“Hisako. Wait for me.”
October. Ultimate X-Men hits that landmark 20th issue this month, and while other creators would choose to have a fancier break to celebrate that success, Peach Momoko brings readers a more down-to-earth issue as the hunt for Kageyama continues.
Continuing off of the previous installment, the X-Men regroup as they listen to the haunting messages of Sun-Emperor Yoshida as he speaks of his concerns about the “children of the future,” creating fear amongst civilians about the mutants born in Asia. The X-Men watched, listened, and they found themselves entering into dangerous territory with the Sun-Emperor and his assassin Viper.
Marvel
I found that what makes Momoko’s usage of the extended mythology built by Deniz Camp and Jonathan Hickman strong is that she’s much more natural about everything. Her slower sense of pacing, while conflicting to some, is a prime example of Momoko enforcing a slow sense of dread into the readers and characters; additionally, the real-time storytelling works in her favor because of it. Political struggle is a slow and daunting takeover, thus it has to feel like it.
Furthermore, Momoko’s usage of Viper is fantastic. Her connection to the team’s loudest member, Kanon, has continuously been some of the most entertaining of the series, but it reflects how unsafe everything has become for members of the core X-Men.
It doesn’t matter if Silver Samurai went after the team because Viper will find them everywhere unless they stop her. For Kanon’s development, it slowly allows her to realize the situation at play and begin to rethink her often careless behavior, which for a hyperactive Sukeban is quite hard to do.
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Spinning off of that, Momoko’s art continues to stun readers with busy city streets, heavy action, and some of the best horror design I’ve seen in modern superhero projects. Momoko knows how to make a world feel big – that is one of the best compliments I can give a comic artist, as there can be many factors as to why there could be a lack of people roaming the streets and sidewalks of a city. Everyone has places to go and places to be; it’s never visually boring.
Additionally, Kageyama debuts a new design that is a striking homage to the actual Shadow King but has a horrific twist that gives him a signature style amongst the previous Shadow King iterations throughout the character’s history in comics and TV.
In conclusion, Ultimate X-Men #20 is a fantastic issue that advances the story at play while setting up future encounters for our favorite cast of failing high schoolers. To give Momoko props, this is one of the stronger landmark issues I’ve read in a while; I can’t wait to see what she has in store.
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