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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Marvel reveals the new X-Men line-up

The new roster will debut in ‘X-Men’ #1 this July, by Gerry Duggan, Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia.

Following the reveal earlier this week of who won the fan vote, Marvel has revealed the roster of the new team of X-Men that will debut during the upcoming Hellfire Gala storyline.

The team will headline the relaunched X-Men title, which debuts in July from Gerry Duggan, Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia. The new team will be based in New York City, according to Duggan.

“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. “Mutants have saved themselves, and are now going to save the world. Krakoa will grow roots in the capital 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.”

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Marvel reveals who fans chose to join the X-Men

The new X-Men team will debut during the Hellfire Gala event, and will headline their own comic starting in July.

Marvel has revealed the winner of their online X-Men poll, where they asked fans to vote for the final member of the new X-Men team that will debut during the Hellfire Gala storyline. And no, it isn’t Tempo.

If you want to avoid any spoilers, you may want to stop reading now …

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Marvel will launch three new X-Men titles following the ‘Hellfire Gala’

Jonathan Hickman, Leah Williams, Pepe Larraz and more will work on new X-titles following the event.

Since Jonathan Hickman’s “Krakoa” era of the X-Men kicked off a couple of years ago, the line-up has seen several X-titles come and go. With the Hellfire Gala set to kick off in June, revealing a new team of X-Men, Marvel is teasing a few new titles that will follow the event (in a handy infographic, one of the trademarks of the Hickman era).

In addition to Children of the Atom, Way of X and X-Corp, which were all previously announced, the graphic also teases three new titles:

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X-Men go ‘Planet Size’ for new team reveal

Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz create a new special that ties into the ‘Hellfire Gala’ storyline that will run through the X-Men titles.

Marvel has been teasing an upcoming Hellfire Gala, both in the X-Men line of comics and through their own promotional channels — it’s where we’re supposed to learn who will be on the new X-Men team that Cyclops and Jean Grey are putting together, along with the results of the fan vote for one of the members.

This gala will run through 12 of the X-titles — that’s quite a party! — and will also get a special of its own, titled Planet Size X-Men. Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz are working on this double-sized issue.

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Mail Call | DC in May brings Star Girl and more

A round-up of news from DC, Marvel, Oni Press and more.

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.

DC Comics released their May solicitations on Friday, and with them came several announcements and reveals throughout the week. In addition to the new Wonder Girl, Mister Miracle and Future State: Gotham projects, DC announced they will release two interesting one-shots — the first being Star Girl one-shot, featuring not only the star of the hit CW show, but also the Seven Soldiers of Victory. It’s by the character’s co-creator, Geoff Johns, and artist Todd Nauck.

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‘X-Corp’ to debut from Marvel in May

Mutants get down to business in a new title by Tini Howard and Alberto Foche.

The X-Corporation, a concept introduced back in 2002 during Grant Morrison’s run on X-Men, is coming back in a big way. Marvel has announced that X-Corp, which will tie into the current X-Men line overseen by Jonathan Hickman, will debut as an ongoing title in May.

Tini Howard, the writer of Excalibur, will join artist Alberto Foche (Dan Dare) on the title. This title has been rumored since the launch of the Hickman-era titles, which Howard addressed with Marvel.com.

“Hello! Some of you have been waiting a while for this book, and I’m the one to blame. I first pitched this story because I absolutely love the weird corporate world within Marvel Comics — specifically books like New X-Men, All-New X-Factor, and the history of what the X-Corporation was before. But in a new mutant era of gates and deals, X-Corp‘s ‘corporate embassy’ is a bit obsolete — and I refuse to sell you guys anything I wouldn’t buy myself,” Howard said.

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Voting for the X-Men: The time is right for Tempo

With Marvel allowing fans to help chose the final member of the X-Men, the Smash Pages crew shares their endorsement(s).

In the grand tradition of voting for the leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes and whether Jason Todd would live or die, Marvel has launched a website where you can vote for the final member of the X-Men.

The campaign ties into the current X-Men storyline, where Cyclops and Jean Grey have decided to recruit a new team of mutants to protect the mutant nation of Krakoa. Marvel has offered up 10 options for fans to choose from: Banshee, Polaris, Forge, Boom-Boom, Tempo, Cannonball, Sunspot, Strong Guy, Marrow and Armor.

Voting is open from now until 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Feb. 2, 2021.

We here at Smash Pages have our own thoughts about who the new member should be — with one dissension — so please read our heartfelt pleas for your vote below.

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Spurrier and Quinn put Nightcrawler at the center of ‘Way of X’

The new X-Men title will explore “the dark mysteries of the X-Men’s new way of life.”

With X of Swords in the back issue bins and the X-titles moving into what they’re calling “Reign of X,” Simon Spurrier and Bob Quinn are preparing for their own arrival on Krakoa. The duo will team up on a new title, Way of X, which features Nightcrawler, Dr. Nemesis, Pixie and Blink, among others, confronting “the dark mysteries of the X-Men’s new way of life.”

“I should probably just tell a lie for the sake of a neat elevator pitch and say that Way of X is a story about the creation of a new mutant religion,” Spurrier told Marvel.com. “But it’s not—not really. That’s kinda where it starts, for sure. Nightcrawler realizes something’s wrong with the hearts and minds of mutantkind and sets out to fix it. But as he quickly discovers, this isn’t a job for priests and prayers… The question is, what do they have to become in order to fight it? Preachers? Cops? Executioners? Or something entirely new?”

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Marvel announces ‘Demon Days: X-Men’ by Peach Momoko

The project kicks off in March.

Peach Momoko, who is probably best known these days for her cover work, will write and draw a five-issue series for Marvel, the publisher announced.

Demon Days: X-Men #1 will start a five-part prestige series featuring Wolverine, Psylocke, Venom and others in “Momoko’s one-of-a-kind style.” Each issue of the series will be released once every three months, with reimagined versions of these popular characters.

“The entire series takes place in Japan,” Momoko told Marvel.com. “I will be introducing numerous Marvel characters in a brand-new format. So, I would like everyone to forget about what they are supposed to be in the real Marvel universe. My characters aren’t Super Heroes. Some are samurai, some are oni and other yōkai, some are shamans, some are yojimbos… and many others. I have kept many of their special power, but also tweaked a lot to give it a natural yōkai story power. Again, I pushed a lot of boundaries with all the characters. I hope everyone enjoys the different versions that I created. But I kept enough that I think everyone can still know who each are.”

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‘X-Men Legends’ will tell new stories from the team’s past

First story arc will feature Fabian Nicieza and Brett Booth returning to the “lost Summers brother” storyline.

Marvel has announced another X-Men series, X-Men Legends, that should be a treat for old school fans. It will feature revolving storylines by classic writers like Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Larry Hama, Peter David and others, who will “dive into the rich history of the X-Men to tie up loose ends, resolve long-standing plot danglers, and reveal shocking truths that will change the past and future of the X-Men.”

’90s X-Men writer Fabian Nicieza will write the first arc, which revisits the “third Summers brother” storyline that featured Adam-X. Adam-X, who debuted in X-Force Annual #2 way back in 1993, was rumored to be the third Summers brother, but as fans know, that turned out to be Vulcan.

Nicieza will be joined by artist Brett Booth on this arc.

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Doctor Tomorrow,’ ‘Shadow Service’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately — including comics from the past, present and future.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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