The Marvel line of comics seems to forget sometimes that the X-Men is a team made up of several variously powered mutant heroes. The way writers and publishers act sometimes, it seems like they believe the X-Men consists of Wolverine -- and some other folks.

That problem didn't take long to surface in the Ultimate X-Men line. Wolverine, by no means the central character in the books, appears solo on not one, not two, but three of the first three collected UX editions. (Maybe more; I've only seen the first three books to date.) C'mon, people! Either get some other people on the cover, or change the damn title to Ultimate Wolverine & some other guys and leave it at that. OK?

Rant over.

In this collection, the X-Men are relaxing after the threat of Sentinel action is over -- but Weapon X, the secret U.S. government organization that catches and surgically enhances mutants before using them in secret operations, wants Wolverine back in the fold. Unfortunately, he's not home when they come knocking on X-Men headquarters, but they're willing to settle for Cyclops, Storm, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman and Colossus instead. (Beast in particular is feeling blue by the end of their incarceration.)

A few more Ultimate variations on familiar Marvel characters make their appearances in this collection, from a suave Nick Fury to future X-Men Nightcrawler and Rogue and X-villains Juggernaut and Sabertooth. (Sabertooth, for some reason, changes appearances as the book progresses, and he's dumber than I remember.)

Return to Weapon X is a good story that furthers the development of the X-Men as a team, and it has some nifty military action throughout. Still, I have to admit that, two books into the series, UX isn't thrilling me the way Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four and The Ultimates have done.

Still, I'm willing to read on and see how it grabs me later.