The Good
If only Marvel cross-over events in the 616 could be not only this interesting, but this well done. While Divided We Fall ULTIMATES takes a look at the country being torn apart and how the Ultimates play a role, ULTIMATE X-MEN focuses more on the individual that make up the team, and how this world has gone anti-mutant crazy.
I love what is happening in this book. Writer Brian Wood (DEMO, one of my favorite Veritgo mini-series) does a great job at focusing on the individuals in this very specific part of the world and makes you want to root for the little guy. What Wood does best is tell a story about people and how they all get along or work with each other. He's an incredible dialogue writer, and I really liked what he did here with Kitty's inner-monologue. He could make a 40 page story about an old man drinking coffee, by himself, while thinking about what's actually in the coffee more interesting than most of what's on the shelves. Yes, that's a weird idea for a story, but Wood is that good with characters and dialogue.
Along with Wood's fantastic writing comes a stellar artistic team of Paco Medina (pencils), Juan Vlasco (inks), and Marte Gracia (colors). I love the style here. It's incredibly crisp and clear and it really pops off the page. The art is insanely pretty to look at. While I really enjoy well placed splash pages, this book has none, and I'm glad. The panel-by-panel art does a wonderful job of telling the story on its own and it doesn't need to rely on a full page splash for any reason.
One really quick moment I thought worked incredibly well on the page was when Rogue touched one of the anti-mutant guys to find out what they were up to and as she gets into his mind, everything goes black and white. I always thought that it was tough to show Rogue's powers working, but here it works perfectly.
Fantastic reveal page that is really going to give this story more drive. I cannot wait to continue reading this story.
The Bad
No problems with this issue.
The Verdict
Divided We Fall has been a great event thus far, and this ULTIMATE X-MEN issue is a great addition to it. I love seeing how the bigger events are affecting these characters, and I can't wait to see them come into their own. I thought this book was going to be good, but I had no clue it was going to be this good. Solid creative team here, and I love everything that's going on in this book, and I loved that final reveal page.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue.
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