10 Pieces of Art That Show How Disturbing New Ultimate X-Men Franchise Will Be

Writer/artist Peach Momoko is a full-fledged star at Marvel Comics and her incredible work will be on full display in the new Ultimate X-Men series. Her distinct art style marries the cute and the grotesque, all while using elegant watercolor brushstrokes. After the success of her critically-acclaimed alternate universe X-Men series, Demon Days, Momoko will be taking on a flagship title with the upcoming relaunch of Ultimate X-Men.

Readers got a taste of what Peach Momoko has in store for Armor and the other mutants in a two-page preview at the end of Ultimate Universe #1. Her style can be very visceral and gory, belying the genteel beauty of her techniques.

In anticipation of the new Ultimate X-Men series’ arrival on March 6, 2024, Screen Rant is showcasing some of Peach Momoko’s most disturbing artwork from her career so far at Marvel.

10 Despite All His Rage, the Mayor’s Chained From Being Luke Cage

Variant Cover for Luke Cage: Gang War #2

Chains have been part of Luke Cage’s look from his very beginnings. One of his creators, John Romita, Sr. said they evoked a reminder of slavery, and within the story, they were a symbol of him breaking free from an unjust prison sentence. In Marvel’s Gang War, however, Luke Cage is no hero-for-hire; he’s mayor of New York City. His political problems can’t be solved by punching, and even if they could, the anti-vigilante law ties his hands. This cover is less gory than some of Momoko’s work, but still disturbing: it feels like Cage is staring at the viewer with a wild-eyed intensity, testing if his teeth are also unbreakable as he dares to chew through chains. Peach needed to convey a desperate man trying to save his city as it burns with one image, and she understood the assignment.

9 Laura Kinney’s Wolverine Leads Her Team Into Danger

Variant cover for X-Men (2019) #18

This issue sees the former X-23 (and current Wolverine) Laura Kinney investigate the Children of the Vault in South America. Her team is made of two mutants with the perfect skills to supplement her own: Darwin and Sync. They’re not sure what they’ll find in the Vault, just that time moves very differently there, so they need to stick together and keep their wits about them. Momoko’s variant cover art renders Wolverine as a feral child, flanked by wolves, all three hunting as a pack. The blood soaking their claws and teeth is foreshadowing for the violence that erupts when Laura’s team finds their marks in the issue.

8 Peach Momoko Goes Rogue

Nightmare Variant Cover for X-Men (2021) #29

Rogue is an X-Men fan favorite, though her powers often make her feel like an outcast. Peach Momoko draws her here as a living body facing decay, sprouting fungi and deadly plants as centipedes circle her. Rogue sees herself as toxic, and is often one of the mutants interested in being “cured” of her mutant abilities so that she can reach out and touch other people without giving them a death sentence. Though Rogue doesn’t appear in the contents of this issue, the X-Men who do are struggling to find any allies in the world, as if all mutantkind is poisonous.

7 Demon Days Was Peach Momoko’s First X-Men Story

X-Men: Demon Days (2021)

While the artist doesn’t shy away from anything others might consider gross or gory, an important part of what makes her art unforgettable is how she centers those things. Peach Momoko’s X-Men: Demon Days merged Japanese folklore and X-Men mythos to turn Marvel characters into oni, youkai, and ninja. Here, as main character Mariko finds out she’s not an ordinary human girl, her grandmother performs a spell that makes Mariko throw up a key. Momoko’s style goes over the top during the sequence – the grandmother’s eyes bulge out when her face is enveloped in shadow, and Mariko’s cheeks blow up like a frog’s as she vomits. This squash and stretch adds to the body horror.

6 Mystique Starts an Inferno

Variant Cover for Inferno (2021) #1

The culmination of Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men run, Inferno saw the mutants dealing with an impending crisis on Krakoa. Peach Momoko interpreted the impending doom with a portrait of Mystique, half in light so bright she’s on fire, and half in a shadow so dreadful she looks like Death itself. As this issue ends with Mystique resurrecting her longtime lover and precognitive mutant Destiny, and adding her to the Quiet Council against the wishes of both Professor X and Magneto, she’s earned the sneaky, demonic visage she has been given here. As invincible Moira McTaggert and Orchis ramp up their plots against the X-Men, Mystique’s specific powers were more important than ever, even if others would condemn her for her actions.

5 Peach Momoko Takes the Hellions to Limbo

Variant Cover for Hellions #18

The X-Men’s own Suicide Squad, Hellions starred outcast mutants under Mister Sinister’s guidance. Even though Krakoa was supposed to be a haven for all mutantkind, forgiving anyone for their past crimes, the Hellions in their final issue were put on trial, threatened with the Pit of Exile. As the Quiet Council wrestled with their personal senses of justice versus needing to show the world they could be trusted with punishing their own, another world-changing event happened: Madelyne Pryor was resurrected. In this variant cover, the Goblin Queen almost looks cute: her face is all big eyes and lips, surrounded by a cluster of curly red hair, with somewhat childlike proportions. As is often the dichotomy of Momoko’s art, her cuteness becomes threatening as she stands atop a pile of skulls and eyeballs, as if riding directly into Limbo to retake her throne.

4 The Most Disgusting Weapon X Experiment

Nightmare Variant Cover for Wolverine (2020) #40

The Weapon X experiments made Wolverine the man he is today, but they were horrific and excruciating, wiping away his memories and leaving him searching for the truth across decades. However, in most depictions of his torture, Wolverine looks powerful, angry, and about to fly into a berserker rage. This art by Peach Momoko shows a more likely truth: he’s weak and in pain, surviving only because his mutant powers force him to live another day in terror. In some ways, this piece is her most frightening, because she brings such a badass icon of Marvel Comics to his knees in one image.

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3 Peach Momoko’s Vision for Star Wars Is the Darkest in the Galaxy

Star Wars: Visions – The Followers of Ankok #1

Building off of the success of the animated anthology series of the same name, Star Wars: Visions is a series of one-shot comic stories by outstanding artists. Momoko’s story has no spoken dialogue, simply a description of the four main characters and a setup to the plot. Everything else the reader takes in is through her artwork. On a desperate planet, citizens flock to a Sith cult, looking for anything that can make their starving lives more bearable. In an interview with StarWars.com, Momoko said, “I believe falling to the dark side is nothing to be ashamed of. It could save you. Sometimes the dark side can help defeat your trauma and fear.” Though the Jedi characters who come to stop the cult find their ceremony horrific, to these people, it is the only thing they think that can save them.

2 Miles Morales Becomes a Literal Man of Spiders

Nightmare Variant Cover for Miles Morales: Spider-Man #13

Miles Morales also got his start in the Ultimate Universe, so it’s fitting that Peach Momoko did her own take on the character before Ultimate X-Men premieres. Instead of a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Miles seems to have been crossed with Marvel villain Swarm, and turned into a living cluster of spiders, sickeningly held together by blood vessels and two veiny, bug-like eyeballs. Miles has had a nightmare year in 2023 – he had a mental health crisis that damaged his Spidey sense, a falling out with Peter Parker, found out vampires were real and had to fight them, and now a Gang War is tearing apart his home. A horrific nightmare where he feels like he’s being pulled in a million different directions and so collapses into spiders could fit into the teen’s life. At least now he’s in therapy.

1 Armor’s Mutant Power Is Inside Her (In the Grossest Way Possible)

Preview of Ultimate X-Men #1

Nothing quite sets up Peach Momoko’s plan for Ultimate X-Men like the gory preview fans got at the end of Ultimate Universe #1. A few mutants have been introduced into the current Ultimate Universe, including Magik and Colossus, and Momoko has released sketches that focus on Armor and her original character, Maystorm. All of mutantkind seems to be up for grabs, as she’s drawn many of them in Demon Days and Demon Wars, or for the above variant covers. The elements that have been shared suggest there will be a lot of body horror surrounding birth, and bodies-within-bodies. Among the symbols on the cover image is a reference to Princess Kaguya, a Japanese folktale about farmers who find a baby inside a stalk of bamboo. Armor is often shown floating inside her translucent red armor figure, controlling it from inside, but the released sketches don’t show the armor moving in sync with Hisako Ichiko like usual. Plus, the doll she horrifically pulls out of her forehead features a smaller figure inside.

With a penchant for turning towards horror, an understanding of why people go to the dark side, and a desire to mesh the grotesque with the beautiful, Peach Momoko’s distinct style is unmatched in the world of comics right now. Her visceral imagery is arresting, and draws new fans at both the comic book store and on Marvel Snap. While she is often gory, if one can get past a knee-jerk reaction to look away, they’ll be rewarded with intricate details that take a second glance to notice. Given that her only constant is more surprise, the only certain prediction for Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men is that it will be unforgettable.