Marvel Comics reveals new team, new creators for relaunch of flagship 'X-Men' series

Two years after the ambitious relaunch of the entire X-Men line with the Dawn of X era under the leadership of writer Jonathan Hickman, Marvel Comics is finally ready to reveal the first proper X-Men team of the age of Krakoa — and they're doing it with a brand-new first issue and an all-star creative team.

The publisher announced Friday that this July will bring the launch of X-Men #1, a new volume of the mutant line's flagship book, from writer Gerry Duggan (Marauders) and artist Pepe Larraz (House of X). At its heart is a new team of mutant heroes made up of Krakoan leaders, mutant mainstays, and a couple of wild cards who all come together to form the first real mutant superhero group since the arrival of Dawn of X in 2019. The new team will be composed of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Sunfire, Rogue, Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Synch and Polaris, who was added Thursday after she was revealed to be the winner of a high-profile fan vote to determine the final member of the new team's lineup.

"It's my privilege and honor to be reteamed with Pepe Larraz as we throw beautiful and deadly threats at the X-Men beginning in July," Duggan said in a statement. "Mutants have saved themselves, and are now going to save the world. Krakoa will grow roots in the capitol of the world, New York City, and the inaugural year will star Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Rogue, Wolverine, Synch, Sunfire and Polaris. The threats to Earth will come fast and hit hard, and every page from Pepe and Marte will blow your hair back. See you in July."

In addition to Larraz's sprawling main cover showcasing the new team, Marvel also revealed Friday that its group of "Stormbreakers" breakout artists have put together a series of connecting covers for the launch, with each artist taking on a different member of the team. They are: Juann Cabal on Professor X, Carmen Carnero on Marvel Girl, Peach Momoko on Sunfire, Iban Coello on Psych, R.B. Silva on Cyclops, Natacha Bustos on Wolverine, Patrick Gleason on Rogue, and Joshua Cassara On Polaris. Check out both covers in the gallery below.

Obviously there's been a comic called X-Men running in the Dawn of X era for a while now, launched by Hickman and artist Leinil Francis Yu in the wake of the House of X/Powers of X event, but despite its title that book never actually featured a team of mutant superheroes going out and doing missions for the betterment of the planet. The age of Krakoa has left the mutants more insular, more isolated from a world that still perhaps hates and fears them, but after the events of X of Swords and the near-invasion of Earth that stemmed from that clash, Cyclops and Marvel Girl decided it was time for a change.

The world, they argued, needs the X-Men again, and this July we'll see what that new team can do. As for Hickman, he's still very much a part of the core X-Men story, and will launch a still-mysterious new title with a still-unrevealed artist in September, as part of Marvel's ongoing Reign of X