Ultimate X-Men #3 Review

Written by: Peach Momoko, Zack Davisson
Art by: Peach Momoko
Colors by: Peach Momoko
Letters by: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover art by: Peach Momoko
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: May 15, 2024

Ultimate X-Men continues Hisako’s growing friendship with Mei, recounts the first time Mei learned she had powers, and brings a Runaway into the series.

Is Ultimate X-Men #3 Good?

Patience is a tough quality to come by in this high-stimulus age of social media and constant information bombardment. The more this era proceeds, the harder it becomes to exhibit patience.

Ultimate X-Men asks for… Nay! Ultimate X-Men demands an unreasonable amount of patience for anyone expecting the story between the covers will at some point remotely resemble the name “X-Men” on the title. I don’t know what direction Peach Momoko was given to create an Ultimates version of the X-Men, but if the output is any indication, the direction went something like this: “Just write a Manga in any genre, style, and pace you want. It doesn’t need to connect to anything or have anything to do with the X-Men. Oh, and take your time. We’ll sort it out in a year or two.”

Despite the appearance of two mutants, this isn’t an X-Men comic. This is very, very far from anything remotely resembling an X-Men comic. Make of that what you will.

Ultimate X-Men #2 catches up with Hisako and Mei as they timidly get to know each other. In a flashback, Hisako remembers a strange boy with glasses who may or may not be the person we saw at the end of the last issue controlling the shadow.

Then, we get an extended flashback about the first time Mei’s powers manifested during a dispute with her parents that turned violent.

The issue ends with the appearance of Nico Minoru (from the Runaways) stubbornly refusing to participate in a game of dodgeball.

That’s it.

“Huh? What do you mean? How can that be it?” you might wonder. I’m not kidding. That’s all that happens. After three issues, I couldn’t tell you the plot, what’s going on with the shadow, where this story is headed next, or how many decades it will take at this pace to create something loosely resembling the X-Men.

What’s great about Ultimate X-Men #3? Mei’s flashback to the first time her powers manifested is a well-done bit of drama. That’s about it.

What’s not so great about Ultimate X-Men #3? This isn’t an Ultimates comic. This isn’t an X-Men comic. This isn’t even a Marvel comic. I don’t know what Hickman and the editors were thinking.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Ultimate X-Men #3 continues to be one of the most baffling creative endeavors Marvel has released in recent years. A creator is tasked with creating an Ultimate X-Men comic, but instead, produces a manga with a glacially slow plot that has almost nothing to do with the Ultimates or the X-Men. There’s no reason for this comic to exist.