidey, Punisher, and Daredevil. Though DD's replacement is gone, and Castle's just in jail, we finally get to see what new ideas can be deployed with these characters. Teenage Wolvey is also homage to Wolverine's original design, being that he was supposed to be a teen, just like the rest of the team, but they decided to make him older in the end. Even the new costume feature on the cover pays homage to Wolverine's original costume from his very first appearance. I'm excited to see where this series goes.
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