Mystique by Brian K. Vaughan Ultimate Collection

When I picked this up, I was intrigued that Mystique had her own series. Even though she is one of the "bad guys" in the X-Men universe, I do find her intriguing. This series has Mystique up to her neck. She has made enemies around the world, and they all want her head. So, she makes a deal with Charles Xavier to be one of his clandestine agents: people who can do some sensitive missions that will not be traced back to Xavier or the X-Men. In exchange, she gets protection.

The collection is a pretty entertaining series of spy stories where Mystique uses her skills. Usually the tales involve helping mutants in some way. They are pretty good for a quick entertaining read, but there is no major substance here. It's light entertainment. show more What I wish would have been better was the art. Some of the art in the series is just not that good compared to other works I have seen. Also, the art in the series stood in contrast to the cover art, and the cover art was often a lot better. I tended to find myself wishing, "why didn't they have that cover artist do the series. It would have allowed the character to look better." So my big issue this time around was the art. The stories are ok. Personally I liked the story taking place in Cuba where she is helping children as the regime is preparing to use Sentinels against the local mutants. It just caught my eye. And by the way, what would spy stories be without some double crosses? But I will leave the readers to discover those.

So, overall, I did like it. It was a nice, easy read. I think fans of X-Men will probably like it, at least the casual readers. And I will certainly look for the next collection, hoping things will stay interesting. show less