This fall, Marvel is relaunching its entire line of X-Men books. Again. This time will be different, though. For one, Uncanny X-Men, the progenitor of all things X, will be relaunching in November with a new #1. X-fans worldwide tweaked out and Tropicana’s stock shares doubled of course, because UXM was the only comic Marvel hasn’t rebooted before. Or, as some fans might say, UXM was the only comic Marvel hasn’t had to have had rebooted. Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, The Avengers, all of Marvel’s long-running, top-tier books have restarted with shiny new #1s at some point, for some reason or another.
Are these all my options? I guess mutants are endangered.
The spark of all this, at least the in-book storytelling spark, is being told in X-Men: Schism–a summer blockbuster comic that’s chronicling the upcoming divide between the X-Men’s top leaders. The shared ideology of Wolverine and Cyclops–To Protect the World That Hates and Fears Them (Using Child-Soldiers To Do So)–will split. Naturally, alongside UXM, and completely watering down the meaning of the word ‘flagship,’ appearing in November is a new flagship book called Wolverine and the the X-Men.
- “Right?? This is a good idea, right? The kids’ll like it, right?”
As Marvel put it in a June press release: Never before have there been TWO teams calling themselves the X-Men and never has anyone had to choose a side. Guided by their different ideologies, each leader has their own mission for saving their species, but is only one of them right?
Judging from November’s solicitations, the two teams (really, the two umbrellas of teams) will be Blue and Gold. This harks back to the early 90s when the X-Men crossed over into mainstream pop culture with the animated series. UXM, the long-running book with sales up the ying, featured the Gold team; the new book, (Adjectiveless) X-Men, featured all the cool popular characters.
Notice, Blue team gets stern Professor X, while Gold team gets the comparatively laidback (judging by the eyebrows) Charles Xavier. Cool Blue team is so out-of-control kewl they need some discipline, man.
For November’s relaunch, Marvel has released cover images for eight books (and counting?) that also hark back to the early 90s. In this case, to the publication of game-changer X-Men #1 (vol. 2) (1991)–after X-Men (vol. 1) (1963) became Uncanny X-Men–the latter of which is now X-Men: Legacy.
(If this is giving you a brain-hangnail, try following Jean Grey’s Wikipedia page. And who says the X-books are confusing!)
This second X-Men #1, which sold 8 million copies, featured five different covers. Four of which could be lined up together (A,B,C, and D) to form one larger image, while the fifth was a gatefold cover (E) that combined them all.
And, testifying to the comic’s popularity and importance, it’s been recolored for its upcoming reissue. Included here, off topic, just because.
The solicitation images Marvel has teased, thus far, have featured mostly blacked-out teams save a single member getting the spotlight. We still don’t know who’s who, yet, although some if not most of the silhouettes are dead-giveaways. But that’s a whole other post. Instead, as a testament to my procrastination, I have stitched these disparate covers together. Which art team did a better job? Particularly, regarding the composition. I prefer the composition of Gold’s myself. It’s not as pose-y. And I think the art team did a better job integrating the overlap.
“OK, so what,” you say?
“Years of X-Men history have been leading to this. X-Men: ReGenesis will affect our entire line leading up to a major conflict coming up in 2012!” said Marvel Editor in Chief, Axel Alonso (in the aforementioned press release.) “This is just the start of what we have planned for the X-Men. Next summer all eyes will be on mutantkind – we guarantee it!”
And we all know how frowned upon hyperbole is in the comic book industry. Oh, and you gotta love how stories and promotion work in comics. Not only is Marvel selling/telling a story that’s happening this November, they’re also selling/telling us that not only will that story be earth-shattering but it will be the springboard for next summer’s blockbuster X-event.
Well, whether UXM’s reboot is a short-sighted cash-grab or a strategy that will help sales and quality, only time will tell. But here’s hoping it doesn’t suck.
Puzzled Daily 
Anybody choose sides?