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Kitty Pryde has played many different roles among the X-Men; she’s never even settled on a single code-name, going from Sprite to Ariel to Shadowcat to Red Queen. During the X-Men’s time on the mutant island of Krakoa, she became a pirate captain, sailing the high seas to rescue mutant refugees for the Hellfire Trading Company.
Now in the new ongoing “Exceptional X-Men” by Dr. Eve Ewing and artist Carmen Carnero, Kitty is back in her (and Ewing’s) hometown of Chicago. When the comic began, Kitty had decided to put world saving behind her and was working as a bartender. But she found young Mutants in need of guidance, and stepped up with her old enemy-turned-friend Emma Frost to teach them.
Marvel has shared an exclusive first look preview of unlettered pages to “Exceptional X-Men” #6 with /Film, continuing the story of Kitty and her new students.
Most “X-Men” writers try to leave their mark by introducing new “student” characters, who can follow the coming-of-age arc that Kitty went on in the classic Chris Claremont years. Grant Morrison introduced Quentin Quire and the Stepford Cuckoos during their “New X-Men,” while Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s “Astonishing X-Men” gave us Armor. Even over on sister title “Uncanny X-Men” right now, Gail Simone and David Marquez have introduced four young mutants called “The Outliers.” So, how do Kitty and Emma’s students compare?
Exceptional X-Men introduces a suspicious mutant tech bro
The teenage cast of Ewing and Carnero’s “Exceptional X-Men” is as follows:
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Bronze/Trista Marshall, who can turn her skin into bronze
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Axo/Alex Luna, who can influence emotions and change his skin color to complement them
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Melee/Thao Tran, who can phase through solid matter like Kitty and also turn invisible.
The three have been dealing with the still-existing prejudice against mutants, so Kitty and Emma are giving them some X-Men-style self-defense courses. So far, the teacher and students have been meeting at a dance studio to train; it’s not exactly the Danger Room, but it suffices. The first preview pages show them performing that training with Iceman (who joined the series in issue #3).
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
“Exceptional X-Men” wrapped its first volume of stories, “Duty Calls,” back in December with issue #5. The next arc, or at least its first issues, looks like it’s going to spotlight Axo. The synopsis for issue #6 reads:
“WHO IS SHELDON XENOS? AXO, the Exceptional X-Men’s resident empath, goes to work for the creator of the wildly popular Verate app. Maybe Xenos and his inventions can bring mutants the support, recognition and connection they deserve. But the charismatic technology mogul seems to be hiding a secret… or two… or four… or…”
The next preview pages show the three young mutants meeting with Mr. Xenos, who is evidently a mutant himself with ram horns growing from his forehead.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
“Exceptional” was one of three launching titles of the X-Men’s “From The Ashes” banner; each following different teams in different parts of the country. “X-Men” by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman is set in remote Alaska, while Simone and Marquez’s “Uncanny X-Men” is unfolding in the Louisiana bayou. “Exceptional,” meanwhile, takes place in one of America’s urban hearts; of the three series, it feels like the one that most has its finger on the pulse of young marginalized people’s real struggles. The Verate app, described as DNA collecting and analyzing one that offers lifestyle tips, sounds like it’s going to explore how such apps have become an integral part of lives, yet fail to actually build the connections or community they purport to.
“Exceptional X-Men” #6 is scheduled for print and digital release on February 19, 2025.
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