Marvel Comics threw open the doors of its new Ultimate Universe in yesterday's Ultimate Universe #1, though we were left with more questions than answers.
While Iron Lad and Reed Richards/Doctor Doom retrieved Captain America's frozen remains and retrieved Thor (and Lady Sif) from Asgard, the secret cabal of world powers The Maker used to control the world seemingly kills them all with a targeted satellite strike. With that, the Avengers/Ultimates are dead.
Well, probably not. Iron Lad powers up his armour moments before the blast, and we're guessing the plan is for that team to debut after the launch of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men.
Launching in March, the latter comes our way from Peach Momoko and will see the visionary writer and artist introduce a new generation of X-Men for the bold universe Hickman created.
In Ultimate Universe #1, we got a glimpse of Momoko's take on mutantkind in a special two-page Ultimate X-Men prelude story. Now, you can check out that right here along with never-before-seen design sheets for two of the series' stars: a new version of the young X-Man Armor, and Maystorm.
Hisako Ichiki is a teenage girl who just wants to live a normal life - go to school, hang out with her friends, ignore the political strife broiling over after the events of Ultimate Invasion - but life has other plans for her. In Japan, urban legends have sprung to life and brought some unusual new powers with them. Meet Armor, Maystorm, and a group of new Ultimate X-Men the likes of which you've never seen before!
Many of you will recognize Maystorm from Peach Momoko's X-Men #27 "New Champions Variant Cover" from last month. Those saw the industry's leading talent create all-new young heroes based on Marvel icons, with Momoko's take on a Storm protégé marking the first New Champion to make the exciting leap to the pages of a comic.
"I was very surprised, excited and happy that Marvel allowed me to introduce Maystorm in Ultimate X-Men," Momoko says. "She was made only for the New Champions variant cover program. I really liked her design and wanted to tell her story... but didn’t think I would get the opportunity this fast!"
Check out this newly released artwork below, and be there when Momoko reinvents mutantkind for the new Ultimate age in Ultimate X-Men #1 this March...
ULTIMATE X-MEN #1
Written by PEACH MOMOKO
Art and Cover by PEACH MOMOKO
On Sale 3/6