A disappointment of epic proportions
I came into this issue completely psyched. After the crazy, out of control action that has dominated Ultimate X-Men for the last 15 issues or so, I fully expected the team to sit back, regroup and settle in to the new paradigm. A few issues of character-centered stories with a few minor villains, maybe some more development of the Hellfire Club subplot that's been lurking in the background for a while...I was ready for anything, just as long as it wasn't another huge frantic mega-event right out of the starting gate. More fool I.
If this book established one thing in my mind, it is that Aron Coleite should never be allowed to write comics again. In a single issue, he has taken a book that was notable for its narrative cohesion and strong sense of ongoing plot and cast it completely adrift. Colossus is a drug addict now? Jean is back from space having only just left, and now is completely okay with invading her teammates' minds without permission? Jean Paul has been on the run from Alpha Flight all this time, but neglected to mention that fairly important fact to anyone? Kurt has now changed from an emotionally twisted freak to a paragon of goodness and tolerance, while Colossus is an obsessive, dangerously violent deviant? Good God, what a mess.
This book reeks of the same sloppy territory-marking that Jeph Loeb is engaged in over at Ultimates. Rather than doing what he can to preserve the style, tone and plotlines that Ultimate X-Men fans have come to know and love, Coleite has come barreling in with a pet plotline that has nothing to do with previous story arcs of the book, insults the readers intelligence and turns the vibrant, three dimensional characters that were so painstakingly developed over the last 90 issues into sniveling cardboard cutouts who violate all their established values and motivations in the name of plot convenience. The fact that the entire "mutant drug" plotline is a shameless ripoff of the years-old Kick storyline from New X-Men is just the last nail in the coffin of this irreperable disaster.