Ultimate Comics X: Origins
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Arthur Adams
An astonishing comeback in Jeph Loeb's writing career!
Ranking: 4 stars
I've never actually read ULTIMATUM, as the idea of killing off countless heroes in the Ultimate Marvel universe sickened me, so I never actually had the right to create a scathing review on it (I've deleted it now). However, I have researched it on the Internet (scary how easy it is to do these days), and peaked through it at bookstores enough to gain a dislike of it. A lot of comic book fans now hate Jeph Loeb because of how awful ULTIMATUM was, and their negative reviews made me concerned about reading his work. But when I read his work on BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN, I fell in love with his books, which many of them have become some of my all time favorite comics (BATMAN: DARK VICTORY, BATMAN: HUSH, SPIDER-MAN: BLUE, and SUPERMAN | BATMAN VOL. 1: PUBLIC ENEMIES)! I praised Loeb's style of using the character's inner thoughts to narrate the story, which gave me the feeling that I was looking into the heart and soul of the character. I no longer blame Loeb for ULTIMATUM due to the love I have for his other works, and for another reason that I will not mention for the author's protection. Based on the knowledge I have on ULTIMATUM, and from reading ULTIMATES 3: WHO KILLED THE SCARLET WITCH (which wasn't as awful as people claimed it to be, but it wasn't great), I believe ULTIMATE COMICS X: ORIGINS makes a great comeback in Loeb's career, as he returns to the writing style he used in the stories that made him a sensational writer! Actors Robert Downey Jr. and Alec Baldwin made successful comebacks in their careers, so why can't Jeph Loeb as a writer?
Taking place six months after the infamous events of the fore mentioned comic, the Ultimate Universe has changed greatly since Magneto attempted to destroy the world. A countless number of heroes died in a tidal wave that engulfed Manhattan, most of the X-Men were killed, and by federal law, all Mutants must turn themselves in or be shot on sight. The pro-mutant values that the X-Men and Charles Xavier once preached are meaningless now, as it's now a crime for mutants to even exist. All hope of freedom seems lost in a world where racism towards mutants prevails... but there are some mutants who are forming a resistance, in order to create a brighter future! In the Deep South, young Jimmy Hudson not only discovers that he has a healing factor and claws that form a metal coating around them (similar to Colossus' powers), but that his true father is the now deceased Wolverine. Up in Baltimore, the woman once known as Jean Grey, now Karen Page, is hiding from the authorities as a clerk in a mall's clothing store, but is soon discovered by Mystique and Sabertooth, former members of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants! High above the streets of Chicago, a high school dropout named Derek, a mutant vigilante with retractable angel-wings, soon finds himself being pursued by his older brother on the police force. In Costa Verde, California, Liz Allen, formerly a friend of Spider-Man, now a mutant with flame based-abilities, must struggle with her half-brother who is not only another child of the Blob, but is also friends with someone who could endanger everyone she knows. Finally, taking place in the relief centers of New York, Dr. Bruce Banner, a.k.a the Hulk, works as a chef hoping the mutant hysteria will make people forget about his other half, until he is approached with an offer he can't refuse. When these five extrordinary individuals cross paths, they will quickly learn the meaning of teamwork as they work to stop mutant oppression while fleeing the government and Quicksilver's new Brotherhood at the same time!
While this not Jeph Loeb at his greatest, I still found this to be a very enjoyable story with strong narration and focus on characters. One of the problems with ULTIMATES 3 & ULTIMATUM, was that both stories lacked Loeb's usual writing style, involving the extensive use of narration boxes to provide a first-person flow of the story. Loeb returns to this style in ULTIMATE COMICS X, which allows him to write incredibly thought provoking stories, which is what made him one of my top favorite writers. Each chapter is narrated by a person who has ties to the central character of the chapter, which was uniquely different from Loeb's usual form of narration, and I felt it was perfect for the plot and setting of the book. Some particular points of the book I found enticing, were Liz's strained relationship with her mother (who wouldn't be if you found out the Blob was your father), Sabertooth encountering Jimmy Hudson, Wolverine's hologram message to his son, and Karen's relationship with a mall security officer. Loeb also remains faithful to the Ultimate Universe tradition of humorous dialogues, like when Jimmy angers Karen for displaying the same behavior his father displayed towards her, as well as funny one-liners, like when Derek is like, "She did not just say that," when Karen uses the cliched "Come with me if you want to live" line. Despite being a great comeback for Loeb, I felt this book had some mistakes that kept the book from reaching the levels of some of my favorite works of his (I'd rate it 3.5 stars if I could). I found the scene of domestic school violence in Liz's chapter to be a bit discomforting (I am by that kind of stuff), some pop culture references felt a little out of place (Mystique finding Karen through Facebook; but I don't like Facebook in general), and the seen where Karen visualizes the X-Men casualties reminded me a bit too much of ULTIMATUM. In spite of that, this was still a fun read that consisted of a great plot and character focus (one of the best qualities of Loeb's work)! Jeph once mentioned on a comic-con interview that, although one major event in comics can be awful, it can produce later stories that are great reads, which I feel fits in with the setup of ULTIMATE COMICS X. Although ULTIMATUM nearly ruined the Ultimate Marvel Universe, it also helped create a new direction for it's characters, and set up a wide variety possible stories to tell afterwords. Loeb succeeds in creating a story that is not only a good read that was only made possible by a book that was unlikable, but also brings up the possibility of other interesting story arcs to come later (I personally hope Ultimate X launches a raid to free mutants from the concentration camps that they're placed in).
Arthur Adam's artwork can be a little too gritty at points, but it's an excellent match for the story Loeb tells. While not one of Jeph Loeb's greatest works, I found ULTIMATE COMICS X: ORIGINS to be a great comeback from the horrible ULTIMATUM (based off what I know and have seen), that was highly reminiscent of the grandeur of Loeb's books that were personal favorites of mine!
