Ultimate X-Men #89 is a curious issue.  It's a self-contained story, which we don't see very often in these parts.  That story also happens to double as the pay-off to a long-running subplot.

I find that strange.  Even though Robert Kirkman has been pacing the series as more of a traditional superhero team book, the basic structure of Ultimate X-Men tends to favour doing everything as a full-blown multi-part storyline, especially when it's had lots of build-up.  But here's the Ultimate Shadow King storyline being resolved in 22 pages.

It has been rumoured in some circles that this book and Ultimate Fantastic Four are being handed over to Jeph Loeb next year as part of the "Ultimatum" event, whatever that turns out to be.  It's not an especially enticing prospect.  Still, it might well explain why Kirkman is suddenly writing the sort of story that you see from writers who are trying to tie up their dangling plot threads in the remaining time available.

Ultimate Shadow King turns out to be Amahl Farouk (as in the original), a guy who hung around with Storm during her time with Yuri (as not in the original).  You might recall Yuri as a character from the Brian Vaughan run who was serving double duty as Ultimate Lady Deathstrike and Ultimate Yukio.  In this version, Amahl became a mad psychic predator after Storm left him in a coma after misjudging her newly-discovered lightning powers.

It's not a bad origin story, and it's arguably an improvement on the original version of the character.  At least this guy has an agenda that makes some sort of sense.  The original Shadow King was just an all-purpose evildoer with the gimmick of being a psychic entity, and it wasn't an especially interesting idea.  It also works quite well at this length, if you leave aside the fact that it's a curiously short resolution of a protracted subplot.  It certainly didn't need a full storyline, although a two-parter might have been ideal.  The Brood are weirdly swept aside as an afterthought, as though Kirkman felt obliged to explain their appearance in earlier subplots, but didn't really have time to do anything with them.

I've had reservations about some of Kirkman's recent storylines on the basis that the plot has been driving the series, to the extent of leaving the characters as passengers.  This time, he doesn't fall into that trap.  It's a proper Storm story.

Salvador Larroca arrives as the new regular penciller, with a solid but unspectacular issue.  In fairness, though, the story doesn't really provide many opportunities to show off.  There's a sequence on the psychic plane where Ororo and Amahl are both naked, but it's actually done with some restraint.  The old Shadow King character design, which wasn't a classic to start with, puts in an appearance.  Larroca does his best with it, but doesn't really win me over.

Overall, this is perfectly decent.  Kirkman and Larroca understand their craft well enough to make an idea like this work, even if it does seem rather strange in the wider scheme of things.

Rating: B+

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