Ultimate X-Men #68
	Story Title: 'Date Night' (Part 3 of 3) Writer: Robert Kirkman Penciller: Tom Raney Inker: Scott Hanna Colorist: Gina Going Letterer: VC's Rus Wooten Production: Kate Levin Editor: Ralph Macchio Publisher: Dan Buckley Published by: Marvel Comics
	Reviewed by: Bruce Logan

This issue, the third with the new creative team, was a bit of a mixed-bag, not by itself but by the way it tied into the arc, not to mention the lofty proclamations made in the solicitations. I say this because, although it brought an end to the ‘Date Night’ arc and established the set-up for the upcoming ‘Phoenix’ arc, it fell short on certain levels and seemed kind of rushed…if not held back.

Resuming from where the last issue left off, with five separate sub-plots (Charles-Lilandra, Bobby-Rogue, Scott-Jean, Logan-Ororo and the mysterious male mutant), it elaborated (in detail) on the first and the last of these five, while Bobby-Rogue and Scott-Jean got shuttled into one panel each, but given their screen-time in the last two issues, it was acceptable. After all, they couldn’t just show them ‘doing the deed’. While the newcomer (Elliot Boggs) will get more exploration later, it was Charles and Lilandra who were the stars of the show, with an interesting take on the Shi’ar and their links to the Phoenix, and (rather surprisingly) to the Hellfire Club. They too will get more into the picture with the next arc.

As for Wolverine and Storm, they had their hands full (or so it seemed) with Sabertooth and his startling revelation in the last issue. I say seemed because, while the build up was impressive, the actual fight kind of watered down to a couple of slashes and a lightening bolt, courtesy of Storm. However, even then, they did manage to get a couple of intriguing plot openings there, both related to Wolverine’s forgotten past. One, the veracity of Sabertooth’s words, and the other….well, for that you will have to read the issue.

The only people who seemed left out were Kitty, Piotr and Kurt, with Kurt not even appearing here. Just as with the supposed Bobby-Rogue thing (not good for Iceman), the (more in common than they suspected) Piotr-Kurt subplot also fizzled out. Well, they weren’t all that impressive anyway. As for Kitty, she is seen more in the ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ series than here….don’t know how long that will last, but as long as it does, I for one support it, provided she doesn’t lose her spot/space here.

Although I will follow the next arc too, I am a bit at pause with Robert Kirkman’s work….but am still giving him the benefit of the doubt. Just hope that he would get his plots, a bit more well-defined.

Conclusion: Hn. Acceptable. Could have been better.

RATING: 7/10