''X-Men: Red'' is an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

series published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, featuring characters from

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

stories. The first series was an eleven-issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

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), ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literatu ...

and illustrated by Mahmud A. Asrar. The book followed a new team of X-Men led by

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...

following her return in ''Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey''. The second series featured the conflicting

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...

factions on the terraformed Mars, renamed Planet Arakko.

Publication history

Volume 1

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

franchise and a sister book to '' X-Men Gold'' and ''

X-Men Blue ''X-Men: Blue'' was an ongoing series, ongoing comic book published twice monthly by Marvel Comics and initially created by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Jorge Molina. The first issue was released April 12, 2017. It is a continuation of the ''All ...

'', which began ten months earlier. It follows the events of the 2017–2018 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 ...

. 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) is an Austrian comic book artist who is known for his work on American and non-American comic books. His American work includes runs on Conan the Barbarian, King Conan, X-Men, X-Men Red, Wolverine & the ...

. 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 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''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

Honey Badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed across Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only living species in both the genus ''Mellivora'' and the subfami ...

, Gentle, Trinary, and

Namor Namor McKenzie (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc., the character first appeared in '' Moti ...

. They use

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

as their headquarters. 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, 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

A second volume of the title written by

Al Ewing Al Ewing ( ; born 12 August 1977) is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press, for '' 2000 AD'', and for Marvel Comics. Career Al Ewing began his career writing stories in the four-page '' Future Shocks'' format for '' ...

was published during the " Destiny of X" relaunch of X-Men books and is a successor to Ewing's '' S.W.O.R.D.'' series.

Main characters

These characters are credited as main cast in the respective comics.

Team rosters

X-Men

X-Men Red

X-Men Red was formed by Abigail Brand to police Planet Arakko.

Brotherhood of Arakko

The Brotherhood of Arakko was formed by

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

in opposition to X-Men Red and later fought against

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

' army during the Genesis War.

Great Ring of Arakko

The Great Ring of Arakko is the governing body of

Arakko A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Nils Styger Abyss is a mutant and the half-brother of Nightcrawler. He was cr ...

Reception

Volume 1

Prior to publication, the series generated interest for starring

, a character who was killed nearly 15 years earlier in '' New X-Men'' #150 (February 2004). According to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Comic Book Roundup, the debut issue received an average score of 8.2 out of 10 based on 33 critical reviews. 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 Future US. Hi ...

'', 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

franchise.

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming 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 district and is headed by its former e ...

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. Although they found

's art to be flawed but adequate, both of them liked

's portrayal of Grey and her supporting cast. Pepose specifically liked that Grey was a leader instead of a symbol, love interest, or target.

Prints

Volume 1

Volume 2

Collected editions

Volume 1

Volume 2

References

External links

Official site
{{X-Comics 2018 comics debuts 2018 comics endings 2022 comics debuts Comics set on Mars X-Men titles