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theelectronicstranger · 4 months ago

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Ultimate X-Men #5 and #6 Discussion

Ultimate X-Men #7 comes out today, so I thought I’d finish talking about the last two issues of the first arc of the series. If you have not read Ultimate X-Men #5 and #6 then please look away now because I will definitely be spoiling things for you.

To make this discussion a bit easier to read and easier to write for me, I’m going to split this discussion into two halves: “The Villains/The Antagonists” and “This Universe’s X-Men”

The Villains/The Antagonists

The first thing I want to talk about is this page from Issue 6:

This page actually confirms that the person we’ve been seeing for the last few issues is in fact this universe’s version of the Shadow King. I actually kind of like that they revealed it this way because I don’t think that revealing that this guy was the Shadow King in such a big way would have made sense for this universe specially since this universe has no sense of who the Shadow King is and why he would be a threat. I also feel like for new readers they won’t really understand why this person might be a threat just from his name and I think Momoko in this first arc has done a really good job in showcasing why Kageyama/Shadow King is a threat without really giving us parallels or showing us who the Shadow King is in the main Marvel universe. I’m excited to learn more about this character and the weird cult that he seems to be mixed up in in the next arc of this series. We find out in issue 6 that Kageyama has some sort of obsession on Hisako and that’s why he’s been following and stalking her these past few issues:

It seems that Kageyama/Shadow King has some sort of infatuation with Hisako and has this idea of her that is very clear in his head. That’s why in issue #6, when Hisako is fighting against him, he starts to lose it:

The wording he uses on that second page “My Hisako--- doesn’t talk like that!!!” confirms for me that he does have some sort of infatuation/obsession with Hisako. I think this tracks for this version of Shadow King. If I’m just going by his design, he looks like a typical shut-in otaku that would normally be obsessed with an anime girl or a Japanese idol, but in this case, he’s obsessing over Hisako and he also has the power to get in touch with her whenever he wants, which makes him terrifying as a stalker. I really want to know how his obsession started. He says in issue 5 that they went to the same middle school together, but I want to know what about Hisako made him want to latch on to her.

Kageyama and Hisako Went to the Same Middle School (From issue #5):

Also, Kageyama seems to know the truth about what happened to Tsubasa. In the start of issue #5 we see him watching a video of one of Tsubasa's bullies, the one we see from issue #4, point a knife at Tsubasa:

Yes, we can say that this is could have been the final straw that made Tsubasa want to take his own life, but I feel like there’s something else going on. Especially, since Kageyama is watching this video. I feel like he knows more about what truly transpired the day Tsubasa died, and we’ll find out more about it in the next few issues. I don’t think he would have kept this video if there wasn’t something more. My guess is that these bullies were the people that actually killed Tsubasa rather than him taking his own life. Or that Kageyama saw Tsubasa being bullied and decided to make him take his own life through his powers. I’m not really sure but those are my main theories so far.

We also get more information on Surge/Noriko Ashida in issues 5 and 6 of this series. It seems that both her and the Shadow King are from the same cult. Also, she seems to be some sort of sex worker that uses her powers to fry her customers brains, so they can get off?:

I don’t know how else to explain this but that seems to be what’s going on here. This guy seems to be a regular customer of hers. This actually makes her seem terrifying to me, especially with her facial expression on the second page there. It seems like she doesn’t mind hurting other people to get what she wants and unlike Kageyama, she is very confident in what she can do to other people, which make her a very formidable enemy to our newly formed X-Men. I definitely am looking forward to seeing more of her in the next arc.

I want to talk a little bit more about this cult. I really like the idea that the Children of the Atom is a cult in this universe. It definitely makes more sense that this X-Men story takes place in Japan because there have been a lot of issues with cults in Japan as of recently. In fact, the last Kamen Rider reboot, Shin Kamen Rider, kind of explores this problem as well with Shocker’s cult-like behavior. Anyways, I’m really interested in finding out who is behind this cult and who this person is being crucified in their base:

My guess was that it’s Wolverine (Logan) because they seem to be using this person’s blood to heal people and Wolverine has a healing factor and has a lot of ties to Japan as well, so that’s where my mind first went when I saw this crucifixion. Also, there’s always this cover of Uncanny X-Men #251 that was featured in Deadpool and Wolverine months ago that made me think it is him:

In regard to who might be the leader of this cult my first guess was Scott Summers because every time I see the swirling X Mark as their symbol it’s made me think of him in his black after Avengers vs X-men costume when I see it:

The Children of the Atom Swirling X-Mark:

Cyclops Costume After AvX [From Uncanny X-Men #1 (2013)]:

The reason why I’m thinking it’s Cyclops besides the costume is because I’m not convinced that it would be Magneto or Xavier that would be the leaders of this cult because I think it would be too easy to guess that they are. Also, I think The Maker, while perverting this universe, would have wanted to ruin the leader of the X-Men by turning him into the leader of this cult. Those are my reasonings so far. I don’t really have proof. I have not read issue #7, so if I’m wrong then forget this. Although if it is Magneto or Xavier, then I’m willing to think that the leader of this group would be magneto just from how much the term “homo superior” has come up regarding this cult.

This Universe’s X-Men:

We see the formation of this universe’s X-Men in issue 5 through Nico Minoru and Mei Igarashi:

I like that the main reason why this team has the letter “X’ on it is because Mei has bad grades, and it has nothing to do with the X-Gene. I don’t know how anybody else feel about it, but I like how unserious this whole thought process was. Yes, this is definitely informal and it’s at a stage where it’s just an idea being floated around but I think this could be a very interesting team. So far, we have Hisako (Armor), Mei Igarashi (Maystorm), and Nico Minoru as the key members of this group with Mori and Natsu Tsukishima maybe being part of the team as well. The reason why I’m unsure if Mori and Natsu are joining is because we don’t really know about them much yet. We actually don’t even know if they have powers yet. All we know is that they’re part of the Children of the Atom cult through their parents. I actually still want to know if Mori is this universe’s version of Molly Hayes. The reasons why I’m thinking that she is this universe’s version of Molly Hayes is because: Molly is a mutant in the main universe; she was first introduced in this universe with Nico Minoru, who is part of the Runaways in the main universe; and she keeps wearing bunny ears, which is what Molly would definitely wear. If she’s another character, then ignore this but so far, I think she’s this universe’s version of Molly Hayes.

Speaking of Nico Minoru, we get to see more of what she’s capable of starting in issue #5 when she does a reading on Hisako’s Armor Omamori:

So, it seems that this Nico Minoru also has the same powers that her main universe counterpart has and hopefully we find out more about what her power is. We’ll probably find out more about it in the next arc, but I wonder if in this universe Nico is a mutant rather than just a straight up sorcerer. Maybe she has some sort of psychic powers that is not dependent on the Staff of One. Also, regarding this scene, I really love how the Shadow King’s power is represented, and I like how Nico Minoru’s powers are represented as well, like she’s a mage that is casting this evil spirit away. I think that’s why Nico Minoru was chosen to be part of this series because her powers are supernatural in origin and this book has had a really big supernatural vibe ever since it started.

I want to talk about Hisako a bit because she’s really grown since the first issue of this series. In the first issue, she was very much lost and devastated due to what happened to Tsubasa and the guilt that came with that. She cut herself off from the world around her, but in issue 6, we start seeing the more confident side to her. She’s taking a more proactive approach with dealing and fighting Kageyama/Shadow King:

She knows that she has people now; she’s no longer alone and therefore she can take on her demons, whether it’s the inner or the outer ones, with their help. I also liked that as soon as Kageyama stepped in Nico and Mei immediately took a fighting stance with Hisako. They look so much like a team on that first page, and it definitely made me want to see this team more in the future. These two pages felt like a teaser of what this team could be, and I am more than excited to see what they become.

I have really enjoyed Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko so far. I’ve said this in the first issue discussion, but I really love that she is doing the art and writing for this book because it gives this book uniformity and consistency that I don’t really see with other books; especially, with the X-Men books. Her art feels like it’s just another extension of her writing and because her art isn’t this traditional comic art, it feels refreshing every time I’ve picked up an issue of Ultimate X-Men in the past year. Also, she really knows how to utilize the space between her art because she uses her borders on a page to tell the story as well, which I love. Her J-Horror and supernatural choice for this book is really inspired and it just helps draw me in to this book. This first arc has been so fun to read. The only reason why I didn’t write this discussion sooner was because I was feeling burnt out on writing, but I wanted to really compliment her work because I’ve enjoyed it so much, so I forced myself to write this now as issue #7 is coming out. I really do hope that people keep picking up this title because I think it is one of the most intriguing comics currently out now for Marvel and maybe with the other publishers as well. This book to me definitely feels like it’s pushing the envelope on what they can get away with in a marvel book right now and it’s refreshing to see that, so please support this book if you can.

Thank you for reading this discussion. I’d love to know what you think of this title so far and if there were anything I might have missed while discussing these two issues. Or if there were things that I just did not talk about clearly. I tend to write these really quickly, so if I was confusing then let me know. Have a great day! Thanks again!

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