This month's theme in X-Men Unlimited is apparently villains, which I'm sure we've done before.  In any event, let's start with a positive point - that cover is lovely.  Josh Middleton did some great work on Kaare Andrews' issue of this title as well.  Marvel should really find something more prominent for him to do.

Anyhow, three stories this time round.  "Hunters" is a Sabretooth story by Steven Grant and David Finch.  It's Sabretooth in the wilderness being hunted down by two bounty hunters who've prepared for his powers and are doing rather better than he was expected.  Of course, it suffers from the minor point that this is Sabretooth, he's the villain, and who gives a toss whether he lives or dies?  Nonetheless, Grant has a decent grasp of the character, the art's pretty good, and it's all inoffensive enough.

"Animals", by Chuck Austen and Clayton Henry, is a past-continuity piece explaining how Sabretooth and Mystique first met.  It's basically an entire story of people being extraordinarily nasty to one another, and it's about as depressing as you'd expect.  Of course, that's the intended reaction, but it's not a great deal of fun to read.  Henry's quite good at emotion and acting, though, and he gives the characters a bit of depth.

In these continuity-light times, it's rather curious that somebody felt the need to publish a story whose primary purpose seems to be to provide an opportunity for the conception of Graydon Creed, a character who's been dead for several years now.  It's also rather unfortunate that nobody noticed that they already explained the conception of Graydon Creed, and the first meeting of Sabretooth and Mystique, in the Sabretooth miniseries of 1993.  After all, if you're going to dig about in obscure continuity, you might as well get it right.

The less said of "Slam" the better.  It's a comedy story with the Juggernaut, in full costume and wearing a tie, attempting to romance the hostess of an open mic poetry night, much to the irritation of his colleagues in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  The astute among you will recognise that the Juggernaut was never in the Brotherhood, and indeed nothing else about his depiction here, in character or otherwise, bears the faintest resemblance to the character.  What's the point of doing a Juggernaut story if you're not going to get the character even remotely right?  If all you want is a big lummox who's a friend of other minor villains, use the damn Blob.  Forget the continuity, I've got no time for stories that can't even get the basics of the character right.

Rating: C+

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