“She needed you..”
Saying goodbye is not an easy task, and it sure wasn’t easy for Peach Momoko and Zack Davisson in this week’s Ultimate X-Men. For a total of 24 issues, Momoko and co. delivered what might be the last impactful coming-of-age story left in modern Marvel. At least the last one that had its heart on its sleeve.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Ultimate X-Men #24!
The main cast were a bunch of teenagers trying to fight back against the oppression spreading across the governmental body they’re trapped under and while they were unsuccessful in ending bigotry, they were successful at creating a singular community to make mutants such as them feel empowered enough to fight back. The messaging itself is quite beautiful and despite minor errors, the series knew how to pack an emotional punch as it was relevant to the rampant misogyny and abuse many women have to endure in these times.
What I find particularly striking about this issue is that it lets go of the superhero card to say goodbye. Barely any action, no bad guys coming to rue the day. It’s just Maystorm (Mei) in a world without her best friend whom she mourns as if Armor (Hisako) was something more. We see the world after Hisako’s death and we are greeted with the sad reminder that despite everything, oppression never dies so the response to that is a pill and an unusual sense of safety. Coming off of this, Momoko introduces the idea of Stardust, a pill that mutants wear around their necks so when they’re in danger, they have a quick way out, ensuring suicide for freedom.
Even outside of the overdoses that the pill causes, the necklace serves as a saddening identifier of mutants with one of the school girls gossiping about the necklace and the mysterious new figure ‘Yoru,’ the newest trendy mutant, saying:“They only sell Stardust to Muties. And only in person. They never ship it.” High school gossip used to be fun.
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Stardust can exist as many things. It could be the idea of the internet influencing the youth, it could be a sign of the youth submitting their whim to the tiring Neo-fascist states, provinces, and countries we live in, or it could be something deeper such as the rise of teenage suicides that have been impacting the world and Japan in the modern age. Whatever it is and what readers choose to read it as, it is the new reality and one that even found its way to Sister Grimm (Nico) and could’ve found it’s way to the missing cast members of Ultimate X-Men. Momoko doesn’t give any straight answers as to what Stardust is nor does she give the readers any true comfort in Hisako’s status as a living or deceased person, what she does present to the audience is a promise from Hisako, that, according to Amano (a character that haunts people more than The Phantom Stranger), he cannot fulfill just yet.
So great, what is the point of the issue? Is it a conclusion? It’s not. The actual conclusion of the Ultimate X-Men comes way later if Marvel’s often disjointed promotional material says anything. This issue is less a finale and more an attempt at saying to the readers “Hey, there is still hope for them. Just keep hanging on.” That right there, is what makes this final issue work for me. For decades, every single X-Men comic is about combating anti-mutant fascism that’s laced with racism, homophobia, misogyny, antisemitism, you name it. However, this is the first comic in X-Men history that wants to urge the readers to still have hope for these kids and that despite everything Hisako had a plan. I honestly couldn’t ask for anything better.
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It’s too early to say how the other Ultimate titles will end and I cannot predict how readers will feel about everything moving forward. What I can say is that this one of more unique ways to ‘conclude’ a series even with the ambiguous nature presented throughout this installment. Hell, ambiguity is what made this series! It’s a J-horror and mystery series that keeps readers on their toes even until the end. One day, everyone is going to look back on this series and go “How did they let this series print alongside comics such as Jeff the Land Shark?!”
Moving onto the art, Momoko succeeds at creating a dreary environment for the finale. The series thrived in darker colors and imagery, and this finale is no exception – the weight of everything at stake is uplifted by the cold undertones as even the high schoolers seen earlier in the issue are in cold classrooms with a gloomy atmosphere carrying the world around them. Back during issue #1, the cold atmosphere could be chalked up to Hisako’s severe depression and her grief of losing Laura Palmer/the girl Ella Purnell played in Yellowjackets/Tsubasa or as representation of how she sees the world as a young girl in a misogynistic society. I feel that the perspective change to Mei in this finale is what keeps the darkness present as she’s mourning the loss of someone she deeply cared for (we all love subtext).
Marvel
As for character design, Momoko continues to knock it out of the park with the design work for Yoru and the various mutants we see across this issue. There is a particular mutant that appears on page 11 named Reiko and the way her mutation operates is just one of those little design bits I love – she appears more animalistic, almost like a Yokai. It’s details like these that reminds the audience that, even though the book is ending, Momoko is still putting in the time and energy to produce some of the most unique re-imaginings of mutants.
In conclusion, Ultimate X-Men #24 is a fantastic and mysterious end to a thrilling comic run. Peach Momoko and Zack Davisson have put in the work to keep this series going strong as it managed to exist outside of the box it was put into. As mentioned earlier in the review, this series is, in my honest opinion, one of the last genuine coming-of-age comics on the stands and I hope it stands as an example of how to write and draw teenage heroes. In truth, teenagers don’t always want to see Spider-Man swinging through New York, they want to see kids being kids. Even if growing up is a bit painful.
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