Story: The Most Dangerous Game
Published By: Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian K Vaughan
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors: Justin Ponsor & Frank D’Armata
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Publisher: Dan Buckley
So, how many times do I have to tell you kids – you should be reading Ultimate X-Men. Why? Well, first off, it’s not written by Claremont. That’s a boon unto itself, but the main reason is that it IS being written by Brian Vaughan – who is, quite honestly, Brian Michael Bendis without the hype. Week after week he is putting out some of the best stuff in comics, and notably on Ultimate X-Men, working on a Bendis project and making it better.
Now hold the phone, I’m not a Bendis hater – love the lil guy, but without a doubt I think Vaughan is the best writer at Marvel – and Ultimate X-Men is the book he was destined to write.
STORY!
Four students, Dazzler, Colossus, Angel, and Nightcrawler sneak off to the island of Krakoa where Mojo films his Mutant Running Man program. The most recent MDK’er (That’s Murder-Death-Kill for you non Demolition Man fans) is a blonde strapping lad known as Longshot. He can’t be beat. Day after day, they throw new obstacles at him, and day after day with this weird luck, he comes out on top. One might think that it has something to do with his name… tricky eh?
So Mojo hires a man who hates mutants more than anyone – a man who has lost family to the scourge of the mutants. His name is Arcade. A moment of reflection: Ultimate Longshot, CHECK! Ultimate Mojo, CHECK! Ultimate Arcade…. not a fan. I love the mutant killer angle, but I do have a bit of an issue that Ult. Arcade is nothing, but a mutant version of Kraven with a video game background. I won’t agree with every single thing ever, so Vaughan gets a reprieve as the rest of the story is just chuck full of funocity.
Cue the huge action sequence where Longshot denies any wrongdoing, and it’s up to the X-Men to help save him. Sadly, that’s not that easy when you are dealing with a man that defined the First Person Shooter genre. (see, kinda weak)
On the OTHER side of the island though, we get a special guest star. Another Ultimatized version of one of my favorite looking characters. I won’t say who, but her name has NOTHING to do with her powers, and she was featured in the Marvel fighting videogames.
ART!
The handiwork of Immonen and “¦ I still love typing it … Von Grawbadger goes without saying. They did start a bit shaky, and I still don’t understand what the hell was up with Gambit’s hair – but, when they are on – they are on fire. The action stuff here comes across flawlessly, and the tense moments appear just like what you want them to be.
There was one very specific panel near the beginning of the book that had Angel looking almost plastic, but, seriously, are we going to nitpick over one panel? No. Not at all.
Overall!
Ultimate X-Men is a must read book for me. It comes in and I devour it – done. Why? Because Vaughan has a passion for these characters. He loves their history. He loves their detail. Not to mention, the man knows how to tell a team story that doesn’t focus too hard on any one character, all the while giving you enough of each to sate the fans.
So, I’m taking off a bit for Ultimate Arcade, but like I said – they can’t all be perfect.
