Brian Michael Bendis just finished his first story arc on
Ultimate X-Men. Unfortunately, we have to
wait almost a month for the start of the next one.

General Information

Title: Ultimate X-Men: Blockbuster

Author: Brian Michael Bendis

Illustrator: David Finch

ISBN (forthcoming paperback): 0785112197

Original Publication Date: June through November
2003

Cover Price: $2.25 US, $3.75 Can per issue

Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca

Premise

Wolverine is hunted by a covert ops group led by a woman
known only as
Tara. Spider-Man, Daredevil, Black Widow, and Nick Fury
guest star.

High Point

Ultimate Daredevil. I just love his attitude, and can’t wait
to see
him in combat.

Low Point

Yet again, the focus is on Wolverine. At least the storyline
puts him
in a new position among the team that gets him a little
more
integrated, while another member gets pushed a little
further away.
Hopefully that means we’ll be getting to spend more time
with other
characters in the future.

The Scores

The core of the story, with another hint at Wolverine’s
murky past,
isn’t particularly original. The delivery,
however, with the
reluctant recruits from around the Ultimate Marvel
Universe and
Wolverine’s self-retributions are very well executed, so it
doesn’t
feel as stale as it should. I give it 4 out of 6.

The artwork is fantastic. Apart from my
complaint about Mary
Jane, I love it all. Mary Jane’s not in this much, so it’s not
a
major issue. Even then, she’s probably just being drawn
like a 15
year old for the first time, which has more to do with
Bagley than
Finch. I can’t convince myself to give it less than 6 out of
6.

The story was excellent for five issues, and
then wrapped up
in a slightly unsatisfactory manner. The ending
conversation makes me
really excited about future issues. I give it 4 out of 6.

The characterization was surprisingly good,
considering how
much time was spent on Wolverine. The guy’s about as
shallow as they
come most of the time, but Bendis lets him open up a little
bit and
show us what the character can be. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response produced doesn’t
falter on repeat
reading. Daredevil is still cool, Spider-Man is still very
funny, and
Tara is still easy to hate. Too bad the Wolverine
component has been
done so often. I give it 4 out of 6.

The flow is excellent; the only jarring shift is
the one
that’s meant to be there between parts four and five. I give
it 6 out
of 6.

Overall, this is still one of the best arcs this title
has
had. Bendis on a bad day is considerably better than
Millar on a good
day. I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Ultimate X-Men #34-39: Blockbuster
receives 34 out
of 42.