Marvel Unveils Uncanny X-Men Variants by Jim Lee and More Artists

Uncanny X-Men #1 by Gail Simone and David Marquez goes on sale August 7th.

By Cameron Bonomolo - July 2, 2024 01:15 pm EDT

More than 30 years after Jim Lee and Chris Claremont launched the best-selling comic book of all time with 1991's X-Men #1, Lee is revisiting Marvel's mutants for another No. 1. The former X-Men artist and co-writer, Image Comics co-founder, and current DC CCO and publisher is among a lineup of superstar artists covering Uncanny X-Men #1, writer Gail Simone (Marvel's The Variants) and artist David Marquez (Avengers) upcoming relaunch of the title and the second of three flagship X-Men comics set in the new post-Krakoa era.

Marvel Comics revealed Lee's Hidden Gem Variant Cover — a throwback to the legendary artist's Savage Land Rogue pinup from the '90s — alongside the third part of Scott Koblish's four-part wraparound connecting cover, a collage cover by French artist Mr. Garcin, and a Negative Space variant of Jubilee by John Tyler Christopher (Old Man Quill). The new covers, which you can see below, join a batch of variants from Stephen Segovia (X-Force), Pablo Villalobos (Jackpot & Black Cat), Luciano Vecchio (Resurrection of Magneto), Leinil Francis Yu (Wolverine), Andy Kubert (Ultimate X-Men), and Marquez.

(Photo:
Jim Lee's "Mutant Masterwork" pinup (left) and Lee's Uncanny X-Men #1 Hidden Gem Variant Cover (right).
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Simone and Marquez's run on Uncanny X-Men is set in the wake of Krakoa's fall and Professor X's imprisonment. The series sees Rogue take on the responsibility of leader by reuniting a core team of X-Men — Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, and Gambit — at a new home in New Orleans. When four mysterious young mutants show up at their doorstep, that home becomes a haven.

"Most of my time lately has been spent trying to keep my brain from exploding right out of my skull from this book," Simone said in a statement. "It's either the fun of all my favorite mutants acting in surprising and wonderful ways, the impossibly brilliant work of the art team, or the thrilling collaboration with all the other writers, but somehow every DAY is just filled with some kind of manic joy. Ever since I took the book, I've been scribbling notes and plots and bits of dialogue day and night. I feel like a kid at a carnival. Who DOESN'T want to write Rogue and Jubilee and Gambit all the rest?"

Marvel's Uncanny X-Men #1 goes on sale August 7th.