Ultimate X-men #81 discussion (spoilers)

as much of an improvement as this issue was, i gotta say guys, i'm pretty disappointed at our excitement. i think we're all settling for crap now just because we all went through date night and magical...i feel sick just typing those out. how could u NOT improve after runs like that?

on a happier note, i'm glad that Kirkman's got an x-man in almost every ult x 'team' so far. we've got angel and now colossus in x-force, nightcrawler w/the morlocks (which i hope is permanent...he'd be a great leader for the morlocks w/his resentment of Xavier), beast w/shield, and a new x-team just around the corner.

think i'm going to give kirkman a chance to fix his mistakes, starting w/this issue.
 
as much of an improvement as this issue was, i gotta say guys, i'm pretty disappointed at our excitement. i think we're all settling for crap now just because we all went through date night and magical...i feel sick just typing those out. how could u NOT improve after runs like that?

on a happier note, i'm glad that Kirkman's got an x-man in almost every ult x 'team' so far. we've got angel and now colossus in x-force, nightcrawler w/the morlocks (which i hope is permanent...he'd be a great leader for the morlocks w/his resentment of Xavier), beast w/shield, and a new x-team just around the corner.

think i'm going to give kirkman a chance to fix his mistakes, starting w/this issue.


But this isn't crap. It's some of the best Ultimate writing/writing period.
 
But this isn't crap. It's some of the best Ultimate writing/writing period.

Im with MWOF, if he keeps this up I think he could end up outdoing BKV. He's balancing the characters with many intriguing stories all at once. I am thoroughly happy with the direction of this arc.

And can I get an Amen for consistantly good art in a Kirkman UXM issue?
 
Im with MWOF, if he keeps this up I think he could end up outdoing BKV. He's balancing the characters with many intriguing stories all at once. I am thoroughly happy with the direction of this arc.

Ditto.

I'll be the first to admit that during his Date Night, Phoenix and Magical arc----as was about to drop the book. But since then the book has gotten consistently better and is now one of the best UU books.


Im And can I get an Amen for consistantly good art in a Kirkman UXM issue?

I'll give a partial amen. Raney was awful. Paquette was good.....except when he had to do close ups and facials. Fish lips are never good. But Oliver is consistently awesome.
 
I actually agree with airjavier, this story has been decidedly "meh" for me. Mostly because I hate the idea of more than one X-team.
 
I think there will still only be one team "the X-men" ..the others are just groups they'll come into contact with..places to keep angel and colossus and anyone else you don't want to keep in the story too much.

I can imagine Sentinals/Stryker/Legacy Virus/Beast/Shield being a sing arc maybe 4/5 issues. I think Magneto and Shadow King are a long way off. I like the idea of Storm writing her nightmares into the book..then when the other x-men read it and the shadowking will be able to get to them through their nightmares (from the book)..so that won't be done until storm has written the book. I have no idea about sinister/apocalypse, where he's going with that.

I think Beast's revival is good, it's not too complicated and fits in with beast being worried about Xavier's mind control..this could maybe lead to him being approached by apocalypse at a later time?

Art: I think page 16 or so has 3 panels of beast which are all exactly the same.

General story: Walking dead has far too many characters but Kirkman developes each, Invincible has arcs that build for ages. Like the trip to mars followed by martian invasion 20 issues later..as long as you're patient It'll read really good in trades.
 
I'll be the first to admit that during his Date Night, Phoenix and Magical arc----as was about to drop the book. But since then the book has gotten consistently better and is now one of the best UU books.

A lot of people were like that. But it was also when they told him he'd be a bit more limited on the title. So he wrote stories about things he could add closure too without disrupting too much of the mythos (aka Magical) or that he could take some threads inches in a direction. Then he got get his hands on everything and went to town on it.
 
But it was also when they told him he'd be a bit more limited on the title. So he wrote stories about things he could add closure too without disrupting too much of the mythos (aka Magical) or that he could take some threads inches in a direction. Then he got get his hands on everything and went to town on it.

Yeah....I knew all that.

I understand he was writing some self-contained stories without really disrupting the UXM universe.


Either way....I'm now glad he was given the green light.
 
But even for self-contained stories, those stories were terrible. I had no faith in Kirkman, now...I'm all beaming hope!

This is far better, I'm actually looking forward to UXM more than I am to the Ultimates bloated over-done finish.

I hope UFF, and USM pick up and match the greatness of this run!

I would also like to see Ultimates become a on-going title, but after Civil War there's so many Avenger books that I couldn't care if Ultimates became an on-going monthly.

I'm in love with this run! Can't wait for Bishop's X-Men team!
 
I actually agree with airjavier, this story has been decidedly "meh" for me. Mostly because I hate the idea of more than one X-team.

But there isnt more than one..Scott and jean are focused on the school
 
Finally got a chance to read this, so I can formulate a full opinion on it.

I liked everything except Sinister's death (Assuming he actually died; if he didn't, then I'm fine with it) and, again, the way Beast was brought back. Now, I'm warming up to the idea of how he was brought back, but I'm not completely convinced breaking the "In the Ultimate Universe, dead means dead" rule was a good idea (EXCEPT if Jean Grey/Phoenix were to ever die). It opens a floodgate that I didn't want to see opened.

But, more on Mystique/Magento? Great! Legacy Virus!? AWESOME. Sentinels and Stryker! YES! Bishop forming his own team!!! Love it! Nightcrawler and the Morlocks! Can't wait! I just hope Kirkman develops each of these things seperately, rather than giving each storyline a little piece in each issue.

Oh, and one final thing about Beast. I'm VERY glad he's back, even if I'm not thrilled about his actual reintroduction, if that makes sense. Beast has been my favorite X-man since I was 5 years old. I was FURIOUS when Bendis killed him in New Mutants (And even more upset that he died in such a ho-hum way). So, regardless of how I feel about character resurrections, it's good to see "Dr." McCoy back in the title.
 
But it doesn't break any stupid "dead means dead" rule. He was never dead.

I'd rather have Beast back than adhere to some idiotic policy forever.
 
As long as no one brings back MAgnetopus....Lets let that R.I.P.

well theres already been retcons like with hammerhead being killed by Gambit, which was awesome looking, exploded the head. then bendis brought him back in USM. stupid bendis.
 
I love how Kirkman balances all the storylines and subplots in Invincible, and now he seems to be bringing the same style to UXM. And I think that's exactly what this title needs. It's just great when there's a hint of something in an issue, then it's revealed a little more a couple of issues later and then it really emerges as a plotline 5 issues after that. You feel much more like you're reading a continuous story rather than self-contained "episodes".

I think too many comics are written for trades nowadays and this kind of serial storytelling is a dying breed.
 
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Joe Kalicki said:
But it doesn't break any stupid "dead means dead" rule. He was never dead.

I'd rather have Beast back than adhere to some idiotic policy forever.

Yes, he was. They even say it in the issue; he was revived at the hospital. Plus, when Bendis wrote the death of Beast, I don't think he expected him to come back. He wrote him to be dead. Just because Kirkman comes in and says he never died doesn't mean that was the original intent.

At this point, though, I agree on your second point. I'd rather have Beast back then adhere to a rule that had already been broken twice, which I forgot about.

well theres already been retcons like with hammerhead being killed by Gambit, which was awesome looking, exploded the head. then bendis brought him back in USM. stupid bendis.

The second and worst of the Ultimate revivals. While, I don't mind that Hammerhead came back (Mainly because I thought it was stupid to kill him in the first place), I hated that Bendis glossed over the fact. "I thought you died?" "I did. It sucked. I came back." What kind of crap is that!?

The other revival was Thunderbolt Ross. Now, this wasn't as bad, but, in retrospect, wasn't that great either. Ellis basically says that he was presumed dead, but was just in some sort of coma and woke up on the mortuary slab. Of course, he never explains why Ross has no burns after surviving an explosion, nor does he address the fact of why he didn't take over running SHIELD again. So, yeah, at the time, it was kinda funny ("Get your hands off of my vitals, soldier!"), but it was poorly executed.

In contrast, the way Kirkman handled Beast's revival was much smoother and more believable. So props, Robert!
 
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So did nobody else catch the New X-Men reference? With 3-face being fried by a Sentinel? XD

I didn't like this issue all that much when I first read it. But when I re-read it and remembered the title I liked it a lot more. 3.5/5.

Sorry, but I don't like Beast's resurrection. Maybe he shouldn't have died in the first place, but he did. At least if he had to be brought back it wasn't through ninjas bringing him back to life or something. Although the did bury a casket... :l
 
So did nobody else catch the New X-Men reference? With 3-face being fried by a Sentinel? XD

I didn't like this issue all that much when I first read it. But when I re-read it and remembered the title I liked it a lot more. 3.5/5.

Sorry, but I don't like Beast's resurrection. Maybe he shouldn't have died in the first place, but he did. At least if he had to be brought back it wasn't through ninjas bringing him back to life or something. Although the did bury a casket... :l

Frankly?

Out of Thunderbolt Ross, Hammerhead, Xavier, Psylocke, Cornilus, and especially Gwen Stacy....Beast's resurrection was by far the best resurrection the Ultimate Universe has seen.
 
Frankly?

Out of Thunderbolt Ross, Hammerhead, Xavier, Psylocke, Cornilus, and especially Gwen Stacy....Beast's resurrection was by far the best resurrection the Ultimate Universe has seen.
Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to like that it. :p
 
Frankly?

Out of Thunderbolt Ross, Hammerhead, Xavier, Psylocke, Cornilus, and especially Gwen Stacy....Beast's resurrection was by far the best resurrection the Ultimate Universe has seen.

You really can't get much worse than Gwarnage.

I'm very, very happy with how Kirkman brought Beast back. This resurrection has point, has direction, and made perfect sense. What other X-Men could they use to study/cure the Legacy virus? The use of Xavier's death as a catalyst for Beast returning was inspired.

I really wish they hadn't ruined it in the previews or on the goshdarn cover, though. Imagine learning of Beast's return just from reading the issue!

That said, I still want more characterization of Bishop, which the past few issues have sorely lacked. If he's to lead the new X-Men (which will be more in-line with Millar's team of Spec-Ops, bad *** mutants) I want to know who the heck he is.

While I love the direction this is going, the absolutely horrific Magician super-arc and the mediocre Cable arc threaten to overshadow Kirkman's possibly stellar run.

We'll see.
 
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