Guest post by Michael Lagocki
The Ultimate X: Origins graphic novel is a must buy for superhero fans. I’ll try to quickly (har) break down why and then leave the rest to your good senses.
It's loaded with great characters. Sabertooth, Jean Grey, the Hulk, Quicksilver, and several new characters that are all well-written and drawn. Everyone has a distinct voice and backstory. New addition Jimmy Hudson (Wolverine’s son) is a great invention. Loeb doesn’t overdo it and the character is believable and likeable. 
He’s in top form on Ultimate X, as good as any book he’s ever done. The environments here are what really sets things apart. Whether the scene is in a shopping mall, a parking lot, a high school, or on a train, you know exactly where you are. It feels like a real place.
The Story
Even if you don’t read the Ultimate Universe, any fan of the X-men can feel this. We all wish we had more X books this good on our shelves. All you need to know storywise going in is that in the Ultimate Universe, the @$#& has seriously hit the fan. Most of the X-men are dead. This is a book about the very beginnings of picking up the pieces. That gives it a raw, new and on-the-run spirit that the X-men books rarely have anymore.
The Characters
The Writing
By far my favorite Jeph Loeb script. Usually I find him to be predictable and too mainstreamy, but he’s in top form here. He clearly loves to write for Art Adams (and who wouldn’t?). It’s air-tight. I don’t think he wastes a scene in all five issues.
The tagline on the promo posters for this series was “THERE ARE NO RULES”. Loeb embraces that spirit and runs with it. He treats the Ultimate Universe like a playground where you can do stories they wouldn’t have the stones to do on the other side. As it should be.
The Art
…is where it’s really at. Arthur Adams is the best superhero artist in all of comics. I know he’s not as prolific as anyone would like him to be, but it’s a damn fact that he draws incredible action, women, environments, monsters, heroes, and everything else that makes a comic a comic.
Lots of expressive body language in his diverse cast of characters too. As well as Loeb gives them different voices, Adams gives them unique form and movement. He’s that good.
And Peter Steigerwald is off the charts on the colors, so the whole thing is really a slam dunk visually.
Bottom Line
Characters. Story. Script. Art. Fight scenes. Excitement. Explosions. Girls. Mutants. Kicks. Broken jaw.
Sigh. More like this.
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Michael Lagocki is one of the wheels within the wheel that is ArtLoveMagic, a massive collection of artists, musicians and poets dedicated to fighting evil with the power of good art.
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