Ultimate X4

Ultimate X4
Cover to Ultimate X4 #1. Art by Pasqual Ferry.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	monthly
Format	Mini-Series/Crossover
Publication date	December 2005 to January 2006
No. of issues	2
Main character(s)	Wolverine, Iceman, Shadowcat, Fantastic Four, Rhona Burchill
Creative team
Written by	Mike Carey
Artist(s)	Pasqual Ferry Leinil Francis Yu

Ultimate X4 is a Marvel Comics miniseries, set in the Ultimate Marvel universe outside the mainstream continuity. It features a crossover between the Ultimate X-Men and the Ultimate Fantastic Four. This miniseries is the first canonical team-up of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four in the Ultimate Marvel universe. The arc consists of two parts, UX4 #1 (December 2005) and UX4 #2 (January 2006).

Story

The X-Men receive a seemingly alien distress signal and fly away with the Blackbird to track it down. Only Wolverine, Shadowcat and Iceman remain at the X-Mansion. In the meanwhile, Rhona Burchill, the Mad Thinker, raids the understaffed X-Mansion and steals Cerebro, and manages to frame the Fantastic Four for this crime.

Rhona reveals that she was contracted by Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) to steal Cerebro and turn it over to them. After being paid for her work, Rhona betrays and kills the AIM operatives sent to retrieve Cerebro, since her true intention was to use Cerebro's technology to increase her intellect even further.

The X-Men trio raids the Baxter Building and fights a surprised and angry FF, but they are easily subdued. Burchill then reveals herself as the true culprit and gloats how vastly Cerebro has enhanced her mind, allowing her to take control of peoples' minds and even machines. Mister Fantastic states that Rhona's mind control abilities have increased frighteningly, and modifies the suits of both teams to provide makeshift psi protection. The X-Men find out that the alien message was bogus, and that Rhona's psi barriers have increased drastically. The X-Men trio and the FF reluctantly team up against the Mad Thinker. Rhona is able to find a way around Reed's modifications and take control of everyone except him and Wolverine, but Reed beats Rhona by reprogramming Cerebro so that instead of gaining ultimate knowledge, Rhona would gain ultimate empathy for others instead. When she tries to flee, Wolverine sabotages her plane, and it explodes. The X-Men and the FF part ways amicably.

Trade paperback

As with all currently published Marvel Comics, Ultimate X4 has been made available in trade paperback form. Titled “Ultimate X-Men Ultimate Fantastic Four”, the trade paperback also comes with the Official Handbook of the Ultimate Marvel Universe #1-2 inside, which gives details on many characters in the Ultimate Marvel World.