Ultimate Comics: X-Men #12 review by Wolverine12

[Spekstar]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...review&id=4793

This gives something I had said before, besides UCSM the relaunch wasn't new reader friendly.

I understand what you're saying, but at some point we have to be able to build on continuity. Besides it's one thing for a new reader to not know what's going on, it's another for a comic book reviewer, This was just a fail from miss Thompson

[Hostile_17]

I understand what you're saying, but at some point we have to be able to build on continuity. Besides it's one thing for a new reader to not know what's going on, it's another for a comic book reviewer, This was just a fail from miss Thompson

Agreed, that was the reason I discredited the review.

I myself made the mistake of forgetting his first appearance as a mannequin, but I realised there was a reason for it and asked.

This reviewer actually seems to believe that is a real person/costume.

[Mutant Mind]

This was a great issue (unlike the previous one), and it left many threads open!
On to the questions, then:
- What's the deal with the White Hot Room? Is that a sort of pocket-dimension created by Jean before erasing the timeline?
- Who was the narrator of the issue? I got the feeling he/she was referring to Jean the whole issue, but I may be wrong..?
- Is Colossus one of the Four Horsemen? I got the impression that Havok isn't necessarily one, just that he may know who and where the others are.. Layla and Sinister talked about "the one in Tian"... Who's supposed to be Jean?

Anyway, like I said, the issue was really good, even though I'm not a fan of Barberi.. The things being set up here are way too big to be ignored, so I trust Wood to go back to them once he tells his revolution story.. Which looks really promising!

[xxTK421xx]

Anyone wonder how they're going to explain Apocalypse believing himself to be the first mutant? He kept going on and on about being around for thousands of years back in UXM but after Origins that doesn't seem possible. Should be interesting to see what they do with the character.

Or maybe he's just an insane mutant from the future. Haha.

[NapoleonBlownapart]

Anyone wonder how they're going to explain Apocalypse believing himself to be the first mutant? He kept going on and on about being around for thousands of years back in UXM but after Origins that doesn't seem possible. Should be interesting to see what they do with the character.

Or maybe he's just an insane mutant from the future. Haha.

My theory is that the 616-style mutants who are supposed to be the next evolution of humanity actually exist in the Ultimate Universe alongside the science-accident mutants. It was hinted in some of the earlier issues of UXM that approximately 1% of all mutants don't have the X-gene. I think they're the evolved mutants.

[xxTK421xx]

Wow, really? Do you recall where in UXM you read that?

[NapoleonBlownapart]

Wow, really? Do you recall where in UXM you read that?

Issue 15, when Xavier is writing a magazine article about the X-Men. He says "Of course I don't mean to diminish the biology of the situation when ninety-eight percent of all known mutants test positive for the x-factor gene..."

[DoctorOak]

I believe the 2% just refers to 'natural' mutations, such as albinos.

[xxTK421xx]

Interesting. I wonder if Bendis and Millar had this all planned from the start. But isn't it also possible that just because they didn't test positive doesn't mean they don't have the x factor gene?

Either way, I guess we'll find out at some point when they bring the Apocalypse story back.

[Plawsky]

I'm kind of hoping that all we get is the Four Horsemen, and not actually Apocalypse himself. They would be fighting in his name but it's still up to the reader to decide if they are fighting for someone real or a stupid mannequin and the horsemen are insane.

I agree. I much more enjoyed Vaughan's crazy version of Sinister with the fake Apocalypse to the full-on version we had in Kirkman's run. It'd be cool if Jean was controlling the Horsemen to all follow "Apocalypse."

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...review&id=4793

This gives something I had said before, besides UCSM the relaunch wasn't new reader friendly.

I still don't see why that's a problem. New readers shouldn't be the only ones serviced to. If the reviewer doesn't understand the issue due to continuity, then he should at least point out that he hasn't read what came before it.

Granted, I don't even think this story is too continuity heavy. And the reveal at the end certainly doesn't depend on it. The mannequin reveal worked when I (and most other readers) read Vaughan's story for the first time, I don't see why this moment would be any different for a new reader. This time, however, it works on both levels, because it serves as a callback to earlier stories for us seasoned readers.

I'm not saying that this book can't be criticized, but the reason mentioned in the review seems a bit shallow. However, the reviewer seems to not have enjoyed the run up to this point, so it's not surprising that he wouldn't like this, as it continued in pretty much the same vain as those that came before it.

[CaptainMarvell]

I was thinking about this story line while commuting to work the other day, the "ghosts" appear to be working together and I couldn't figure out why. Like Wanda has Pietro mass producing Nimrod Sentinels which is bizarre considering they're mutant hunters, but then having Prof X try to use Rogue to take over Stryker, so she can then, in turn take over the Nimrods. Maybe these ghosts were planning on using the Nimrods to take out Apocalypse? I was just thinking after DWF and the Nimrods all get destroyed (I'm assuming), Apocalypse will strike and they'll be wishing they had an army of mutant hating robots around.

[Pandastrike]

I'm so confused, i started reading ultimate comics ultimate Xmen since issue 1 and I really am confused. How and when did jean erase the time line? What are thr four horsemen?

[wyokid]

I'm so confused, i started reading ultimate comics ultimate Xmen since issue 1 and I really am confused. How and when did jean erase the time line? What are thr four horsemen?

What was that you were saying, Plawsky? The nook's biggest flaw is that it isn't new reader friendly.

[Plawsky]

What was that you were saying, Plawsky? The nook's biggest flaw is that it isn't new reader friendly.

I never said it was meant for new readers. But I still don't see it as a flaw. And really, I don't even see confusion as a problem at this point; the story isn't over. You and I aren't entirely sure what's going on either. Yes, we know about the previous UXM stories, but that's about it. Even with all that knowledge, you can only answer one of his two questions; unless you want to do us a favor and explain the horsemen right now. And that one question (the answer to which, Pandastrike, is in the UXM arc: Apocalypse) is, at this point, not very important to the story.

And as I've said before, new readers should never be the only ones that a story is made for. Continuity is one of the things that makes serial comics so strong. Without it, there's little longterm attachment to the stories and characters. The longterm readers should be rewarded for sticking around by being able to see these stories build on each other. Part of the price of jumping onto a new book is going to be confusion. That's just inherent. Not every relaunch is going to avoid that.

The post-Ultimatum relaunch:

-USM: not bad for new readers, but they're thrown right into the middle of several relationships that could be considered confusing.
-New Ultimates: not new reader friendly at all. It depends entirely on having read Ultimatum, Ultimate Power, and Ultimates 2 for a full understanding.
-Ultimate Avengers: probably the most new reader friendly of that time, because it's almost entirely new characters.
-Ultimate X: again, not bad, but Karen Grant's character was completely spun out of Ultimatum

And obviously USM is going to be pretty new reader friendly, it's about completely new characters. But Ultimates doesn't rely on continuity either. Obviously there are some character histories you might not know, but that's not a huge deal if you at least understand the characters' concepts. The only real continuity reference I can think of is Hulk's appearance in Tibet, but that is extremely inconsequential. Though, for the record, Ultimate Spider-man is not perfect either in this regard. If someone started on #1 rather than Fallout #4, they miss a really important scene (which is a huge oversight, in my opinion).

Most of the confusion in this book is going to be caused by the fact that it's a confusing story; it's meant to be that way. Anything else is largely unimportant for overall understanding.

And really, the Nook's biggest flaw is that it's made by Barnes and Noble. The Kindle Fire has a huge leg up simply because it's made by Amazon.

[wyokid]

I never said it was meant for new readers. But I still don't see it as a flaw. And really, I don't even see confusion as a problem at this point; the story isn't over. You and I aren't entirely sure what's going on either. Yes, we know about the previous UXM stories, but that's about it. Even with all that knowledge, you can only answer one of his two questions; unless you want to do us a favor and explain the horsemen right now. And that one question (the answer to which, Pandastrike, is in the UXM arc: Apocalypse) is, at this point, not very important to the story.

The horsemen are spirits from the world that never existed when Jean erased the timeline, it is stated in the book who they are and why they are there.

-USM: not bad for new readers, but they're thrown right into the middle of several relationships that could be considered confusing.
-New Ultimates: not new reader friendly at all. It depends entirely on having read Ultimatum, Ultimate Power, and Ultimates 2 for a full understanding.
-Ultimate Avengers: probably the most new reader friendly of that time, because it's almost entirely new characters.
-Ultimate X: again, not bad, but Karen Grant's character was completely spun out of Ultimatum

Ultimate X is VERY new reader friendly, it explains why Jean is now Karen.

And obviously USM is going to be pretty new reader friendly, it's about completely new characters. But Ultimates doesn't rely on continuity either. Obviously there are some character histories you might not know, but that's not a huge deal if you at least understand the characters' concepts. The only real continuity reference I can think of is Hulk's appearance in Tibet, but that is extremely inconsequential.

UCTU was not new reader friendly until Humphries came on and it actually started explaining who Reed is and why he's doing what he's doing.

And really, the Nook's biggest flaw is that it's made by Barnes and Noble. The Kindle Fire has a huge leg up simply because it's made by Amazon.

lol phone typing sucks.