Comic Review – “Ultimate X-Men Vol. 10: Cry Wolf”

The latest issues of Ultimate X-Men form a
four issue story arc reviewed below.

General Information

Title: Ultimate X-Men Vol. 10: Cry Wolf

Author: Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrator(s): Andy Kubert

Original Publication Date: Issues 50-53 were the last
four published
in 2004. The trade paperback collecting them is due
to hit comic
specialty stores on February 9, 2005.

ISBN: 0-7851-1405-X

Cover Price: $8.99 US

Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca

Past comic reviews can be found here.

Premise

While on an outing to Coney Island, the X-Men
encounter Gambit, who
quickly kidnaps Rogue.

High Point

Vaughan really has the team dynamics down pat.
Excellent job on his
part. There are a lot of relationships forming here,
and Vaughan
keeps them very well balanced. I’m liking his run on
the title.

Low Point

The Bobby/Kitty thing doesn’t involve any logic I can
see. It serves
a purpose, but I don’t see why the characters would
do it.

The Scores

This felt somewhat original. Objectively
speaking, the team
interactions are actually more original than they
seem. Vaughan is
the first writer who really brings a light comradery
to the team, and
it really seems fun. It doesn’t feel that new,
because it fits so
naturally, but he’s the first to make the team read
like a family
instead of just calling themselves a family. That
includes several
scenes with half a dozen characters actively
participating in
conversation. Very well done. I give it 5 out of 6.

The artwork is by Kubert. Some great stuff,
some not so
great stuff, and some awkward close-ups. (I don’t
know why he insists
on centering Rogue’s close-ups around her right eye,
but at that
point, he’s cut off her left ear and chin from the
view, so it feels
more like the reader is an intrusive assailant than
an observer. If
he’s going with voyeurism, he should be putting us in
the point of
view of his heroes, not his villains.) I give it 4
out of 6.

The story is mostly well written. We’ve got
elements that
will need to be returned to later, and a variety of
character subplots
spicing up a solid main story line. The Low Point is
the only real
problem. I give it 5 out of 6.



The characterization is very good. Apart
from that one
unexplainable (or, at least, unexplained) moment,
every line of
dialogue works with the characters involved. Even
that moment could
be worked in later, if that character gets some focus
time. Very,
very impressive. This is what a team dynamic should
be. I give it 5
out of 6.

The emotional response is strong. We’ve got
a lot of humour,
good suspence, a few twists, and an assortment of
Easter eggs for
long-time Marvel readers. I give it 5 out of 6.

The flow is excellent. We get a single,
high speed story,
with the entire arc running from start to finish in a
matter of
hours. I give it 6 out of 6.

Overall, this is a good collection, and one
of the strongest
story arcs in the series thus far. I give it 5 out
of 6.

In total, Ultimate X-Men Vol. 10: Cry Wolf
receives 35 out of 42.

Additional Notes and Comments

These will be the last issues I buy in the monthly
format. I’m making
the jump to trade paperbacks for almost all of the
titles I own, so
subsequent reviews will come after the TPB becomes
available.