Ultimate X-Men (2024)

*Ultimate X-Men*
Ultimate X-Men
	Ultimate X-Men #8
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	HorrorSchool;
Publication date	March 2024
Main character(s)	Ultimate X-Men
Creative team
Created by	X-Men by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
Written by	Peach Momoko
Artist(s)	Peach Momoko
Letterer(s)	Vc Travis Lanham
Editor(s)	Wilson Moss

Ultimate X-Men is a reimagination of the X-Men in the Ultimate Universe, by Peach Momoko. Starring Armor as the lead character, the comic has very few links to the classic X-Men characters and locations. Maystorm, another character from the series, was initially created as a variant cover for issue 27 of the 2021-2024 X-Men comic.

Editorial history

Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko is the third comic released in the Ultimate Universe line, alongside Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Black Panther. It is a reimagination of the X-Men in general, and the Armor character in particular. The comic also introduces Maystorm, a character that Momoko designed for the variant cover of X-Men #27.^[1] That cover was part of a larger project named "New Champions", which produced covers reflecting unexpected sidekicks of other superheroes, such as the recently-created Spider-Boy; Maystorm was the first one to be used in an actual story, while the others would show up in the Spider-Woman comic.^[2] Despite being an X-Men comic, the comic has very little in common with the usual products of the franchise. Momoko explained "My Ultimate X-Men isn't directly influenced by classic X-Men stories. I like to believe [Editor-in-Chief] C.B. [Beluski] and Jonathan Hickman chose me because they wanted something completely new and different, so I think sometimes no influences is a good thing".^[3]

Plot

Hisako Ichiki attends Kirigaya Minami Middle School in Kirisaki City. She can manifest a psionic exoskeleton, a power that awakens in traumatic circumstances regarding Shinobu Kageyama and his Shadow King form. Other students, such as Mei Igarashi and Nico Minoru, have powers as well. Mei has weather-based powers and is a fan of Storm. Nico has magic-based abilities. They find out that they are mutants, and that there is a cult of mutants called the Children of the Atom led by Maester who go after them. Their activity also catches the attention of Kanon Sainouchi and her police officer brother Tatsuya when a briefcase with human remains are found and Tatsuya had to sign a non-disclosure agreement from Emperor Sunfire's minion Viper. As Natsu Tsukishima manifests an eye beam from her right eye while protecting Mori, Armor meets Chimone from the 8-Chome Channel. Maester tells the Children of the Atom that it's time to step out of the shadows as Noriko secretly live-streams the event. When one of the followers asks if the world is coming to an end, Maester quotes "Yes".^[4]

Reception

Chase Magnett from ComicBook.com points out that the comic has little relation with the broader narrative of the Ultimate Universe, the usual X-Men tropes, or even the superhero genre. He thinks that the comic aims to expand the franchise's genre boundaries.^[5]

Shaun Corley from Screen Rant points out that the comic skips almost all the key characters and elements of X-Men lore, such as the X-Mansion and Sentinels, and characters such as Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine and Storm. He considers that, by doing so, Momoko focuses instead on the core theme of the X-Men, that of people feeling lonely in a world that fears them.^[6]