In the pouring rain, Hisako once again is confronted with demons from her past. But this time she’s taking the fight to them. Your Major Spoilers review of Ultimate X-Men #4, awaits!
ULTIMATE X-MEN #4
Writer: Peach Momoko
Artist: Peach Momoko
Colorist: Peach Momoko
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 12th, 2024
Previously in Ultimate X-Men: Japanese high school student Hisako aka Armor and her new friend Mei aka Maystorm, have been investigating a demon that has appeared. Another student Nico Minoru has revealed that she knows the pair’s mutant secret.
RAIN, MOTORCYCLES, AND DEMONS
Ultimate X-Men #4 starts with Hisako and Mei feeling excited having just finished their final exam. Hisako says she can’t hang out that night because she has to ride her motorcycle to pick up dinner. While riding home in the rain Hisako sees a young man that she thinks she recognizes. Things then flash forward to her arriving home. She gets her old yearbook and is able to identify the boy she saw earlier. Things then flashback to right after Hisako first sees the young man. He approaches her and starts demanding answers for the strange things from past issues that have been happening to other members of their class. She turns away from him, but her bike suddenly malfunctions thanks to the appearance of a severed head coming out of the engine. She sees that the demon has emerged from the young man. She uses her powers to fight him before a crowd emerges with cellphones at the ready. Mei appears and uses her powers to fry all the phones, except for one student who doesn’t seem to be bothered by the display of power.
FIXING PAST PROBLEMS
This series has been plagued with pacing issues and odd sequencing since the first issue. Thankfully, those problems haven’t shown their faces in Ultimate X-Men #4. In fact, there’s even some clever story composition that manages to accomplish a few things in a pleasing way. Specifically, the use of a flash forward and then flashback is especially effective. By constructing the issue this way, Momoko gets to give both the main character and the reader an important bit of information, while also allowing for the dramatic climax of the issue to be the reveal of another possible mutant. It’s kind of like a literary example of having your cake and eating it too. Also, this series has been in desperate need of an expanded cast, and it appears that we’re getting just that. Hisako is a fine character to center things around, but without having people to interact with and to create intrigue, things were starting to get flat, but the reveal at the end is a nice jolt of intrigue much like Nico’s reveal was the last issue. Also, I just wanted to draw attention to the little bits that Momoko has been putting at the end of each issue that not only go into bits of Japanese folklore, but give small insights into youth culture, and bits of Hisako’s history, which have been fun to read, this issue in particular had a good selection of these little tidbits.
GETTING RAIN RIGHT
The defining feature of Ultimate X-Men #4 is that most of the scenes take place in the middle of a downpour. This is also where the art shines the most. Momoko utilizes a very subtle technique of adding a light-colored aura around everyone who’s standing in the rain. This creates the illusion of raindrops hitting people and then exploding into imperceptible droplets, mixed with the grey background that looks like it was done with an overly wet watercolor, it gives the whole issue a sort of obscured look, without having to actually hide any of the subjects.
BOTTOM LINE: THE BEST THIS SERIES HAS BEEN
The things that happen in Ultimate X-Men #4 aren’t exactly monumental when it comes to the series as a whole, but the way that they’re presented here shows cleverness and attention to the needs of the series in a way that hasn’t been shown before. It might not be flashy, but there’s no denying that this is simply a well-constructed comic book that also happens to have some wonderful art that captures the setting in a wonderful way. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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Ultimate X-Men #4
Ultimate X-Men #4 might not go down as a pivotal issue in this series, but so far, it’s proven to be the best constructed one. Also, Momoko’s art feels made for depicting rainy days, which it does beautifully here.
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Writing8
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Art10
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Coloring10
At a young age, Jonathan was dragged to a small town in Wisconsin. A small town in Wisconsin that just so happened to have a comic book shop. Faced with a decision to either spend the humid summers and bitter winters traipsing through the pine trees or in climate controlled comfort with tales of adventure, horror, and romance, he chose the latter. Jonathan can often be found playing video games, board games, reading comics and wincing as his “to watch” list grows wildly out of control.