The age of Krakoa is over in the X-Men comics—or rather, it will be in another month. Come July, the mutants are off the island and back on Earth fighting the old fight of being hated and feared. Over the last few weeks, Marvel’s gradually pulled back the curtain on what’s to come with the “From the Ashes” line of X-comics, which largely consists of team books at the moment. Here’s what you can expect from those new series, which will come out from mid-July through early October.
2 / 12
The creators: Jed MacKay (Moon Knight) & Ryan Stegman (Superior Spider-Man)
The pitch: Over in Alaska, the main X-Men team has raised a “flag of defiance” to fight new anti-mutant forces and “battle for the idenity and philosphy of the mutant species.” Cyclops leads the group, which consists of Beast, Kwannon, Juggernaut, Magik, Quentin Quire, Temper (formerly Oya), and Magneto.
Previously, MacKay said this book will offer a first look at the entire mission statement for the X-Men line in 2024. “If you look at that line-up, they’re a group of people who are not well suited to integrating into the world,” he said. “And in these books, we’ll see what that means and what it looks like going forward.”
X-Men kicks things off with its debut issue on July 10.
3 / 12
The creators: Gail Simone (Birds of Prey) & David Marquez (Defenders)
The pitch: Rogue leads a team in Louisiana consisting of X-Men ‘97 stars Wolverine, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee. While the main team is charged with the philosophy of mutantdom, the Uncanny team is all about regular superhero adventures. But it won’t be as simple as saving the day—they’re outlaws, and that means they’ll sometimes bump up against people who may not want their help. There’s also a bigger threat out there said to be hunting mutants with a “terrible secret” that’ll threaten the X-Men.
Per Marquez in April, Uncanny is a “ badass, heartfelt, action-packed, character driven X-Men mystery. [It’s] the book that made me fall in love with comics. It’s been a dream come true getting to work with Gail, Matt [Wilson], and the whole Marvel editorial crew under Tom...I hope readers have at least half as much fun reading it as we have had making it.”
Uncanny X-Men begins on August 7.
4 / 12
The creators: Eve L. Ewing & Carmen Carnero
The pitch: Kate Pryde’s been through a lot during the Krakoa era, from being a pirate to getting killed (she got better), coming out as bisexual, and becoming an extremely deadly ninja. With all the dust now settled, she’s set up shop in Chicago and is trying to live a normal life as a bartender. But when three new mutants emerge—Axo, who can manipulate emotions; Bronze, who forms metal armor and a whip; and stealth fighter Melee—Kate and Emma Frost take it upon themselves to teach the trio.
“Kate has to reckon with her own memories—good and bad—of being a child of Xavier,” said Ewing, “as she navigates a role as leader and mentor for a new generation of mutants who are trying to make their way in a time of crisis.” While Kate’s the star of the book, Ewing’s hopeful old and new audiences will take a shine to the newbies.
Billed as the third and final flagship book of the From the Ashes era, Exceptional X-Men will launch on September 4.
5 / 12
The creators: Murewa Ayodele (Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods) & Lucas Werneck (Immortal X-Men)
The pitch: Ororo Monroe isn’t just becoming an Avenger and getting a new look this summer, she’s also getting what Marvel calls a “renaissance.” In her new solo, the weather goddess has deemed herself the protector of Earth. With Krakoa gone, she’s making calls that’ll “forecast the future of the Marvel Universe.” Things will kick off with a meltdown at a nuclear facility in Oklahoma, which will pave the way for appearances from her future Avengers teammates and other guest stars like fellow X-Man Frenzy.
As a self-professed fan of Storm, Ayodele promised a story that would do right by her and give her challenges befitting her status as a goddess and Omega-level mutant. “Few things can test your limits, and even fewer things can shatter those limits,” he said. “There are threats that are beyond Omega. [...] We are crafting stories filled to the brim with humanity, love, mystery, adventure, heartbreak, and all-out action.”
Storm gives the forecast on October 2.
6 / 12
The creators: Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn) & Alessandro Miracolo (Star Wars: Yoda)
The pitch: Everyone’s favorite redhead and cosmic firebird are back together again. Instead of staying on Earth to cause problems for the X-Men, Jean responds to a distress call from Nova that leads her to the edge of a black hole where hundreds of lives hang in the balance. Per Phillips, the Phoenix book will be a “cosmic ballet” of Jean and the Phoenix working in sync to either save lives or possibly imperil the cosmos. As Phillips notes, Jean “constantly [dances] between humanity and absolute power.”
Phoenix comes to life on July 17.
7 / 12
The creators: Saladin Ahmed (Daredevil) & Martin Cóccolo (Immortal Thor)
The pitch: Logan ain’t just the Best There Is at what he does, he’s also turning 50 years old in the fall. His hot new solo sees him back in the Canadian wildnerness and doing his thing with a pack of wolves as part of his self-imposed exile. Things take a turn when his personal rogues’ gallery comes looking to fight, and he’s gotta do what a Wolverine’s gotta do. But with each villain he slices down, an ancient villain will grow in power until it’s time to “dramatically alter the scope” of Logan’s entire life.
Ahmed’s approach to Logan will be to take all the different parts of the character—“mythic hero, an abused animal, and a man of flesh, blood, and adamantium”—and put him in a story that “threatens to rip [him] to pieces that won’t come back together again.” Hand-in-hand with that, the book’s first issue will come with a “major addition” to Wolverine’s already twisted lore.
Wolverine comes out of the cage on September 11.
8 / 12
The creators: Jason Loo (Infinity Paws) & Rafael Loureiro (Unikorn)
The pitch: The other X-Men may be tortured and still reeling from the Fall of X, but Dazzler’s not going to let that keep her down. The pop star is going on tour to help spread the word that mutants aren’t all bad, and she’s not alone: Domino and Strong Guy are on hand as security, Multiple Man is her roadie, and Wind Dancer’s her publicist. Last but not least, Shark Girl will hold things down as the drummer, the most important part of any musical act.
Dazzler will take center stage in her four-part miniseries beginning on September 18.
9 / 12
The creators: Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Guardians of the Galaxy) & Francesco Mortarino (The Avengers)
The pitch: New York is once again home to a lot of mutants, and this new book intends to center on them reacclimating to normal, human life. Each of the mutants featured here—Ms. Marvel, Laura Kinney’s Wolverine, Prodigy, Anole, and Sophie Cuckoo—reside in a different part of the Big Apple, adjusting to the new status quo. Kelly and Lanzing cited Runaways and Young Avengers as key influences alongside the original NYX book from Joe Quesada, Robert Teranishi, and Joshua Middleton in the mid-2000s. Like the characters in that series, this new iteration of NYX will face some hard times, but (hopefully) come out of it with a greater sense of mutant community.
NYX takes to the streets on July 24.
10 / 12
The creators: Geoffrey Thorne (John Stewart: Emerald Knight) & Marcus To
The pitch: Earth is a broken world, and Forge is determined to fix it. He may be a genius inventor, but he can’t do it all himself, so he’s made up a new iteration of X-Force to pull off the type of dire, critical missions that could lead to the world getting a full repair. That team consists of gal pal couple Rachel Summers and Betsy Braddock (aka Aksani and Captain Britain), along with Surge, Sage, and newcomer Tank. Also aiding in those efforts is a rotating roster of guest stars who operate as specialists for specific missions—and the first of which will be recurring X-Force member Deadpool.
X-Force chooses to accept the mission on July 31.
11 / 12
The creators: Mark Russell (The Flinstones) & Bob Quinn (X-Force)
The pitch: Not all X-Men teams are bad in the eyes of the law, apparently. This new X-Factor team—co-led by Angel and Havok, and featuring Frenzy, Pyro, and Feral—is fully sanctioned by the U.S. government to act as both a special ops team and PR machine for mutantkind. With splinter mutant groups like the Mutant Underground and X-Term on the rise, it falls to X-Factor’s “most powerful, most patriotic, most marketable mutant heroes” to whip the mutant race back into respectability and nip any internal threats in the bud.
X-Factor deploys on August 14.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
12 / 12
Source: Gizmodo