Ultimate X-Men 78 Discussion

[BIG-X-FAN]

I'm not going to go through the whole issue, but I have to say it's one of the worst issue Kirkman's written so far. If not the worst comic he's written in his career. He must be exhausted from all the writing he's been doing. I haven't like this Cable storyline from the beginning, but this issue really takes the cake. Cable turning out to be Wolverine was terrible. The fight between the X-Men and the Wild Pack was lame. Xavier 'professing' his love for Jean was creapy. And the ending of this issue just seemed stupid. I'm a huge Kirkman fan, and a pretty big X-Men fan; but I almost want to drop this title.

[Brian M.]

Your pretty much summed it up well.

The issue was ... meh. Coolest parts for me were the Cyclops lines/scenes. Diving out of the plane...fighting Cable, telling Xavier not to talk to him.

What's sad though is that now I see Kirkman is probably gonna do this whole,"Did I let Xavier die b/c I was jealous about his feelings for Jean" thing w/ Cyclops. His lines at the end of the issue kinda confirmed it for me. Sad b/c Millar/Bendis had written a badass Cyclops, take no crap Cyclops and now it seems Kirkman is making him a puss again.

[Hi-Fi]

Sounds like the lame thing I was expecting for Kirkman. And to think there was a time this was my favorite book.

How did Xavier die? What happens to Cable, Domino and company? What about Bishop? Is Jean and Scott still together? Spoilers, please.

[MaxofSteel]

Yea what else happened?

[Brian M.]

Sounds like the lame thing I was expecting for Kirkman. And to think there was a time this was my favorite book.

How did Xavier die? What happens to Cable, Domino and company? What about Bishop? Is Jean and Scott still together? Spoilers, please.

Ok.

- Xavier and Scott are in the X-Jet and Xavier is trying to get Scott to talk about what he said.
-Scott tells Xavier to go put his head up his ass. Jumps out of plane to help the fight.
- X-Men fight, Wolverine stabs Grizzly...just then Xavier crashes the Jet into the ground really doing some damage to Six Pack...but not the X-Men. Xavier floats out of it w/ a Teke bubble
- Six Pack say Cable doesn't pay them enough for this, they go back to the future.
- Scott goes to fight Cable and they have some nice dialogue and Scott gets some good blows, Cable throws a ninja star into Scotts eyes but the Visor saves him. He doesn't ahve the visor on anymore. Xavier comes crawling in like a true cripple and tells Cable he's failed.
- Cable takes out a trigger, pushes trigger and BOOOOOM!!!!
- We see one skeleton and noting else.
- Jean comes bursting out and asks what happened, sees skeleton, hugs Scott while he cries saying there was nothing he could do.
- They ask where is Cable and it's assumed he teleported out. We don't know for sure, 100% sure, that's Xavier.
The End.

[Hi-Fi]

Thanks, Brian. Sounds awful.

[Brian M.]

Thanks, Brian. Sounds awful.

Like I said, I'll give it a second going over when I get off work, but my favorite scenes were the Cyclops ones...just b/c I like him probably. After that...I'll file it away and never read that arc again.

What was most annoying about this whole thing is all the unanswered questions we have.

What turned Wolverine into Cable?
What did Xavier do?
What was the problem with the future?
What was the group Cable and Bishop were members of and why were they formed?

I just think if your gonna do a time story...answer us the questions of why the future sucks and who the living hell is the guy coming back and how did he come to his conclusions that coming back in time and killing said baldy is the right thing to do. Plus they kept calling Bobby and Rogue legends...why? It had the parameters to be a great story...but Kirkman just left it all out.

[myslead]

from your little overview of the title, it dosen't look THAT bad ...

[Brian M.]

from your little overview of the title, it dosen't look THAT bad ...

Yea, you would think right...it was.

[moon knight]

Another horrible issue. The arc had some potenital but none of questions were answered. It just created more. Maybe some of the questions will be answered in the next arc but I would highly doubt it.

[Sparda]

I just got off from reading it and .................it was a very bad issue. Of all the people who did it have to be Wolverine that has to be cable? Hope a NEW writer would retcon that one. They action and dramatic ness of the issue felt meh and boring and I did'nt even feel for Xavior's death.

I read in a fan letter on why the Time spiders did'nt show up for cable and thier only lame excuses were that they were busy with Ultimate Power and that cable did'nt stick long enough around :/. WTF. They moment Ben touched his other self they damn right popped out like roaches and how the hell does Ultimate power have to do with this? It does'nt even involve time travel. Time spider's occupy themselves with time stuff not demensions. And if what they say is true than how the hell is the X-Men in thier short cameo taking on sqadron supreme and take on cable at the same time? Lamest answer I've ever read to that excuse and I was about to E-mail them to find out the answer. Grrrrr.

I just offically dropped this book and never again to pick it up until a new writer pops out. Thank god for Ultimate spidey and Ultimate Fantastic four.

[A-Man]

Hmmpf.
I agree with most of the above. I guess some questions might be answered in future issues. A LOT will depend on whether it will be done or not (and HOW it will be done).
Otherwise what is the point in creating a storyline introducing a load of new characters + a possible future, and not explaining anything. How am I supposed to care for stories so incomplete? Meh.

(Oh, this is my first post on this forum, by the way, so don't slag me off too badly if I screw something up. :D )

[Suiciety]

Bah! The issue was fodder for the masses.

And what's up with Colossus thinking he's Ivan Drago (Rocky IV)?!?! (talking to Cable) "I will break you!"

One word sums up Kirkman's run: disjointed. Can someone please MTV Next him???!

[Beast]

At least the arc is over. Hopefully the next 3 issues will rock. Especially #81. :D

[A-Man]

At least the arc is over. Hopefully the next 3 issues will rock. Especially #81. :D

I think I know why you're looking forward to that issue, Beast.....:)

[kmeyers]

Like I said, I'll give it a second going over when I get off work, but my favorite scenes were the Cyclops ones...just b/c I like him probably. After that...I'll file it away and never read that arc again.

What was most annoying about this whole thing is all the unanswered questions we have.

What turned Wolverine into Cable?
What did Xavier do?
What was the problem with the future?
What was the group Cable and Bishop were members of and why were they formed?

I just think if your gonna do a time story...answer us the questions of why the future sucks and who the living hell is the guy coming back and how did he come to his conclusions that coming back in time and killing said baldy is the right thing to do. Plus they kept calling Bobby and Rogue legends...why? It had the parameters to be a great story...but Kirkman just left it all out.
Well, Bishop is still around. I have a feeling he'll be explaining a lot of this over the next two issues.

[Toboe]

This looks awful... I've totally given up on the title until a new writer comes. This Cable arc seemed extremely unnecessary and just filled with insulting "shockers" such as Rogue getting her arm blown off just to regrow immediatly afterwards and now the death of Xavier... and all of the unanswered questions and inconsistences make this quite annoying. I don't think any resolution in the next two issue will make this better and now I honestly don't care for this while Kirkman is still on writing duties.

I was excited about the Beast returning but I highly suspect Kirkman will make it suck...

Aw I miss Brian K. Vaughan sooo much....

[Brian M.]

Well, Bishop is still around. I have a feeling he'll be explaining a lot of this over the next two issues.

If he does, then fine, but I would think he would have told that to the X-Men already during that wonderful little team meeting they had before this assult.

[negation]

This is the Only U-verse title I dont pick up. I purchased the HCs through the 4th. I was not a big fan of 5th & 6th ( because I am not a fan of the artist ) but these last couple of arcs have had weak art and a terrible story

Marvel used to refer to the U-verse as the Gold Standard, this book is worthy of t-paper status ( sorry to be so blunt )

ps- the death in this issue means nothing, death in the marvel verse means nothing ( beast comming back in a few issues )

[MarcSpector13]

Like I said, I'll give it a second going over when I get off work, but my favorite scenes were the Cyclops ones...just b/c I like him probably. After that...I'll file it away and never read that arc again.

What was most annoying about this whole thing is all the unanswered questions we have.

What turned Wolverine into Cable?
What did Xavier do?
What was the problem with the future?
What was the group Cable and Bishop were members of and why were they formed?

I just think if your gonna do a time story...answer us the questions of why the future sucks and who the living hell is the guy coming back and how did he come to his conclusions that coming back in time and killing said baldy is the right thing to do. Plus they kept calling Bobby and Rogue legends...why? It had the parameters to be a great story...but Kirkman just left it all out.

Well i dont think that Cable was a wolverine from the future at all Even though i thought that was pretty cool cuz it really is different from the 616 cable i think he was a clone that Sabretooth stole the chunk of logans flesh from

[Brian M.]

Well i dont think that Cable was a wolverine from the future at all Even though i thought that was pretty cool cuz it really is different from the 616 cable i think he was a clone that Sabretooth stole the chunk of logans flesh from

That is a pretty good theory.

[MarcSpector13]

what i cant stand is this whole comic book death crap I mean dont get me wrong i love Beast and am glad to see him come back but i thought this whole U-verse is supposed to be modern how the hell do you come back from the dead in the real world Oh and yes i think alot of Kirkmans work on Ultimate x sucks compared to Millar , BMB, or BKV

[creaky]

Well i dont think that Cable was a wolverine from the future at all Even though i thought that was pretty cool cuz it really is different from the 616 cable i think he was a clone that Sabretooth stole the chunk of logans flesh from

Unfortunately, Kirkman said outright in an interview that Cable IS Wolverine.

[Erik B]

Unfortunately, Kirkman said outright in an interview that Cable IS Wolverine.

I really think that was just a way to throw people off. Wolverine cant possibly be Cable because at one point in this issue, that grizzly guy gets attacked by the real Logan and says "i dont recognize you."
HOW THE HELL WONT HE RECOGNIZE HIM IF HIS OWN LEADER CLAIMS TO BE HIM!?!?!?!

[tetragene]

Date Night was mediocre at best, Magician was extremely lame and pointless, the Cable arc was a massive disappointment. Nightcrawler is a creepy-psycho now, Rogue lost the Gambit powers/personality, Dazzler is MIA, apparently Angel never had much to report to Xavier about Emma, Magneto and Longshot haven't been seen since Magnetic North...what HAS Kirkman done with this book that's been good? I must be in the minority about Beast coming back...I think he should have stayed dead. Ressurections (just like time travel) are inherently lame. Next Gambit will be brought back from the dead. Words cannot express how badly I miss Vaughn on this title :(

[Ham Sammiches]

I called this a month ago. Now I can die happy. Worst arc ever. Seriously, this makes me misty for the "Venom don't play that!" early nineties. I would also agree that Kirkman sucks on this book. And, um, yeah Wolverine from the future. I don't know, it's better than Cable's original origin, but still incredibly weak. Now Jubilee from the future, that would be inspired. So until Professor X comes back and it's revealed that Cable was merely testing them...Oh to hell with it. (Also while I was bummed that they killed Ult. Beast...How does Beast come back? He was crushed by a freaking Sentinel...They buried a body...Probably an LMD or a psychic projection of Beast died and now he works for SHIELD or the whole shapeshifter with some disease angle...pretty much good character inevitably preposterous retcon a comin' get ready...So...lame...ugh)

[malephoenix]

I don't think these arcs have been as bad as everyone complains, but they definitely aren't the solid writing I've come to expect from Kirkman (that Marvel Team-Up with Invincible and Spidey was gold).



I really think that was just a way to throw people off. Wolverine cant possibly be Cable because at one point in this issue, that grizzly guy gets attacked by the real Logan and says "i dont recognize you."
HOW THE HELL WONT HE RECOGNIZE HIM IF HIS OWN LEADER CLAIMS TO BE HIM!?!?!?!

That was Hammer, not Grizzly. I'm not sure I'm understanding the question, though; if it's true that Wolverine ages into Cable, then it makes sense that Hammer wouldn't recognize him. I mean, if you look at my granddad and the pics of him when he was 25, you can see some similarities, but if you didn't know they were the same guy, you couldn't tell w/o really studying the face for a while. And my granddad doesn't even have facial scars, a missing/glowing eye, or nanotech running through his body.

[kel25]

Way too many unanswered questions. Sigh this used to be my favorite title now I’m seriously thinking about dropping it all together. I have to admit that the “time spiders” not showing up makes me very happy. I thought it was ridiculous in UFF and I consider President Thor to be by far one of the worst story arcs I’ve ever read. Yes, I would even put it much lower than this story arc!!!

I want questions answered and I don’t want to see a bunch of additional questions in the series until we get a few more answers.

[Sparda]

I consider Deadpool's arc from spider-man to be 100 times higher than this poo of a storyline.

Now I just don't care about ultimate X-Men anymore and pray and hope that they switch writers. Any one please.....

[rwsmith]

Y'know, they keep talking about a big team shake-up soon, and I think that the cover with Wolverine leaving the mansion means that he's probably one of the ones not sticking around (which would make sense with him getting his own mini series soon).

And while that might have many of you jumping for joy, it also wouldn't bother me one bit. It would at least give me an excuse to drop this piece of crap once and for all.

[Shyft]

sounds pretty crappy. Whats the point in having "arcs" if no questions from an arc are ever resolved IN that arc?

[tetragene]

I just hope Kirkman isn't dropping members just so he can introduce new Ultimate versions of characters to replace them. Because I'd much rather have the current team than Ultimate versions of Jubilee, Sage, or Slipstream joining...

I'm guessing Shadowcat will also be leaving and Colossus may as well since Kirkman hasn't used him much.

[bbmakdaddycomics]

hopefully before he tries to replace the x-men he'll be replaced by brian k. vaughn and brian singer, also what's wrong with beast coming back......
maybe he created a holgram or clone that died so he could hideout because he thought storm didn't truly love him.

[tetragene]

maybe he created a holgram or clone that died so he could hideout because he thought storm didn't truly love him.

lol, no offense but that would make the "ressurrection" truly lame. I think dead characters coming back to life is stupid to do in the Ultimate universe. We expect that kind of thing in 616, which is why deaths are such a joke now. But I took the Ultimate universe as a more grounded and realistic type of setting (at least compared to 616). Time travel = lame. Ressurrections = lame. Those aspects should have just never been introduced into the Ultimate U (regardless of whatever Ultimate comic they took place in first).

That's not to say I don't think there are ways to bring a character back from "death" without it being entirely lame. But I think it only really works if the reader is left a little suspicious/unsure about the character's death to begin with. You can't show a character getting killed and then have a burial/funeral for them...and then bring them back. I don't think Colossus or Psylocke's ressurrections in 616 were well done either, but like I said--that's 616 so we've come to expect those things. I just wasn't expecting something so lame in the Ultimate U.

[Beast]

Yet we've had time travel and ressurrections already multiple times in the Ultimateverse. As well as Aliens and other Sci-fi elements. The Ultimate Universe is supposed to be set in a more modern setting as it didn't begin 40 years ago, that doesn't mean it has to be a more realistic setting. The very fact there are superheros, gods, aliens, robots, and everything else running around already dismisses the so-called realistic setting.

[tetragene]

Yet we've had time travel and ressurrections already multiple times in the Ultimateverse. As well as Aliens and other Sci-fi elements. The Ultimate Universe is supposed to be set in a more modern setting as it didn't begin 40 years ago, that doesn't mean it has to be a more realistic setting. The very fact there are superheros, gods, aliens, robots, and everything else running around already dismisses the so-called realistic setting.

I'm not saying that timetravel and ressurrections in Ultimate X-men = lame, I'm saying time travel and ressurrections are just lame period. Time travel was lame in Ult FF too. I didn't say Ultimate U was "realistic" in general, just more realistic and grounded than 616--which has really gone off the deep end with the ridiculous number of timelines, timetravel, alternate worlds, clones, ressurrections, and god-like power levels. That aside, to hell with "realism"--Ultimate Beast being resserrected is just lame period--in and of itself. He was squashed by debris from a sentinel blast and then buried. If Human Torch or Storm were killed off (and we saw them killed...and then buried...and there weren't any subtle hints or insinuations otherwise) then it would be lame as well. Ressurrections are lame...period.

[Beast]

Not really. Deaths are what is lame. A lot of writers agree with that point also, and they've even said as much. As it robs future writers of a character that they may want to use. Which is why in 'Work for Hire' type of situations, writers killing characters are pointless. As they'll usually always come back.

[tetragene]

Pointless deaths or ones done out of shock value are lame. But I think there have been a significant number of deaths which were well done and didn't set out to "shock readers" (and may have actually had an impact, at least initially): Gwen Stacy (616), Captain Marvel, Phoenix (DPS), Wing, etc. I've never come across a ressurection story that was well done or had much going for it other than maybe bringing a fan or cult-status characters back.

[Red Lotus]

I just don’t think Xavier is dead. There is to much of a gap between the talk him and Scott had at the end of 77 to the start of 78. I wonder if this has anything to do with Syndicate.

I do have to say that it would be funny if Xavier used his powers before the blast went off and sent his mind into some one else body. I can see it now Hank comes back, starts really flirting with Jean, but then at last second we find out that Xavier is in Hank's body.

Last does anyone know when Kirkman run is over. I can only think of 1 good issue he has put in the past few arcs.

[Modi]

That was the biggest piece of (^(&*%% that i ever read, not even any good explanations for how wolverine lost his healing factor, the man who wrote this deserves the death penalty (okay maybe not the latter but still, FIRE HIM)

[Greg Anderson]

You know, I had no idea that Beast was coming back and I'm officially annoyed more with this current run. I'm not into this run and I'm buying the book mostly out of habit. After Date Night, everything has just been rubbish and this used to be my favorite book. I hate when dead characters return, it gets so pointless of them dying in the first place.

[robbrooks78]

Seems a little odd that the bomb would destroy all of Xavier's flesh and leave a skeleton. He probably escaped somehow--probably to the future with Cable, then someone brought a skeleton back from the future as well. There's just nothing conclusive about that death. And it seems pretty obvious, too. The writing was pretty lame. But that's the way it's been since Kirkman took over.

The worst thing about this series to me, is how much they've all become like they're 616 counterparts. Why have it at all if it's the same thing? Don't the writers who take over from others look at the characters they're writing, or do they just assume they're like the 616 versions? It really bugs me.

[Karl H]

You know, I had no idea that Beast was coming back and I'm officially annoyed more with this current run. I'm not into this run and I'm buying the book mostly out of habit. After Date Night, everything has just been rubbish and this used to be my favorite book. I hate when dead characters return, it gets so pointless of them dying in the first place.

I am so pleased that I dropped this title after Date Night...

[mutantgene]

Just finished reading #78 and to be honest I wasn't impressed, nothing seemed to bring me into the story and I didn't really care what happened at the end.

If the team is 'disbanding' I think it would be far more intersting for some of the x-men (Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue and Iceman) to move to the Academy of Tomorrow and intergrate themselves with the team over there, better still change the title of the book from 'Ult. X-men' to 'Academy of Tomorrow'.

[Brian M.]

See the thing is this book needed a new direction...badly...it was starting to feel just like the 616 books...so this is a wonderful direction. It's just that the way it was done is...just boring. I mean we should care Xavier is dead, we should care that what happened between the X-Men and Cable but the writer and the artist have failed to really convey the emotions in the 22 pages they are given each month.

[Greg Anderson]

Yeah, I'll be the first to admit that it seems that Kirkman comes up with great starting points and ideas for his run, but as the run goes on and is executed, it sucks. I mean, what the hell?

Ugh! Whatever, heh. :o

[SMKSPY]

Somebody please get rid of Kirkman...what a waste of $3.

[Beast]

Somebody please get rid of Kirkman...what a waste of $3.
Someone definatly needs to crack the whip at Bryan Singer.

[Suiciety]

I think I'm passed my rage at Kirkman. It's moved on to the editorial staff at Marvel now. They and Joe Q need to revaluate what's going on in UXM and make appropriate corrections as soon as possible.

Additionally, if so many of us have dropped the title (and it appears as if some keep going back to it, even if it isn't on their pull list any longer - I'm one of the guilty individuals), Marvel should have noticed the sales drop.

As silly as this sounds...how about a petition to improve UXM? Not sure what else we can do besides that and drop the book. I hate bitching about it on a monthly basis, lol.

[onefutui2e]

to his credit, kirkman did a good job setting himself up for the future issues of UXM.

assuming the x-men DO get disbanded, he essentially shook the world up, and now he has the potential to bring it anywhere he wants. if marvel said, "okay kirkman you're done!" (which would be a HUGE favor for the sake of the title) and threw vaughan and singer into this, i have no doubt that UXM will be an A-list item again.

ultimately, i think kirkman did what he intended to do, which was shake up the world after 3 previous arcs that didn't amount to much (couldn't understand the point of date night, phoenix is eh, while magical had no impact). unfortunately, the execution of it was horrible.

right now kirkman can do SO much with the book...yet with his streaky track record, i can only hope he steers it right this time.

he has the next two issues to have bishop explain everything. i'll hold out for that one.

[tetragene]

I unfortunetly still have a subscription to this title (I got a deal on a 2 year subscription back when Vaughn was writing)--and I still have about 6 issues to go I think :( That's the only reason I'm still actually getting this book, otherwise I'd just thumb through it at the comic store like I do when I want to read the embarassingly hilarious antics of a certain solo superhero title which shall remain nameless... Hopefully within the next six issues he will do something worth a damn, but for now at least I have thoroughly learned my lesson about buying subscriptions.

[UniqueFrequency]

reading this just makes me really happy i dropped the title after the magician arc. i doubt i'll even pick this up in trade. i can't believe kirkman is destroying such a great book!!

[carabas]

While this book certainly used to be better when Millar was writing it, I really don't get all the bile directed at Kirkman.

But from what I can see, a lot of complaints fall under the 'dangling questions at the end of an arc' department.
Well, that is an editorial problem. Kirkman doesn't write arcs, and certainly not 3-parters at that.

I mean, the most revered (by most anyway) X-writer ever was imfamous for never tying up a subplot and leaving plot threads dangling for years. Of course, back in the day, editorial wasn't in the habit of lumping together 3 issues of Claremont's X-Men and calling it an arc.

[siekone]

WOW! I can't belive all the kirkman hate going on in here. I Started reading this book once kirkman joind the camp, and honestly I like it, even though this was a wierd issue and may have seemed a little rushed, maybee but nothing worth quiting or never reading an issue again, in fact when kirkman leaves I will too, I am sure. He has put a lot of plotlines and made everyone of us go ? or Errrr but that just means hes doing his job I for one give his run at least 3 1/2 to 4 stars so far.

[onefutui2e]

when i look back, i kind of realized that when kirkman took over, there wasn't much that was going for him, meaning that the previous arcs were either definitively ended, or had a "check back in a few years" feel to it (Magnetic North).

So Kirkman had the job of setting something big to breathe some new life into a series that didn't have much going on. You can see it in his arcs, kind of.

he messed around a bit during date night, phoenix actually was a pretty decent arc. magical i admit was a total flop and the only thing redeemable is that it built on the phoenix thing a bit more.

i see the cable arc as the reset button kirkman is setting up so that he can start over with something completely new. and once again, the phoenix thing was built on a little bit during this one.

lots of questions to answer? HELL yeah. there's like, only a million of them. but there's a lot of potential that kirkman can redeem himself with now.

[onefutui2e]

double post.

[The Lucky One]

Sooooo.... Ultimate Changeling is dead?

-D

[sugarmanandrobin]

when i look back, i kind of realized that when kirkman took over, there wasn't much that was going for him, meaning that the previous arcs were either definitively ended, or had a "check back in a few years" feel to it (Magnetic North).

So Kirkman had the job of setting something big to breathe some new life into a series that didn't have much going on. You can see it in his arcs, kind of.

he messed around a bit during date night, phoenix actually was a pretty decent arc. magical i admit was a total flop and the only thing redeemable is that it built on the phoenix thing a bit more.

i see the cable arc as the reset button kirkman is setting up so that he can start over with something completely new. and once again, the phoenix thing was built on a little bit during this one.

lots of questions to answer? HELL yeah. there's like, only a million of them. but there's a lot of potential that kirkman can redeem himself with now.

You make a good point, but that sounds a lot like a way of letting him get away with wasting the reader's money. Or time. Because ultimately, that's what he's doing. And it would be understandable if that was more Kirkman's writing style, but it's not. Take a look at Invincible. Or Walking Dead.

It may be he's butting heads with the editors and having trouble telling the stories he wants. But his book would seem to be the only one having that problem.

Ponit is, comic book writers have to write with the reader in mind, and it doesn't feel like Kirkman is doing that.

[BizarroBeachHead]

You make a good point, but that sounds a lot like a way of letting him get away with wasting the reader's money. Or time. Because ultimately, that's what he's doing. And it would be understandable if that was more Kirkman's writing style, but it's not. Take a look at Invincible. Or Walking Dead.

It may be he's butting heads with the editors and having trouble telling the stories he wants. But his book would seem to be the only one having that problem.

Ponit is, comic book writers have to write with the reader in mind, and it doesn't feel like Kirkman is doing that.

In issue 36 of Invincible, Kirkman resolved a dangling plot that started thirty issues ago.

Regardless, I do feel that Kirkman has wasted the readers time on this book.

I can do a slow burn book, but what really gets me with his run so far, is that I just really dislike every direction he's taken the characters and the plot.

Rogue, Nightcrawler, Proffesor X, Jean, Cable...He's taken them in the complete opposite direction I wanted them to go. That's the biggest reason I've dropped the title.

[Kage Kisaragi]

Anyone notice how Kirkman kept drumming up Bobby's magnificents in the last 3 issues. lol, Even as going so far as to have I assume the letter Bold print the word Legend when Grizzley was speaking to him in this last issue.

I think we now know who Kirkman favors above all. I wouldnt be surprised if he got read of the rogue factor so he could hook Bobby up with another female character he likes.

[sgt pepper]

This was a actually on of the better Kirkman issues (faint praise?). I liked the Rocky IV joke, the issue long fight scene was nicely paced and fairly exciting (though grossly decomressed--that's really all that happens in this issue?), Sott's a badass, the prof Kamikazed he blackbird into the bad guys, and supposedly (though I guarantee it's a trick or something) the prof made the ultimate sacrifice. Pretty cool stuff, actually.

Plus, the art and coloring is as good as it's been on this title in a long time.

It feels more like the middle of an arc than a beginning, though. The mystery's really just begun.

Why did Cable seem to be mostly immune to Scott's blasts? Shouldn't he have been cut in half several times over? For a minute there, I was thinking that Cable must be Scott from the future because of that.

[Sandoz]

The "Bobby is a legend" thing seems a little inconsistent--didn't Cable forget about him and Rogue entirely when he first fought the X-Men?


Sooooo.... Ultimate Changeling is dead?

Heh.

[UnjustChaos]

This arc was better than the Date Night and Magician arc. I agree Kirkman needs to star tying up the truckload of loose ends he has going right now. My biggest disappointment on this arc was bringing in Bishop as 60-something year old man. What a waste of a good character.

[Grunty]

This arc was better than the Date Night and Magician arc. I agree Kirkman needs to star tying up the truckload of loose ends he has going right now. My biggest disappointment on this arc was bringing in Bishop as 60-something year old man. What a waste of a good character.

Actualy we still have Bishop in the regular timeline.

He was one of those Emma showed the president as a possible canidate, however he was rejected because of his criminal backround (Domino and Blink where on list as well).

[UnjustChaos]

Actualy we still have Bishop in the regular timeline.

He was one of those Emma showed the president as a possible canidate, however he was rejected because of his criminal backround (Domino and Blink where on list as well).

Oh! I had no Idea. I picked up UXM starting at the Magnetic North arc and I`ve only read the first 2 trades so far. I guess I should read the rest of them before I start talkin' noise. Thanks for the heads up Grunty.

[Beast]

Actualy we still have Bishop in the regular timeline.

He was one of those Emma showed the president as a possible canidate, however he was rejected because of his criminal backround (Domino and Blink where on list as well).
It wasn't Domino. It was Callisto. It was an eyepatch, not a black eye.

[Greg Anderson]

Yeah, I've been waiting for a good while for Bishop to come into the story. I'm willing to keep reading to see what happens with future Bishop or if the young one from the present timeline is going to show up. But I'm missing the M brand on the eye. :( It's his trademark, like Scott's visor.

[onefutui2e]

Yeah, I've been waiting for a good while for Bishop to come into the story. I'm willing to keep reading to see what happens with future Bishop or if the young one from the present timeline is going to show up. But I'm missing the M brand on the eye. :( It's his trademark, like Scott's visor.

i can imagine how that'll fit in.

magneto: hey b****.
bishop: you talking to me?
magneto: yeah. you're my b****.
bishop: hell no i'm not! *flips off magneto*
(magneto uses his powers and raises a knife off the table and carves something over bishop's eye)
bishop: ARGH! what the hell is this?? *grabs a mirror* an M???
magneto: that's right. i'm magneto, and you're my b****.
bishop: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

voila! now bishop's brand over his eye has been ultimized!

[Greg Anderson]

i can imagine how that'll fit in.

magneto: hey b****.
bishop: you talking to me?
magneto: yeah. you're my b****.
bishop: hell no i'm not! *flips off magneto*
(magneto uses his powers and raises a knife off the table and carves something over bishop's eye)
bishop: ARGH! what the hell is this?? *grabs a mirror* an M???
magneto: that's right. i'm magneto, and you're my b****.
bishop: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

voila! now bishop's brand over his eye has been ultimized!

HAHA! I'd buy two copies! You should be the new UXM writer, yup! :)

[kel25]

i can imagine how that'll fit in.

magneto: hey b****.
bishop: you talking to me?
magneto: yeah. you're my b****.
bishop: hell no i'm not! *flips off magneto*
(magneto uses his powers and raises a knife off the table and carves something over bishop's eye)
bishop: ARGH! what the hell is this?? *grabs a mirror* an M???
magneto: that's right. i'm magneto, and you're my b****.
bishop: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

voila! now bishop's brand over his eye has been ultimized!
If that ever happened I would drop Ultimate X-Men and probably burn all of my books.

Does Kirkman’s work bother me? Short answer is yes but it’s not a complete loss.

His first story arc was Date Night.
The Pros
- Characters are not trying to save the world again and the story is focusing more on character development.
- Shi’ar is a cult instead of aliens.
- Introduced a mutant who never appeared in the 616 Universe.

The Cons
- Sabretooth was resurrected and still has a scar from the wound!?
- Nightcrawler suddenly having homophobia.

I was going to review all of his story arcs but I don’t have time now. Basically he has left a lot of dangling plot lines. I like when writers have a few of these but if they have to many they start to look sloppy. I don’t think Kirkman has left to many dangling plot lines. His problem is more with not explaining the details. It’s the details, or lack of, that really tends to annoy us comic geeks.

We were left with a lot of how and why questions in his run that should have had some explination.

[carabas]

The "Bobby is a legend" thing seems a little inconsistent--didn't Cable forget about him and Rogue entirely when he first fought the X-Men.

Forgot that they were in the mansion, not that they existed.
"I can't believe I forgot you two. Of all of them, I forgot you. I'm losing my edge. I'm-- VRAKOOM!

So that pretty much confirms that Bobby Drake (and probably Rogue as well) gets really important in the future.

[Toboe]

Forgot that they were in the mansion, not that they existed.
"I can't believe I forgot you two. Of all of them, I forgot you. I'm losing my edge. I'm-- VRAKOOM!

So that pretty much confirms that Bobby Drake (and probably Rogue as well) gets really important in the future.

That's what I thought as well when that issue came out but no one listened to me...

Anyway, as much as I've disliked most of Kirkman's writing on this title, as someone mentioned before there are some pros, some of which I think would be the character development on Date Night, the reinvention of the Shi 'Ar as a cult religion and the way the Phoenix and goblins plot is being treated.
However all that gets minimized by all the terrible things like the Magician (worst of all), the insanely homophobic all crazy Nightcrawler, Sabretooth's "big revelation", Rogue losing Gambit's powers/conciousness, Cable-is-Wolverine-from-the-future, Xavier loves Jean and his lame "death"... I could go on forever.
Seems like Kirkman has some good ideas for the direction of the title but in execution they end up bein horrible, the Cable arc being the perfect example, all just to leave us with the leaderless X-Men position, which is an interesting one but could have been sooo much better.
I'm fearful of how the return of Beast will turn out...

[carabas]

I said it before, and I'll say it again: there's really no such thing as a 'Cable arc'.
What is called 'the Cable arc' his no real beginning, certainly has no clear ending, and has bunches of subplots frm the previous two arcs, if you can call them that, rrunning through it.
Kirkman is clearly writing in an oldfashioned, Claremontian non-arcish fashion.

People here seem to think that this story is over and done with while they haven't even started talking to Bishop about what the frell just happened.

[Novaya Havoc]

I'm a huge Kirkman fan, and a pretty big X-Men fan; but I almost want to drop this title.

I left the title when Dazzler did. At least she had the foresight to see what a stinker this would become.

So sad. So sad. And I loved Ultimate X-Men so much before Kirkman. Blugh.

[Beast]

I left the title when Dazzler did. At least she had the foresight to see what a stinker this would become.

So sad. So sad. And I loved Ultimate X-Men so much before Kirkman. Blugh.
She's supposed to be showing up again soon. Hopefully not as more canon fodder for Kirkman.

[flapjaxx]

I said it before, and I'll say it again: there's really no such thing as a 'Cable arc'.


I have a feeling a LOT of people are going to keep repeating those words from now until they decide to face reality and drop the book.

P.S. Seriously, I see what you're saying but Kirkman isn't writing without preconceived arcs NEARLY as much as you think he is, nor are other writers' arcs so much more self-contained as you seem to be implying.

Let's see: in the first part of the "Cable" arc Cable shows up and wants Professor X dead, and then in the last part of the "Cable" arc Professor X "dies" and Cable leaves. I see what you're saying, it isn't an arc at all. :rolleyes:

[MarcSpector13]

Date Night was mediocre at best, Magician was extremely lame and pointless, the Cable arc was a massive disappointment. Nightcrawler is a creepy-psycho now, Rogue lost the Gambit powers/personality, Dazzler is MIA, apparently Angel never had much to report to Xavier about Emma, Magneto and Longshot haven't been seen since Magnetic North...what HAS Kirkman done with this book that's been good? I must be in the minority about Beast coming back...I think he should have stayed dead. Ressurections (just like time travel) are inherently lame. Next Gambit will be brought back from the dead. Words cannot express how badly I miss Vaughn on this title :(

Completly agree with you even though i love beast i think bringing him back wont change $%#@ of the whole mess Kirkman is making U. X-men to be

[buckeye9167]

Seems like Kirkman has some good ideas for the direction of the title but in execution they end up bein horrible, the Cable arc being the perfect example, all just to leave us with the leaderless X-Men position, which is an interesting one but could have been sooo much better.
I'm fearful of how the return of Beast will turn out...

Actually, he went out of the way to play up the fact that Cable stranded Bishop in this timeline... which may make Bishop the next adult leader.

There were alot of hints about "all-new, all-different" x-men, so this could be what precipitates a large number of membership changes. Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Angel and Beast have all been conspicuously offstage of late-- and I can see the first two possibly working better with a paramilitary zealot from the future-- and then there's Havok, Polaris, Northstar and Cannonball floating around as well.

[Novaya Havoc]

Wooo! Some bittersweet news.

Dazzler appears in the first image of the Ultimate X-Men 79 preview! She's back!

Don't hurt her, Kirkman.

[Beast]

Wooo! Some bittersweet news.

Dazzler appears in the first image of the Ultimate X-Men 79 preview! She's back!

Don't hurt her, Kirkman.
Agreed. We'll both team up and deliver a smackdown. Ultimate Dazzler is the shiznit. :)

[Penny?]

i can't believe my favorite ultimate character is back! :)

[Kage Kisaragi]

Maybe with the return of Dazzler, The X-Mansion will be a 24-7 Frat Party House. They can call it Mutie Omega Alpha Beta! Hey is Dazzler gonna be one of those reoccuring characters who when they get pissed leave, then come back when they need a place to crash. I remember she was doing that when she first joined up, it was great. :)

[Van Custo]

I don't see what's so bad about this arc.

[Spiderboy-Prime]

i could acutally manage to tolerate this arc, but im still ticked off because of the annual, kirkman screwed nightcrawler over, end of story

[ProfeZZor X]

I haven't picked up this title in a long time, and the most recent issue is a reminder of why I still don't. Kirkman wasn't horrible, but I liked his work a little more than Bendis.

If I had to go with one artist from this title, it would be Brandon Peterson. I just wish he'd transfer over to Mike Carey's book for an arc or two.

[Ragnorok64]

I'm not sure why i still pick this up other than the fact that I've been picking it up for so long. This issue did nothing for me. I seriously just read it, put it down and them picked up my next book. I don't feel particularly attached to anyone in this title. I mean when i pick up my Books I like to go from the one I enjoy least to the most enjoyable, Ultimate X-Men always seems to end up being the fist i read.

[gravling]

i could acutally manage to tolerate this arc, but im still ticked off because of the annual, kirkman screwed nightcrawler over, end of story

i couldn't agree with you more. he's been screwing nightcrawler up since he took over writing duties, but the annual was just diabolical.

i honestly didn't mind the changes made to cable, he was never a fvourite of mine in the first place - but the fact that so much was left unanswered pissed me off bit.

i think what annoys me most about the last few arcs and the annual is that they all appear a bit samey:

-the team fight magician, one of their own
-the annual, the team fight nightcrawler, one of their own, and which featured nightcrawlrr more or less giving the same 'i don't wnat to hurt any of you, but you're forcing me too' speech magician did
-the cable non-arc, the team fight cable, rightfully one of their own

the date night arc was pretty good, but everything since has kind of been an excuse for long drawn out internal fight scenes. does kirkman not have any other bloody ideas? or does he just really not have a clue what to do with all the characters he has 'floating around'?

marvel should just do us all a favour and fire his ass.

[Froggy]

Maybe with the return of Dazzler, The X-Mansion will be a 24-7 Frat Party House. They can call it Mutie Omega Alpha Beta! Hey is Dazzler gonna be one of those reoccuring characters who when they get pissed leave, then come back when they need a place to crash. I remember she was doing that when she first joined up, it was great. :)

most likely........Mutie Frathouses? pssh thatd NEVER WORK:p