This December, Marvel Comics is celebrating the X-Men‘s 60th anniversary with a new one-shot starring the original five members of the mutant superhero team.
Original X-Men #1 is written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Greg Land. In the anniversary one-shot, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, and Angel are “plucked from time for a sacred mission across the Multiverse by none other than the Phoenix Force! After the cosmic entity restores the team’s lost memories, this bold epic will explore themes that were introduced when Brian Michael Bendis brought the Original Five to present day in 2012’s blockbuster hit, ALL-NEW X-MEN, and will set up a brand-new X-Men series launching next year!”
Check out Ryan Stegman‘s cover art for Original X-Men #1 below:
What to expect from Original X-Men #1
Marvel’s official synopsis for Original X-Men #1 reads as follows: “The first and greatest heroes to bear the X-Men name once traveled into their own futures and reset the course of history. Now another multiversal mystery calls them forth. When the dust settles, one hero will remain, trapped in the world as we know it. With shocking surprise guests and heart-pounding twists and turns, Gage and Land kick off a story that will shake the whole Marvel Universe!”
“It’s up to them to find a way to either convince their older selves that they’re making a horrible mistake, or somehow defeat these far more powerful versions of them,” Gage said of the one-shot during an interview with AiPT Comics. “Basically, it’s about your younger, idealistic self coming into conflict with your older, jaded self who’s made compromises and given up dreams in order to survive and do what they think is best, even if that means making hard choices along the way.”
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Marvel’s merry mutants first appeared in 1963’s X-Men #1. Over the years, the team has welcomed countless new members, as well as spawned various different iterations and offshoots. The members of the X-Men have also starred in numerous feature films and television shows, with even more on the way.
Original X-Men #1 goes on sale Wednesday, December 20 from Marvel Comics.