If Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s X-Men are the mutant freedom fighters and Eve Ewing and Carmen Carnero’s Exceptional X-Men are the young mutants in training, it appears Gail Simone and David Marquez’s Uncanny X-Men are the big damn heroes.
Led by Rogue and including Gambit, Wolverine (Logan), Jubilee and Nightcrawler, the team seems to include everyone you love from X-Men ’97 sans Morph and Madelyne Pryor. Issue #1 drops Aug. 7.
Marvel provided more details Thursday about the second of the three “flagship” X-books of the “From the Ashes” era, including that the mansion – that place we were all dreading the X-Men were heading back to – has been transformed into a facility called Graymalkin Prison. Which is probably where they’re keeping Xavier after his “no more humans” deal with Nimrod. Good.
Uncanny is one of a number of new X-titles coming in the “From the Ashes” era. Alongside the previously mentioned X-Men and Exceptional, there also are X-Force by Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To, Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips and Alessandro Miracolo, and NYX by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Francesco Mortarino. Still to come are announcements for Wolverine, X-Factor and Storm.
And according to MacKay on this week’s ComicsXF Interview Podcast, there are still more X-books to come.
Check out Marquez’s cover for Uncanny X-Men #1 below (including the clever use of Nightcrawler’s tail in place of his hand), and keep scrolling for Marvel’s press release.
Mutants may no longer have a homeland—but they’ll always have a home!
Announced last month and launching in August, celebrated writer Gail Simone and superstar artist David Marquez’s UNCANNY X-MEN will be the second of three flagship X-titles set in the upcoming From the Ashes era. Today, fans can see the reveal of the main cover and discover more about the series!
With Professor X gone and his school transformed into a nightmare reflection of itself called Graymalkin Prison, the series sees Rogue step up to be the pillar of Xavier’s dream alongside Wolverine, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee. From their new base of operations in New Orleans, the Uncanny X-Men are back to being the outlaw heroes the world hates and fears—and the light in the darkness for mutants everywhere! Mutantkind made a big statement with Krakoa, and now, life is harder for them than ever before, but Rogue’s X-Men will be there to welcome mutants to their new found family.
A core group of essential X-Men rise From the Ashes to face a world without a home – and without Professor X! All bonds among the mutant community seem to be slipping away, and Rogue reluctantly finds herself as the hero designated to bring them back together…but a fearless, malignant power is out there hunting mutants, and it has a terrible secret that may destroy what remains of the X-Men.
“Most of my time lately has been spent trying to keep my brain from exploding right out of my skull from this book,” Simone shared. “It’s either the fun of all my favorite mutants acting in surprising and wonderful ways, the impossibly brilliant work of the art team, or the thrilling collaboration with all the other writers, but somehow every DAY is just filled with some kind of manic joy. Ever since I took the book, I’ve been scribbling notes and plots and bits of dialogue day and night. I feel like a kid at a carnival. Who DOESN’T want to write Rogue and Jubilee and Gambit all the rest?”
“Uncanny X-Men is the book that made me fall in love with comics,” Marquez said. “It’s been a dream come true getting to work with Gail, Matt [Wilson], and the whole Marvel editorial crew under Tom to put together this story: a badass, heartfelt, action-packed, character driven X-Men mystery. I hope readers have at least half as much fun reading it as we have had making it.”
“I absolutely have to take a moment to praise David Marquez,” Simone added. “Not only is this going to be one of the best-looking books on the stands, he’s simply an idea MACHINE and he makes every single page better than I wrote it. Anyway, come join us, we’re having an X adventure and you’re all INVITED!”
With three flagship titles and a host of additional satellite series, the upcoming From the Ashes era will present fans with a wide range of different approaches to the X-Men’s mission. Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s X-MEN are ready to do whatever it takes to secure mutantkind’s future, even if it means revolution. Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero’s EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN train and prepare mutants to survive the dangers they’ll inevitably face. Meanwhile, Simone and Marquez’s UNCANNY X-MEN are here to save everyone, making the world a brighter place for mutant and human alike!
Check out Marquez’s main cover below, and stay tuned tomorrow for UNCANNY X-MEN #1 variant cover reveals! 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.
