Somewhere along the line Ultimate X-Men became a soap opera. A good, well written, very pretty soap opera in which I am deeply invested, but a soap opera nonetheless. To recap . . . Storm is still grieving and goth and hitting on Wolverine. Rogue has been kidnapped by some unscrupulous incestuous business tycoons with an evil plan for world domination. Rogue thinks X-Men don’t care about her because she used to work for Magneto. Gambit is back–in fact he did the kidnapping of Rogue for the evil business tycoons. Wolverine does care about Rogue, in fact thinks of her like a little sister and goes mildly ballistic when she gets kidnapped. In the end evil plans for world domination are thwarted, Rogue learns that she does have a place with the X-Men but goes off with Gambit anyway because he can touch her, at least for short periods.
Okay, I’m making fun of a volume of a series that I did actually enjoy. The plot of any superhero book is going to be a little farcical when you lay it out. However, Brian Vaughan does a nice job with Rogue’s vulnerability and with turning Gambit’s character from kidnapper to reluctant hero in a fairly short space of time. The strength of the series lies in his ability to make you care about the characters even when the plot line is a little ludicrous. I always like Andy Kubert’s artwork, and this is no exception. The colors are gorgeous and the characters demonstrate the physicality of the superhero without sacrificing the emotional depth of the person.
Ultimate X-Men, vol. 10: Cry Wolf
ISBN: 9780785114055
By Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Andy Kubert
Marvel Comics 2005
