Reviewer: Ben Morse
Story Title: “The Tempest pt.3â€
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Penciled by: Brandon Peterson
Inked by: Brandon Peterson
Colored by: Justin Ponsor
Lettered by: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Publisher: Marvel Comics
In just three issues, I’d argue that Brian K. Vaughan has done more to justify the “Ultimate†in this book’s title than Brian Michael Bendis did in a year and than Mark Millar did in anything past his second story arc. Vaughan’s storytelling and craftsmanship have brought this book back to exactly what it was meant to be: a new twist on old favorites that shows respect to the material it’s based on while not being afraid to take chances, utilize the Ultimate concept and go in exciting new directions.
I think the biggest knock on Bendis (mine at least) was that he didn’t understand how to focus on so many characters; he was a solo character guy writing a team book (which doesn’t bode terribly well for his run on Avengers, but hopefully a writer of his talent can learn and adapt), concentrating almost his entire run on one or two characters (primarily Wolverine with a dash of Professor X and Beast). I’ve made no secret of my disdain for most of Millar’s work on the book, but for him as well, a key problem was his inability to create distinct and compelling personas for each of his characters; too often the attitudes and speech patterns of every character from Colossus to Marvel Girl were exactly the same and the book came off like an early Silver Age Justice League of America story with more vulgar language and without the sense of wonder.
There is not a single member of his eleven character cast (I’m counting Emma Frost, Alex Summers & Dazzler as supporting characters) that Vaughan hasn’t given some chance to shine or at least display some personality over his three issue run. He’s used the death of Beast at the end of Bendis’ run (a selfish writing move if I’ve ever seen one; Beast wasn’t an obscure character like a Jack of Hearts whom future writers would be unlikely to use so why not give him a poignant send off, he was a popular and versatile character who Vaughan or anybody else could have gotten tremendous use out of, but Bendis killed him off in unspectacular fashion and then left without even cleaning up his mess; if there is one knock beyond the “talking heads†thing I would level at Bendis, it is his well-known and cavalier knack for killing other people’s characters) to prompt realistic responses and growth from several characters.
Storm has undergone a radical personality change to cope with the loss of her love, Cyclops is blaming himself but trying not to show it, and the others are dealing in various ways (Iceman and Nightcrawler seem to be trying to ignore it, Rogue is getting paranoid, Wolverine is being stoic). Perhaps the most significant fallout from the death of Beast is Professor X facing the reality of the danger he is putting these children in for a dream he isn’t always sure will bear out; Millar teased showing this very angle following the Proteus arc, but then failed to follow up and instead went the “big explosions†route of the copiously long Magneto arc. After this arc wraps up, it is likely Xavier will have even more guilt on his conscience; it’s not an angle that has never been explored before (either in X-Men or in other books as recent as the current run of Teen Titans), but it’s one that allows for a good exploration of the team’s mission statement and why each member chooses to either stay true to that goal or jump ship.
There’s also a good balance of action and dialogue in this issue, from Kitty and Rogue having an insightful debate on the former’s past as the younger X-Men train in the Danger Room, to the telling exchanges between Marvel Girl & Nightcrawler and Wolverine & Storm while Cyclops & Colossus have a neat little fight scene (with a fun and inventive combination of their powers winning the day).
A lot of people were very concerned when it was announced that Sinister would be the villain of Vaughan’s first arc, but he has done an admirable job of bucking the skeptics. Another function of the Ultimate imprint was supposed to be to take characters that were no longer viable for storytelling purposes in the 616 Marvel Universe and reinvent them to appeal to a new generation of readers; with Sinister, Vaughan has executed this masterfully. The complaints about Mr. Sinister were that he reeked of the 90s, being too mysterious, too nebulous in his motives, too heavily bogged down by continuity, and had too many inexplicable ties to other characters. Vaughan simplifies Sinister tremendously: he’s a psycho serial killer who is killing mutants because either a) a voice in his head or b) a here-to-forth unseen immortal mutant high lord is telling him to (the answer to whether it’s a or b is something I can’t wait to find out and a fantastic curveball after last issue’s “obvious†ending). Sure, a serial killer who hates mutants isn’t exactly the second coming of Superman as far as original ideas go, but it fuels the storyline and I have no problem with Vaughan cashing in on whatever name recognition Sinister has left in order to draw in readers for a good story.
Another breath of fresh air with Vaughan is his use of guest appearances. With Millar he’d throw in cameos that were fun but often went nowhere and with Bendis he’d just create more wallpaper to sit there while Wolverine and Professor X talked a lot. Vaughan’s two guest stars have had meaty enough roles without overshadowing anybody, but, more importantly, have both served to advance what is going on. The Ultimate version of Northstar provided a human name and face to get the X-Men involved in the Sinister case (as opposed to them just hearing it on the news) and in this issue, Ultimate Sunspot shows up to give Marvel Girl & Nightcrawler (and the readers) an earful on how many mutants who don’t run around in spandex view the team and Charles Xavier.
So having crowed enough about Vaughan’s story, let’s talk for a bit about Brandon Peterson’s art; at times it seems like he is a poor man’s Michael Turner, but those are very few times, as, for the most, part he does a great job of telling the story and making it look crisp. He retains some of those bad generic 90s Image qualities, like not really distinguishing between characters’ faces, but he has a much better sense of anatomy, conveys action sequences far better, and as I already said, he’s a great storyteller; plus, best cover of the series yet, in my opinion (the final page of Sinister rules as well, very Marc Silvestri at his best).
So in short, I can’t say enough good things about this issue. “The Tempest†has been a great story arc and I eagerly await its conclusion. I’m really in no rush for Bryan Singer to show up because I can’t see him being any more Ultimate than Brian K. Vaughan.
