Ultimate X-men #2: Spoilers

[Malachi]

We start out with Hisako in her bed. Her eyes are wide open as she stares up on the roof. On the roof a black mass is spreadign like an infecting agent. As it goes for Hisako she cloes her eyes, the black mass now visisble on her skin, spreading from her hair to her eyes and mouth. Hisako dreams, reminsicing about a day she spent skipping school with Tusbasa. He tells her he doesn't want to go back to school, she calls it a punk rock attitude. She regerets not saying more, doing more. The darkness now infilitrates her dream self and forms a large eye, like a peacock feather, in the sky. Hisako wakes up, in her hand lies a crumpled up note.

Her mom reminds her about motorcycle riding class and also asks her to pick up some eggs for her. As she sits on some stairs a girl walks up to her. It's Mayastorm. She introduces herself as Mei and shows her a eletronic dog, it's a quirky introduction. Hiskao feels she can confide in her and she brings her along to a meeting that the note tells her about. The meeting is in an old abandoned school builing, all concrete and dark even on a sunny day. Before they enter we see the eye in the sky again.

Hisako tells Mei about her temple encounter. Mei thinks she is cool, like a super hero. Hisako then steps on what appears to be a stuffed animila toy. It makes a squishy sound but it appears to be dry at least. A cop notices them and scolds them for being in an restricted abandonded building. Togeter all three of them follows a dripping sound to a room adorned with notes and stuffed animals hangin like they are dead, with black liquid dripping from them. The shadow figure welcomes them and thanks Hisako for folling his note.

He informs Hisako that the three boys who bullied Tsubasa are the next ones to taste revenge. The cop is then revelaed to be made up of worms in a horror scene. He chases Mei and Hisako through the hallways. Mei then stops him using a gush of wind. Out of the cop the shadow figures appears and breaches her wind. Hisako then throws her eggs on him but that isn't what saves them. No that is her armored friend protecting them. The shawody figure dispers and Hisako mourns her mothers lost eggs.



We then follow the shadowy figure back to it's base, a normal japenese house. Inside a room filled with similair notes on the walls an overweight guy in his 20-30's removes a bucket helmet with connecting wries from his head. The helmet bears a noticible resemblances to a certain fez belonging to a certain king of shadows. He mumbles about knowing the girl from somewhere and then stares into the viewer as she says "Hisako". Still it's resonable to assume its' Mei he is tryign to remember and not the girl he set up a meeting with.

At the entrance cermoni for Irodori High School Hisako finds Mei, aprrently they are goign to be in the same class. Hisako narrates that the three boys who bullied Tsubase were found hanging at teh grounds of their old middle school. She rules out suicide.

We get Mei's full name: Mei Igarashi.

It's now set up for more students to join their gang in next issues as high school starts.

Review: Kind of a quick read. The art is great and very atmospheric but in some panels it feels less structured, almost rushed.

Mei and Hisako become friends in the way that people only do in stories were there is a lack of space to proper explore and interact. I'm trying to just role with it, accept it for what it is. The school scene is the best part of teh book. It's tense and wonderfully off. Teh shadow figure is less of a presence in this issue in the sense that he appears fully on fewer panels. Still his presence permeates the whole issue.

When it comes to Mayastorm I'm torn. It's not that she is handled badly but a lot of her introduction hangs on her being quirky and if the electronic dog scene doesnt' work for you she can fall a bit flat on her nose. Her gust of wind scene is cool as all power scenes are in this issue.

7/10 from me. I like what we get, even if it's not much so far.

EDIT: When I started this thread there were no other threads about the issue but juffuj5 created one during my write up. So moderators do what you feel works best with this one.

[Dizzystarr]

Why does this even bother calling itself "X-men" its just a dull manga that's trying to call itself x-men just because it has one mostly obscure character from the mainline as its focus

[H-E-D]

Great issue. This is shaping up to be one of the best series Marvel has put out in years.

[MarvelMaster616]

This issue basically retold the events of the first issue, beat for beat.

Hisako gets a mysterious hand-written letter, telling her to meet at some shady location.

She foolishly agrees...again.

The shadow monster attacks her...again.

Hisako wins the battle without even trying by her powers manifesting in a contrived, convenient manner...again.

And pretty much nothing changes or is even revealed.

At the very least, Mei seems to have a personality that is capable of more than one emotional state. But that's about it. Her presence really doesn't change anything, other than to momentarily delay Hisako's powers just winning the fight for her like they did in the last issue.

I honestly don't see anything to indicate that this is a decent Ultimate comic, let alone an X-Men comic.

[Malachi]

This issue basically retold the events of the first issue, beat for beat.

Hisako gets a mysterious hand-written letter, telling her to meet at some shady location.

She foolishly agrees...again.

The shadow monster attacks her...again.

Hisako wins the battle without even trying by her powers manifesting in a contrived, convenient manner...again.

And pretty much nothing changes or is even revealed.

At the very least, Mei seems to have a personality that is capable of more than one emotional state. But that's about it. Her presence really doesn't change anything, other than to momentarily delay Hisako's powers just winning the fight for her like they did in the last issue.

I honestly don't see anything to indicate that this is a decent Ultimate comic, let alone an X-Men comic.

It’s very tangible tied to x-men lore. Beyond Hisako there are just nudges and winks here and there. It seems more tied to japanese manga and high school mystery stories than the x-men. Even more tied to marvel seeing that Nico is front center for the next issue. I’m trying to enjoy it for what it is while I’m figuring out what that is.

It is a repeat in beats in many ways, just a ramp up. Involving Mei, adding more victims and revealing the nature of the shadowy figure. My biggest drawback is that beyond the art we aren’t getting very much. What we get is nice and good but still. I think it will definitely read better in trades.

[MarvelMaster616]

It’s very tangible tied to x-men lore. Beyond Hisako there are just nudges and winks here and there. It seems more tied to japanese manga and high school mystery stories than the x-men. Even more tied to marvel seeing that Nico is front center for the next issue. I’m trying to enjoy it for what it is while I’m figuring out what that is.

It is a repeat in beats in many ways, just a ramp up. Involving Mei, adding more victims and revealing the nature of the shadowy figure. My biggest drawback is that beyond the art we aren’t getting very much. What we get is nice and good but still. I think it will definitely read better in trades.

I get the magna/high school horror aesthetics and all. That's to be expected with Peach Momoko. But seriously...it's the same freakin' plot. No variation at all...in the second issue, no less. It doesn't just repeat in many ways. It repeats in every way. The only difference is Mei is present. But her presence doesn't affect anything. Her not being there would've changed nothing in that Hisako's powers would just manifest and win the fight for her like they did in the first issue.

Seriously, where's the mystery and intrigue here? If the main characters in this plot are just going to be doing the same crap over and over again, then this series is going to get really boring really fast.

[Mutant X]

Too little has happened for 40 pages of comics.

A manga volume usually has less content than a comic book issue, but they are released in shorter schedules.

[cranger]

I enjoyed the issue. It was a light read but that suits this stage of the story, although I hope we get a bit more substance as more characters are introduced and the story picks up.

[Rzerox21xx]

Am I a bad person if I take satisfaction in Tsubasa bullies hanging themselves and whenever I see bullies in fiction get extreme punishment for their actions. even if it goes beyond just the simple, bullying victim stand up to them and kick their asses.

[Malachi]

I get the magna/high school horror aesthetics and all. That's to be expected with Peach Momoko. But seriously...it's the same freakin' plot. No variation at all...in the second issue, no less. It doesn't just repeat in many ways. It repeats in every way. The only difference is Mei is present. But her presence doesn't affect anything. Her not being there would've changed nothing in that Hisako's powers would just manifest and win the fight for her like they did in the first issue.

Seriously, where's the mystery and intrigue here? If the main characters in this plot are just going to be doing the same crap over and over again, then this series is going to get really boring really fast.

It’s not that I don’t agree with you arguments. I just don’t feel the same I guess. Not sure why not, I just find myself more forgiving.

[Astroman]

This issue basically retold the events of the first issue, beat for beat.

Hisako gets a mysterious hand-written letter, telling her to meet at some shady location.

She foolishly agrees...again.

The shadow monster attacks her...again.

Hisako wins the battle without even trying by her powers manifesting in a contrived, convenient manner...again.

And pretty much nothing changes or is even revealed.

At the very least, Mei seems to have a personality that is capable of more than one emotional state. But that's about it. Her presence really doesn't change anything, other than to momentarily delay Hisako's powers just winning the fight for her like they did in the last issue.

I honestly don't see anything to indicate that this is a decent Ultimate comic, let alone an X-Men comic.

Yeah, I gave the 2nd issue a shot to see if it could win me over more than the 1st issue but, no. For what you mention above, mixed with my already not really digging the Manga approach, I'm out at this point.

Too bad. I was hoping for an interesting new Ultimate X-Men that would be more recognizable as such.

[D.Z]

It's cute. They should face Juggernaut and the Blob someday.

[juffuj5]

I wonder what do people want with this series? I guess for me, I got something I didn’t know I wanted, a horror themed superhero book with a whimsical artstyle, freed from so much continuity, and giving lesser known characters the spotlight. I also like how much the story integrates Japanese culture, the lexicons at the end of the issues so far are fun to read.

I’m glad it’s not too tied up with the Maker plot, being mostly disconnected makes this world feel more lived in cause there’s more going on than the Maker’s scheming. I’m sure the book will eventually get around tying into it, but for now I’m happy the book is trying out something that’s different but interesting. I love that this series is unapologetically itself.

[Kurolegacy]

Too little has happened for 40 pages of comics.

A manga volume usually has less content than a comic book issue, but they are released in shorter schedules.

Honestly that’s a big issue that I have with this series. Peach Momoko gives the series a weekly manga pacing but on a monthly schedule. As a result, after 2 months of this book, nothing has really happened. In a tighter knit story, a lot of these 2 issues could have been compressed into 1.

[Grunty]

Too little has happened for 40 pages of comics.

A manga volume usually has less content than a comic book issue, but they are released in shorter schedules.

Indeed.

Roughly speaking.

Monthly manga (usualy the seinen types for late teens to young adults) often have 30 to 40 pages per month, which get compiled in 5 to 6 chapter volumes, wheras weekly manga (usualy the shonen/shojo types for a young teen male/female audience) have 20 pages per week, resulting in 80 pages or 4 chapters per month, which then get compiled in 9 chapter volumes.

Furthermore many manga these days, what ever they are shonen, shojo or seinen are granted an extra long introduction chapter or "pilot" of around 60 pages at once, which allow to tell a full story, so that the reader can quickly get to know the central character(s), the theme of the story, the atmosphere of the setting and have one neatly wrapped up mini plot from the start.

At this point it's also primarily audience reaction which determines if a series is allowed to be given a full run or to continue until enough chapters have been compiled for a first volume. Since the magazine format does not allow to fully determine the profitability of a series on the first chapters alone.

In contrast the american monthly floppy system which this comic is being released under, is not only much more restricted in page count, hence the very compressed stories of the classic books, but also dictates that a series allready has to proof it's profitability within the first few issues, or get canceled quickly.

Especially with their disappearance from newsstands or magazine racks and move into the specialized comic shops, which couldn't write off large bulk purchases as easily as super markets, which in the past allowed books to "ferment" a while as back issues to find their audiences over time.

So what ever this is a manga or american comic the introduction story should have allready wrapped up last month.

Meanwhile this is half baked approach feels like it's not doing an allready more "experimental" book any favor.