THE CREATORS: Various

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2002: A whole load of short stories, for the most part.

Few books make it up to issue #39 without it ever being wholly apparent why they exist at all.  But X-Men Unlimited is such a book.  Launched as one of a range of Unlimited quarterlies back in the nineties, for years it has been the sole survivor, drifting haplessly onwards.

Generally, the book has ended up as a dumping ground for stories that had nowhere else to go, mixed in with some filler material to use up those empty pages.  2002 was a particularly erratic year for the title, as it lurched all over the place in terms of format, quality, and even publication schedule.  Five issues of X-Men Unlimited appeared this year - two of them in April, and one each in June, August, September and December.  Apparently it's going biweekly next year and changing its price.  God only knows how long that'll last before it changes format yet again.

Trying to identify any common thread in this haphazard affair is not easy, so let's just look back and see what appeared.  Issue #34 was an anthology, notable mainly for an entire story based around an elementary continuity error in which Karl Kesel assured us that the Hellions had been killed by Adrienne Frost.  The other stories were a middling "Isn't Hollywood nasty" Jubilee story by Udon, which at least made the same point as Get Kraven in five-and-a-half fewer issues; and an unimpressive Sunfire story based on the usual cliches about honour.

Issue #35's highpoint is an entertaining comedy story by Gail Simone and Kevin Maguire about the making of X-Men: The B-Movie.  It also contains a Jean Grey story which consists of her fighting Sabretooth while the creators indulge in some flashy storytelling devices, mildly interesting on that level; and a mediocre Rogue story by Jimmy Palmiotti.

Still with the anthology format, issue #36 is somewhat better across the board.  It's got a Chris Claremont Shadowcat story which provides the set-up for Mekanix, and a nice little Beast story where he takes in a stray cat.  It's also got a middling Magneto piece which doesn't entirely come off, but overall this one's alright.

Changing format and style entirely, issue #37 is a jam issue by Kaare Andrews and various artists.  It has the usual strengths and drawbacks of jam issues - much of the art is wonderful, but the story isn't that good.  There's enjoyment to be had in spotting all of the easter eggs in the background, though.

Issue #38 is a Shadowcat story by upcoming Wolverine creators Greg Rucka and Darick Robertson, finally tying up the loose ends about Peter Rasputin's death a couple of years back.  It's a simple, straightforward story and a very effective character piece.  Easily the high point of the year for the book.

And issue #39, which I reviewed a few weeks ago, is a return to the anthology format with three Storm stories, all of them eminently missable.

All of which adds up to... well, an anthology title that seems to be running whatever's going.  Compared with its track record, it's had a pretty good year - most of the stories have fallen into the range from okay to good, with only a couple of seriously bad ones dotted along the way.  But, issue #38 aside, it remains eminently missable.

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