It’s time to check in with Miss Minutes again! Throughout August, the mysterious mascot of the Time Variance Authority will adorn some of the month’s hottest titles in 8 all-new variant covers. Her charming 2021 debut in Marvel Studios’ Loki on Disney+ was a hit with fans and these stunning covers are sure build up the excitement for her return in Loki season 2 later this year. The covers showcase the character being her delightful self in a wide range of situations and settings, all brought to life by acclaimed comic book superstars including Humberto Ramos, Betsy Cola, Ron Lim, Peach Momoko, and more.
Check out five Miss Minutes Variant Covers now and keep an eye out for more to be revealed in the weeks ahead.
ASTONISHING ICEMAN #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER by HUMBERTO RAMOS – 75960620615500121
CHILDREN OF THE VAULT #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY BETSY COLA – 75960620617900121
GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE: WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE ALPHA #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY AARON KUDER – 75960620556100121
ALPHA FLIGHT #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM – 75960620613100121
UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY ROMY JONES – 75960620597400161
IMMORTAL THOR #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO – 75960620664300131
JEAN GREY #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY JUANN CABAL – 75960620618600121
MARVEL UNLEASHED #1 MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY CHRISSIE ZULLO – 75960620134100121
Mutantkind will enter a thrilling new era of uncertainty, danger, and mystery known as Fall of X! During this perilous time, two of the X-Men’s strongest soldiers will join forces to take down the greatest threat to mutantkind’s future in Children of the Vault!
A four-issue limited series, Children of the Vault will be written by Deniz Camp in his exciting Marvel debut and drawn by Luca Maresca, following his hit work on Photon: Monica Rambeau. These two rising stars will explore one of the most significant obstacles to mutantkind’s survival, the mega-evolved superbeings known as The Children of the Vault. This post-human species is seen as the next stage of evolution, superior to mutants in every way. Their motives and the existential threat they represent has been brewing in the pages of both Jonathan Hickman and Gerry Duggan’s X-Men runs, and after the dramatic events at this year’s Hellfire Gala, they’re be unleashed from their virtual prison with a new mission. Former enemies become brother-in-arms as Cable and Bishop team-up to fight this crucial war against the Children of the Vault all on their own!
The Children of the Vault are back, and they are determined to be humanity’s salvation! But not everything is as it seems, and every utopia has its costs. What is the motivation behind these highly evolved beings gifting the world with their advanced technology? And how do Bishop and a now-Orchis-captured Cable figure into their plans?
ARE YOU READY TO BECOME THE FUTURE? Pick up Children of the Vault #1 on August 9.
At the Marvel Comics: Fall of X Panel at MegaCon Orlando, fans got fresh insights into the X-Men’s upcoming new era, Fall of X! Senior Editor Jordan D. White was joined by a trio of X-Men talent—writers Gerry Duggan and Benjamin Percy and artist Joshua Cassara—to chat about some of the new series, stories, and shakeups in this exciting era.
Since 2019’s revolutionary House of X and Powers of X series, mutantkind has experienced unparalleled growth and prosperity on the island nation Krakoa – but can it really last forever? It all begins in July’s shocking X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 one-shot where danger, conspiracy, and sacrifice threatens to shatter everything mutantkind accomplished on Krakoa. Revealed earlier today and showcased at the panel was a brand-new Fall of X teaser image by Bryan Hitch. The haunting image is accompanied by a list of Fall of X tie-in titles, some of which have yet to be announced!
Below are additional upcoming titles and issues revealed at today’s panel:
Announced last month at Marvel Unlimited’s X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years Live Virtual Event, the devastating events of the Hellfire Gala and the tragic circumstances of Fall of X calls for the return of the Avengers’ Unity Squad in a new run of Uncanny Avengers written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Javier Garrón! The new lineup will include Captain America, Rogue, Deadpool, Quicksilver, Psylocke, and Penance. This powerhouse new team must solve the mystery of who the new, murderous Captain Krakoa is — and stop his army of killers from igniting the fires of a new world war. Fans can check out the team on the newly revealed main cover of this highly-anticipated series!
Duggan will also continue to write X-Men throughout Fall of X. Following the Hellfire Gala, the title will see a cast shakeup with new additions such as the winner of this year’s X-Men fan vote and Kate Pryde. She’s been known as Kitty, Sprite, Ariel, Red Queen and Captain Kate. Now, as the X-Men finds their way through their darkest hour… SHADOWKAT emerges! Harkening back to the character’s ninja training, see the characters radical transformation in a new design sheet by visionary artist Peach Momoko.
Benjamin Percy’s run on X-Force has been delivering pulse-pounding action and thought-provoking drama since the Dawn of X, and now the stakes are higher than ever! Daniel Acuña joins as cover artist for this bold new era, and his X-Force #43 piece unveils new team leader Colossus on the frontlines with the squad…but where he leads them you will never expect!
Percy’s astounding work on Wolverine will also be kicked into high gear as the dire circumstances of Fall of X send Logan on the run and into a collision course with Ghost Rider! Alongside acclaimed artist Geoff Shaw, Percy will bring both his Wolverine and Ghost Rider runs together in a four-part epic: Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance! A demonic serial killer is murdering innocent mutants. But what is it about this deadly new villain that forces our two heroes to team up? And what buried secret does he share with Wolverine and Ghost Rider’s never-before-seen very first meeting in the past? The crossover kicks off in August’s Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of VengeanceAlpha before unfolding in the pages of Ghost Rider #17 and Wolverine #36 and coming to a fiery conclusion in Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of VengeanceOmega.
Fans also got a peek at Tony Stark’s new stealth armor on the cover of Gerry Duggan and Juan Frigeri’s Invincible Iron Man #9. With Feilong in control of Stark Unlimited and using its resources to build Stark Sentinels, Tony Stark has proposed a new alliance with Emma Frost. Tony will play a key role during Fall of X and his latest solo title impacts mutantkind’s new status quo in surprising ways.
Check out the covers now and stay tuned for more Fall of X announcements including news about titles launching this summer!
Writer Jonathan Hickman tugs on a long-simmering plot thread in X-Men #18 as he, Mahmud Asrar, and Sunny Gho send the rough and tumble team of Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Darwin, and Synch into the Vault to confront and find information about the Children of the Vault, who appeared way back in X-Men #5 after a lengthy absence from the X-Books. (This is a great explainer about them.) The Children of the Vault are shrouded in mystery, hence, the risky reconnaissance mission in an environment where time doesn’t work traditionally, but they’re humans evolved over a period of 6,000 years in a specialized environment that have given them superhuman abilities. They also see the mutants and Krakoa as a threat so Darwin, Synch, and Wolverine are not in for a good time.
“Escape from the Vault” is going to be a rare two-part story in a series that has mostly been loosely connected done-in-ones that give readers a flavor of the Krakoa era. However, with the impending election of an X-Men team and coming of last issue’s space mission, it looks like Jonathan Hickman and Mahmud Asrar are back on a “mutants going on a mission” kick even if it’s not traditionally superheroic.
Basically, the team in X-Men #18 are like the members of the various hapless crews in the Alien franchise, but with special abilities that could get them out of this bind. And speaking of powers, Hickman crafts this team lineup almost perfectly with Wolverine’s healing ability, Darwin’s adaptability, and Synch’s ability to duplicate any mutant power make them have a chance in this hostile environment. Hickman takes a purposeful approach to superhero team building, and you can see this throughline of complementary abilities echo down the X-Books from SWORD and the magic in Excalibur to the training exercises in Vita Ayala and Rod Reis’ New Mutants and even in the Resurrection protocols of The Five. The previous issue was more self-indulgent with 1990s style art and costumes from Brett Booth and star turns from Hickman faves Cannonball and Sunspot, but X-Men #18 is back to the business of setting a tone for the line of comics and showing how Krakoa deals with threats.
After a foreboding setup and quick introduction to the team, Hickman, Asrar, and Gho dive straight into combat. Wolverine, Darwin, and Synch fight more like the X-Force (Sans guns and pouches.) than the X-Men with Wolverine especially being a ball of rage. Asrar draws her from overhead angles and with plenty of speed lines to show her aggression, and that she isn’t holding back with blood spurting out of Serafina, the only Child of the Vault who gets mentioned by name in this issue. Colorist Sunny Gho accentuates this panel by switching the usual blue background of the Vault to red. Laura is more into action than words, and she demonstrates this in X-Men #18 through her single-handed focus on the mission unlike Darwin and Synch, who are hoping for a quick in and out mission.
Synch acts as the narrator of X-Men #18 providing commentary on the team’s time in the Vault while Jonathan Hickman and Mahmud Asrar show that a seemingly timid character that’s been dead in the comics since 2000 could be one of Krakoa’s deadliest weapon. Synch’s tone is fairly neutral, yet a little freaked out as he reminds readers that even though this comic has a fairly straightforward plot, time isn’t working normally right now, and the team is probably end for some weirdness one they reach the other side, especially after this issue’s, shall we way, nuclear finish. If the middle of X-Men #18 is Aliens, its bookends are Alien: all horror, atmosphere, and tension tinged with science fiction. Because his powers literally make him the ultimate support character, Synch is very passive in the early stages of the fight against the Children of the Vault walking around with a water bubble around his head once he takes a flame to the face.
However, fire plus water equals boiling, and Synch unveils his grisly potential in a sequence where he reveals that he can duplicate the powers of both mutants and other superpowered beings like the Children of the Vault. It immediately shifts the momentum of both the battle and X-Men #18 with Sunny Gho bringing some vivid oranges in his palette to go with Asrar’s skeleton silhouettes. The A.I. in the Dome was right that the Children of the Vault needed more training, upgrades, and/or evolution to have a chance against the mutants even if total victory doesn’t happen in this issue. However, Synch’s flame on moment pays off a data page earlier in the issue where Dr. Reyes says that his power limits have increased, and that he can “connect” to any kind of superhuman ability.
There is only one other data page in X-Men #18, but Hickman makes them crucial to the plot and arc of the main character. Their placement is also clever with the aforementioned payoff, and more importantly, he puts the text of a letter allowing the team to use deadly force because the Children of the Vault aren’t classified as humans after Wolverine and Synch have done their thing. It’s a great final page of the issue that adds an ethical dimension to the snikts and explosions and shows again that the Krakoans are a little hypocritical and are just like any human nation snuffing out a threat to their sovereignty via various black ops and cutthroat ways, especially since they and the Children of the Vault are a lot alike.
X-Men #18 shows Jonathan Hickman putting his own spin on the typical X-Men “rescue” mission, and the focus on a tight-knit, complementary cast lets Wolverine, Darwin, and Synch’s personalities and abilities shine. Mahmud Asrar and Sunny Gho also get to draw riveting action sequences that showcase this cast of character’s unique powers while working in tandem with Hickman to create an uneasy tone around the team’s actions. By the end of the issue, we know so much about who Wolverine, Darwin, and Synch are, but their opponents are basically explod-y action figures. Hmm…
Story: Jonathan Hickman Art: Mahmud Asrar Colors: Sunny Gho Letters: Clayton Cowles Story: 8.0 Art: 8.4 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
