“I’d say you’re far from being a true Homo Superior.”
With the Maker almost out of The City, the Ultimate Universe continues to unravel itself as the universe’s central heroes struggle to break the chains of their lives, or survive off of cafe dishes if you’re 6160’s interpretation of Rogue. As the Maker prepares for his escape, Peach Momoko and Zack Davisson return to the region of Hi No Kuni in this newest installment of Ultimate X-Men.
Our creative duo resumes focus on Nico after her infiltration into the pseudo “mutant version” of the Happy Science religion/cult, The Children of the Atom. In truth, this issue has some of the best character development for Nico thus far as we see her more rebellious sides and attitudes towards others while she tries to find Hisako. This was a much-needed change of pace as Nico, who, while well loved in the series, hasn’t had a proper focus yet with her most telling character information being written on her character design sheet and not yet expressed in the main story proper.
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As usual, Momoko’s storytelling is wonderful and contains elements of late-career Tezuka, specifically MW, which she uses to the best of her advantage. Every installment has something to say about the ongoing mystery, whether it’s the torture of Hisako or the emotional dissection of each focus character. She relies on the dark truths of these kids and their actions as they break the chains to their own individualistic freedom. I feel that Momoko portrays a certain rawness with teenage characters that hasn’t been seen since Chris Claremont’s years on The New Mutants.
In a very Claremont style, Momoko gives us an action-heavy sequence between Nico and Noriko that, while fun and delivers a strong panel sequence between page 16 to 21, also showcases unrevealed elements of Nico’s personality and a closer look at how her Staff of One is used in combat. Her slower pace through the series allows for each fight scene to feel engaging as the tensions and suspense are already high. Which, as mentioned above, is a mixture of Tezuka and Claremont’s sense of storytelling.
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On a more technical note, as a nod to 616 Rogue being a southern belle, Davisson has taken the lead to write similarly with a heavy emphasis on Futaba’s usage of words such as ‘y’all.’ While this normally wouldn’t be an issue in most cases, it just doesn’t make sense in the larger aspects of Southern Vernacular and the more complex dialects that it’s created. We know that the cast speaks Japanese in-universe, so it just doesn’t feel realistic, which causes an issue regarding the heavy emphasis on realism of race and language within the Ultimate Universe. Aside from the more unusual aspects of it, the heavy usage of ‘y’all’ feels very distracting on page since it’s the one Southern term she uses.
Believe me, this wouldn’t be that much of an issue but I am Southern, I speak Southern Vernacular on a daily basis and know enough of Louisiana Creole to get by. I feel that Futaba should have her own dialogue quirks to lean on at the end of the day, especially since she already exists as a subversion/expy to the original concept.
Following from that, the strongest compliment I can give this installment is how Momoko’s art feels way more refined than the previous two issues. Now for most artistic errors, I admittedly do not critique artists that much, especially writer/artists. However, you can usually tell when Momoko is busy with other comic work during the development of an issue. It could be Netease locking her in their basement to draw a new Marvel Rivals design, or it could even be a special set of variant covers.
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To put it simply, this is expected of a superstar artist and it is refreshing seeing her back up to speed artistically with this newest installment. Even the great Dan Mora comes across issues such as that with his habit of retooling panels. Comic books and manga are a game of cutting corners – I would never judge an artist for that.
In conclusion, Ultimate X-Men #16 is a wonderful installment that manages to deliver strong character development and moments all while continuing to use the horrifying clinical atmospheres that were used in the previous chapters. I feel as though Momoko and Davisson have struck gold with this series and have the most ground to stand on alongside Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man. I can’t wait to see what happens to these girls next.
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