Ultimate X-Men has been one of the more unique titles that Marvel has published this year. And not just unique to the Ultimate Universe but the entire Marvel publishing line. That has been thanks to the creative style Peach Momoko has brought to the series. The storytelling in both her writing and artwork are unlike any other comic book. It has given Ultimate X-Men a special quality that has added to how each title in the Ultimate Universe line are creatively distinct. The question with this title is how much longer are we going to go without the X-Men team formed? Thus far the focus has been on the duo of Ultimate Armor and Maystorm. Will Ultimate X-Men #4 add more to the cast to form a full team? Let’s find out.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Peach Momoko
Script Adaptation: Zack Davisson
Letterer: Travis Lanham
ULTIMATE X-MEN #4 SOLICIATION
“NEW MUTANTS! Hisako and Mei’s classmate, Nico Minoru, has figured out that these two girls possess unusual abilities… But they’re not the only ones! Hisako’s world gets a whole lot bigger in ULTIMATE X-MEN #4!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
Four issues into Ultimate X-Men you are either along for the ride or not. There is no rush to get to the “To Me, My X-Men” moment. That may or may not come down the line. This title falls more in line with its Spider-Man and Black Panther siblings by being a character study on its cast and world. That is certainly the case with Ultimate X-Men #4 as Hisako Ichiki, aka Armor, is the focus character.
After the last couple issues deviated more to develop her new friendship with Mei Igarashi, aka Maystorm, and Mei’s backstory, this issue was a Hisako story. Specifically, Ultimate X-Men #4 gets us back to the Tsubasa story once again. This time around we learn that Tsubasa’s bullies have died one-by-one under mysterious circumstance.
The reaction Hisako has to learning about this as the reader you also have shock over learning all this. Having the body of the last remaining bully used by the Ultimate Shadow King made things even more personal. Ultimate Shadow King wasn’t just simply trying to kill Hisako, they were looking to destroy her mentally and physically.
Which all further played into the way Momoko has utilized the horror genre into this superhero world. The way Ultimate Shadow King displays all its abilities were terrifying. It was made even more horrific seeing as it appears everything we saw in the Armor vs Shadow fight was mental. Tha is hinted at with how a crowd of kids from Hisako’s high school appear when she opens her eyes after closing them for a few seconds when Shadow’s attack became too much to handle.
This development with kids recording Hisako’s Armor powers revealed did a lot to the world building of Ultimate X-Men. This once again highlighted how the concept of mutants isn’t widely known in the Ultimate Universe. The kids initial reaction wasn’t that Hisako was a mutant rather something strange was going on with her. Which gave another chance to have Ultimate Nico Minoru hint at the concept of mutants is known enough to not be completely new.
This development with Hisako’s powers being revealed provided an important moment to show how much Mei values her friend. Mei did not think twice about using her weather powers to protect Hisako. The fearlessness Mei showed in also having her powers revealed further solidified her friendship with Hisako. Now that at least Hisako’s mutant powers is being spread on social media there is a path to her and Mei forming the Ultimate X-Men rather than keeping it to themselves.
While there was a lot of great things in Ultimate X-Men #4 this is the weakest the art has looked thus far. Momoko style is still excellent, and when she is choreographing Armor vs Shadow King and Maystorm use of her powers the high quality that is expected is here. But because the expectations have been set so high it is more noticeable when certain pages aren’t as well detailed. Specifically, opening few pages visually looked rush with the character faces. It did not take away from the overall comic book but is certainly noticeable because of the high bar Momoko has set for this series.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ultimate X-Men #4 does a phenomenal job continuing the Shadow King storyline and having big developments for Hisako Ichiki. The way this issue concludes creates a lot of intriguing possibilities the direction this series will take from here. It all once again highlights why the unique comic book reading experience Peach Momoko has created is must-read.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
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