Ultimate X-Men is a reimagination of the X-Men in the Ultimate Universe, by Peach Momoko. Starring Armor as the lead character, the comic has very few links to the classic X-Men characters and locations. Maystorm, another character from the series, was initially created as a variant cover for the X-Men comic.
Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko is the third comic released in the Ultimate Universe line, alongside Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Black Panther. It is a reimagination of the X-Men in general, and the Armor character in particular. The comic also introduces Maystorm, a character that Momoko designed for the variant cover of X-Men #27.[1] That cover was part of a larger project named "New Champions", which produced covers reflecting unexpected sidekicks of other superheroes as the recently created Spider-Boy; Maystorm was the first one to be used in an actual story, while the others would show up in the Spider-Woman comic.[2] Despite being an X-Men comic, the comic has very little in common with the usual products of the franchise. Momoko explained "My Ultimate X-Men isn't directly influenced by classic X-Men stories. I like to believe [Editor-in-Chief] C.B. [Beluski] and Jonathan Hickman chose me because they wanted something completely new and different, so I think sometimes no influences is a good thing".[3]
Hisako Ichiki attended Kirigaya Minami Middle School in Kirisaki City. She had a close friendship with her classmate Tsubasa, who gifted her an omamori depicting a person inside an armored figure. Unfortunately, Tsubasa was subjected to frequent bullying from both classmates and school staff, eventually committing suicide by hanging. This event led to her developing depression. She receives a note instructing her to go to the nearby temple shrine. There, she encounters a shadowy figure who returns the omamori that Tsubasa had previously given her and proceeds to blame her for Tsubasa's suicide before disappearing. Hisako rides her bike home and collides with a car, but is unharmed due to a psionic exoskeleton that resembled Tsubasa's omamori, seemingly manifested from herself. The local news report the car crash the following day, but her identity remains unknown.[4]
Some days later Hisako is approached by a girl who recognizes her as the one from the car wreck. She introduces herself as Mei Igarashi. Both go to the lab of an abandoned school as Hisako explains some of the previous events. They are confronted by the shadowy figure as Mei reveals her powers, summoning winds as they make the entity disperse. Later, they become classmates at their new school.[5]
When asked about her powers, Mei avoids the question while privately recalling the moment they first came up and how her parents reacted. Hisako introduces her to Nico Minoru, a fellow student whose parents are rumored to be psychics. As she turns to them, Nico claims to know about their powers, calling the two girls "Mutants".[6]
During an encounter with a former bully of Tsubasa that is possessed by the entity, Hisako and Mei use their powers publicly, which is filmed by onlookers. Despite Mei disabling most of the phones with lightning, the footage later gets uploaded on the phone of Noriko Ashida a few days later and becomes viral.[7]
Mei calls on Nico for a meeting with Hisako as she tells her about the shadowy figure. As the omamori is analyzed, the entity is summoned and repelled by the Staff of One. Later, Nico tells Mei about the rumors and urban legends regarding the term "Mutant", that a few are cultists who declare themselves superior to the human race and the next step of evolution. Mei suggests that the girls form a team to investigate the cult. They settle on the name of "X-Men" inspired jokingly by their bad grades.[8]
Nico shares her grandmother's research on the homo superior-worshipping cult known as the Children of the Atom as she supposes the stalker might be tied to the group. They are later attacked by a spiritual manifestation of Shinobu Kageyama, a member of the cult, who is physically still at his house. He is defeated by Hisako and his mother takes him to the cult's leader Maester to be healed.[9]
At the Temple of the Revealed X, Maester speaks in front of his fellow cult members. Noriko Ashida visits a female doctor who asks if she has been having any side effects with her gifts. Her phone is confiscated since it is prohibited in that area as the doctor tells Niroko that Shinobu Kageyama can't accept visitors right now. As Maester receives a message from the church while standing by Shinobu's hospital bed, he talks to Sister Sada about Shinobu's abilities. He is then informed about Hisako Ichiki, Mei Igarashi, and Nico Minoru's abilities and that they can be guided to their full potential. Viper visits Maester stating that his experiments are getting sloppy after another person has died and that Emperor Sunfire will not be pleased if this went public. Shinobu then wakes up mumbling Hisako's name as Maester and Viper get a psychic attack. Luckily, Viper was able to sedate him as she wonders if Shinobu is trying to reach of to Hisako Ichiki. At Idoromi High School during the new semester, Mei asks Hisako if she is going to tonight's Jugoya Matsuri. After being briefly bumped by fellow student Kanon Sainouchi, Hisako mentions that her powers are getting stronger. After a kendo session, Kanon visits her older brother Tatsuya who works as a police officer at the local police department. When an old lady reports on a suspicious item being found by the river, Kanon follows Tatsuya to the crime scene. They find a suitcase by the river and Kanon opens it to find a body inside. The following day in the afternoon, Tatsuya is visited at his apartment by Viper who wants him to sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding something that belonged to who she worked for. When Kanon finds Tatsuya cooking, he learns about the non-disclosure agreement as he tells her to forget about it. At the Jugoya Matsuri, Hisako and Mei are in attendance as everyone notices a black eye-like shape getting bigger.[10]
Chase Magnett from Comicbook.com points that the comic has little relation with the broader narrative of the Ultimate Universe, the usual X-Men tropes, or even the superhero genre. He thinks that the comic aims to expand the franchise's genre boundaries.[11]
Shaun Corley from Screen Rant points that the comic skips almost all the key characters and elements of X-Men lore, such as the X-Mansion and Sentinels, and characters such as Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine and Storm. He considers that, by doing so, Momoko focus instead on the core theme of the X-Men, that of people feeling lonely in a world that fears them.[12]