Did you think Marvel was all set with their X-Men line-up? Wrong.
Get ready for not one, but two more books coming this February in Giant-Size X-Men and X-Men/ Fantastic Four. They chose MCM Comic Con London to drop the news.
Giant-Size X-Men
Giant-Size is well known for the impact it made in 1975 when it introduced the All-New, All-Different X-Men created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. The team would rise to prominence under scribe Chris Claremont who took over the X-Men in the subsequent issue X-Men #94. Big shoes to fill.
The first issue in the series will be titled Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost. The story will revolve around Jean Grey and Emma Frost teaming up to save Storm from some sort of danger. With the sorted history between the two women, there’s bound to be more than just heroism happening during their journey.
The story will be written by Jonathan Hickman with artwork by Russell Dauterman.
Dauterman told Marvel.com, “I’ve wanted to draw X-Men comics since I was a kid, so drawing this issue of X-MEN is a dream come true.”
X-Men/Fantastic Four
X-Men/ Fantastic Four isn’t a new concept. The two comic franchises have clashed on more than one occasion, most notably during the Onslaught crossover. They have even shared a title before this one.
However, this time around there may be more trouble on the horizon than they are ready for. Krakoa is a mutant nation for all mutants from birth and one of the most powerful of the breed happens to be Franklin Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. If tensions are like anything we saw in House of X #1, it’s probably going to get a bit rough for our heroes.
Zdarsky spoke with Newsarama about the new mini-series promising “this series will have repercussions for years to come in the Marvel universe, which is incredibly again.” He did add the caveat, “Unless, again, I’m being punked by Hickman.”
He also spoke on the dynamic between Franklin Richards being a member of the Fantastic Four and a mutant.
“Because, sure, they have very different goals with regards to Franklin and there’s definitely conflict in the story. But there are other forces at play here which will test both the FF and the X-Men, so ultimately this is a story about the two teams and their outlooks, not just about them fighting each other.”
Here’s how Marvel Comics is pitching the story:
“As the Dawn of X continues to shine its light across the Marvel Universe, new questions are illuminated—including a crucial query about the future of Franklin Richards. He’s the son of the Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic, but he’s also a mutant. As shown in HOUSE OF X #1, Scott Summers invited Franklin to the new mutant nation of Krakoa…but will he go?”
Giant-Size X-Men appears to be an ongoing, however, X-Men/ Fantastic Four is assured to be a Chip Zdarsky penned, Terry Dobson illustrated four-issue limited series. Both projects debut in February 2020.
Do you plan on checking either of these series out?