Ultimate Comics X-Men By Brian Wood Vol. 3

Brian Wood has been at the writing helm of the Ultimate X-men since  Ultimate Comics Ultimates: Divided We Fall - United We Stand  and has maintained a solid, intelligent continuity through  Ultimate Comics X-Men by Brian Wood - Volume 1   Ultimate Comics X-Men by Brian Wood Volume 2  and this final offering in this particular arc.This has been very Kitty Pryde's story, her efforts to take on the bigotry of the various human forces, setting up a mutant community, battling with internal divisions and this final confrontation between her Utopia and Jean Grey's Tian. There are some similarities here with Marvel 616's  X-SCHISM (X-Men (Marvel Hardcover)) , Kitty being passive and Jean as aggressive.Basically Jean Grey is intent on being in charge of all Mutants and is not going to tolerate Utopia, there is a direct assault by Tian soldiers and bacterial bomb the latter intended to destroy The Seed which has now become sentient, communicating with Rogue. For the reader this communication is viewed only through Rogue's words and emotions. This is a very effective vehicle to convey the suffering and pain of a being whose nature we can only guess at; also a good ecological message. Alvaro Martinez's artwork is excellent in translating the bond between Rogue and The Seed.After this initial assault Utopia moves onto a war footing and the coolly efficient driven way this portrayed shows how battle-hardened this community can become when pushed. Storm is magnificent in aerial strike mode, Magma fearfully effective at creating `a bomb shelter' and Mach2 being back in the fold creates inter-continental mineral missiles. Colossus is back on board too. You really don't want to upset these folk from their peaceful ways.And so the stage is set for a head on clash. No more on how that works out, there are spoilers there. Only to say that aside from the aforementioned many characters get to have a chance to shine, even if it is only for one panel (I did like Armor standing guard with a Samurai outline of her power)Without giving anything away I would say this has the most realistic and clear cut out-come you are likely to get in a Super-Human comic. Some might say cop-out, but after 60+ years in the world a fair portion spent working in large organisations; also reading histories political and military I would say `Yep! That's the way it goes'I have a couple of quibbles:Jimmy Hudson's quitting Utopia and journeying to Tian seems a tweak contrived, but there again it does make a nice bit of drama.Jean Grey's turning point has never really been fully explained. However to be fair to Brian Wood in the Ultimate World there has only been one X-men Comic and a few specials. Now in Marvel 616 there are..err...3,4,5,6(?) separate books which gives more opportunity for development. Mind you on reflection in this volume Jean does seems to have a few flames comes out of her eyes, so maybe that pesky Phoenix?That aside, because it bears repeating, this has been a good tying up on a worthy arc, also leaving a few possibilities for later tales. If you have been following this one; very much recommended. If you haven't, I would suggest going as far back as  Ultimate Comics X: Origins  and take it from there. Ultimate Comics Ultimates: Divided We Fall - United We StandUltimate Comics X-Men by Brian Wood - Volume 1Ultimate Comics X-Men by Brian Wood Volume 2X-SCHISM (X-Men (Marvel Hardcover))Ultimate Comics X: Origins

i love Brian Wood's work but this isn't that great to be honest. hoped for better.