Have a nice summer, X-Men

Marvel announces an ‘X-Men: Hellfire Gala’ one-shot and a prelude issue for the upcoming Judgment Day crossover — keeping the X-Men plenty busy this summer.

Although they left their school in Westchester behind for the sunny shores of Krakoa, the gifted youngsters who make up the X-Men are really going to be longing for a summer break this year. In addition to a starring role in Marvel’s upcoming crossover event “A.X.E. Judgment Day” — with the A.X.E. standing for Avengers, X-Men and Eternals — they’ll also be hosting another Hellfire Gala in June.

Unlike last year’s gala, this year’s won’t run through the full line of X-Men comics. Instead, it’ll be a standalone special by Gerry Duggan, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli, C.F. Villa and Kris Anka that Marvel promises will be “loaded with high-stakes drama, shocking character developments, and of course, showstopping Super Hero fashion.” Also: a new team of X-Men, including the winner of the latest fan vote.

“Last summer your host Emma Frost invited you to celebrate Krakoa with some fireworks. This year, it’s about celebrating mutantdom’s friendship with humanity,” Duggan said. “Once again, we have a murderer’s row of talent crafting a one-shot with revelations that will chart the biggest stories in the Marvel Universe. All that, and meet a new team of X-Men.” 

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Mail Call | The Hellfire Gala guest list includes mutants, Avengers … and Eminem?

As Marvel’s mutant event gets closer, take a look at what’s in store at the big party — and afterwards.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

It seems like we’ve been talking about Marvel’s Hellfire Gala forever, and Marvel’s publicity team has been working on overdrive to hype up the big X-Men event. And they aren’t stopping now! I’ll do a broader round-up over the weekend, but for this one we’re strictly looking at Marvel’s mutants.

As for the gala, Marvel announced this week that you can expect to see some familiar faces at it — and not just from the world of comics. The potential guest list includes real-life celebrities like Eminem, Conan O’Brien, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Ira Glass, Pete Alonso and possibly more.

“The Hellfire Gala will be the culmination of months of anticipation, and as one of the biggest nights in X-Men history, it only made sense that the nation of Krakoa would invite some of the world’s biggest stars to witness it for themselves,” said Mike Pasciullo, Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Marvel. “We thank all of our special guests for joining us for this exclusive in-world event, along with the incredible artists who brought them to life on the page.” 

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‘Giant-Size X-Men’ returns in February

The classic Marvel title returns with stories by Jonathan Hickman and various artists.

Giant-Size X-Men #1 kicked off a new era of the X-Men back in 1975, introduced Storm, Nightcrawler, Thunderbird and Colossus to the Marvel Universe, and bringing Wolverine and Banshee onto the team.

With Jonathan Hickman introducing a new era to the X-Men this fall, Marvel is bringing back Giant-Size X-Men as a series, written by Hickman and drawn by different artists. The first issue will feature Russell Dauterman and Matt Wilson on a story featuring Jean Grey and Emma Frost.

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