Captain Britain is on a recruiting mission in an exclusive first look at Knights of X #1. The X-Men spinoff and successor to Excalibur comes from writer Tini Howard (Excalibur, X of Swords) and artist Bob Quinn (Way of X). It finds Betsy Braddock recruiting nine other mutants to protect their kind and restore order in the mystical realm of Otherworld. The conclusion of Excalibur featured the evil Merlyn taking control of Otherworld and the Starlight Citadel. He also controls Otherworld with an army of Furies the size of Sentinels. Marvel teases that the Knights of X will be searching for an artifact deeply rooted in X-Men history.
ComicBook.com's exclusive first look at Knights of X #1 shows Merlyn and some of these larger-than-life Furies, as well as Knights of X's new team of Betsy Braddock/Captain Britain, Rictor, Shatterstar, Gambit, Rachel Summers, Bei the Blood Moon, and Gloriana. As Howard explained in a press release, Knights of X features several members from Excalibur's past.
"At the end of Excalibur, we saw Merlyn take control of all Otherworld, transforming the Starlight Citadel into the Lunatic Citadel and raging his war on mutants from Saturnyne's former throne. Captain Britain stayed within when the gates fell, but even with the whole Corps at her side – it'll take more than an army of one to bring down King Arthur and his Furies," Howard explained. "You'll recognize many of the Knights from Excalibur's past – both my run and the classic – in a quest for a precious treasure that crashes our high fantasy tale into that most classic X-Men story – fighting for a(n Other)world that hates and fears them."
"Tini Howard and Marcus To's run on Excalibur was incredible, so launching the follow-up series is equal parts exciting and intimidating," Quinn said. "But I'm giving this series everything I have, I'm proud to say that these are the best pages I've ever drawn. Otherworld is a big draw for me. I've drawn midwest farms, New Jersey neighborhoods, and Central Park in my books at Marvel, and I'm excited to let my imagination loose drawing some of the weirder and wilder people and places in Otherworld!"
You can check out the first look at Knights of X #1 below, along with the issue's solicitation.
Knights of X #1 Solicitation
KNIGHTS OF X #1
Written by TINI HOWARD
Art by BOB QUINN
Cover by YANICK PAQUETTE
Variant Cover by ROD REIS
On Sale 4/13
The gates to Otherworld are closed — and Captain Britain is trapped on the wrong side! Usurpers Merlyn and his right-hand man, King Arthur, are now in control of Lunatic Citadel. Furies the size of Sentinels raze villages to the ground in their hunt for the "witchbreed." Cut off from Krakoa, Betsy Braddock is Otherworld's only hero — and to save her people, Betsy must recruit a round table of her own. The Knights of X gather to restore the rightful order and rescue desperate mutants — but their quest is about to get so much bigger than that. This is the era of destiny…and the fate of Otherworld lies at the center of mutantkind's future.
