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Battle of the Elements in Ultimate X-Men #9 by writer/artist Peach Momoko, letterer Travis Lanham & translator Zack Davisson from Marvel Comics
Tensions are high in Hi No Kuni
Ultimate X-Men #9 builds even more on the tensions that have erupted in the land of fire. To recap, the Children of the Atom cult is in chaos after a suitcase containing the human remains of one of it’s members was found. Pictures of the suitcase were leaked to social media. And after it spread like wildfire, they have become the talk of town. The Children of the Atom can no longer exist in secrecy
The End of the World
Maester, the leader of the cult, found himself in a pinch when his congregation looked to him for guidance during this crisis. In the same way, when Maester reached out to Viper for help. Viper, a member of The Maker’s Council, had no solutions for him. In the end, Maester resorted to rallying his congregation by holding mass and preaching one last sermon. The world is now ending, according to Maester, and its time the mutants come out of the shadows.
*Minor spoilers for Issue #9*
New Universe, Old prejudices
The population of Hi No Kuni has developed a detrimental image of mutants. The vast majority of the social media buzz contains heavy tones of prejudice, negative opinions and just plane outright hate. As a result, the same hate a vitriol spills over into real life. Specifically, in Irodori High School. Hisako Mei and Nico are subjected to bullying by the other stundents. In fact, Hisako is physically assaulted.
The X-Men Fight Back
Because of the physical and verbal abuse, Hisako lashed out against the other students. Earlier in issue #8, Hisako also reacted in a physical manner against the harrasment by Ykio the influencer. Hisako is at the end of her wits. Discovering new powers, harrased by the Shadow King, discovering a cult, mutants and all the secrecy has taken a toll on Hisako. She is starting to lose her composure.
A Surge of Information
Finally we get some insight into the character of Surge. Noriko Ashida aka Surge, has been floating around in this series as a nonchalant character. Surge is friends with Shinobu aka Shadow and is a member of the Children of the Atom. Also, she was seen assaulting a “customer” with her powers and stealing from him after he beacme unconscious. That was the extend of this character’s developement until this issue.
From Victim to Victimizer
Unlike the other cult members, Surge is not in the dark to what really happens inside closed doors. The experiments that take place in the church, weather succesful or deadly, do not phase Surge in the very least. Noriko’s only focuse is herself, and the wallets of her customers. But her “honey trap” schemes runs into windy problems, if you will. Surge’s latest mark is Mei Igarashi’s own father.
Hi No Kuni Tea
After the chaos that Mei and the others have lived since the leaks, she decided to go back home to check on her parents. After having seconds thoughts, Mei she changed her mind. Later in the night, Mei spotted her father with another lady that’s clearly not her mother. When Mei confronts her father, she reckognized the lady with him. It was none othe the Femme Fatale, Noriko Ashida aka Surge.
Maystorm vs Surge
Unlike Mei or her father who were embarrased by the moment, Surge seemingly tried her best to escalate the situation by instigating and taunting Mei. Surge’s attention was no longer on stealing from her “mark”. Now that Mei was on her sights, she wanted to have mutant vs mutant brawl. Despite all Surge’s efforts, she lost the encounter after she lost control of her powers and Maystorm capitulized on the moment.
What about the art?
The aforementioned fight between Maystorm and Surge takes about 8 pages of this issue. From intial confrontation to the moment Maystorm is the clear victor, there’s an explosion of lighting, wind and colors all over each page. Since I am a fan, I always like to highlight the talent that Momoko posses in storytelling and depincting emotions. For instance, you will find there are quite the expressions in the characters. Weather they are in a cartoonish fashion, or in a dramatical manner. Peach Momoko conveys each character’s sentiment perfectly in her own style. Sticking to Japanese classic watercolors is what has separated Momoko from every other artist in this medium.
I give this issue a 9.5 out of 10
Ultimate X-Men has laid out for the readers a case study on the behaviors of cult members. For example, there are multiple examples, from the very top of the organization, to the “day-one” believers. At this very moment, it’s quite a contrast between the characters. We see those who are completly brainwashed, those on the dark who “drank the kool-aid” so to speak. And we see the other type of cultist, the ones who perpetuate the lies and actively participate in the cunning of the other vitims. Be it self preservation or not. Finally, I believe Peach Momoko is pushing a variety of plots that carry a single phenomenal story from alternate points of view.
