It stuns me how not-awful this is. Really, it’s nothing short of amazing how Jeph Loeb can write a story in the Ultimate universe and not make it a vapid pit of poor dialogue, lame character deaths, weak plot points, and formerly-compelling characters becoming unlikable. And yet here we are with the final issue (for realsies this time) of Ultimate X, a mostly successful series detailing the fate of mutants in a post-Ultimatum continuity.

This issue features Jean Gr…er, ‘Karen Grant’ I suppose, except nobody outside of the comic will call her that. Anyway, Jean Grant recruits the unlikely Bruce Banner into her new not-X-Men as protection against Quicksilver’s Brotherhood, using her telepathy to control the Hulk in a fight against Sabretooth. Afterwards she makes an impassioned speech to her troops about what their mission is and more or less sets up the new Ultimate X-Men series. As a longtime fan fo the Ultimate Universe, it’s good to know that Marvel’s mutants still have a place in it.

Loeb’s script doesn’t amaze, but it’s servicable; the characters work and the dialogue is okay. However, their is an obnoxious point where a narrator discusses the now-famous Bible passage Ezekiel 25:17…and then it turns out he’s Ultimates Nick Fury. That just seems too tongue-in-cheek, but it doesn’t derail the story. Adams’s Art (heh) looks pretty nice and helps give the book something of a harsh, visceral feel. It’s not the best book on the stands, but compared to Loeb’s other work in the Ultimates, it’s fucking Watchmen.