When it comes to social events in the Marvel Universe, there might be none bigger than the Hellfire Gala. The annual event is mutantkind’s biggest night, a night full of celebration, style, and inevitably mystery and betrayal. This year, the event of the year is adding an even more dramatic flair to the festivities with murder. Heading to comic shops July 22nd is X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1, this year’s mutant event of the year promises to be an epic murder mystery—and we have an exclusive first look.
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X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1 will be the capstone for the previous year of X-Men storytelling and is written and drawn by a truly impressive array of talented current X-Men creators. The lineup includes Jed MacKay (X-Men), Gail Simone (Uncanny X-Men), Eve L. Ewing (X-Men United), Saladin Ahmed (Wolverine), Erica Schultz (Rogue), Tony Daniel (X-Men), Luciano Vecchio (Uncanny X-Men), Federica Mancin (Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant), and more. And when it comes to the crime at the party? While the Hellfire Gala has always been dramatic, this might just be the most dramatic night yet as the story promises not just a whodunit, but a deeper conspiracy as well with Wolverine and Jubilee trying to find out the truth.
X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1 Is Like Clue But Mutant Style
Here’s how Marvel describes X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1: “When an iconic mutant power player is murdered at an exclusive masquerade hosted by Sebastian Shaw, it falls to Wolverine and Jubilee to solve a locked-room mystery that has dire consequences for all mutantkind. Everyone is a suspect. And the party isn’t over yet…”
That description alone is giving us major Clue-style vibes, which makes it an even more interesting mystery to unpack. Elevating the mystery experience, of course, is going to be the outfits. The Hellfire Gala is known for its impressive fashion showcase and just a glance at the first look art above confirms that this year will be no different. With this year’s theme being a masquerade, the looks are even more complex and fascinating—something that is only going to make the mystery that much more satisfying.
“Doing Hellfire Gala designs is always a pleasure,” Vecchio said. “This time around, it’s a masquerade, so the challenge was to come up with looks that divert from each character’s classic iconography to reflect their mask’s theme. The dress code is a callback to classic Hellfire Club attire, so there’s 18th century fashion mixed with corsets and leather gear, but mixing up the gendering of those elements, resulting in something elegant and sexy.”
X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1 is set to go on sale July 22nd. Will you be RSVPing?
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