Classic X-Men Villain To Return In X-Men Gold

One fo the X-Men's most feared villains from the 1990s is set to make his return in X-Men Gold in August.

X-Men Gold ships twice monthly, and it's a little unclear where this story begins. In X-Men Gold #9, Kitty Pryde and Colossus find themselves forced to fight back to back and get over the awkwardness of working with their ex.

It is unclear if this story leads directly into X-Men Gold #10, which is also a Colossus-centric episode, but this time sees him paired off with his sister, guest star Magik. The two of them head back to their homeland, Russia, to aid an old friend but are shocked to discover that this friend has been captured by Omega Red.

Omega Red was created by Jim Lee and John Byrne and made his first appearance in X-Men #4 in 1992. Appropriately enough, this was during the early days of the original X-Men Gold and Blue team era.

Like Colossus and Magik, Omega Red is a native of Russia. He was born Arkady Rossovich and he was a serial killer who was caught by Interpol agent Sean Cassidy, who later became the X-Man known as Banshee, and turned over to the Russian KGB.

The KGB attempted to turn Arkady into a Russian super soldier to match Captain America. They endowed him with enhanced physical abilities and a "death factor" forces him to absorb the "life force" of others to survive. The KGB also installed retractable tentacles made from a rare metal called carbonadium into his arm.

Omega Red was believed to be dead after Wolverine stabbed him through the heart with the Muramasa blade. His death was seemingly confirmed when Wolverine actually went to hell and Omega Red's soul was among those trapped there. How he's returned to the land of the living remains to be seen.

The full solicitations for X-Men Gold #9 and X-Men Gold #10 follow. The issues hit comic book stores in August.