Also from the Ultimate imprint this week, we have the Ultimate X-Men / Fantastic Four one-shot.

The titling of this series is a bit of a mystery.  Ultimate X-Men itself is currently on a skip month between creators.  That rather suggests that this storyline was intended to bridge the gap, but for some reason it's being run as a separate project.  On top of that, it's not really a one-shot, but the first part of a two-issue miniseries.  The other part is in another one-shot, this time called Ultimate Fantastic Four / X-Men. 

For maximum reader confusion, the cover logo actually says Ultimate X4.  On seeing it, completists may remember this year's X4 miniseries (or X-Men / Fantastic Four, to use the full name), which was about as entertaining as shattering your kneecaps with a frying pan.  Perhaps this is a cunning scheme to lower expectations, in order that we may all the more delighted by the story within.

And, in fact, this is a pretty good little comic for what it is - a fill-in Ultimate X-Men story, guest starring the Fantastic Four.  Mike Carey previously did two fill-in issues of Ultimate Fantastic Four where he created a drastically revamped Ultimate Mad Thinker.  Now he brings her back to fight the X-Men, with a good, classic villainous scheme.  She wants to steal Cerebro.  Because it's such a cool toy. 

Okay, technically she's been hired to steal it, but that's why she really wants it.  It's precisely the sort of motivation I like to see in my insane villains.

Art comes from Pasqual Ferry, freshly snapped up from under DC's noses.  I've enjoyed his work for a while now - he's got a knack for poses that hang on the edge of artificial while somehow feeling right.  It's heavily stylised but with plenty of energy.  No doubt Marvel have bigger plans for him than a transitional miniseries, but he's a solid choice for a good old-fashioned superhero team-up story.

At the end of the day, it is what it is - a throwaway team-up story filling a gap between Ultimate X-Men writers.  But on those terms, it's a good effort.

Rating: B+

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