Marvel's teased 'New Age of Space' begins in April's Guardians of the Galaxy #13, but it seems this new age is going to get off on a bad foot from the looks of January 27's X-Men #17.
In this preview of next week's issue, an unseen narrator lays out a dark take on the state of Marvel cosmic with empires on the precipice of failure, financial ruin, and now, the head of the Shi'ar Empire, Xandra, has been kidnapped.
Xandra was installed as the new Shi'ar emperor in 2019's New Mutants #2, with her predecessor Gladiator sliding back to be head of the Imperial Guard as these dark times began to be known. Deathbird has signed on to be a mentor to Xandra, and with emperor's abduction you can see her talking to Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm in the uncolored, unlettered page.
"STORM THE EMPIRE!" reads Marvel's solicitation for X-Men #17. "When the Shi'ar Empire asks the X-Men for help, Cyclops, Storm and Marvel Girl answer the call."
This story is part of the X-Men line's overall return to space in the newly-christened 'Reign of X' era, spearheaded by the new S.W.O.R.D. series. Back in 2019, Marvel editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski told Newsarama there were some "very cool" things planned for the "cosmic side" of the X-Men - namechecking the Starjammers and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard - the latter of which you see in this X-Men #17 preview.
X-Men #17 comes from series writer Jonathan Hickman and guest artist Brett Booth. Former series artist Leinil Francis Yu has drawn the primary cover, with a variant by Russell Dauterman. Here they are:
X-Men #17 goes on sale on January 27.
Keep up-to-speed on all the new X-Men comics, graphic novels, and collections in 2021 and beyond.
