Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2: Children of the Atom

Ultimate X-Men (2024) #7-12

by Peach Momoko, Zack Davisson (Translator), Travis Lanham (Letterer)

Collects Ultimate X-Men (2024) #7-12.

Meet the mutants' new mentor, Psylocke! After recent climactic events and the surprise new teammate they found, Mei, Hisako, Nico and the mutants need some guidance! Fortunately, the mysterious Kanon is an older student with a surprising amount of expertise! But bigger questions What exactly are mutants? Where do they come from? And how has the Maker's Council been keeping them under control? All these secrets start to unravel as our heroes investigate a murder that, for some reason, the authorities keep covering up! Meanwhile, Shadow King advances his sinister plots! Maystorm and Surge are on a collision course! Viper enters the stage after a mass raid on the cult known as the Children of the Atom! And a seismic confrontation is coming!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Horror

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2025

Reviews

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am honestly disappointed with this series. Peach Momoko's drawings are superb, no doubt about it, but she is clearly a visual artist and not a scriptwriter.

The plot is more or less a succession of things that happen somewhat randomly. Characters appear for no apparent reason, utter a few lines, and then leave. There is a vague thread running through it all but cigarette paper thin so far...

So it's (very) beautiful but also very confusing in its narration.

I give it 3 stars: 2 stars for the script and 4 stars for the artwork.
I expected better.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a bit lost with this volume. Love the art. 2.25 🌟

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seem to think this is the only book I can remember where the art overwhelms the story.

a number of Characters are just indistinct for me and I spend a lot of time thinking I missed something..only for it to dawn on me it was in Volume 1.

[Khurram · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am just confused by this book. With Peach Momoko's art style, it is almost another universe within the Ultimate Universe.

A lot of exposer had some to the Children of the Atom. Who are they? What are they? With the young "X-WOMEN's" stories everywhere, I came away from this book more confused than when I started. Each chapter/issue finishes with some cultural information.

I was not sure about this series and was not going to get this book till Kanon was announced in this book, but even she could not save this book for me.

I love the other Ultimate books, but I really do not understand this one. This book finishes with a thumbnail varient covers gallery.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series would benefit from a binge reading, not monthly. Also, it's just too many characters. But the art is so pretty and I like the new angle we're trying. 3.5/5 stars.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little bit better than the first volume in that it's less disjointed and all the characters are recognizable now, but it's still a weird psuedo-manga with an unclear end destination. In this volume, the world knows about the Children of the Atom cult, which I guess is turning kids into mutants (and killing others). Meanwhile, the school kids from the first volume are just trying to hold it together and not like, 'roid out with their mutant powers.

The Shadow King-adjacent boy is still floating through the background, as is a Psylocke-adjacent girl. What their endgame is, I don't know. It's all very vibey and the art does little favors to the storytelling - though, again it's at least an improvement on the first volume. Still a skippable element of the Ultimate universe, which is unfortunate.

[Pruett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is such a guilty pleasure read for me even though it’s legitimately good and that’s disrespectful

[Carlos Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't understand why people are ranking this as mainly three stars. It feels like this Volume has evolved IMMENSELY from the first one.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Сюжетна арка «Діти Атому» — це продовження, у якому світ і герої вже не просто знайомляться з собою, а починають робити серйозні кроки, і ці кроки лунають гучно, як грім перед бурею. Якщо перший том був радше повільним, задумливим і атмосферним вступом у дивний, тривожний світ нових мутантів, то тут історія набирає обертів, розкриває нові таємниці й підштовхує персонажів до рішень, від яких залежатиме їхнє майбутнє.

У центрі подій усе ще Хісако (Броня), яка не полишає пошуків сенсу у трагічній смерті друга Цубаси та намагається зрозуміти, яке значення має загадковий омаморі, залишений ним. До команди приєднується загадкова Канон (Псайлок) — досвідченіша мутантка, чия поява вносить і нові знання, і нову напругу. Паралельно розкручуються кілька ліній: розслідування дивного вбивства, яке влада наполегливо замовчує; зловісні інтриги Короля Тіней; конфлікт між Буремною Мей і Хвилею; та розвиток сюжетної гілки про культ «Діти Атому». Усе це поступово сходиться в точку, де відчуваєш — великі події вже на порозі.

Момоко й далі поєднує знайомі елементи всесвіту Людей-Ікс з унікальною візуальною мовою та японським культурним тлом. Її сторінки живі — від тихих, майже безмовних сцен із сумом у кожній деталі до вибухів чистого жаху. Тут малюнок не просто ілюструє події, а зливається з ними в єдине ціле: колір, композиція та темп кадрів працюють разом, щоб передати і внутрішній світ персонажів, і атмосферу історії.

Герої також змінюються. Хісако стає більш зосередженою та рішучою, навіть якщо відповіді на головні питання залишаються туманними. Канон додає історії неоднозначності: її мотиви не до кінця зрозумілі, але очевидно, що її роль — підштовхнути команду до зростання. І загалом, у світі Момоко немає чіткої лінії між добром і злом, дуже багато сірого, як і особистостях, так і на сторінках.

Цей том робить світ «Ультимативних Людей Ікс» насиченішим, драматичнішим і більш інтригуючим. Він залишає багато загадок, але саме це і тримає увагу. Хочеться знати більше, занурюватися глибше. Піч Момоко продовжує створювати щось особливе, ігноруючи кліше супергеройського жанру та перетворюючи цих Людей-Ікс на унікальну, атмосферну історію, яку точно варто читати.

[Macqueron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un superbe volume X-Men, où se croisent les obsessions propres à la série d’origine (être différent signifie-t-il avoir à apprendre à se conformer aux autres? Apprendre aux autres à vivre avec soi en acceptant la différence? Vivre à part en exacerbant sa différence?) et un monde adolescent (âge de la vie qui se prête particulièrement bien à ces questionnements) jusqu’à ce qu’il a de plus sombre (suicide). Il me semble retrouver des traces d’Urasawa dans sa période 20th century boys. L’univers visuel n’est pas parfait, mais est très original. Vite la suite!

[Bertazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Momoko and Davisson have the perfect approach in how to create an unique X-Men story. It's new but it is X-Men to the core.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m assuming this volume is over, the last one said 1-4 so that’s me predicting this one is 5-8. This corner of the Ultimate Universe still feels so unconnected from the rest of it and I’m honestly so confused every issue. The stylized art makes it tough to keep up with an ungoing story because a lot of times it’s hard to see what’s happening. And there’s just a lot of characters who feel very similar that don’t get enough time on page for me to remember who they are and what they do and why they’re important. It’s not bad I’m just dumb and lost. It’s really pretty to look at though!

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea why this is being prompted as an X-Men comic. I’m done reading the series unless I hear a very good reason to tune back in.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

My response to the first volume was cautiously positive, but with this next six issues I’m starting to teeter towards indifference towards this series already. I feel like a quick glance of other reviews confirmed I’m not entirely alone in this — the art is satisfying and definitely the selling point here, but Momoko’s storytelling chops are just lackluster. The characters seem to just move from scene to scene without a lot to motivate them, and I’m often left unclear as to who is who (having a Mori and Nori as peripheral characters was a challenge for me) and whether or not the damages done emotionally and physically carry from story beat to story beat. Like Kanon…her brother died by suicide, right? In the eighth issue? Whose shoes were dangling when the mystery government/corporation woman showed up in that issue? Why did I read a further four issues and hit a volume ending with nothing clarifying any of that? How am I twelve issues in and still have no clear reason for Shinobu’s fascination with Hisako? When the rear blurb keeps calling him Shadow King to try to sell readers on these characters being more mainline X-Men, it just feels like there’s some disconnect between what Marvel is wanting this series to be perceived as doing and what Momoko is really accomplishing here.

[Joey's deathly tomes of death · Rating 5 out of 5]

People throw so much hate at this. I love the fresh take on X-Men. It's Ultimate, so it can be its own thing.
The art is beautiful, and the story is compelling.

The slow build-up to the Children of The Atom and the darkness of Shinobu twisting things up.
Natsu's powers awakened and caused some serious problems, and now no one knows where she is.
Now, the conflict between Mei and Hisako and Hisako's doubts about herself. The introduction of Kanon. This volume was so awesome.

To the people who are like #notmyXMEN, just remember that this is not 616. It has space to grow and be its own thing. There have been subtle hints that the X-Men are out there, Maystorm/Mei saw THE Storm on social media. Anyways, Peach Momoko is doing a great job at telling a dark story with mutants in Japan and their story and awakening.

Also, it's been fun finding the parallels to characters from X-Men.
Like Natsu, we know who she is a reference to. ^_^

I can't wait for the next volume, I know I could just read the issues, but I love these collected volumes.

[David Goldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story picks up the pace from the first volume. The various girls begin to come together and act more like a team. The interesting counterpoint is the children of the atom, who sometimes resemble Professor X’s school. There is an ambivalent relationship between some of the students and the girls who are on the outside. This intriguing series continues to captivate readers with its subtlety and surprises.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol. 2 of Ultimate X-Men continues the slice of life style while leaning more into a Junji Ito direction. I feel that the gap in time that has passed since I read volume 2 worked against some of this book’s impact on me, but I have yet to leave a Momoko book feeling disappointed.

[Rylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly how I felt about volume 1 so if you wanna read my in depth thoughts check that review.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to be really interested in what this book is and where it's going without being sure I know what's happening right now.

[Braden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is definitely better than people make it but still has its share of flaws. Things feel a little too disjointed.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peach can be a great artist and writer.

But again, this series still remains to be the weakest of the new Ultimate line.

Peach's art is great, but I just don't think it properly fits the story they are showing and trying to tell.

[Devonn Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how things are building up and mutants and humans are getting more separated by small events. But I will admit the pacing is noticeably weird.

[Fazun · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end of the first year of Peach Momoko's Ultimate X-Men series, and the most impressive thing for this run for me is that Momoko has continued to deliver on a monthly ongoing series without break whilst dropping banger art consistently. Sure, the story is a bit too elongated and winding at times, but overall the series has been enjoyable for me. Set in Hi No Kuni ("The Land of the Sun"), a region of the Earth ruled by the Emperor Sunfire, who serves on the Maker's Council. The previous volume exposed the Shadow King as a mutant belonging to the Children of the Atom, a cult that uses experimentation to study latent mutant abilities in young people. As the activities of the Children of the Atom start to become more known, our small ragtag team of mutants - Hisako Ichiki (Armor), Mei Igarashi (Maystorm), Nico Minoru and Kanon Sainouchi (Psylocke) - try to navigate the growing anti-mutant sentiments in Hi No Kuni.

This volume definitely marks a substantial progression in the series, with a bit more of a continuing narrative driving the story forward. The cast of characters remains relatively stagnant in this arc, so we get a bit more time to focus on characters like Psylocke, Nico, Viper and more. It's a little frustrating that the story is moving at a fairly glacial pace though, since the ideas in this book are strong enough to not require repetition and decompression. Nonetheless, Ultimate X-Men continues to be a fun addition to the growing new Ultimate Universe, and I'm intrigued to see how the story continues to develop in the next arc.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read the first 12 issues in one block, so review covers first 2 volumes]

I read the first few issues of Ultimate X-Men back when it debuted, and I let it drop for a while because there's not a huge amount of progression in those first few issues. It's definitely paced like a manga, so it takes a bit of time to get off the ground, but I do really liked what Momoko is creating here. It's not 'X-Men' the way you'd expect, but it's definitely got the X-Men spirit - kids entirely out of their depth trying to save a world that wants to kill them.

We get incarnations of Armour, Shadow King, Nico Minoru (not a mutant, don't worry), Surge, and Mister Sinister, with a few little references to the larger Ultimate Universe as a whole to keep everything linked together while allowing X-Men to do its own thing over here in Japan.

Momoko's art is obviously the draw - it's nice that it's in colour rather than black & white, and she's got both the expressions and the big 'fight' scenes down (they're not really fights so much as characters using their moves on one another, but they look pretty).

This isn't going to be for everyone, I know it. If it's your first exposure to this kind of storytelling, I expect it's not going to land the way you're thinking it will. But I enjoyed what I got - I just definitely think it reads a lot better in one go, rather than monthly.

[Riley Pilgrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good follow up to the first volume. Momoko is building off what she established, and seems to be going in a interesting direction. Hisako seems to be on a much darker and conflicted path going forward-which I do think is a cool twist. Is this all her? Is she mainly getting manipulated? Will her friends have to fight her? I hope this is all addressed in the next volume.

With that being said, I found that the pacing of this volume was rather slow. A lot of these big moments happened in the final issue, and at time I feel like Momoko has these filler issues that aren't adding much narratively. There is also a lot of jumping around in each issue, and because of that we can't really sit with these characters. There hasn't been much character building, or much development with that in this volume. Overall enjoyed, and excited to see what happens in volume three when I eventually get around to it.

[Nicholas Haney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I’m done with these series. Out of all of the Ultimate books, this one is the most inconsequential. They have a Storm, a Cyclops, and a Wolverine. The only problem is that there are already a Storm and Wolverine in the universe, so it feels like even Marvel doesn’t feel comfortable leaving this as the sole X-Men series of the Ultimate universe. The rumors of the Ultimate Universe ending at the conclusion of year two I feel are unlikely, but if any book were to be canceled, this definitely feels like the one that will. It’s just Mob Psycho 100 with the X-Men name slapped onto it. There’s even a Kageyama and a Ritsu in it. How common are those names in Japan? Do yourself a favor and skip this series. If this thing had just been its on universe and story, I feel like it would’ve worked out better for everyone.

[L · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've just checked her Wikipedia page to see what she had written before this series and turns out that nothing above 10 pages long.
It shows a lot here, she's learning as she goes. Story bits that go nowhere, characters come and go out of the book, and nothing has really happened in one year of publication.
Aesthetic over substance. And I'm kind because all of the art is not that good. A lot of empty faces, silhouettes, poor backgrounds and confused narration. Some would think it is a style, I think she cannot deliver her best work (because, yes, she is a amazing illustrator when given time) in the amount of time it takes to create an issue.
Well, she is learning and can only improve.
Marvel has a lot of faith in selling pretty pictures and in the Ultimate Universe.

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

read in single issues

the art continues to be so gorgeous, and as the issues shifted into darker territory, it really evokes this feeling of dread and horror. i couldn't take my eyes away. as for the plot, i felt like it went from 0 to 100 QUICK with just how creepy and sinister certain characters became. sometimes i felt like we were jumping from scene to scene too quickly, and some details, for instance, the background of the children of the atom cult, were glossed over or not fully elaborated on (maybe for a future issue?). overall, i am still intrigued by the plot and looking forward to where the series goes next. it's truly not like any other superhero comic i've read!