So no one told you life was gonna be this way (clap clap clap clap)
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke
Your island’s DOAAAAAA …
Marvel has pulled five of its younger mutants’ names from a hat for NYX, a new, allegedly ongoing series written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (Guardians of the Galaxy) and drawn by Francesco Mortarino, debuting July 24.
Per Marvel, the book will star Prodigy (last seen in Dead X-Men), Anole (last seen helping Blob tend bar on Krakoa), Wolverine (last seen in, um, Wolverine), Ms. Marvel (last seen in her own miniseries being written by two Muslim writers who genuinely understood the character’s intersectionality) and Sophie Cuckoo (last seen … um … at the Hellfire Gala, I think?) as they become part of the Krakoan diaspora in New York City.
The NYX name comes from a 2003-05 miniseries by Joe Quesada and Joshua Middleton about a group of homeless mutant youth and marked the first Earth-616 appearance of Laura Kinney. It is presented here with the 1990s-style X-Men logo font many of the “From the Ashes” books are adopting.
NYX is the sixth “From the Ashes” book Marvel has announced for this summer. The others are Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone and David Marquez, X-Men by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman, Exceptional X-Men by Eve Ewing and Carmen Carnero, X-Force by Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To, and Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips and Alessandro Miracolo. Still to come are announcements for Wolverine, X-Factor and Storm.
Check out the cover by Sara Pichelli below, and keep scrolling for Marvel’s press release.
With Xavier’s school long gone and Krakoa destroyed, the greatest city on Earth is about to get a huge influx of mutants, whether they’re welcome there or not! See a group of former X-Men students navigate young adulthood, discrimination, and threats bent on shattering human-mutant relations for good in NYX, a new ongoing series from hotshot writing duo Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (Timeless, Alien: Black, White & Blood) and rising star artist Francesco Mortarino (Avengers, Cult of Carnage: Misery).
Like the 2000s groundbreaking original series, NYX won’t shy away from reflecting the harsh realities of life as a mix of iconic and fan-favorite mutants reenter a world filled with bigotry, mistrust, and misinformation. Free from the X-Men’s guidance and Krakoa’s protection, they’ll shut out the noise and overcome the hate by doing what they do best—EVOLVING. But if you can count on anything, it’s that mutants are never all in agreement, and some are having a really hard time letting Krakoa go…
This is a book about mutants living past the end of their world and into a new beginning. This is Ms. Marvel embracing her mutant life in the neon streets of the Lower East Side. This is Anole trying to keep his head above water. This is Wolverine in the shadows of Bushwick, protecting her own. This is Prodigy writing history as it happens – and Sophie Cuckoo finding her own way. The news reports are bleak. The streets feel dangerous. There’s something lurking underground. Evil coming from every direction. But they’re determined to make it. This is mutant community. This is mutant pride. THIS IS NYX!
“This is the kind of book we came to Marvel to create,” Kelly shared. “When the Hivemind first formed, Collin and I bonded over books like Runaways, Young Avengers, and the original NYX – stories that showcased that tense, wonderful place where the mundane world and marvels collided. And no book has embodied that more in recent years than Ms. Marvel – Kamala Khan is one of the most definitive protagonists in the Marvel canon, and we’re deeply honored to be inheriting the character from Iman [Vellani] and Sabir [Pirzada], while chronicling a whole new phase in her growth as a young adult.”
“The opportunity to take on these characters is both an incredible challenge and an amazing honor,” Lanzing added. “Sophie, Anole, and Prodigy have been personal favorites since their time on the New Mutants and New X-Men – in a sense, we’ve become who we are right alongside them. And returning Laura to NYX – while in a radically different context that centers her heroism over her victimhood – feels like the chance to really bring the character full circle and help her grow into the next phase of her life.”
“I was a big fan of Joe Quesada and John Middleton’s version, so I was thrilled when Editor Annalise Bissa asked me to draw NYX!” Mortarino said. “I’m so glad to have the opportunity to work on characters like X-23 and Ms. Marvel, and NYC is a location that I love, so I’m eager to deliver the city vibes that I would see in books like Daredevil and Spider-Man! I’ve been really enjoying Jackson and Collin’s scripts, and I can’t wait to bring them to life!”
Last month, fans got their first look at what awaits Marvel’s line of X-Men titles following the bold Krakoan Age with the reveal of three flagship series: Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s X-MEN, Gail Simone and David Marquez’s UNCANNY X-MEN, and Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero’s EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN. The expansive mythos of the X-Men has always made space for additional series that test the limits and explore the far-reaching scope of the mutant metaphor. Fresh spins on classic X-Men titles and startling directions for your favorite mutants are just ahead, starting in July with X-FORCE, PHOENIX, and NYX.
Check out Sara Pichelli’s cover below and hit the streets when NYX arrives in July! For more information, visit Marvel.com.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts WMQ&A: The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
