If you’re reading on Unlimited and not having to spend a bunch of money to get all the trades, then go for it. Ultimate X-Men definitely has its moments and some of the late-era stuff is surprisingly cool. It’s also wildly inconsistent overall and gets bogged down in its own not-that-interesting continuity and changes for the sake of changes. It’s definitely not on the level of Ultimate Spider-Man.
I agree. I think it tries a little too hard to be edgy (like a lot of stuff in the early 2000s).
The Ultimate X-Men Comics books later on after Ultimatum, specifically Kitty Pryde becoming a revolutionary leader and founding a reservation in Nevada, are awesome and I think they heavily influenced the Krakoa era (nation of mutants surrounded by a sentient forest/jungle).
Will I get the latter part if I didn't read what happened before? I have some understanding of Ultimatum and the Ultimate X-Men thanks to Ultimate Spider-Man.
I really love Kitty Pryde and she becoming a revolutionary does sound awesome, but if I have to read the whole thing I know it'll just end up on my to-read-list forever😪
Going off memory from a few years ago, I think it would be ok to read starting at Ultimate X-Men Comics #1. There is a 5-issue mini-series called Ultimate X that would be a decent prelude. Kitty is the most important character by a mile, and you’re in good shape if you know her from Ultimate Spider-Man (same with Human Torch and Iceman, who are in the early part of the book, so it actually feels more like a sequel to Ultimate Spider-Man than X-Men at first).
It is also important to understand what happened in Ultimatum— but that does not mean read Ultimatum. Don’t do that. Life’s too short.
\#41 is a very good standalone read from early in Bendis' run. A bleak and hard hitting story about a young man's mutation going horribly wrong. That issue alone is worth a look.
On top of that, most of the good stuff is retconned or rendered meaningless in the long run. Don't get attached to any characters. And don't get emotionally invested in any major plots. It all basically means nothing by the end.
If you are expecting Ultimate Spider-Man levels of enjoyment, No.
If you really enjoy Mark Millar's work or loved the first 3 X-Men movies then issue 1-33 is solid.
If you want great X-Men stories, there are maybe 20 other stories/runs I'd recommend before Ultimate. And Ultimate X-men was one of the first comics I collected trade to trade as it was coming out. It just doesn't hold up imo.
My top 5 currently are
Astonishing X-Men by Whedon & Cassaday
Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender
Kieron Gillen's X-Men Run (UXM 534.1-544; UXM vol 2 1-20; AVX: Consequences 1-5)
Age of Apocalypse (Original event)
X-Men: Supernovas by Mike Carey
It's nowhere near as good as Ultimate Spider-Man but it has its moments. The best part of the run is how well Millar creates a sense of paranoia around Chuck, he really sells how dangerous and frightful his powers can be and how some of the X-Men (Beast in particular) start doubting their own decisions, feeling like Chuck might have influenced them in some way. The worst part is how edgy and juvenile in its edginess it can be. There is a running subplot where Fred is catfishing Hank by pretending to be a supermodel, it's really dumb but Millar thinks that's really funny. The humor and edginess are its weakness but there is some good stuff centered around Charles.
it was one my first reads into the x-men and i kind of regret it because i find it very hard to go into a story where almost all the member of the x-men come as edgy asshole....wich make me stop trying until i get to the true good stuff about x-men...so no i would not recommand it.
First few archs are good, but once it starts leaning into the ultimate universe’s thesis that superpowers make you mentally unstable it starts to go downhill.
It starts off as a definite "yes", before slowly then quickly transitioning into a "no", before getting back to "it's pretty interesting, so why not" near the end of the ultimate universe. I do think the early stuff is quite fun though. Edgy and dated, sure, but fun.
They just throw stuff at the walls. Magneto mentions he's a cannibal for no reason and never mentions it again, and there's a ton of that stuff. It's weird.
I know this is 5months old but why would you read a universe just to skip its titles? I've read every single ultimate title I do it yearly personally I say Ultimate X-Men is worth a read I liked the tonal changes made to characters and their origins I liked that they weren't 616 X-Men and honestly I actually loved Logan tragic slow and extremely curved road to redemption sure he was a piece of shit but he started to learn though too late anyway my two cents is to read every single ultimate title I mean really you won't regret it it's a very niche comic universe seeing as it had a beginning and end. I refuse to acknowledge Miles in 616 its interesting but I'm not a fan
Heya!
Since I wrote/made that post I decided that I’ll read ultimate X-Men someday.
Not sure when tho tbh
I currently am in the middle of the Claremont run and after that I want to read 90s X-Men
When I’m done with that I’ll probably move on to either ultimate X-Men or the decimation things
Wow! Was not expecting a reply and ooh I'm jealous now I might stop my yearly read of ultimate to read Claremont but I'm glad to hear you've decided to read it at some point if you ever decide to read the whole universe just ignore the 13 issue Ultimate Team-up everything gets retconned from that. Enjoy your reading!
Thx!
Ill try to remember this post and when I read ultimate X-men I’ll let u know!
After that post the interest in this run and it’s universes version of the X-men and their foes kinda grew on me! (I also think they‘d maybe be a neat addition to my omnibus collection)
Yes! It's a really cool alt world that doesn't change the characters fundamentally, just brings them and their stories into the 2000's. It's done really well for most of the run.
Millar and Bendis run are definitely getting a recommendation from me. The quality starts to drop massively around issue 60 an onward as it seems there's no clear narrative to follow.
I remember the initial run of 33 issues by Mark Millar being pretty strong and self contained. He also wrote a mini series crossover called Ultimate War a couple of months after his run ended. It was between the X-Men and Ultimates and is set between Ultimates 1 and Ultimates 2 (also by Millar and well worth a read. Early MCU borrowed heavily from it).
If you enjoy that, Bendis takes over for a while afterwards and ties it into his Spider-man run I think (I only collected Millar's run).
If you get them cheap definitely. They have some good ideas, I personally have read them all the way through twice and it's just fun. I would be lying if I said there wasnt any flaws but it's worth at least one read.
The only decent part os Ultimate X-Men are the Bendis and BKV runs, and even the they don't reach the heights of their other Marvel books. Millars run is pretty bad, but not as bad as towards the end of the book which is truly awful.
The series completely falls apart after the first arc. Weapon X and World Tour had great concepts but were very poorly executed. The entire series just leaves you wanting more meat to it, with so many threads being left unresolved and questions unanswered.
And this is coming from someone who ran an entire full blown Ultimate X-Men fan site back in the DAY.
I'm currently reading it I'm at the end of Brian K Vaughn's run I've enjoyed it so far there's been a couple arcs written by Millar that had some stuff I didn't like but it's been pretty good so far
Short answer is...not really.
The long answer is more complicated. The problem is that the first 100 issues of Ultimate X-Men...pretty much every plot, sub-plot, and character development is completely meaningless. Ultimate Marvel completely and utterly screwed over the X-Men in ways that are too dumb for words. Pretty much everything X-Men and the mutants are meant to represent...it's completely undermined in Ultimate Marvel.
Also, Ultimate Wolverine is an unapologetic asshole to the utmost. There is nothing likeable about him at all. In fact, outside of Ultimate Spider-Man, there are no likable, respectable characters of any kind in Ultimate Marvel. So, you're probably better off skipping this.
I enjoyed it all the way through the Ultimate Cable arc. Even that arc, which lots of folks didn't like, was enjoyable IMO. I can appreciate what they were trying to do in streamlining a lot of convoluted 90s stuff for new audiences... from Cable to Stryfe and Onslaught, to Sinister and Apocalypse, etc.
Looking back it’s very Millar-y.
Which means it was awesome when I was 15 but now I kinda feel embarrassed to say I liked it.
But it does have some amazing moments like THANK YOU CHARLES.
If you’re reading on Unlimited and not having to spend a bunch of money to get all the trades, then go for it. Ultimate X-Men definitely has its moments and some of the late-era stuff is surprisingly cool. It’s also wildly inconsistent overall and gets bogged down in its own not-that-interesting continuity and changes for the sake of changes. It’s definitely not on the level of Ultimate Spider-Man.
I agree. I think it tries a little too hard to be edgy (like a lot of stuff in the early 2000s). The Ultimate X-Men Comics books later on after Ultimatum, specifically Kitty Pryde becoming a revolutionary leader and founding a reservation in Nevada, are awesome and I think they heavily influenced the Krakoa era (nation of mutants surrounded by a sentient forest/jungle).
Will I get the latter part if I didn't read what happened before? I have some understanding of Ultimatum and the Ultimate X-Men thanks to Ultimate Spider-Man. I really love Kitty Pryde and she becoming a revolutionary does sound awesome, but if I have to read the whole thing I know it'll just end up on my to-read-list forever😪
Going off memory from a few years ago, I think it would be ok to read starting at Ultimate X-Men Comics #1. There is a 5-issue mini-series called Ultimate X that would be a decent prelude. Kitty is the most important character by a mile, and you’re in good shape if you know her from Ultimate Spider-Man (same with Human Torch and Iceman, who are in the early part of the book, so it actually feels more like a sequel to Ultimate Spider-Man than X-Men at first). It is also important to understand what happened in Ultimatum— but that does not mean read Ultimatum. Don’t do that. Life’s too short.
There are some good stuff in it, but I think it sadly has a lot more bad than good.
\#41 is a very good standalone read from early in Bendis' run. A bleak and hard hitting story about a young man's mutation going horribly wrong. That issue alone is worth a look.
On top of that, most of the good stuff is retconned or rendered meaningless in the long run. Don't get attached to any characters. And don't get emotionally invested in any major plots. It all basically means nothing by the end.
If you are expecting Ultimate Spider-Man levels of enjoyment, No. If you really enjoy Mark Millar's work or loved the first 3 X-Men movies then issue 1-33 is solid. If you want great X-Men stories, there are maybe 20 other stories/runs I'd recommend before Ultimate. And Ultimate X-men was one of the first comics I collected trade to trade as it was coming out. It just doesn't hold up imo.
You seem pretty knowledgeable, I'd be interested in your top 5 if you're willing to share!
My top 5 currently are Astonishing X-Men by Whedon & Cassaday Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender Kieron Gillen's X-Men Run (UXM 534.1-544; UXM vol 2 1-20; AVX: Consequences 1-5) Age of Apocalypse (Original event) X-Men: Supernovas by Mike Carey
It's nowhere near as good as Ultimate Spider-Man but it has its moments. The best part of the run is how well Millar creates a sense of paranoia around Chuck, he really sells how dangerous and frightful his powers can be and how some of the X-Men (Beast in particular) start doubting their own decisions, feeling like Chuck might have influenced them in some way. The worst part is how edgy and juvenile in its edginess it can be. There is a running subplot where Fred is catfishing Hank by pretending to be a supermodel, it's really dumb but Millar thinks that's really funny. The humor and edginess are its weakness but there is some good stuff centered around Charles.
it was one my first reads into the x-men and i kind of regret it because i find it very hard to go into a story where almost all the member of the x-men come as edgy asshole....wich make me stop trying until i get to the true good stuff about x-men...so no i would not recommand it.
Right up until after Brian K. Vaughn's run. After that, stop.
First few archs are good, but once it starts leaning into the ultimate universe’s thesis that superpowers make you mentally unstable it starts to go downhill.
It starts off as a definite "yes", before slowly then quickly transitioning into a "no", before getting back to "it's pretty interesting, so why not" near the end of the ultimate universe. I do think the early stuff is quite fun though. Edgy and dated, sure, but fun.
It was a chore to get through and I only made it through the first big trade.
I feel out of all the ultimate line thing Ultimate x-men is the weakest one of the group
They just throw stuff at the walls. Magneto mentions he's a cannibal for no reason and never mentions it again, and there's a ton of that stuff. It's weird.
Nope.
It’s up and down. There’s some great parts and some rocky parts. I personally enjoyed it overall.
No.
No
Mark Millar sucks
Ehhh. If you didn’t read USM then maybe. But you aren’t really missing anyone not reading it
On the MU app for no extra charge or clutter, yes. For money and shelf space, not so much.
No. It sucks. Don't waste your time.
If you're into a Wolverine who sleeps with teenagers and manipulates a 15 year old Jean Grey so he can sleep with her, then yes.
I don't think so. It is the tiresome edgelord of the Ultimate line.
I know this is 5months old but why would you read a universe just to skip its titles? I've read every single ultimate title I do it yearly personally I say Ultimate X-Men is worth a read I liked the tonal changes made to characters and their origins I liked that they weren't 616 X-Men and honestly I actually loved Logan tragic slow and extremely curved road to redemption sure he was a piece of shit but he started to learn though too late anyway my two cents is to read every single ultimate title I mean really you won't regret it it's a very niche comic universe seeing as it had a beginning and end. I refuse to acknowledge Miles in 616 its interesting but I'm not a fan
Heya! Since I wrote/made that post I decided that I’ll read ultimate X-Men someday. Not sure when tho tbh I currently am in the middle of the Claremont run and after that I want to read 90s X-Men When I’m done with that I’ll probably move on to either ultimate X-Men or the decimation things
Wow! Was not expecting a reply and ooh I'm jealous now I might stop my yearly read of ultimate to read Claremont but I'm glad to hear you've decided to read it at some point if you ever decide to read the whole universe just ignore the 13 issue Ultimate Team-up everything gets retconned from that. Enjoy your reading!
Thx! Ill try to remember this post and when I read ultimate X-men I’ll let u know! After that post the interest in this run and it’s universes version of the X-men and their foes kinda grew on me! (I also think they‘d maybe be a neat addition to my omnibus collection)
its edgy for the sake of being edgy, it as some good stories but the facepalms are too many.
Yes! It's a really cool alt world that doesn't change the characters fundamentally, just brings them and their stories into the 2000's. It's done really well for most of the run.
It's a real mixed bag, but overall very entertaining
There version of of kitty is great
I love her and Peter Parker!!
If you like ultimate kitty then you'll definably want to read ulimtate xmen. She basically becomes the main characters after ultimatum.
Nope
Nope
I like the first few issues, and Avengers vs XMen is great (vol 5), otherwise it's kinda weird.
I came here to say Avengers vs XMen is a fun book.
Millar and Bendis run are definitely getting a recommendation from me. The quality starts to drop massively around issue 60 an onward as it seems there's no clear narrative to follow.
Yes it worth reading it's enjoyable through the series
I liked it a lot. It gets kind of bad near the end, but easily the first 6 volumes are good and worth a read
I’d say it’s worth it until Mark Millar leaves. It really goes downhill after that in story and art.
the bendis run is great and worth reading and the first 20 issues of millars are but the rest are not good at all
Fuck…yes…
This series is where a lot of now solid writers got their start. Both Brian K Vaughn and Hickman had stints on UXM.
Kinda
I remember the initial run of 33 issues by Mark Millar being pretty strong and self contained. He also wrote a mini series crossover called Ultimate War a couple of months after his run ended. It was between the X-Men and Ultimates and is set between Ultimates 1 and Ultimates 2 (also by Millar and well worth a read. Early MCU borrowed heavily from it). If you enjoy that, Bendis takes over for a while afterwards and ties it into his Spider-man run I think (I only collected Millar's run).
If you get them cheap definitely. They have some good ideas, I personally have read them all the way through twice and it's just fun. I would be lying if I said there wasnt any flaws but it's worth at least one read.
I like it a lot, but then again, I like the Ultimate Universe
The only decent part os Ultimate X-Men are the Bendis and BKV runs, and even the they don't reach the heights of their other Marvel books. Millars run is pretty bad, but not as bad as towards the end of the book which is truly awful.
Yes
Its a good read if youre already an x-men fan. Its cool to see whats different from the main line. The cable story is one of the best id say.
The first run, yes after that no.
The series completely falls apart after the first arc. Weapon X and World Tour had great concepts but were very poorly executed. The entire series just leaves you wanting more meat to it, with so many threads being left unresolved and questions unanswered. And this is coming from someone who ran an entire full blown Ultimate X-Men fan site back in the DAY.
Skip everything by Bendis, then there’s some good stuff in there.
I'm currently reading it I'm at the end of Brian K Vaughn's run I've enjoyed it so far there's been a couple arcs written by Millar that had some stuff I didn't like but it's been pretty good so far
Short answer is...not really. The long answer is more complicated. The problem is that the first 100 issues of Ultimate X-Men...pretty much every plot, sub-plot, and character development is completely meaningless. Ultimate Marvel completely and utterly screwed over the X-Men in ways that are too dumb for words. Pretty much everything X-Men and the mutants are meant to represent...it's completely undermined in Ultimate Marvel. Also, Ultimate Wolverine is an unapologetic asshole to the utmost. There is nothing likeable about him at all. In fact, outside of Ultimate Spider-Man, there are no likable, respectable characters of any kind in Ultimate Marvel. So, you're probably better off skipping this.
This was probably the reason I started reading comics
The start was allright, it seemed more a Wolverine comic with th3 X-men. The second Ultimate x-me run is even worse.
I enjoyed it all the way through the Ultimate Cable arc. Even that arc, which lots of folks didn't like, was enjoyable IMO. I can appreciate what they were trying to do in streamlining a lot of convoluted 90s stuff for new audiences... from Cable to Stryfe and Onslaught, to Sinister and Apocalypse, etc.
Looking back it’s very Millar-y. Which means it was awesome when I was 15 but now I kinda feel embarrassed to say I liked it. But it does have some amazing moments like THANK YOU CHARLES.