This March, Marvel Comics will release an official prelude comic series to the upcoming Marvel Studios animated series, X-Men '97, ahead of its launch on Disney+ later this year (funnily enough, March is also the rumoured launch date for the show).
Written by Steve Foxe and drawn by Salva Espín, the X-Men '97 comic was created in collaboration with the showrunners and will reveal what Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Jubilee and the rest of the beloved X-Men cast have been up to in the time before their return.
As a result, we'll get a head start at all the mutant drama, shocking developments, and exciting character introductions ahead of the hotly anticipated new series.
To celebrate the launch, acclaimed X-Men artist Russell Dauterman has been enlisted to prove a stunning new cover for the debut issue. Few artists capture the mutant team's style quite like Dauterman and this dynamic and action-packed wraparound variant cover depicts the iconic X-Men '97 team looking better than ever.
For the cover, Dauterman updated a piece of X-Men fan art he did years ago...the very piece that caught Marvel Comics' attention.
"X-Men: The Animated Series was everything to me as a kid, and sparked my love of the X-Men and comics - I wouldn’t be a comic book artist without it!" Dauterman exclaims. "This piece is based on an X-Men: The Animated Series fan art I did a decade ago - the fan art that got me hired at Marvel!"
"Now, it’s completely redone as an official cover to celebrate the new show. Absolutely thrilled to do this piece, and can’t wait for '97!"
Talking about writing the series, Foxe previously said, "There's a very good chance I wouldn't be writing comics today if not for the impact X-Men: The Animated Series had on me as a kid--heck, the voice actors from the show are still the voices I hear when I read the comics today!"
"Getting to reunite with my X-Men '92: House of XCII collaborator Salva Espín on this official prelude to X-Men '97 has felt like a bucket-list project a lifetime in the making, and Beau [DeMayo] and the rest of the '97 team gave us a fantastic runway to come up with our own original tale that feeds right into what viewers will get to experience in the new season."
Marvel Studios has a three-season plan for X-Men '97 and this will hopefully be the first of many collaborations with Marvel Comics. After all, there's a lot of fertile ground to explore with the world that began in X-Men: The Animated Series!
Check out Dauterman's gorgeous variant cover for X-Men '97 #1 below.
X-MEN '97 #1 (OF 4)
Written by STEVE FOXE
Art by SALVA ESPÍN
Cover by TODD NAUCK
Variant Cover by RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
On Sale 3/27