This week sees the release of the first non-Jonathan Hickman issue of an X-Men related title, as the new status quo branches off into new series. For us fans of Powers of X and House of X, the news is quite good, as Marauders gets off to a strong start.
Marauders #1
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Matteo Lolli and Federico Blee
The new team, which takes their name from Mister Sinister’s former band of evil mutants (a fact that doesn’t sit too well with Storm) is situated on boat funded by Emma Frost and Hellfire Industries and led by Kitty Pryde. Actually, make that Kate Pryde. After all these years, the X-Men known as Sprite and Shadowcat has changed her name, catching up to her future self from the beloved Days of Future Past storyline. In the first issue of Marauders, Kate is joined by Iceman, Storm and Pyro on a waterway trip to Russia to free mutants who are being kept from entering Krakoa by their government. The boat is Kate’s new home, because, for some reasons, she can’t enter Krakoa.
There’s a lot of great stuff in this issue, and I don’t want to spoil it for you here. I will tell you that writer Gerry Duggan has done a great job in ensuring the feeling of Marauders #1 is right in sync with the world Jonathan Hickman has established. He’s also put Kate Pryde front and centre of a new story, with lots to unpack and uncover over the coming months.
This morning I asked our E.A. Henson if he was going to read Marauders #1; he didn’t plan on it, but I encourage him to take a look at this strong debut. If the X-Men writers can keep up this level of work, we should see a lot of X-related titles in the top ten sales every month.
