The Religious Affiliation of
Saluki
 

From: CharleyX, "Ultimate X-Men #22", on the Mutatis Mutandis: The Online Division of the Xavier Institute website (http://mutanthigh.com/alternatex/ultimate/xmen22.html; viewed 18 December 2010):

Ultimate X-Men #22

Synopsis & Review by CharleyX:

Synopsis: Pakistan. Sumatran, a rhino-shaped member of the Brotherhood, plows through Pakistani soldiers on his way to destroy the defense bunker of a nuclear arsenal. Quicksilver urges him on, but Sumatran crashes into the building and is knocked un conscious. Quicksilver is fuming about not giving Sumatran a better helmet, but the other members note that he accomplished his task. Bug-ish Brotherhood members with jet packs (?) fly into position, as the spider-like Orb-Weaver ties up more soldiers with his line. As Prosimian covers the other Pakistanis, Quicksilver disarms and ties them up, then zips into the bunker, through the security systems and shuts them down. Wanda levitates the nuclear missiles away, and the mission is accomplished. Quicksilver hopes that the mutants who recently left the Brotherhood are watching their success.

Later, Pietro is recording a message to the world, but he keeps getting frustrated and speeding past the teleprompter. Prosimian moves to the other room, where he expresses his displeasure with the current Brotherhood leadership. A bug-girl under a magnifier wonders why they don't blow anything up if they're supposed to be terrorists. Prosimian thinks Wanda and Pietro have let the notoriety they've gotten distract them. Saluki, a dog-boy, thinks they should still be loyal to the Brotherhood, who freed them all from being experimented on by humans. Prosimian would agree, if only the Brotherhood would do what it was supposed to and get them some revenge. For the current missions, he could have joined the X-Men. Another bug-type member agrees - the new "animal evolutionaries" outnumber the human-looking members of the Brotherhood by a 3 to 1 margin. Kathleen, the bug-girl, is particularly fed up with the Blob, and Prosimian assures her that the situation is only temporary...

At the Xavier Institute, Charles is trying to reassure Jean that her therapy and medications will stop the visions again, and that she's not going crazy. He tells her to be more concerned about Beast, who's been moping around since he broke up with Storm, and even more depressed since Iceman's lawsuit started. Charles asks Jean to include him more in the students' activities. He asks the same for Wolverine, stunning Jean a little. Charles simply says that Wolverine still has not controlled his temper, and that he's still the most dangerous mutant on the planet, so playing games with him would be... unwise.

Down in the Map Room, Kitty is phasing in and out of everything as Cyclops studies a map. She wonders if "Shadowcat" would be a cool codename, and Scott tells her to go study. Not interested, Kitty inquires about what Cyclops is looking at. It's the layout of the Savage Land, which is now off limits to everyone, except that the government lost contact with their men there, so the Prof offered to send Cyclops and Colossus to check it out. Kitty wonders if Professor X would let her go, but of course, Cyclops says the answer is no, given Mrs. Pryde's restrictions. Kitty asks if he's worried she'd sue him like Iceman did, then realizes that what she said was harsh.

Wolverine enters and wonders aloud if Scott's just worried that he'd take advantage of Kitty, given his "conquest" of Jean. Cyclops wants to know why Wolverine isn't with Storm covering a hostage crisis in Philly, but Logan shrugs him off. Then Scott smells alcohol on Wolverine, and warns him to sober up before Xavier notices. Wolverine gives him attitude, and pushes Scott regarding Jean. As Kitty watches in shock, Cyclops warns Wolverine, but Logan notes that Jean started getting headaches after hooking up with him, so maybe she's missing Wolverine. He whispers into Scott's ear that sooner or later, Jean will come back to him.

And Cyclops decks Wolverine (lefty, too!)

Scott tells Kitty to get Xavier and tell him to put them both in detention, just as Wolverine hits him in the groin. Kitty scrams, and Wolverine strips off his shirt and gets ready for the big beat-down. He pummels Scott heavily in a few short seconds, but Cyclops isn't beaten as he reaches for his glasses and blasts Wolverine through a wall. Meanwhile, Kitty's running through the upstairs floor (literally) and tells Peter and Jean what's going on. Down in the Map Room, Cyclops stalks Wolverine and tells him to stay away from Jean, but gets no response. He looks into the hole in which Wolverine fell, and suddenly hears the sound of Snikt! as Wolverine leaps out with a feral yell.

Then Wolverine drops to the floor. Xavier has arrived, and took control of Wolverine's mind. He demands to know what Scott was thinking, already knowing that Cyclops threw the first punch. Scott says he's not afraid of Wolverine, but Xavier says he should be, and is very lucky that he hadn't left for Magneto's rehab session yet. Otherwise, Scott would be very dead right now. Charles is very disappointed, and puts both Cyclops and Wolverine in mental detention, slowing time overnight so they can think about the way they acted.

As Xavier leaves the room, Kitty shouts out to him that Jean's having another attack. Jean is curled in fetal position, with little goblins raining down all over her!

Review: A very solid issue, though obviously less development of the main arc than I would have liked. Still, Millar comes up with some great side plots to keep us nice and distracted. Here's what I liked:

• Millar FINALLY introduces some new Ultimate-only characters. I have been waiting for this for so long. As I mentioned a few reviews back, Ultimate X-Men just seemed to be rehashing old stories, and updating them for the modern world, and not even always doing that. So what was the point? Well, introducing the "animal evolutionaries" as a new sub-group, with all-original members, was really cool. It's so true that the X-Men (with the notable exception of Beast and to some extent, Angel) have always represented baseline mutants, who look fairly normal but have powers. These "animutants" are really very physically different, and you can easily see how that might build tension, especially since they were probably heavily abused as Saluki mentions. And I LOVED Sumatran!
• Also neat how Millar is transitioning Wanda and Pietro over to the Ultimates. (Maybe that's why #7 is so delayed? They're not ready yet in this book?) It even seems that all of Pietro's talk about mutants taking over is just for sound bites, not because he's actively pursuing that goal.
• I liked the return of the "badass" Wolverine. The Wolverine described by Jean when she and Scott were in Russia was so not real. I mean, it was, but to a point. Logan does have the honorable samurai aspect of his personality, but only when he thinks it will get him somewhere (in the "game" as he called it last issue). Millar's really pegged him now by showing that when he's been hurt, he just gets drunk and gets mean.
• I was also glad to see Cyclops give as good as he got. Nice to know that Slim's not a panty-waist here.
• Cerebral Detention is a great concept! I love it when Millar throws in these little tidbits that show a real application of mutant powers in a teaching environment. Very, very cool.

What I didn't like - not much, I guess. Only that I want to see more of Jean, the Phoenix, and the Hellfire Club. Also, will we see Nightcrawler in the arc named "Hellfire and Brimstone?"