X-Men Red is an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The first series was an eleven-issue

series published by

in monthly installments between February and December 2018. It was written by

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...

and illustrated by Mahmud A. Asrar. The book followed a new team of

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

led by

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix and Dark Phoenix. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack K ...

following her return in ''Phoenix Resurrection''. The second series featured the conflicting mutant factions on the Planet Arakko after the terraforming of Mars.

Publication history

Volume 1

''X-Men Red'' is part of the

franchise and a sister book to ''

X-Men Gold ''X-Men Gold'' is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics and initially created by writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Ardian Syaf. This series builds off of plot points established in '' X-Men Prime''. The first issue was released April 5, ...

'' and '' X-Men Blue'', which began ten months earlier. It follows events from the December 2017 miniseries ''Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey'' written by Matthew Rosenberg and illustrated by

Leinil Francis Yu Leinil Francis Yu (born 1977) is a People of the Philippines, Filipino comic book artist, who began working for the United States, American market through Wildstorm Productions. Career Leinil Francis Yu was first recognized after winning the ''W ...

. The series was promoted as part of Marvel's ''Fresh Start'', a full company relaunch of publications. The first issue, released February 7, 2018, was written by

and illustrated by

Mahmud Asrar Mahmud Anjum Asrar (born November 20, 1976 in Ankara, Turkey"About"
Mahm ...

. It was available in ten different

variant cover In comic books, a variant cover (sometimes variant edition) refers to an issue of a comic book printed with multiple covers, each with unique cover art. The first comic book marketed with a variant cover was the 1986 first issue of '' The Man of St ...

s. Taylor's initial plans for the series did not involve any

crossovers Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

with other comic series.

, a character recently resurrected after being dead for over a decade, assembles a new team with the intent to create a mutant nation. Her initial allies are Nightcrawler,

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

Honey Badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is listed ...

Gentle Gentle may refer to: * Gentleness People * Johnny Gentle, stage name of John Askew (born 1936), British pop singer who once toured with the Silver Beetles (later the Beatles) as his backing group * Peter Gentle (born 1965), Australian rugby league ...

, Trinary, and

Namor Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc. ...

. They use

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

as their headquarters.Polo, Susana (February 8, 2018),
X-Men: Red #1 brings back a powerful villain and a terrible pun
"

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

. Retrieved March 1, 2018 After she attempts to convince the UN to recognize the mutant race as a nation with full human rights, Jean is framed for murder of an English congresswoman who is psychically murdered by a resurfaced

Cassandra Nova Cassandra Nova is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, Cassandra first appeared in ''New X-Men (2001 ...

, who uses this to alienate Jean in the public eye and label her a fugitive. Jean's team is thereby forced to act in secret as she continues in her goal to "heal the world". An annual was published in May 2018 to detail the events between ''Phoenix Resurrection'' and ''X-Men Red'' #1.

Volume 2

As part of the X-Men relaunch post-House of X, a second volume of the title written by

Al Ewing Al Ewing () is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press and for '' 2000 AD'' and Marvel Comics. Career Al Ewing began his career writing stories in the four-page ''Future Shocks'' format for '' 2000 AD'' and moved on ...

was published under the banner ''

Destiny of X "Destiny of X" is a 2022 relaunch of the ''X-Men'' line of comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the sequel to " Reign of X" following the end of the dual miniseries ''X Lives of Wolverine'' and ''X Deaths of Wolverine'', and the first ph ...

'' and is a successor to Ewing's '' S.W.O.R.D.'' series.

Main characters

Team roster

Volume 1

Volume 2

* Bold indicates current members as of 2022.

X-Men Red

Formed by

Abigail Brand Special Agent Abigail Brand is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday, she first appeared in ''Astonishing X-Men'' vol. 3 #3 (Sept. 2004). She i ...

to police and control matters on the planet Arakko.

Brotherhood of Arakko

Formed by

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

as an opposition to X-Men Red, supported by Arakkii.

Great Ring of Arakko

Governing body of Arakko, consisting of powerful players in planet Arakko.

Reception

Prior to publication, the series generated interest for starring Grey, a character who was killed nearly 15 years earlier in ''New X-Men'' #150. According to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Comic Book Roundup, the debut issue received an average score of 8.2 out of 10 based on 33 critical reviews.X-Men Red #1
"

Comic Book Roundup a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

. Retrieved March 1, 2018 In a review for ''

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

'', David Pepose praised the plot of the book for its focus on the coexistence of humans and mutants, which he said was the main premise of the X-Men franchise.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

reviewer Jesse Shedeen agreed, saying the "franchise has a bad habit of ... losing sight of the mutant metaphor and its allegorical power", but was glad ''X-Men Red'' makes it a primary focus.Shedeen, Jesse (February 7, 2018),
X-Men Red #1 Review
"

. Retrieved March 1, 2018 Although they found Asrar's art to be flawed but adequate, both of them liked Taylor's portrayal of Grey and her supporting cast. Pepose specifically liked that Grey was a leader instead of a symbol, love interest, or target.

Publication history

Volume 1

Volume 2

Main characters

Team roster

Volume 1

Volume 2

X-Men Red

Brotherhood of Arakko

Great Ring of Arakko

Reception

Prints

Collected editions

Volume 1

Volume 2

References

External links