Cover: Peach Momoko

Ultimate X-Men #12

Apr 2025 · Marvel · 4.99 USD

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About this Issue

Ultimate X-Men #12 (Vol. 2, 2025) delivers the climactic confrontation between Maystorm's newly formed team of masked mutants and the Shadow King — a collision that pivots the series' entire first arc toward its emotional core. The issue is significant as the point where Shadow King fully possesses Hisako Ichiki/Armor, making her a weapon against her own allies, and drives a rupture between the two central characters of the book: Armor and Maystorm. Within the broader landscape of Marvel's second Ultimate Universe, it marks a turning point in a series that stands apart from every other X-Men book by transplanting mutant-fear allegory wholesale into a Japanese supernatural-horror register, demonstrating that the X-Men concept can sustain a complete genre reinvention.

writer, artist, inker, colorist Peach Momoko · writer Zack Davisson · letterer VC's Travis Lanham · cover Peach Momoko

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $4

CGC 9.8 · 6 in census $62*

CGC 9.6 · 1 in census $30*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

The series was conceived by Peach Momoko — who plots and illustrates the book in what is functionally a manga-production workflow — with Zack Davisson, an award-winning translator and Japanese folklore scholar, handling the English script adaptation. Momoko's approach drew directly on her Demon Days saga, which reframed Marvel characters through Japanese folklore; the series was also confirmed to be inspired by anime and manga titles including Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Serial Experiments Lain, Kamen Rider, and Devilman. Maystorm herself originated not in comics narrative but as a design Momoko created for a variant cover on the mainline X-Men #27 (2023) as part of Marvel's 'New Champions' project, before being elevated to series lead in the Ultimate line.

Trivia · 8 facts

Released February 26, 2025 (cover-dated April 2025); 32 pages; rated T+; published under editor Wil Moss and assistant editor Michelle Marchese, with C.B. Cebulski as Editor-in-Chief.
Written and illustrated by Peach Momoko, with English script adaptation by Zack Davisson and lettering by VC's Travis Lanham — the same creative team that has helmed every issue of the series.
The issue's central plot event is Shadow King (Shinobu Kageyama) fully possessing Hisako Ichiki/Armor, turning her against her teammates during Maystorm's assault on the Shadow King.
Kanon Sainouchi (Earth-6160 Psylocke) appears in cameo — she is this universe's reimagining of Kwannon and is notably the first instance in Marvel publishing where Kwannon has been given a full Japanese given name and surname.
Natsu Tsukishima — the series' Ultimate Universe analogue of Cyclops — is referenced by mention only (not physically present), continuing her arc as a character whose fate is unfolding in the background.
Three variant covers were solicited alongside the standard Peach Momoko cover: a 1:25 incentive variant by Salvador Larroca, a standard variant by Jim Mahfood, and a standard variant by Peach Momoko.
The story is set entirely within the series' unique geography of Kirisaki City in 'Hi no Kuni' (Japan), a self-contained setting that has no physical overlap with the rest of the Ultimate Universe's New York-centric titles.
The issue is part of the arc collected in the series' third trade paperback ('The Realm of the Mind'), which covers the Shadow King possession storyline.