16 covers (and counting) from Inferno #1, Jonathan Hickman's X-Men finale

Inferno #1 variant cover
Inferno #1 variant cover (Image credit: Shannon Maer (Marvel Comics))

Two years after the bold dawn of a new era for X-Men with House of X and Powers of X, writer Jonathan Hickman is setting a fire to it all with the upcoming event series Inferno. Debuting September 29 with Inferno #1 (of 4), this will make the end of Hickman's time on the X-Men and he's choosing to end it all with Mystique putting the mutant hierarchy's feet to the fire over broken promises.

Check out this trailer:

Former SWORD artist Valerio Schiti is drawing Inferno #1, to be followed by some of the X-Men line's top artists including Stefano Caselli (Inferno #2), and RB Silva (Inferno #3). Schiti will then return for the December finale. 

Check out this preview of Inferno #1 by Hickman and Schiti:

Inferno has been smoldering since Hickman's X-Men era began, with the mutant precog Destiny being one of the few mutants barred from resurrection using the race's combined powers. Her wife, Mystique, has repeatedly appealed to Professor X and Magneto to bring her back but has been strung along with hopes in exchange for doing some dirty work that the mutant leaders didn't see fit to share with others on the mutant island of Krakoa.

But Destiny, even in death, saw this coming - remember, she's a precog. Back when she was living, she spoke with Mystique about this potential scenario and asked her wife to burn the X-Men to the ground if they block her from coming back to life.

And now, in Inferno, Mystique will try.

Described as a "day of reckoning" for mutantkind's leaders by Marvel, Inferno comes just after the X-Men: The Trial of Magneto limited series began, with Magneto the prime suspect in the murder of the Scarlet Witch.

Inferno #1's main cover is by Jerome OPena, with variants by Stanley 'Artgerm' Lau (two versions), Carmen Carnero, Mark Brooks, Jeff Dekal, Oscar Vega, Peach Momoko, RB Silva, Greg Capullo (a 'hidden gem' variant), David Nakayama (two versions), Mico Suayan (two versions), and Shannon Maer (two versions for Comic Mint). Check them out here:

Inferno #1 (of 4) goes on sale on September 29. A collection of all four Inferno issues is scheduled for February 22, 2022.

Keep track of this and all the new X-Men comics, graphic novels, and collections in 2021 and beyond. 

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)