July is going to be a big month for the House of Ideas. That is all thanks to the X-Men entering their post-Krakoa Era relaunch. After all the mutants were united under the banner of Krakoa they will all be going off on their own. Some will be forming new X-Men teams while others will be on their own. With the mutants beginning a new era for themselves we begin our analysis of Marvel July 2024 solicitations with the X-Men franchise.
CYCLOPS RISES WITH NEW X-MEN
Jed McKay and Ryan Stegman will be the new creative team leading the main X-Men series into the new era. Rokk already did a breakdown on his thoughts and projections for the new X-Men series that you can find by clicking here. As Rokk mentioned in his breakdown, McKay and Stegman are the biggest creative team that has been given the X-Men title.
This is for many reasons, one of the biggest is their individual success with various Marvel titles with other creative partners. McKay and Stegman are talent who have consistently grown their name with the Marvel fanbase. That is a big deal as McKay and Stegman’s X-Men that has the broadest appeal beyond X-Men fans because of the creative team’s goodwill with Marvel fans.
The team assembled for the new X-Men series certainly pops off the screen. Cyclops is clearly going to be coming out of Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X with a new fire as leader of the X-Men. That makes it appear even more purposeful that Cyclops new team includes Beast, Magneto, Psylocke, Kid Omega, Temper, Magik, and Juggernaut. They are all strong choices, with the only questionable one being Kid Omega instead of having Synch, who came into his own during the Krakoa Era.
DEADPOOL GIVES X-FORCE A NEW BEGINNING
Over the last few years Marvel has made a concerted effort to reintegrate Deadpool back into the X-Men franchise. That has been in part thanks to his “friendship” with Wolverine. Now we will be getting an X-Men title starring Deadpool without Wolverine around. That title comes in the form of X-Force by Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To.
In terms of creative team the new X-Force title comes with the lesser known creators. Marcus To has certainly done a lot of solid work across his work on various DC Comics and Marvel titles. The more unknown is Geoffrey Thorne. Thus far Thorne hasn’t had a breakout comic book. His most recent major project was a run-on Green Lantern during the Infinite Frontier era that fell flat, at best.
All that said X-Force will have some initial momentum going into its launch thanks to set to premiere at the end of July. This should at least give the X-Force title a boost in sales combining Deadpool and X-Men together. So hopefully Thorne and To put their best foot forward from the very start to make sure they keep the majority of fans who will be picking up X-Force #1.
MS. MARVEL LEADS HER FIRST X-MEN TEAM
While X-Force has the lesser known creative team, the X-Men title I am most worried about is the new NYX series. This is not because of the team. Marvel has certainly committed to shifting Ms. Marvel away from the Avengers to the X-Men franchise. While the way Marvel turned Ms. Marvel into a mutant was incredibly messy and terrible creative there is no turning back now. And in terms of team, NYX has an interesting wide mix of characters that could be interesting to see what their dynamic will be.
Unfortunately, NYX is going to have an uphill battle with his title creative team being a new Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing title. When it comes to writers who have been given major titles Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly have an impressive library with their name on it. Though that is in name only thanks to having worked on Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman Beyond, Outsiders, and Thunderbolts.
While the just looking on the comic books they have worked on Lanzing and Kelly do appear to have a deep catalogue. It is to bad that even with all the major comic book titles DC Comics and Marvel have given the writing pair they have yet to have a breakout title. None of these have been big sellers, even when tied to major brand directions or events. It is really now or never by writing an X-Men title for them to show they can grow and maintain a readership that makes NYX a critical and commercial success.
JEAN GREY GOES ON COSMIC JOURNEY WITH PHOENIX
The X-Men title that I have the most hope for is Jean Grey’s new solo series, titled Phoenix. I previously wrote about how the Fall of X leading into Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X opened the door for Jean Grey and Phoenix reunion. Now before the conclusion of Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X we have confirmation that Jean and the Phoenix Force will reunite by the end of the latest X-Men crossover.
Over the last few years no X-Men character has shown that they have the potential to carry a solo title more than Jean Grey. We’ve seen Marvel produce several Jean Grey solo series and each one shows that creative teams know she has a lot of untapped potential. The new Phoenix series is taking Jean’s character to another level as she will become a protector of the entire Marvel Universe. Going cosmic should help to further build her own legacy and get her away from what the other X-Men are doing while still keeping her around to join a team in the future if the direction calls for it.
Adding to the excitement is the creative team of Stephanie Phillips and Alessandro Miracolo. Miracolo artwork in the recent White Widow series was solid. Phillips has been building a name for herself as one of the rising talents in the industry through her work at DC Comics, Marvel, and BOOM! Studios. Phillips work on here creator-owned Grim series in particular shows the magic she can create. Marvel clearly see the rising talent Phillips is as she now is writing both Phoenix and Spider-Gwen ongoings.
CHRIS CLAREMONT RETURNS TO WOLVERINE
While Marvel has not announced the new solo ongoing plans for Wolverine that does not mean Logan won’t be present in July. Arguably, Wolverine is being pushed even more than in recent years as he is appearing in several mini-series. This is certainly in part because of the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie. Though unlike other characters, Wolverine, like Spider-Man, is a character Marvel has always invested a portion of their publishing line to.
The biggest title Wolverine will be appearing in is his new mini-series Wolverine: Deep Cut. The reason Wolverine: Deep Cut is the most notable is that it will be written by Chris Claremont. It seems that it is time for Marvel to get Claremont back into the fold again. They do this every few years with Claremont writing a new X-Men title. Claremont’s run on Wolverine is iconic. Having him write a story involving Wolverine and Sabertooth has the elements to be special. Hopefully we do see the magic of a Claremont led Wolverine series return.
The Life of Wolverine one-shot by Jim Zub and Ramon Bachs could be just as big. Given the title is going to examine Wolverine’s life this could set the stage for his new status quo. A refresh would be good for the character after everything he has been through during the Krakoa Era. Hopefully we see him be more part of the rest of the Marvel Universe as he does fall more under the Spider-Man camp of having a wide variety of stories to tell and doesn’t need to be in the X-Men sphere 100% of the time.
FESTIVAL TIME FOR ULTIMATE X-MEN
One of the most classic manga and anime tropes is a story revolving around a festival. Whether it’s at a school, shrine, or community, festivals are always a fun setting to showcase the dynamic of a series cast. Peach Momoko is going to be doing just that with Ultimate X-Men #5 taking place during the summer.
While that should call for celebration Momoko will not be making things easy for the Ultimate X-Men. Rather, the summer festival will be the latest setting the Ultimate X-Men must deal with the threat haunting them all. Mixing a summer festival with more horror storytelling is aligned with the direction of this series.
Ultimate X-Men #5 also appears to be the debut for Ultimate Noriko Ashida, aka Surge. Based on Ultimate X-Men #5 solicitations Surge may debut as Maystorm rival. It would certainly be cool to see Momoko utilize the rival aspect we see so often in manga and anime series. It would add yet another refreshing change of to the approach of exploring the X-Men franchise through this new setting.
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