Ultimate X-Men: Return to Weapon X, Mark Millar

"Now pawn of the mysterious weapon X program, the mutant heros' only hope lies with the one team member to evade capture: the enigmatic, unproven Wolverine! Can Logan go it alone against the shadow-ops organisation that transformed him into one of the worlds most lethal killing machines."













I remember pretty clearly the first time that I read this book. It was at an Ottakers around the corner from my school and I was captivated by a scene in which Wolverine daydreams his slaughter of the rest of the X-Men. That's the kind of book this is. One in which the heroes hate one another, and wish they could kil one another. It's Mark Millar's X-Men, and its an excellent second Universe book.

This is not how I want all my X-Men books to be mind. The Astonishing, or All New , or Uncanny books at their best over the last few years have blown this out the water. But it's an unbelievablely good way of introducing the X-Men in a new way, not just as victims of prejudice, but of state sanctioned murder, persecution and rendition.

It's an extraordinarily political book, just as the Ultimates is a celebration of the power of the US, this is a deconstruction of the vagaries and dissembling of state power. The framing of the Weapon X programme as a black ops group operating through SHIELD removes the ridiculousness of Department H and the Canadian super-soldier programme, introduces a raft of new characters (Rogue and Nightcrawler stand out) and adds depth to the Wolverine and X-Men relationship.

There's a lot to love here, and its another one that sworn a read. It can get dark at times, so if you prfer your superheroes light and bright, I would avoid it, but if you like some dysfunctional, unusual ideas with a side helping of mutant on mutant conflict, this is your book!

Also Try:

Mark Millar, The Ultimates
J Michael Straczynski, Squadron Supreme
Peter David, Young Justice