Remember when Phoenix ate a star and killed a planet of Asparagus People, and then the recently-deceased Jim Shooter told creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne they had to scuttle their plans to lobotomize her as punishment, so they killed her instead, thereby creating one of the most memorable and impactful endings to a superhero story?
And you remember when Marvel’s What If? series did an issue examining what would have happened if Phoenix hadn’t died? Then, a few years later, Marvel released a special issue showing the original, alternate, ending to the “Dark Phoenix Saga” with a living Phoenix? And then Claremont dropped a character from a future where Phoenix didn’t die into the present day (and that character was Phoenix’s daughter)? And then Marvel did another “what if Phoenix didn’t die?” issue?
Well, while Claremont and Marvel had their chances to redo the end of the “Dark Phoenix Saga,” co-plotter and artist John Byrne never did — until he started writing and drawing his own alternate X-Men stories, set after he originally left the series and in an alternate narrative where Phoenix didn’t die, releasing the pages online via his Byrne Robotics website. But those pages have only ever existed as a sort of fanfiction webcomic, albeit one done by a high-profile creator with historic ties to the characters in question.
That will all change in 2026, as it was just announced at San Diego Comic-Con that Abrams ComicArts will be publishing three hardcover collections of Byrne’s alternate X-Men stories across three hardcover volumes under the title X-Men: Elsewhen, beginning in 2026.
“We’re incredibly excited to be publishing X-Men: Elsewhen with John Byrne,” said Joseph Montagne, Publisher of Abrams ComicArts. “This project is something truly rare. It offers a chance to revisit one of the most iconic runs in comics history, told by the original co-creator in his own voice. Byrne’s passion for these characters comes through on every page. We’re proud to bring this long-awaited story to readers through our Marvel Arts line and to add such a meaningful project to this collaboration between Abrams and Marvel.”
Under the supervision of editor Chris Ryall, the pages of the X-Men: Elsewhen webcomic will be finished for publication with the help of inker Paul Wills, color artists Lovern Kindzierski and Leonard O’Grady, and letterer Patrick Brosseau.
“John Byrne has done something truly unique here,” said Ryall. “He’s created all-new X-Men adventures that not only serve as a reminder of why Byrne’s past work on these characters was beloved and influential, while at the same time presenting all-new and relevant stories that will captivate newer X-Men fans as well.”
“They say you can’t go home again,” said Byrne via a press release. “They’re wrong.”
The three volumes of X-Men: Elsewhen will be released as part of Abrams ComicArts’ Marvel Arts line. Volume 1 will hit in April 2026, with Volume 2 in Fall 2026, and Volume 3 in Spring 2027. All three volumes will be released as 7.5″ x 11″ hardcovers, and feature over 200 pages of story and art each, as well as bonus materials.
It’s worth noting that, technically, these volumes aren’t being published by Marvel — Marvel is licensing the characters for publication via their existing arrangement with Abrams, which has also published such things as Alex Ross’ Fantastic Four: Full Circle and The Avengers: Veracity Trip by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho as part of the deal.
This also isn’t the first time Byrne has returned to the X-Men following his somewhat acrimonious departure in the early ’80s: He scripted Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio’s plots for Uncanny X-Men and X-Men shortly after Claremont left the books in 1991 (just before Lee and Portacio jumped ship to help form Image Comics), and wrote and drew 22 issues of X-Men: The Hidden Years (set in the gap between the Silver Age stories and the debut of the “All New, All Different” X-Men when X-Men was publishing reprints) in the early 2000s.
Neither of those returns managed to recapture the magic of Byrne’s earlier X-Men stories with Claremont, while his X-Men: Elsewhen stories have mostly attracted a niche, though dedicated, audience. That may change now — or certainly when Abrams releases the first print volume next year. We’ll have to see whether the fourth time’s the charm for Byrne and the X-Men.
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him @austingorton.bsky.social.
