Ultimate X-Men #1 Review

Marvel’s Ultimate line of comics began at the turn of the century to create a fresh start for its heroes, whose decades of continuity could be intimidating for new readers. But it also allowed for bold new directions to be taken. Now there’s a new Ultimate Universe, and while titles like Black Panther and Spider-Man have given us fresh, but recognizable, versions of those heroes, Peach Momoko has delivered something completely unique to Marvel Comics and superhero storytelling with Ultimate X-Men #1.

The issue focuses completely on the character of Hisako Ichiki, known in the main Marvel Universe as Armor. She first appeared in Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men run as a student at the Xavier Institute, but her origins were never explored. In the Ultimate Universe, we are introduced to a young Hisako on the cusp of middle school graduation. She’s alone, she’s bullied, and she has a family that is too busy to notice. So naturally, all it takes is a note calling her a friend to get her to go into the woods alone. What she finds is a darkness in human form that blames her for her friend’s suicide and speaks of curses and vengeance.

This is not a typical superhero story to say the least. A more accurate comparison would be toward a horror story told in Japanese manga. Thematically, this isn’t as wild a jump in genre as it might seem. X-Men stories and horror manga have often dealt with similar topics such as adolescent transformation, body horror, the supernatural, and ostracization from society. Even the sensitive topic of Hisako’s friend’s suicide is an echo of her first arc in Astonishing X-Men, where her friend Wing kills himself after losing his powers. No, what’s most surprising, and rewarding, about this story is how much we start exploring the interiority and complex emotions of Hisako.

Much of that emotion can be deduced just by looking at the art. Momoko’s aesthetic is so soft, yet carries so much power. Hisako is drawn as slight and vulnerable, which makes the emergence of her “Armor” power that much more striking in comparison. And the shadow figure, almost certainly this universe’s Shadow King, is a frenetic figure of black scribbles with two bloodshot eyes; an unsettling juxtaposition with the rest of the comic. It will be fascinating to see what this world looks like as it expands and adds more mutants into the story.

It will be interesting to see if and how Armor’s story will overlap with someone like Spider-Man or Black Panther. Are we going to see Hisako drawn in a more traditional fashion if she crosses over into another title, or are the Avengers going to leave the X-Men to their own problems? (Sounds like The Avengers to me) Those questions will inevitably be answered. But for now, Peach Momoko and Marvel can say they achieved what the first Ultimate Universe was built for all those years ago: a fresh, new take that may inspire someone who’s never read the X-Men, or maybe any comic before, to try it out.