Ultimate War is an excuse for a three-way slugfest between the Ultimates, the Ultimate X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

With evil mutant leader Magneto clearly alive and back on a murderous rampage, the government-run Ultimates target the X-Men -- whose leader, Charles Xavier, led them to believe Magneto was dead -- for extermination. This leads to a series of running battles that, frankly, leave it highly improbable these two superteams will ever team up in the future.

One might question why the government doesn't target the Brotherhood instead -- but then again, one might wonder why the U.S. government invaded Iraq, too. Why ask why? Unfortunately, the story has its problems, particularly when key battles -- Iron Man vs. Colossus, Thor vs. Storm -- are left unresolved for no good purpose.

Important combat scenes are brief, although the short match between Wolverine and Captain America takes a surprising turn.

Chris Bachalo is also not the artist I'd have chosen for this book, at least not until he tightens up his style a bit.

Ultimate War collects an Ultimate universe miniseries into one volume and injects it into the ongoing Ultimate X-Men series of reprints. It's a vital cog in the ongoing storyline, but it's a chapter that deserved better attention.