X-Men Children of the Atom spin-off scheduled for January

Marvel Comics has scheduled Children of the Atom #1, the next ongoing series in the 'Dawn of X' X-Men line, for January 2021, following months of delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

First announced to launch in April 2020, Children of the Atom focuses on a new team of mutants who are specifically mentored by older X-Men counterparts – with some of the members of the team even sporting powers and costumes that resemble those of their mentors.

Children of the Atom #1 is written by Vita Ayala with art from Bernard Chang. X-Men group editor Jordan D. White previously confirmed to Newsarama that the series would arrive despite changes in Marvel's publishing schedule caused by COVID-19, some of which are still playing out across the publisher's line.

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“I have never known a world without mutants and the X-Men, and to be able to create characters that would become part of the canon is wild,” Ayala stated back when Children of the Atom was first announced. "What makes the new cast special to me is that they are reflective of a lot of people I know who look up to what the X-Men stand for, and have taken it upon themselves to further those ideals."

"These kids are exactly the kids who, in real life, have posters of Storm and Wolverine in their rooms, who grew up seeing them as heroes and want to live up to that."

No information about the cast of characters involved has been unveiled – with the so-called mystery of the mutants of the Children of the Atom forming a core part of the anticipation for the upcoming series.

Children of the Atom is one of several announced X-Men titles that have not been released, alongside Moira X, X-Corps, and more – though it's the first to be solicited, and rescheduled following the delays.

Children of the Atom will now debut immediately following the big 'X of Swords' event beginning in September and running across the entire X-Men line. Here is a good primer on 'X of Swords' - what it's about, when it's coming out, and the context you need to enjoy it.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)