Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko vol. 2: Children of the Atom

Who are the Children of the Atom?  They’re a cult led by a man calling himself the Maester who believe that they’re the next step in evolution thanks to their leader’s experiments on them.  In actuality, the Maester is trying to produce mutants for Emperor Sunfire and his enforcer, Viper, is breathing down the head cultist’s neck for results.  Oh, and his prize mutant Shinobu is also starting to act out on his own agenda too, which involves using his powers to find his beloved Hisako.  Meanwhile, Hisako has been working with her friends to get to the bottom of the weird stuff that’s been happening to them, not realizing that it’s all going to find her sooner rather than later.

If nothing else, the cratering of expectations I experienced after reading the previous volume establishes a very low bar for vol. 2 to clear.  Which means I did appreciate the nods to the other “Ultimate” titles, fleeting as they were, as it’s now at least conceivable that this title is taking place in the same universe as them.  Momoko continues to have a strong face game with her characters and it’s always neat to see how she’ll have them emote from page to page.  The overall art is also distinctive and that’s generally a good thing.

And, uh… that’s all I got.  The storytelling continues to be incredibly basic in its story of kids with special powers versus an evil cult.  It also manages to feel very haphazard, jumping from event to event with very little buildup.  This means that events that should’ve had some weight to them – a group of mutants revealing themselves to reporters, the title’s “Cyclops” character showing what her powers can do – don’t hit nearly as hard as they should.  Worse still is that the characters feel incredibly simplistic with barely-there personalities that are driven by the plot more than anything else.  The unofficial word is that this series is set to run for twenty-four issues (two more volumes), but what’s here has me feeling that I should just cut my losses now rather than see how it all turns out.