Ultimate X-Men # 97 - Absolute Power, Part 4 of 4

Professor X just never gets a break.  He's always being portrayed as doing things of a jerky nature.  He has to be like the sleaziest guy around.  It's amazing that he gets any respect.  Guess he can always alter people's minds to think of him as a charming fellow.

The great thing about the Ultimate universe is you never know what's going to happen.  I like that.  Sure there's been some things I wasn't too crazy about.  This recent "Absolute Power" storyline brought Ultimate X-Men back up towards the top of my reading list.  The concept of the Banshee drug and that it was derived from Wolverine has been interesting.  Check out the preview page with Professor X using it.  This also ties into the recent Ultimate Origins.  That's a nice touch.  There's even mention of Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk.  We are supposed to be seeing that soon.

I wonder what is going to happen to Colossus after this issue.  Things don't look too good for him.  The other X-Men will have to deal with the possible addiction to Banshee.  Surprisingly we even get a confirmation on who Colossus' supplier is. 

I'm not sure what the next arc will be but I like where Ultimate X-Men is going right now.  Aron E. Coleite and Mark Brooks have been refreshing.

...on who Vindicator is? Rogue says something about recognizing him but I don't recall anyone ever revealing who he actually was. Decent story I've seen enough shows and read enough comics about drugs and drug addiction though. I love Mark Brooks especially since New X-Men was discontinued and I feared I wouldn't  see his spunky character designs again. Can't wait for Ultimatum!

The time has come to assess the damage that Aron Coleite has done in just four issues of Ultimate X-Men.  He has transformed a series that was designed to be a refreshing break from the continuity-laden drama and plot-of-the-week pulpiness of the mainstream Marvel Universe into just another cheap, spastically plotted X-book.  Colossus and Northstar, who began his run as a strong and assertive gay couple with a bright future ahead of them, have been reduced to a pair of degenerate cripples.  The effeciency with which Coleite has demolished their characters and made a mockery of their relationship gives of more the a slight wiff of homophobia.  Wolverine has once again been boosted to a level of importance far above what his character merits, a change which can only be attributed to the writer's personal fanboyism.  This parallells a similar rise in Wolverine's prestige in the pages of Ultimates, again undeserved.  Rather than balancing out character relationships in order to tell a better story, Coleite and Loeb have returned to the tried and true 616 formula of letting a characters fan popularity determine his place in the plot.

Coleite's disrespect for Professor Xavier, and his ignorance of his role in the Ultimate Universe, are stunning.  Despite the fact that Xavier very nearly saved the world from Apocalypse only a few issues ago, and has always taken a deep and abiding interest in the needs of his students, Absolute Power finds Xavier vacationing on Muir Island for no apparent reason, blissfully unaware that his students are running amok and using illegal drugs, which were presumably bought with his own money.  In addition, it is shamelessly "revealed" that Xavier was actually behind the development of Banshee from Wolverine's DNA, which is so wildly out of character that it makes you wonder whether Coleite has actually read an Ultimate X-Men book at all.  Finally, Xavier remains happily ignorant to the fact that his ex-wife and host at Muir Island is not only peddling the drug to children, but is actually taking it herself!  It takes Coleite's pet character Wolverine to snap Xavier out of his little coma with a blast of testosterone.  Is this the man who defeated Magneto in Washington and fought Apocalypse to a standstill in New York, or is this a moronic clone substituted for him in some nefarious plot by anti-mutant forces?

After being tentatively hopeful about the appearance of Alpha Flight, I quickly realized that Coleite had no intention of using them in a meaningful way.  Given only an issue and a half worth of time on the page, and only a few panels of substantive dialogue, these poor characters have been sold tragically short by a cretinous hack who happily flaunts his ignorance of the Ultimate Universe.  And really, that last bit is the core of the problem.  Coleite doesn't understand the universe he's writing in.  The is Ultimate Marvel.  Unlike the main continuity, where any old tripe can be spoonfed to the fans and only the most egregious writing will be given a thumbs down, the Ultimate Universe actually requires a high level of quality control.  Telling long-term stories with well fleshed out characters and clever dialogue is what matters here, not needless violence, pet character wanking and "awww cool" power changes that only last half an issue.  Coleite, and his master in the Marvel editor's chair, have apparently forgotten that.  For my money, the Ultimate Universe has produced more quality writing and great stories in its decade of existance than mainstream Marvel has in its entire 40-year history.  Ultimate Marvel is fresh, clean, clever and sharp.  It is comics for the modern age and the modern mindset, and it is unapologetic in its contempt for the needlessly complex and self-satisfied continuity that has made Earth 616 such an utter bore.  That the powers that be at Marvel want to change that, and make Ultimate Marvel just another trough where readers can be fed mainstream slop, is incredibly disheartening for those of us who have been with Ultimate Marvel since the beginning.  With writers like Coleite on the scene, my outlook for the Ultimate Universe is not optimistic.