Just wondering before i start reading this series from the beginning, basically i've been keeping up with X-Men for the last 10 years or so and it's easily my favorite comics but i wanted to go back a bit farther from before the time I first started reading X-Men so i found this new series I never even heard of called Ultimate X-Men which has about 100 issues and it's perfect because it seems like it goes right from 2001 into the time i first stated reading X-Men... HOWEVER, maybe its just the artwork but it looks so different from the usual X-Men we all know. Same charactors, just different costumes, and looks.. So is there anything I need to know about this X-Men series? Is it supposed to be a different reality or anything?

Thanks so much

It's set in the Ultimate Universe, which is an alternate reality.

where most of the characters are less interesting and/or likable than the regular versions.

@oldnightcrawler said:

and possibly the most depressing mistake you'll ever make.