Asrar Draws on the "Natural Resources" of "Ultimate Comics X-Men"

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

I thought Asrar was under exclusive contract at DC. Did I miss the info about him not leaving Supergirl in the interview?

He's going back to Supergirl after this arc apparently. Guess he just wanted a break and to flex some other artistic muscles.

[DoctorOak]

Speaking for the supernatural young adults, I've gotta say, I respectfully disagree. The majority of comics, when you think about it, star characters in their late twenties/early-thirties, including most of the 616 X-books. Leave us a few good series.

It's not about the age of the protagonists, it's about the story told using them.

Millar's X-Men run had a great mix of character development and villains to pit them against. The villain of Woods' story has been so ephemeral as to be non-existent (not helped by ignoring the Stryker issue entirely until the extremely anti-climactic final fight) and now it's set to just be about Kitty and Mach Two not getting on. Both of which rely on a serious departure from their established characters - though at least Mach Two's was barely existent to begin with (and openly acknowledged in-story as a change).

I just can't help but get a whole 'Twilight' vibe from the entire story. The complete lack of characterisation is the final straw, really. Kitty, especially, has been eroded away to nothing. The fact she's not even using her powers any more, and just using guns, makes it pretty clear that this story could have been told without these characters and without the X-Men name at the top. I can't help but feel if that's exactly what Wood is up to - simply taking a story idea he had for something completely different and forcing the X-Men into it simply because Marvel is paying him to do so.

He's talking about the Apocalypse set up from Spencer's run.

Yes, I was. Thank you for clarifying for me. Although there has, obviously, been pretty much the same done to the Ultimates.

Overall, it says something when I'd say that Loeb's run on Ultimate X did more for establishing some good characters and building an engaging story-arc than the majority of what we've had on this relaunched UXM. The original 12 issue run would probably have been helped by being less decompressed - but Wood has turned it down a pretty boring path that I can't see a way out of.