When Jonathan Hickman was asked to come back to Marvel, he says he was mandated to “just ‘try things,'” which made an already-attractive offer even more interesting. In a new interview with Comicbook.com, Hickman says that while he crafted several pitches for Marvel, “X-Men was the bigger, more timely, idea.” And when House of X and Powers of X launch this July, the intertwined, six-issue mini-series will usher in a whole new era of X-Men.

Hickman has previously said that readers will need to pick up both House of X and Powers of X to understand the stories in each. In this interview, he expands on that: “One, House of X, is a story about a pivotal month in the history of the X-men where everything changes for mutants on Earth. And the other, Powers of X, is a story about the history of mutants in the Marvel Universe. It works as a series of reveals and revelations where each issue of HOX that follows POX — and vice versa — makes you reinterpret the issue you had previously read. And then, obviously, at the end they crash together in a way that propels us forward into a new X-Universe.”

In order to kick off that new X-Universe, Hickman says he didn’t think doing a new number one would be enough. So, he argued for canceling the current X-Men line in its entirety. One reason, he said, is that it would be the right move narratively “to return the X-Men to their rightful prominent position in the Marvel Universe.”

Hickman explains, “We needed to sell the idea that this is what we’re going to be doing for the next few years. So if you want to read X-Men books during the run from late-July through September, House of X and Powers of X are the only new X-books available and everything that’s going to follow is based on them. We wanted to be clear to the fans, to the stores, and just as importantly, to the creators who are going to be staffing these books in the future. We wanted the message to be very clear: This is a whole new era for the X-Men. This is what we’re doing now.

Once POX and HOX conclude, a new line of X-books will be introduced. Hickman says, “Some will be traditional fare, some carry through on ideas presented in HOX and POX. Some books are completely new concepts. I, personally, will be writing the ongoing flagship X-book.”

The new X-Universe will roll out in two waves: wave one’s titles, creative teams and publishing details will be announced around this year’s San Diego Comic-Con; wave two will kick off some time in 2020. As for continuing the long-running metaphors of the X-Men line, Hickman says it’s impossible to write these characters without incorporating metaphor. He also says he thinks these books are at heart about found family.

“One that accepts you for who you are, who loves you at your best and worst, and who shares your dreams for what the world can be,” he says. “You know, everybody wants to love somebody, everyone wants to be loved, and it’s pretty great when you find both. Especially if you’re, say, a weirdo mutant with eyeballs covering your whole body.”

Check out the cover art for issues #1-3 of both House of X and Powers of X below, as well as unlettered preview pages from both books. Art for HOX is by Pepe Larraz, with colors by Marte Gracia. Art for POX is by RB Silva, also with colors by Marte Gracia.

House of X #2
House of X #3
House of X preview

Powers of X #2
Powers of X #3
Powers of X preview

6 COMMENTS

  1. So the first issues are coming in at $5.99 each, each published twice a month for about three months, so an issue a week at somewhere between $4 and $6 a pop. All for All New All Different Even Nowier Marvel NOW X-Men. to follow this event which CHANGES EVERYTHING.
    No. I mean – Jesus. Just no. Perfect place to jump off the X-books, which is a same as I was really enjoying Rosenberg’s Uncanny.

  2. Another brand new era. This is marvel, it won’t last long before another cross over event derails what ever storyline they plan to write. And throw in sky high prices, just to make sure it’s important enough for me to wait a year and pick it up out of the dollar bin. This is becoming more and more like politics; where you just can’t trust anything they say because they only say it because they want something, not because they’re actually going to try to make things better.

  3. Hickman is a great idea man, but IMO a less good writer of coherent characters and stories. Statements like “readers will need to pick up both House of X and Powers of X to understand the stories in each” and “doing a new number one would [not] be enough [so] he argued for canceling the current X-Men line in its entirety” turn me off, so I expect they will likewise prove a perfect jumping-off point for many readers. By contrast, I like much better Bendis’ approach with his two fine Action and Superman titles that can be read independently if wanted.
    Frankly, I feel Hickman’s overall impact on Marvel has been much more destructive than positive. Whereas I enjoyed his “Infinity” storyline and his handling of the FF & Reed Richards, his culminating “Secret Wars” destruction of the Marvel universe was a big misfire (especially his tawdry character destruction of crazily-feudingTony Stark and Steve Rogers at the end of the world), practically canceling the line for months (as he want to do now for the X-Men), leaving the Marvel universe, its publisher, and its fans in much worse shape than when he started. I think Marvel was nuts to approve Hickman’s prior hit-and-run smash-up, so I’m not optimistic or on board for his new run. That said, the X-line feels like it’s in pretty weak shape at this point where maybe something radical needs to be done, so maybe a desparate Marvel is right that Hickman’s plan is the way to go.

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