ULTIMATE X-MEN #97
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Size: pages
Price: 2.99
Okay . . . . I think I’m done. I’m not sure why this one tipped it
for me, honestly. I loved the Ultimate-verse when it started. I love
the *idea* of the Ultimate-verse, of it being coherent, and consistent,
and a whole thing. I didn’t mind the . . . . edgy, I suppose, sort of
unpleasantness of many of the characters. I liked the takes on their
personalities.
See, here’s the thing. I like AU versions of
characters I love. I like them because it gives a chance to focus on
what makes that character still recognizably themselves, when the
extraneous trappings are pared away. I *like* Mark Millar’s “Old Man
Logan” for that very reason — stripped of the trappings of current
continuity, we still have Logan and his compatriots, and they are still
themselves. I liked the Ultimate X-Men. I like Scott’s leadership,
Jean’s edgy self-confidence and broken mind. I liked Rogue’s wavering
criminality, I liked Hank’s gleeful joy in himself and his shattering
lack of self-esteem. I liked them all.
This comic has finally
made all of them so deeply unlikeable, I no longer want to know these
people. It’s like watching your high school friends hanging out with a
crowd you dislike. Or like watching your gloriously exuberant,
free-spirited girlfriend married now to a schlub of a man, and she
doesn’t even respect the dreams she used to have.
I’m just done,
I think, with the Ultimate-verse. Done with Ultimates. Done with
UFF. Done with the spinoffs. Done with Ultimate X-Men. (I never read
Ult. Spiderman, I heard that was the best of the bunch.)
I can’t
say, honestly, if this was a good comic or a bad comic. I sense it was
a bad comic. But more than any other thing, it’s no longer a comic for
me. There’s no flight of imagination to it, anymore. There’s no joy
in taking these great characters to new places. And I like them too
much to watch them just get beat down.
That said, if Phoenix is
on next month’s cover, I’ll buy it anyway. I have no pride when it
comes to my girls. I gotta see how their new fellows are treating
them.
Art: 2 - Average
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*slow clap*
Yes, indeed. I didn’t read this comic, so I can’t comment on that, but I got to this point with the Ultimateverse several issues ago. I might peek back at the end of the arc to see what they did to the Phoenix. But by the time R-Kirk was done with her, I didn’t even care, and that’s an achievement.
@ohcaroline Yeah, I know I’ve been kvetching for a while about this. But this just . . . . It really did it for me. In a bad way. Not going to list or spoil it, but . . . if this is the new In-Character for these characters, I don’t need to buy the book. And if this is Out of Character, then it’s a crappy book and poorly written, and I don’t need to buy it.
I’m pretty sure the next issue is a new creative team, thank god. My readership of Ult. X-Men as a whole has kind of been analogous to my relationship with Metallica as a fan. They started off strong (Kill ‘em All), got better (Ride the Lightning), then better still (Master of Puppets), maintained a high standard for an album (…And Justice For All), then became more commercially appealing yet still accepted by the hardcore fans (The Black Album), then a sharp drop in quality followed by cover albums and compilations that quelled the fans but left them ultimately unsatisfied (Load, Reload, S&M, Garage Inc.), and then yet another sharp drop in quality (St. Anger). If my analogy holds true, then the next few arcs of Ult. X-Men will be awesome, as the new stuff coming from Metallica’s next album sounds incredible. Then again, maybe I’m just overanalyzing the whole thing.
I’m just jumping into the Ultimate Universe now and I must say I really enjoyed this issue. I love the reference to Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk where Wolverine states "you shoulda seen what I did to him, it was epic." I really hope they conclude that series so i can read what happened.
As for ActualButt, I love the Metallica reference. I may be new to Ultimate X-men but i know exactly what you mean as far as Metallica. And if that’s the case… I can’t wait to keep reading.