By Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Butch Guice (Artist), and Justin Ponsor (Colorist)
Hey, hey, now that’s more like it!
After last issue’s beat-for-beat retread of Captain America’s origin, we’re back in virgin territory. This time it’s the first meeting of Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier (Magneto and Professor X, for you newbies), and the spirit of the story is the same but the details are substantially different, the way it should be in the Ultimate universe.
The book begins with Carol Danvers and the Fantastic Four arguing over what to do about the suddenly-activated alien artifact at Project Pegasus. Then the artifacts (which still look like extraterrestrial traffic lights, if you ask me) start showing up all over Earth, usually in the vicinity of super-heroes. It’s all a little too 2001: A Space Odyssey for me, but I’m giving Bendis the benefit of the doubt.
Next we jump to Canada, where Lehnsherr frees Wolverine from Weapon X, which just happens to be run by his parents. A ten-year jump, and Lehnsherr walks in on Xavier’s classroom (where Xavier is, appropriately, reading Dr. Faustus to his students). They have an entire psychic conversation while Xavier continues to read. Everything is pitch perfect. It’s easy to see what would attract these two to each other, how the man of intellect and the man of action would need each other.
At the end of the book, Lehnsherr brings Xavier to the Savage Land where they will form their isolated mutant community, and so we finally—finally!—have the first half of the back-story to Ultimate X-Men #1. The second half will, of course, end with Lehnsherr driving a steel spike through Xavier’s spine. I wonder what will bring that about? Might it have something to do with the woman Magda that Lehnsherr brings along, and Xavier’s notorious lack of self control around beautiful women? It might be something loftier, more noble, but I doubt it.
Oh, and for those people who doubt Bendis has the smarts to plan a plot-line like Ultimate Origins or Secret Invasion five years in advance (yes, I’m talking about you, Ambush Bug at AICN), remember the opening lines of Ultimate Origins #1, “Listen, it’s all connected. That’s it. That’s the secret.”? Those words were first uttered in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #2. Published when? Over five years ago.
Heck, I know it’s not Shakespeare (or, in this case, Marlowe), but in comics this is about as good as it gets (Grade: A+).
- Andrew C. Murphy
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Brian Bendis, Butch Guice, Justin Ponsor, Magneto, Marvel Comics, Professor X, Ultimate Origins, Ultimate Origins #3, Wolverine
