Did Marvel just reveal the next X-Men writer in its FCBD announcement?
Marvel Comics is previewing its Free Comic Book Day 2024 titles, including a look at next year's big Avengers crossover, and what could be our first hint at what's to come for the X-Men following the end of the Krakoa era.
The Avengers and X-Men will each get a story in Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1, one of two Marvel FCBD 2024 flagship titles (we'll get to the other shortly). Blood Hunt will be the title of the next big Avengers comic book event, with current Avengers writer Jed MacKay taking on that chapter of the one-shot.
What's interesting is that Gail Simone is listed as the co-writer of FCBD: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1, leading to the apparent conclusion that Simone's contribution will be on the X-Men side, in a story that Marvel has only revealed will be about Jubilee, and which will set up the next era of the X-Men.
Artists Sara Pichelli and David Marquez are listed as the artists for the issue, though who will draw which part hasn't been specified. Kael Ngu will provide the cover.
It's entirely possible that Simone, who hasn't written an ongoing X-Men team book before, is contributing to the FCBD Blood Hunt/X-Men one-shot in another way. It's also possible she's only writing the Jubilee story, and not taking on the X-Men relaunch to come. But it sure seems like a safe bet that the story that sets up the team's post-Krakoa era may be written by the flagship writer of the newly relaunched X-Men title.
Marvel's other FCBD 2024 flagship title is Spider-Man and the Ultimate Universe. In the Spider-Man potion, writer Zeb Wells and artist Ryan Stegman (who also provides the cover) offering up an early look at the story 'The Return of the Goblin,' which will apparently kick off in Amazing Spider-Man #50. Marvel promises some "surprises up our sleeves on this one."
Meanwhile, on the Ultimate Universe side, writer Deniz Camp and artist Juan Frigeri will introduce a "powerful new hero" in a story that shows the "next evolutionary step" in the Ultimate Universe.
Marvel will also release a Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader #1 one-shot from writers Charles Soule and Greg Pak, and artists Ibraim Roberson and Ramon Rosanas, with a cover from Phil Noto, as well as an FCBD 2024: Marvel's Voices one-shot collecting several stories from the Marvel's Voices anthology series. And of course, there will be a new kid-focused FCBD 2024: Spidey and His Amazing Friends one-shot as well.
Here's a gallery of the covers for those three:
Free Comic Book Day 2024 takes place on May 4.
Stay on top of all the new Spider-Man comics Marvel has planned for release.
