X-Men Red was an eleven-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics in monthly installments between February and December 2018. It was written by Tom Taylor and illustrated by Mahmud A. Asrar. The book followed a new team of X-Men led by Jean Grey following her return in Phoenix Resurrection.
Publication history
X-Men Red is part of the X-Men franchise and a sister book to X-Men Gold and X-Men Blue, which began ten months earlier. It follows events from the December 2017 miniseries Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey written by Matthew Rosenberg and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu. The first issue, released February 7, 2018, was written by Tom Taylor and illustrated by Mahmud Asrar. It was available in ten different variant covers. Taylor's initial plans for the series did not involve any crossovers with other comic series. The series was promoted as part of Marvel's "Fresh Start", a full company relaunch of publications. An annual is scheduled for May 2018 to detail the events between Phoenix Resurrection and X-Men Red #1.
Plot
, a character recently resurrected after being dead for over a decade, assembles a new team with the intent to create a mutant nation. Her initial allies are Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Honey Badger, Gentle, Trinary, and Namor. They use Atlantis as their headquarters. After she attempts to convince the UN to recognize the mutant race as a nation with full human rights, Jean is framed for murder of an English congresswoman who is psychically murdered by a resurfaced Cassandra Nova, who uses this to alienate Jean in the public eye and label her a fugitive. Jean's team is thereby forced to act in secret as she continues in her goal to "heal the world".
Reception
Prior to publication, the series generated interest for starring Grey, a character who was killed nearly 15 years earlier in New X-Men #150. According to review aggregatorComic Book Roundup, the debut issue received an average score of 8.2 out of 10 based on 33 critical reviews. In a review for Newsarama, David Pepose praised the plot of the book for its focus on the coexistence of humans and mutants, which he said was the main premise of the X-Men franchise. IGN reviewer Jesse Shedeen agreed, saying the "franchise has a bad habit of... losing sight of the mutant metaphor and its allegorical power", but was glad X-Men Red makes it a primary focus. Although they found Asrar's art to be flawed but adequate, both of them liked Taylor's portrayal of Grey and her supporting cast. Pepose specifically liked that Grey was a leader instead of a symbol, love interest, or target.
