This week Luke and Devin are here to talk about Naruto, Ace Ventura, the return of an old feature, a new feature, and lots of very good things. And then eventually Ultimate X-men which is not good.
Issues Covered:
- Ultimate X-men Vol 1 #75-88
Check out the image gallery and show notes after the jump.
Ultimate X-men 75-88
Ultimate X-men 75-78: Cable
Writer – Robert Kirkman, Art – Ben Oliver, Pencils – Yanick Paquette, Inks Serge Lapointe, Color – Jason Keith, Stephane Peru Letters – VC’s Joe Caramagna
It’s Jean’s 20th birthday and Cyclops got her a small box that she isn’t ready to open because it’s been hectic recently.
Nick Fury meanwhile sends Professor X a power dampener bracelet via Quicksilver to use on Jean which Charles is hesitant to use and he calls her in to talk about it.
Iceman and Rogue’s relationship is meanwhile having issues since Rogue’s touch based power absorption is back and Iceman is a horny teen.
Xavier then tries to reach out to Nightcrawler who is refusing to work with him. That’s when Cable, a white haired old man with a metal arm appears, puts a power dampener on Xavier that knocks him out, before Kitty attacks but he dampens her power as well. Jean finds Cable and calls in the team and is also power dampened. The other X-men join in and are knocked out until it’s down to Wolverine and Cable and we see Cable pop his claws because he’s also Wolverine!
Wolverine doesn’t believe Cable who starts referencing things Wolverine doesn’t know and ultimate explodes Wolverine enough to knock him out before Rogue, Cyclops and Iceman show up. They get the drop on Cable who is forced to lock them in a box as everyone gots over the inhibitor discs, but ultimately Cable escapes with Jean.
Xavier tries to find Jean and Cable but is unable to, and that’s when Bishop, an older black man from the future, shows up looking for Cable. Wolverine knocks him out and brings him to Xavier where Bishop explains that he came to stop Cable, who meanwhile has gathered a team of other people from the future.
Iceman goes to check on Cyclops who is upset that he didn’t share his feelings with Jean and Iceman is upset that he can’t touch Rogue.
Xavier meanwhile sends Syndicate, his two headed secret agent, to meet with someone. Xavier also talks to Storm who talks to him about how Kitty is upset and wants to leave.
Bishop explains that Cable probably has Jean hiding in the present and is tracking the chrono energy so he plans to take everyone except Cyclops with him, leaving Cyclops to protect Xavier. Cyclops isn’t happy about the plan. Bishop goes on to explain that while he worked with Cable in the past in the future, right now Cable is not acting to uphold the Xavier Doctrine.
Bishop teleports the team to the old Finland Weapon X compound and as soon as they get through, a member of Cable’s team Six Pack shoots off Rogue’s arm so Wolverine has to help her heal. The members of Six Pack there are Domino who has luck powers and a gun, Grizzly who turns into a bear, Hammer who is big and strong, Kane who can shoot off his robot hands, and Cable who is watching Jean in the base.The X-men are getting stomped on, and Cable asks is Jean sees Goblins which she does.
Xavier meanwhile decides to go and save Jean but Cyclops tries to stop him and Xavier says he loves Jean. As they end up flying to Finland instead of taking the portal, Cyclops jumps out of the plane and Storm helps him land as he joins the fray and avoid being around Xavier.
Cable ends up breaking Bishop’s chronal displacer and then Xavier crashes the jet into the battlefield. The other members of Six Pack leave, injured, and Cyclops moves to stop Cable and gets a shuriken between the eyes. The pair fight unaware that Xavier is crawling his way in and as he prepares to kill Cable, Cable triggers an explosion and all that’s left of Xavier in the aftermath is a skeleton.
Ultimate X-men 75: Extracurricular
Writer – Sean McKeever, Pencils – Mark Brooks, Inks – Jaime Mendoza, Color – John Rauch, Letters – Joe Caramagna
Doug Ramsey of the Academy of Tomorrow is feeling left out by the other students because he isn’t a mutant. He tries to talk to Emma Frost who tells him to take care of his friends so he follows them and finds them raiding a drug lab. Members of the gang capture him but Emma and Polaris show up and take the guns from the gang. Havok takes the blame but blames their actions on Emma keeping the team from helping in emergencies and Emma tells them they can always transfer and Doug’s friends think he is a narc.
Ultimate X-men 79-80: Aftermath
Writer – Robert Kirkman, Pencils – Yanick Paquette, Inks – Serge Lapointe, Colors – Stephane Peru, Letters – VC’s Joe Caramagna
News that Xavier died begins to spread and Kitty prepares to leave the school, partially to be closer to Spider-Man.
At the White House, Nick Fury explains that Xavier is dead to the president but that he was killed by another mutant and they are working on a story and that it won’t affect the Legacy Project.
Sabretooth meanwhile shows up to taunt Wolverine about his past and his wife before disappearing.
Cyclops and Jean try to cope with the loss of Xavier and when Cyclops thinks about the gift she tells him not right now.
Northstar invites Colossus to join his school, and Wolverine sees the title of the play Storm has been writing, The Shadow King.
At the funeral Moria meets with Lilandra, The Fantastic Four are there with other people to feel sad about Xavier’s death, Emma Frost is suddenly being an asshole, and Wolverine realizes that he finally killed Xavier like Magneto asked him to years ago.
Afterwards, Jean finds that Nightcrawler who was under Xavier’s powers has gone while Forge delivers the news of Xavier’s death to Magneto who is happy.
At the will reading, the estate and money is split between Jean, Cyclops and Storm which would only allow it with liquid assets to be open three more months. They also found out that Xavier owned a bunch of warehouses in New York City.
In Chicago at the Academy of Tomorrow, Colossus plans to stay with his boyfriend, Wolverine works to leave the school to find out about his past, leaving Storm behind, and Cyclops tries to bring up his gift to Jean who turns it down knowing that it is a marriage proposal but she does throw in a pity fuck.
Pyro, a mutant who controls fire, gets into a standoff with the police and the Friends of Humanity, an anti-mutant group, but Nightcrawler saves him and tells him off for being reckless. Pyro explains he was part of the Morlocks, a mutant gang in the sewers, but wanted to do more.
Meanwhile the three heads of the Xavier School meet with the Church of Shi’Ar Enlightenment about funding and they promise to help continue the dream with Gerald Lavine being in charge of the money, and unknown to Lilandra, Gerald is still part of the Hellfire Club and the one who lied about Jean actually being the Phoenix Host.
Angel checks in with Colossus to find if Xavier told him anything because he was at the school as a secret sleeper agent and when he didn’t, Angel decides to quit the school and look for Dazzler.
At the New York State Prison, Bishop meets with his younger self to tell him to be careful and not use his powers.
When the remaining class of Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Rogue, Iceman and Bishop meet up that night, Cyclops explains his new plan to disband the X-men and open the school as an actual school focused on teaching mutants to learn instead of fight. Bishop is unhappy so Cyclops tells him to start his own team.
And in the future, Cable gets fixed up by a robot and we see that Xavier is still alive but is in stasis.
Ultimate X-men 81: Cliffhangers
Writer – Robert Kirkman, Art – Ben Oliver, Color – Jose Villarrubia, Additional Inks Pat Davidson, Letter’s VC’s Joe Caramagna
At the Triskelion, Mister Sinister is found dead. Meanwhile Mastermind and his girlfriend, Stacey X come in to get Mystique out where she was impersonating Magneto and Mastermind sends her out to Magneto’s base.
6 weeks after Cyclops opened the school, things are going alright though Cyclops is unknowingly helping a younger Grizzly from the Six Pack. Jean is meanwhile keeping the staff controlled to not see mutants and Toad joined up to help out and recruit new people.
At the Academy of Tomorrow, Emma Frost is out with her new boyfriend Shinobi Shaw, who is in contact with Gerald.
Nightcrawler meanwhile made it to the sprawling Morlocks base.
Nick Fury checks in on the Beast who unknown to everyone else, is alive, no longer furry, just has fangs, and is working on a secret project for Fury to deal with the Legacy Virus.
In Manhattan a mutant mugger and member of the Mutant Liberation Front is killed by a Sentinel and then Storm has a nightmare with aliens and something called the Shadow King and wakes up and adds the notes to her play and wakes up to find Bishop at her door to recruit her.
Ultimate X-men 82-83: The Underneath
Writer – Robert Kirkman, Pencils – Pascal Alixe, Inks – Danny Miki, Victor Olazaba, Allen Martinez, Colors – Jose Villarrubia, Letters – VC’s Cory Petit
Nightcrawler is brought into Morlock Town, which is ruled by Sunder. He’s introduced to Callisto who explains they are self sufficient but must be ready to fight as part of their army. He gets into a fight with Caliban who feeds on mutant energy but the fight is stopped by Sunder as Toad watches on in secret.
Toad is there as part of Cyclop’s plan which Jean is unhappy about. Cyclops wants it to be a down to earth outreach since they can’t use Cerebro at this point and they’re worried about the Sentinels and sending in rich and hot mutants to talk to the Morlocks.
A Sentinel in the meantime chases after Pyro until he is saved by Storm and Bishop, who we finally find out can change weight and density, along with having future tools. They recruit Pyro which was part of Bishop’s plan and he brings them back to his secret base in Australia.
Back in Mutant Town, Nightcrawler explains that he was part of the X-men and Sunder gets mad until he explains that he left the team. That’s when Toad shows up for outreach and Sunder gets angry, thinking it is an attack and Toad and Nightcrawler are captured.
When Cyclops doesn’t hear from Toad, he gets a team together to look for him while Bishop and Storm go to recruit Dazzler.
Cyclops team up him, Jean, Iceman and Rogue go into the sewers where the Morlocks attack them.
Colossus meanwhile who was working at a construction site is the next recruit for Bishop but he asks for rest though and turns down the offer.
Meanwhile Dazzler goes to recruit Angel and the two are happy to see each other.
With Rogue’s help stopping Caliban, the team frees Nightcrawler and Toad before Nightcrawler knocks out Sunder. Cyclops invites Nightcrawler home and is turned down, so the X-men leave.
In Australia, Bishop tells Dazzler that Angel shouldn’t be on the team based on his plan but she tells him it’s either both of them or neither which Bishop accepts.
When the X-men return home, Jean rests to try and control her powers, and they end up finding Psylocke and Syndicate waiting for them.
And back in Morlock Town, Nightcrawler is selected as the new leader.
Ultimate X-men 84-88: Sentinels
Writer – Robert Kirkman, Pencils – Yanick Paquette, Inks – Serge Lapointe, Karl Story, Kris Justice, Additional Art – Salvador Larroca, Colors – Stephane Peru, Letters – VC’s Joe Carmagna
When Wolverine gets shot in the face by a mutantphobic bartender, Storm and Bishop come in and get him to join their team.
Meanwhile in the Bronx, Stryfe has assembled the Mutant Liberation Front where he’s trying to bring unrest about the killing of Charles Xavier when they are set upon by a group of Sentinels before Stryfe teleports away with help from Zero, a young mutant.
Back at the mansion, Psylocke and Syndicate catch people up on what is happening and there’s some bullshit about how Psylocke is considered a minor now which makes no sense because she worked with government agencies even though she is in a young woman’s body. Anyway, she and Syndicate started working against the Fenris Twins for Xavier and came back to find if Xavier actually died and to find if she could join the official X-men. When Cyclops tells her he shut down the team she’s angry.
Bishop in Australia meanwhile is working to help the team get better at using their powers, like teaching Dazzler to make bigger explosions while Storm works on new uniforms. Bishop heads back to the Xavier school where he tries to talk to Psylocke who gets a weird vibe off of him when the news comes on with a story about the Mutant Liberation Front fighting Sentinels. Bishop’s team, with Psylocke onboard, travels to fight, while Trask and the Fenris Twins watch on. The X-men are holding their own until Storm is attacked by a vision of the Shadow King, but luckily Dazzler unleashes her powers. Stryfe meanwhile is angry that the team isn’t being more proactive about Xavier’s memory and Bishop calls him a terrorist. Stryfe brings up going points about how societal factors could have resulted in Xavier’s death and the coincidence that Sentinels would return when Xavier died and Pyro decides to defect. Once he leaves though, Psylocke explains she convinced Pyro to go as a spy since he wasn’t very strong in battle.
Meanwhile the Phoenix Force comes to merge with Jean but the goblins that she has push it away.
Beast meanwhile escapes from SHIELD.
Bishop’s team finds another Sentinels and hurts it enough to return for repairs so they track it and teleport into the base where they find the Fenris Twins waiting and they activate a large number of Sentinels. The X-men effectively combo move the Sentinels with Angel wielding an arm cannon that Storm powers to fire and Wolverine slam dunking one so it falls into others so Storm can blast them.
Stryfe meanwhile knows Pyro is there as a spy while Beast returned to the Xavier mansion where Fury tries to get him to come back to cure the Legacy Virus. Beast doesn’t think the Legacy Virus is real and Fury explains it’s to keep it hidden but Beast escapes leaving behind the comms that he was using.
Meanwhile at Central Park, Stryfe assembles the Mutant Liberation Front to make a stand and the people start to fight some angry humans while Pyro notices Stryfe teleport away before Sentinels come in.
Back at the fight, Storm gets hurt so Wolverine goes into a rage destroying most of the other Sentinels and when he comes to, the rest of the team is knocked out by the fight and Fenris has Psylocke at blast point. Bishop tells them to get away from his wife which surprises everyone. When Bishop stands up, they blast him, so he uses their energy and murders both of them, which pisses off Storm. In Central Park, Beast ends up saving Pyro from the fight and they wonder where Stryfe went. That’s when Stryfe and Zero show up in front of the X-men and Zero runs away in the Sentinel building.
Trask who built the Sentinels who is suddenly there, tries to surrender but Stryfe wants to fight. Luckily Psylocke is now able to break into his mind and sees that Fenris hired Stryfe for his ability to cause unrest to create some attacks on the United States to raise interest in the Sentinels. The plan doesn’t make a lot of sense for how simple it should be, because the Sentinels never appeared to help save people from mutants. They just attacked mutants in groups who were angry.
Stryfe ends up activating all of the Sentinels to attack with a fail safe that Trask explains so they all go to kill mutants so the X-men go after the Sentinels, joining up with the Mutant Liberation Front. When Dazzler is unable to save a mutant from being killed, she figures out the key to larger blasts but also finds it uses a lot of energy.
Back at the base, Trask overloads the generators and illogically trying to make up for assisting mutant genocide even though he doesn’t not hate mutants, and then he punches Angel who tries to save him from the oncoming explosion and dies as the base explodes. The Sentinels all depower and Beast saves Storm from a falling Sentinels and Bishop checks in to say they’re working as a team and meeting goals which his boss, Cable, is happy about.
In the future, Cable’s base is attacked so he and Xavier who can walk, prepare to leave
Meanwhile the police arrive, things are awkward for Storm and Beast and everyone runs.
At the Xavier Mansion they are having a game with Emma Frost’s Academy of Tomorrow and Emma became a THOT.
In Australia, Beast catches people up on his life and Bishop tells him he needs to help with the Legacy Virus which was developed to help enhance humans to be like Captain America but it instantly kills mutants but Stryfe knows Fury had Beast working on the cure to prevent that and that Fury won’t unveil it without a cure ready.
Emma introduces Jean to Shinobi who was hanging out with Gerald. When Jean goes to the bathroom, the men attack her with a sedative and she explodes in the Phoenix Energy. Afterwards, Cyclops reveals they found out both were in the Hellfire Club and got arrested.
Psylocke confronts Bishop about their past, Storm and Beast kiss because she has feelings for him still, Emma Frost is revealed to be part of the Hellfire Club, and Cable works to prepare Xavier for their fight against Apocalypse.
Ultimate X-men Vol 1 #75-78: Cable
Ultimate X-men Vol 1 #75: Extracurricular
Ultimate X-men Vol 1 #79-80: Aftermath
Ultimate X-men Vol 1 #81: Cliffhangers
Ultimate X-men Vol 1 #82-83: The Underneath
Ultimate X-men Vol 1 #84-88: Sentinels