This series seems to be running out of steam, or, at least, it is growing less and less fun to read as Kirkman rushes through story arcs, too busy forcing as many updated characters and reworked classic plots into the narrative as possible while ignoring any real character growth. I mean, just in this arc alone we see the X-Men splitting up into separate teams, the return of the sentinels, characters return from the dead, the Ultimate Pyro and Stryfe are introduced, and so much more. It is too m...

There's almost too much going on here. The return of the sentinels, Stryfe, the X-Men splitting from the school, the disintegration of the old team, Phoenix, the Shadow King, Beast coming back from the dead... Yeah, a bunch. I am very much a fan of the idea of the X-Men as a team of superheroes being kept separate from the Xavier school. It is, in my opinion, far and away a more plausible way of realizing the dream. Because the X-Men really aren't the best way to make mutants less hated and fear...

The X-Men are done? No, Bishop leads a new team of X-Men picking up the mantle only to hurtle towards, Morlock Town, Stryfe, Fenris, and the Sentinels. It's a true show of talent when writer Robert Kirkman maintains such solid story telling despite the artists being moved around on this series. 8 out of 12. Collects Ultimate X-Men #81-88

So it took a few volumes for Kirkman to really get my attention, but this volume finally catches it. It reads surprisingly similarly to the old '80s X-Men, with way too many characters and very convoluted plotlines, but it all works pretty well. It seems like Kirkman finally gets a grip on the characters in this volume, and his long-term plan finally starts to manifest. The art is a little inconsistent--in the two-part morlocks storyline, the artist makes the morlocks look great, but every chara...

Well, now, here we are. I finally finished this series in the same odd way I did for Ultimate Spider-Man and Star Wars Legacy, but honestly.... I already had a feeling what would happen.Sentinels appear. X-Men fight the Sentinels and beat them. Set up the conflict for Apocalypse.Sure, bringing back Hank irritated the hell out of me, but know it was coming had something of a numbing effect on me. I still hate it, sure, but I've gotten over it now. But nothing new really happened. There was a bit

Kirkman has hit his stride all the good plot points from the previous issues are well developed here. The ethos of the X-Men as the Ultimate outsiders protecting all people from injustice is well reflected. The only disappointment with the story is it is very close to a retelling rather than an orginal story but it is fun, thoughtful in equally measure. The art by Oliver and Paquette is ok in this collection lacks the consistency and the change of style in issues 81# and 82# are a little bit too...

This was a stinker. Basically, Bishop is recruiting his team of X-Men, after Cyclops disbanded them to create more of a school setting for students. Cyclops and the crew go down to meet the mutants in the sewers only to find Nightcrawler and Toad there. On top of this Sentinels have returned because...well they have to, they are bad guys. All this leads up to a big bad appearing at the end. The Apoc we all know and love (Maybe love?) And we have to get everyone on the same page to stop him. This...

There's a lot of storylines in this volume. The Ultimate versions of Pyro, Shinobi Shaw, the Morlocks, Stryfe, and the Mutant Liberation Front make their debut. Also, Bishop forms a new team of X-Men (I was really hoping they'd refer to them as the "blue" or "gold" team) and Jean Grey keeps seeing visions of the Phoenix and miniature goblins. Plus, Colossus is working at a construction site, Professor X is in the future, and Dazzler's powers are growing. To pile it on further, Storm is seeing vi...

The actual events are pretty exciting but they feel so rushed that they barely leave any impact. It's kinda weird. I'm still seeing this series through but at this point I'm pretty underwhelmed.

Stuff I Read – Ultimate X-Men 81-83After the rather complicated and very satisfying Cable story, here come three issues that don’t do a whole lot. I mean, this is kind of the down time from the team, the time that is necessary to relieve some tension before ratcheting it back up. But not much happens. In the stand alone issue we learn that Beast is still alive and well, and not so blue anymore. Having been kidnapped or convinced by SHIELD to help them build shit, I guess, Hank just sort of shows...

Volume seventeen suddenly became required reading once I finished volume sixteen of the Ultimate X-Men trade paperback collections. This contained the “Sentinels” arc of Robert Kirkman’s work on the title, and with the surprise ending of volume sixteen, proved irresistible. A majority of the has Yanick Paquette listed in the credits so I know this will be a well drawn issue.(view spoiler)[The story deals with the fallout from the death of Charles Xavier at the hands of the mysterious Cable in vo...

In reading through the Ultimate line, I find I'm looking forward to Spider-Man, dreading Fantastic Four, and feeling indifferent about X-Men. That doesn't mean that every arc meets those high or low expectations, but it implies a trend. Once again, this X-Men arc is just alright. Lots of interesting action. But I don't feel any close connection to these characters... Maybe it's because I haven't read enough classic X-Men stuff. Anyways, I'm glad to have these modern retellings of classic stories...

Kirkman's Ultimate X-Men run is quickly growing on me. His Bishop is far more interesting than the Marvel 616 version, as is his Stryfe. He does an excellent job of pulling strings together from Millar, Bendis, and Vaughan's runs to mae his own plot, loosely based on X-Cutioner's song.There are a ton of X-Men easter eggs hidden throughout the volume that make it fun for long time fans, and Kirkman's compacted storytelling makes the tiny moments more enjoyable than the severl-issue long storyline...

This was another one with a pretty good story and interesting plot overall... maybe not super action packed but definitely enough. And the multiple plot lines overlapping also helped keep it intriguing and well-paced. The art was again a mixed bag. Some aspects of the are were really nice, others not so much. Again there were two different artists in this volume, each with their own strengths weaknesses. The first artist was great at backgrounds but for some reason did a LOT of unnecessary extra...

At this point I think it's safe to say that Robert Kirkman's strength as a writer is not in the super hero genre. These issues really lack emotional stakes even as the X-men operate on bigger and bigger playing fields. Kirkman isn't helped any by the series art which seems to have taken a big step backwards as well.

I actually really liked this. It felt hectic and dangerous, channeling some of the danger of the 70s and 80s back into the X-Men.

One of the most enjoyable Ultimate X-Men arcs! Well-written and well-drawn. No complaints!

Not exactly a good place to jump in, but by the end I understood enough to go on.I didn't find the art too impressive... maybe I'm superficial, but the characters all looked sloppy. The art wasn't sloppy, but the way they appeared- unbrushed long hair, scanty clothing (I'm looking at you, punk Storm and Dazzler)- was so annoying and unattractive. Honestly, the artist puts women in underclothing as much as he can, it seems... and as a girl, that was annoying and kinda insulting, since it's so unn...

It's been awhile since I last read up on Ultimate X-Men, but getting back into was like falling off a log. Robert Kirkman, who has always displayed skill at writing ensemble stories from his excellent series Walking Dead, does a fine job here essentially setting up the big Ultimate Apocalypse story arc. I also like the idea of two X-Men teams, which is reminiscent to when the X-Men in the classic Marvelverse used to be split up in 2 teams - Team Gold (Led by Cyclops), and Team Blue (led by Storm...

The Sentinels have always been a favorite enemy of mine, so seeing another strong Sentinel arc is also a treat. More time traveling shenanigans occur (which again I have to wonder if anyone will ever feature time travel again in the current series) and formally thought dead character is revealed to be just fine. The arc leaves off on a high note with the tease of a major villain. Mostly, now I'm just irked about Ultimatum again since so many of the interesting mutants in this volume are no longe...