Marvel Releases Never-Seen-Before Artwork for Peach Momoko's Upcoming Ultimate X-Men #1

By Chad Burdette

on February 2, 2024

Marvel Comics’ bold new Ultimate line is in full swing with readers still buzzing about Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and Bryan Hill and Stefano Caselli’s highly-anticipated Ultimate Black Panther #1 hitting stands next week.

The excitement increases tenfold in March when renowned writer and artist Peach Momoko brings the Children of the Atom into this thrilling new storytelling landscape in ULTIMATE X-MEN #1!

ULTIMATE X-MEN is the third launch in Marvel’s new ULTIMATE line that was born out of Hickman and Bryan Hitch’s ULTIMATE INVASION series. The saga began with the Maker, one of the final survivors of the doomed Ultimate Universe, travelling back in time on a parallel Earth to create a world without heroes. He succeeded in preventing various iconic heroes from achieving their destiny and ruled this world in secret through various global factions.

Set in Japan, ULTIMATE X-MEN will star Hisako Ichiki, AKA Armor, a fan-favorite young X-Man who debuted in the groundbreaking Astonishing X-Men. When she discovers her unusual exoskeleton powers, the new Ultimate Universe’s Armor’s normal life is shattered as she becomes the first of a new generation of mutants! Witness the X-Men mythos like you’ve never seen before as Momoko blends the classic mutant metaphor with Japanese folklore and urban legends. The resulting saga infuses horror into the franchise’s trademark mutant origin stories as Armor must overcome her darkest fears in order to unlock her full mutant potential.

Now, he’s vanished and a secret war has broken out across the planet to shape what will happen to his kingdom. Some want to control the world. Some want to free it. In Japan, new mutants emerge with no one to teach them. Who will step forward to guide the hated and feared?

Momoko told AiPT Comics in last week’s X-Men Monday column:

“At first, I was worried about being chosen for such an important project, but the more I draw and write the series, the more confident I am with my own vision of ULTIMATE X-MEN,
ULTIMATE X-MEN isn’t directly influenced by classic X-Men stories. I like to believe C.B. [Cebulski] and Jonathan Hickman chose me because they wanted something completely new and different.”

Behold the magic that awaits in the new ULTIMATE X-MEN #1 trailer, featuring never-before-seen artwork including a new look at Maystorm, the Storm-inspired character who Momoko created for last year’s New Champions Variant Covers and who will debut within the series!

Filled with modern takes on classic Marvel ideas and characters, the new Ultimate Universe is ripe for rich storytelling and a perfect evolution of the Ultimate brand. See it grow and develop in upcoming issues of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER, and ULTIMATE X-MEN along with more Ultimate titles launching in the months ahead, including an all-new ULTIMATES.