The X-Men

So - I'm wondering "Who, apart from me reads UXM?"
And it is that question that I ask you all now!

I've only recently started collecting volumes, around three weeks ago or so, and have volumes one to three, which include issues one to twenty.

I have to say, I'm loving the more serious, realistic nature of these comics, opposed to the 616 Canon.

I love the new facets of the characters explored - Wolverine isn't so indestuctable, like the main Marvel counterpart (Adamantium is only semi-indestructible) Scott isn't so uptight, but rather shy, Storm is a wild child, Beast acts human, and not so smart half the time, and Colossus seems to have developped a crush on Wolverine (I know he is a closet gay) which was the greatest thing to do to the character - it was cool and refreshing, as was the re-interpretation of Nick Fury as Black.
It really makes the comic appeal to me more!
I'm eagerly awaiting Volume four, 'Hellfire and Brimstone' as that's where the first seeds of the 'Phoenix' take place, as far as I know - and thankfully, from what I've heard, these Phoenix powers are nothing more than Jean's own evolving powers, and not the alien entity in the Canon-verse (yay! )

I'm really looking forward to the 'Phoenix?' arc which are like, from issues 65 onwards - and most of all, the re-imagining of the Dark Phoenix saga, as Bryan Singer himself plans to write the comic.

So - any UXM fans here?

I can say I read them. And I know Bengan reads them, he'll probably pop in here not too long from now. I read them by..."extralegal" methods to get caught up, but I'll probably end up buying them now, as well as a couple of back issues.

I love the new takes on the characters. They are somewhat similar to their previous selves, but mostly they are completely different. I also like the new takes on the staple of the original series, like Sinister, Weapon X, and S.H.E.I.L.D.

Issue #41 is my favourite, and probably the most powerful comic I have ever read. Amazing.

That's all I can think of to say for now, other than I am eagerly awaiting the next issue so I can continue reading.

Ok - I have a question.

I really don't want to spoil myself, but I have to know - Is Jean's power in the Ultimate Universe a result of her own growing powers, or is she really possessed by the Ultimate Verion of the Phoenix Force Alien?
When I got issues twenty one to twenty five, Xavier says that Jean's visions of the Phoenix force is just a result of her fragile Psychosis, and he had the same thing happen to him when he was her age - but my friend who recently bought Ultimate War said that Thor disputed Xavier's logic.

So - is Jean really possesd by the Phoenix Force, or is it her own, mutant power growing?

I watched the movies, and they're pretty cool. I keep seeing previews and advertisments for it, so I might just have to see the next one out.

Originally Posted by SuperDecimal

Ok - I have a question.

I really don't want to spoil myself, but I have to know - Is Jean's power in the Ultimate Universe a result of her own growing powers, or is she really possessed by the Ultimate Verion of the Phoenix Force Alien?
When I got issues twenty one to twenty five, Xavier says that Jean's visions of the Phoenix force is just a result of her fragile Psychosis, and he had the same thing happen to him when he was her age - but my friend who recently bought Ultimate War said that Thor disputed Xavier's logic.

So - is Jean really possesd by the Phoenix Force, or is it her own, mutant power growing?

Actually, that's unknown right now. I'm assuming at the end of the current arc it will give us the answer to that though. The only thing I can comment on, assuming that it isn't just part of her developing powers, is that it's not the Phoenix Force Alien as it has appeared before. It's still from outer space, but it isn't at all like it's original manifestation I personally would like to think that it's just part of her powers, as that would make things far more interesting in my opinion...though it would be a little too much like the recent X3 movie.

Originally Posted by Galedeep

Actually, that's unknown right now. I'm assuming at the end of the current arc it will give us the answer to that though. The only thing I can comment on, assuming that it isn't just part of her developing powers, is that it's not the Phoenix Force Alien as it has appeared before. It's still from outer space, but it isn't at all like it's original manifestation I personally would like to think that it's just part of her powers, as that would make things far more interesting in my opinion...though it would be a little too much like the recent X3 movie.

I think 'Phoenix' in X3 was horribly under-developped and left too many questions, so I've decided not to take it to heart.

I too, would love to see that the Phoenix power is nothing but Jean's own rapidly growing power, as not only does it give her an internal conflict with herself, (which would make her struggle much more heart-wrenching) but it makes her look incredibly powerful - I mean, her own, de-moleculerizing power is her own, out of control power - whereas, when she was possessed in the Canon-verse, it made her seem weak, like she was nothing but a puppet, which I thought didn't define her as an Omega Level Mutant.

Besides, if the future antagonist of the book is just Jean, it grounds it a whole lot more, than possession by an alien would be, which I thought was the whole point to Ultimate Marvel.

Random note - I really wish we got to see more Wolverine/Colossus, I mean, Colossus' complete re-imagination as a closet gay was nice and refreshing to read, but to imply Wolvie was Bi was a wonderful, bold take on the iconic character.
Shame it wasn't buil further on.

Originally Posted by SuperDecimal

I think 'Phoenix' in X3 was horribly under-developped and left too many questions, so I've decided not to take it to heart.

I too, would love to see that the Phoenix power is nothing but Jean's own rapidly growing power, as not only does it give her an internal conflict with herself, (which would make her struggle much more heart-wrenching) but it makes her look incredibly powerful - I mean, her own, de-moleculerizing power is her own, out of control power - whereas, when she was possessed in the Canon-verse, it made her seem weak, like she was nothing but a puppet, which I thought didn't define her as an Omega Level Mutant.

Besides, if the future antagonist of the book is just Jean, it grounds it a whole lot more, than possession by an alien would be, which I thought was the whole point to Ultimate Marvel.

Random note - I really wish we got to see more Wolverine/Colossus, I mean, Colossus' complete re-imagination as a closet gay was nice and refreshing to read, but to imply Wolvie was Bi was a wonderful, bold take on the iconic character.
Shame it wasn't buil further on.

I agree with you 100% with relation to Jean and the Phoenix. The Ultimate series focus' a lot more on internal struggle with the characters, and keeping the Phoenix as something internal with Jean to deal with would be very effective. And since thus-far the only mention of the Phoenix force being "alien" has come from sources of a...religious (fanatic) organizations, I'm more inclined to think that perhaps it doesn't come from outer space.

I love the new Colossus. I think it makes him way more of an interesting character than his previous self, who didn't really have much in the way of personality besides really strong familial bonds as far as I can recall. His relationships with other mutants are explored even further, but knowing you haven't read that far, I won't spoil it for you.

Originally Posted by Galedeep

I agree with you 100% with relation to Jean and the Phoenix. The Ultimate series focus' a lot more on internal struggle with the characters, and keeping the Phoenix as something internal with Jean to deal with would be very effective. And since thus-far the only mention of the Phoenix force being "alien" has come from sources of a...religious (fanatic) organizations, I'm more inclined to think that perhaps it doesn't come from outer space.

I love the new Colossus. I think it makes him way more of an interesting character than his previous self, who didn't really have much in the way of personality besides really strong familial bonds as far as I can recall. His relationships with other mutants are explored even further, but knowing you haven't read that far, I won't spoil it for you.

Oh noes!

I've only read upto issue 25, and am really trying not to spoil myself, but Colossus is my favourite character so far - becasue he is completely re-defined for UXM, but does Wolverine reciprocate?
Is this what you're hinting?

*Squee!*

I completely agree that 616 Colossus is a fairly under-developed character in regards to how fleshed out everyone else was, with his relationships only really limited to Kitty, and no-one esle.
In UXM, in complete contrast, he goes back to Russia becasue he feels that he has no relationships with anyone.

I do think it's quite ironic that Jeans says, when commenting on Kitty's thoughts on her first day, that she's more interested in Piotr in a tight, white T-shirt, than the school, and I already know that Colossus is gay, so that'd make an interesting scenario! ^^

Originally Posted by SuperDecimal

Oh noes!

I've only read upto issue 25, and am really trying not to spoil myself, but Colossus is my favourite character so far - becasue he is completely re-defined for UXM, but does Wolverine reciprocate?
Is this what you're hinting?

*Squee!*

I completely agree that 616 Colossus is a fairly under-developed character in regards to how fleshed out everyone else was, with his relationships only really limited to Kitty, and no-one esle.
In UXM, in complete contrast, he goes back to Russia becasue he feels that he has no relationships with anyone.

I do think it's quite ironic that Jeans says, when commenting on Kitty's thoughts on her first day, that she's more interested in Piotr in a tight, white T-shirt, than the school, and I already know that Colossus is gay, so that'd make an interesting scenario! ^^

I don't want to crush or confirm your hopes, so I won't say anything more about Colossus specifically. I'll just say relationships play a huge role in the UXM series. They are constantly dictating the plot of the story arcs. It's not so much "bad guy is treatening the world, we must stop him/her/it!" but "this person did this, and now I/we react by doing this." These aren't necesarrily romantic relationships though, just relationships in general...though the romances play a pretty strong part as well.

I haven't got around to UXM yet. Too busy with New Avengers, honestly.

Originally Posted by Tigerboi

I haven't got around to UXM yet. Too busy with New Avengers, honestly.

I really recommend it.
The stories are far more character driven (especially from all issues onwards from issue 33 apparantly) and the storylines are far less farcical, and not overly complex.

I haven't really seen much of the Ultimate Marvel franchise. Once I read the first Ultimate Spiderman, I just got kinda sick of it. I feel like they changed it to more of a "kiddie" version. But I haven't seen UXM's issues yet, I might just have to look into that.

I have read some Ultimate Marvel issues though, but pretty much just the Ultimate/New Avengers.

Originally Posted by Marvelman

I'm not really much of a fan of UXM or Ultimate Marvel really. Well, actually I can't say that...I like the Ultimate/New Avengers.

I'm a passing fan of the canon-comics, but for me, I really could not stand the way most major storylines were retconned to make way for a twist, which in the end, becomes slightly cliché.
Most notably, the Jean Grey/Phoenix.

Jean kills herself because her evolving powers are threatening all existance...but actually, an alien force possessed her, made itself a clone of her being, then wrapped her in a healing cacoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, so Jean would later er-appear in a future Fantastic Four issue, with the 'oh-so-dramatic' title of "Like a Phoenix."
And then things get complicated when you take into account things like the White Hot Room, and other things added due to the retcon.

I mean, the Watcher sums up Jean's first 'death' in such a heroic way "She could have lived to become a God, but chose to die a Human" which really brings such a nice closure and respect to the character - which is completely turned upside-down when we find out it wasn't Jean at all.
It's like a slap in the face.

At least Ultimate Marvel simplifies things for a more realistic result - that's not to say the Canon-verses' aren't good, they're bloody brilliant, but too fantastical for me.

Oh I see what you're saying. Yeah I feel the same way too. I guess Ultimate Marvel is for when you just want the main story? I'm not really sure considering I haven't read many of the Ultimate Marvel series.

But usually when Marvel makes something for a larger audience to enjoy, they change their ideas...a lot. Just look at their recent movies. =\