People who complain that DC Comics reboot their universe too many times needs to take a look at Marvel Comics Ultimate Universe line.

Founded in 2000 with the debut of Ultimate Spider-Man, the Ultimate universe was always intended as a continuity free entry point into the Marvel Universe. Characters and origins were updated to feel as if they were created in the 2000′s, and many of the movie properties of Marvel took several ideas and storylines from the Ultimate Marvel universe. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the Ultimate Universe became confusing and has been rebooted not once, but twice in ten years! Let me say that again, twice in ten years. Even with all the odds stacked against it, Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 turns out to be a decent issue.

Peter Parker, the Spider-Man, is dead. Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, and Magneto are also in the ground. This ain’t your papa’s Marvel Universe. The issue begins with a scene that could have been ripped out of an X-Men movie. Karen Grant a.k.a. Jean Grey, who has changed her name for safety reasons, visits the parents of a little girl who has just discovered she is a mutant. Karen discusses options with the mother while the father of the little girl is upstairs with her.

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We cover a lot of things here at The Flickcast and one of them is comics. Sadly, we don’t get to do as much comics coverage as we would like but we still try to bring you cool stuff when we see it.

Case in point this time is a preview for Marvel’s upcoming series Ultimate Comics X-Men with issue number one. From writer Nick Spencer and artist Paco Medina comes a story featuring Iceman, Kitty Pride and the Human Torch “who discover the true history of the x-gene as the divide between Mankind and Mutantkind grows deeper than ever before.”

“Who are the X-Men and how will they handle the fallout of this universe shattering discovery?” That’s just something you’re going to have to find out for yourself when the first issue arrives.

Judging from the preview images, it looks to be a very cool series. We’re looking forward to it.

Check out the preview after the jump. Look for Ultimate Comics X-Men in comic book stores on September 14th.

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Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! The latest mutant milestone issue gets top billing, Spidey winds up in the wrong sandbox and Guy Gardner sees a whole lot more than just red. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

X-Factor #200
Marvel Comics – $4.99 US
Writer: Peter David
Artists: Bing Cansino, Marco Santucci, Karl Moline
Score: 9.5/10

X-Factor Investigations makes the move from Detroit to New York in hopes of wrangling some new clients of the super-hero variety, but when their first client winds up being Franklin and Valeria Richards – the children to Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four – the team realizes that all is not what it seems.

Long-time X-Factor scribe Peter David continues to mix jaw-dropping plot bombs with great characterizations and intelligent humor in this over-sized anniversary special. The mystery of the missing Invisible Woman, on it’s own, is a great story, but throw in Monet’s father being abducted by terrorists, Siryn’s shocking rendezvous with an old flame (hint: he’s nuts) and Layla Miller’s surprising allegiance to Latveria, and you’ve got one hell of a jump-on issue.

The art team of Bing Cansino and Marco Santucci do a great job of pacing this mammoth story, and their takes on the characters are both familiar and fresh. With a title that relies heavily on many speaking scenes, which should come as no surprise to current readers, their art is right on the money, but they also flex their proverbial muscle in the action scenes, especially where the Thing is involved.

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