X-Men Annual #1 Puts the Spotlight on Hellfire Gala Fan Vote Winner Firestar (Exclusive)

Firestar shocked many readers when she won the fan vote for Marvel’s new X-Men team, and a new annual will take a closer look at her tenuous relationship with mutantkind. One of the biggest events in the second annual Hellfire Gala was the reveal of who would make up the X-Men’s new public superhero team. Four X-Men voluntarily stepped down – Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Rogue, Sunfire, and Polaris – while Firestar, Forge, Magik, Iceman, and Havok took their place. Their adventures continue in Marvel’s X-Men series, but a December annual is all about Firestar.

ComicBook.com can exclusively reveal X-Men Annual #1 by writer Steve Foxe (X-Men ’92: House of XCII) and artist Andrea Di Vito (Wolverine: Patch). The cover by Stefano Caselli features Firestar in her new costume designed by Pepe Larraz, side-by-side with Cyclops as they unleash their mutant powers. It brings back memories of Cyclops and another firey redhead, Jean Grey, together on the blue area of the moon battling the Shi’ar Imperial Guard in the X-Men’s Dark Phoenix Saga.

X-Men Annual #1 will explore how Firestar hasn’t exactly embraced her mutant nature in her career. While she has fought on an X-Men team (Amazing X-Men) in the past, she’s more known for being on the Avengers and New Warriors.

“Oftentimes, the ‘new member out of their depth’ on an X-Men squad is a former villain or a teenage trainee who has graduated to the big leagues. Firestar introduces such a unique dynamic to the team since she’s neither,” Steve Foxe said in a statement. “She’s a proven hero several times over…in the Avengers, New Warriors, and Young Allies. I’m sure this explains both why she won the fan vote and why a lot of readers had, err…heated opinions about her victory. I’m enormously grateful to Jordan, Lauren, Gerry, and the rest of the X-Office for letting Andrea and me put Angelica through the wringer to explore her complicated, conflicted path toward representing the best Krakoa has to offer (while having a lot of bonkers fun with the rest of the squad, too!).”

X-Men Annual #1 goes on sale in December. You can check out the cover and solicitation below.

• X-MEN ANNUAL #1
• Written by STEVE FOXE
• Art by ANDREA DI VITO
• Cover by STEFANO CASELLI
• THE NEWEST X-MAN BURNS UP THE SPOTLIGHT!
• In a surprising turn of events, Firestar, who had not yet fully embraced Krakoa, was elected to the X-Men at the Hellfire Gala. Her history with her mutant nature is a tumultuous one for many reasons…but her record as a hero is exemplary. Can she wrestle with her past in time to rise to the occasion thrust upon her?