When Marvel’s May solicitations appeared earlier this month a group of books were very conspicuous by their absence. Four X-Men titles (Uncanny X-Men, X-Men: Legacy, New Mutants, and Uncanny X-Force) had no listings and it was clear that something was up. Last week Marvel released a set of teaser images for these titles and they’re giving more details all this week on Marvel.com. Every day at 3PM Marvel will host a series of “liveblogs” focusing on what they’re calling MMXI: Year of the X-Men featuring X-editor Nick Lowe and the creators behind each of these titles kicking off yesterday with New Mutants.

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Age of X: Chapter 2 shipped side by side with Chapter 1 last week and while I’m confused by this publishing decision, I did enjoy the instant gratification. After what felt like a long time waiting for these books after the information blitz leading up to the series, I’m very satisfied with how things are unfolding. Chapter 1 introduced a new world for the familiar mutants of the X-Men line along with a host of mysteries and Chapter 2 really moved things forward.

Spoilers for the series will follow.

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I can’t understand Marvel’s publishing schedule at all sometimes. The Age of X Alpha one-shot that started this crossover shipped on January 26th and nearly a full month passed before we saw Chapters 1 and 2 last week with both shipping on February 23rd. After all the hype surrounding this event with weekly Historical Logs included in books shipping in December and writer Mike Carey providing additional backstory online leading up to the release of Alpha, it’s followed by a month of nothing and a week of double shipping. It felt like a huge loss of momentum, but the books may have been good enough to overcome the wait.

Spoilers to follow.

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It’s a snow day for most here in Philadelphia, but comics still made it into readers’ hands and The X-Men’s Age of X started this week with Age of X: Alpha #1. The one-shot is an anthology book by series writer Mike Carey covering the history of five characters in this new timeline where the X-Men never existed and mutants are being hunted to extinction. The backstories are framed in the present with the mutants asking one another how they came to be at their refuge, Fortress X, as they wait for an imminent battle with their oppressors. Art for the framing scenes is by Micro Pierfrederici whose painted pages are full of lush colors and firelight throughout. As we transition through the campfire stories, we see that everyone seems to have lost everything they had in the world before coming together.

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Marvel’s latest X-Men event, Age of X, begins this week and I really couldn’t be more excited about it. I’ve had a lot to say about it here on MLD, and all of it can be accessed, along with reviews and reactions to each installment going forward, at our Age of X hub. Despite all the hype surrounding this crossover, it’s still very mysterious (although that’s by design). Before we get into the story itself this Wednesday, it’s a good time to recap what we know going in.

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