Uncanny X-Force 10, Ultimate X-Men 30

Uncanny X-Force 10
Humphries (w) and R. Pérez (a) and J.D. Ramos and Rosenberg (c)

Psylocke has returned to the team and everyone is eager to figure out what's up with Bishop. They ask Bishop what's up but can't really trust the words he says so Betsy checks his mind quickly, discovering that he's telling the truth, or at least thinks he is (like in Ghostbusters), which is still doubted by Puck, in particular. They learn from Bishop that Revenants, the creatures he fears from the future, are essentially spectral twins of every human alive, jealous of their counterparts' lives (they never SPECIFICALLY say "evil" but it's implied) and who have been unable to cross in large numbers until the Revenant Queen managed to figure out a way. Bad news for humanity and bad news particularly now as Bishop has followed the Revenant Queen back here. A fight ensues and plenty happens, including the capture of three of our team members (but which three? See, I don't give anything away! Though technically there are only three official members of the team and they're Psylocke, Puck, and Storm so GUESS WHO IT IS?).

Now we're starting to get into a meatier story and not a moment too late. Maybe one moment. It's issue ten, you guys. Still, there are some peculiarities about the story that are yet to be revealed (how did the Revenant Queen change things, are these guys evil or misunderstood or what, what makes this time the best time for the Revenants to come back to, etc) but we have our baseline, which is a nice start. Betsy's back with the team and ready to fight (until the capture of three members of the team, one of which may or may not be her). In addition to that, the Revenants have now captured three of these members and are preparing to unleash their Revenants on the world (another question, if Psylocke IS one of those captured, why does her Revenant look like a different version of her Japanese body? Wouldn't it look more like OG Betsy Braddock, the British blond of the Braddock brood - nailed that alliteration, by the way - rather than her corrupted self). PERHAPS ALL WILL BE ANSWERED SOON. Still, not a bad issue. The nice thing about this book, while I haven't necessarily loved it, is that it's always pretty eminently readable. There's enough going on and the writing doesn't hurt the book so it's not a pain to read or anything. Screaming endorsement, "eminently readable."

Ultimate X-Men 30
Wood (w) and A. Martinez and J. Lucas (a) and Sotomayor (c)

The war between Tian and Utopia seems to have seen its opening shots and it's led to a bit of drastic action on both sides. The Utopia mutants react to the essentially-droids attacking their home, destroying them all once they find out their not exactly alive to make a statement to Jean. Jean, in turn, blasts Utopia in a very public speech, pointing at them as the aggressors and as unwilling to tolerate another mutant community. It's a bold move and a dangerous one, one that James, Jean's newest citizen and confidant, doesn't approve of (he doesn't approve of most of what she does but he seems to see no other world for himself) and that Kitty has to react to internally. Disappointed that her ideals and hopes don't seem to be the ideals and hopes of the people around her, she cedes the leadership role of Utopia to new citizen Colossus.

Not a huge entry but still a pretty big issue. We also get a look at Magma and her powers, as she shapes the Earth around Utopia to create an even better area with which to defend Utopia. Pretty powerful lady and don't expect that she's only here to show her powers once and then fade into the ether again. Mach Two, while not being controlled by Psylocke any longer, still seems a little strange so don't count a plot with her out either. Still, those things are just icing on the cake for what is already a pretty great series and a pretty great story. I don't tend to give a lot of focus to the Ultimate Universe and it does still rank a little lower in priority for me than the 616 but this book is consistently one of the best books Marvel is putting out, and it feels like the company has a refocused effort all around in the Ultimate Universe so expect to see big things out of it. I also have found myself, on a somewhat related/unrelated note, really enjoying the Ultimate X-Men covers. They're usually more simplistic than this one but still profound and meaningful in some nice ways. And they look really good. Seen a lot of great covers recently. Always encouraging. Did you guys see the Astonishing X-Men one and the Thor: God of Thunder one this week? Rad. Probably others too, but those really stuck out. Love the colors on the Astonishing X-Men one, even if it is kind of a simple design. Less is more, ya know? Even the Uncanny X-Force issue above had some neat cover work to it, with all the ghastly looking Revenant versions of different costumes for each hero. Neat. Am I rambling? I'm rambling. Look, Ultimate X-Men is a great book, maybe check it out, you honestly don't need THAT much backstory at any given time. Maybe you do. But I didn't have a ton when I jumped onboard not TOO too long ago and I'm doing JUST FINE, THANKS. I mean, could be better, I suppose. Okay look, I'm ending the review now, only ten lines too late.