Ultimate War
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Ultimate War is a comic book limited series produced by Marvel Comics featuring the Ultimates and the Ultimate X-Men. The series contains four books, released between December 8, 2002 and February 23, 2003. It was written by Scottish comics author Mark Millar with art by Chris Bachalo.
It is collected as part of the Ultimate X-Men series of trade paperbacks. This was the first time the Ultimates as a team had crossed over with characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe. However, individual team members have appeared in other books. For example, Ultimate Hulk and Ultimate Iron Man debuted in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, and Iron Man, Nick Fury, and Wasp have all made cameos in Ultimate Spider-Man.
[edit] Plot
Previously, the X-Men defeated Magneto and pronounced him dead. Rather than turning Magneto over to the authorities and virtually ensuring the death penalty for him, Professor X secretly brainwashed his old friend and tried to rehabilitate him. However, the Beast inadvertently leaked this plan to Magneto's Brotherhood, who used this knowledge to free their leader. The X-Men's situation was already desperate enough, with Cyclops presumed dead and Iceman forced out by his worried parents.
The US government was irate over Magneto's reappearance and demanded explanations from Nick Fury. Fury and his Ultimates tracked down the Xavier Mansion, whose location was hitherto unknown, and found it empty. Nick Fury comes to the terrible conclusion that the X-Men have joined forces with Magneto to fight mankind.
In the meanwhile, Charles Xavier tried to negotiate a truce with Magneto. Magneto may destroy humanity, but only in the USA. But both sides double-cross each other: Xavier sent Wolverine to track down Magneto's signal, and Magneto anonymously leaked the X-Men's hideout to the Ultimates. The Ultimates track down the X-Men and have an all-out fight.
The Ultimates nearly defeat the X-Men, but at the last moment Iceman suddenly soars in on a giant ice slide. He creates a gigantic icewall which literally crushes everything, including the devices disabling Xavier's telepathy. Free to use his powers, Xavier freezes every non-mutant mind in the area to buy time for his students. However, he is taken down by the Wasp, who is a mutant herself and immune to the mind control. The X-Men can flee, but Charles Xavier becomes a captive of Nick Fury.
Most of the characters were all paired off with other members, most notably on the covers.
- Wolverine and Captain America, two characters who are either over or almost a hundred years old, fight off in the end.
- Colossus and Iron Man, two characters encased in metal. Colossus beat Iron Man.
- Storm and Thor, who both have control over thunder and lightning, face off somewhere in the middle.
- Jean Grey and Wasp do not actually fight each other, but Wasp visits Jean's father.
[edit] Notes
- Iceman's parents had forced him out of the X-Men, partly because he sustained grave injuries against Proteus, and partly because they deeply distrusted Charles Xavier.
- Cyclops had been dropped into a chasm by Wolverine when they were on a joint mission in the Savage Land. Logan, deeply jealous of his relationship to Jean Grey, tried to kill him, and lied to his fellow X-Men by saying Scott had died a heroic death in mission. As Logan's Weapon X training made him immune to mind probing, neither Professor X nor Jean Grey were able to see behind this. However, Jean used her abilities as the Phoenix to see the truth.
- After the first story arc, Professor X had told Nick Fury that Magneto did not survive. Secretly, Xavier brainwashed his old friend and wanted to rehabilitate him.
- Beast inadventently leaked out that the X-Men knew Magneto's whereabouts in an Internet chat. The "mutant model", who he thought was his partner, was in reality Blob. When arranging to meet "her", Beast was ambushed by the Brotherhood, beaten mercilessly, and then his brain was mined for Magneto's location by Brotherhood psychics. He was ashamed of this, of course. To add insult to injury, he had been temporarily infatuated with "her".
- Captain America makes a note when facing off against Wolverine, telling him about how they worked together in WWII. He even brings up his real name: James "Lucky Jim" Howlett.
