Krakoa celebrates its inaugural Hellfire Gala — a game-changer for mutantkind!As Krakoa continues to flourish in the Reign of X, Cable and his allies draw closer to the secret of the missing child they are searching for, but a reckoning draws ever closer. Some Summers end too soon! The uncanny Children of the Atom have learned from the best, now they’re ready to be put to the test! But who the heck are these kids, where did they come from and why are their powers so like the X-Men’s? Excalibur must determine the fate of one of their own, the Hellions are tested in Arcade’s Murderworld, Wolverine takes the fight to Dracula and his vampire nation, a dark force is manipulating X-Factor and Nightcrawler searches his soul for the way forward! Plus: You are cordially invited to the hottest mutant event of the season: the Hellfire Gala! The very first democratically elected team of Krakoan X-Men will at last be revealed to the world, and that’s just the first of the surprises in store!COLLECTING: Cable (2020) 10-12, Children of the Atom (2021) #1-6, Excalibur (2019) #18-21, Hellions (2020) #9-12, Marauders (2019) #20-21, New Mutants (2019) 18-19, Planet-Size X-Men (2021) 1, S.W.O.R.D. (2020) #5-6, Way of X (2021) #1-3, Wolverine (2020) #11-13, X-Corp (2021) #1-2, X-Factor (2020) #7-10, X-Force (2019) #20, X-Men (2019) #20-21, X-Men Election strips (2021), Hellfire Gala Guide (2021) #1; material from Classic X-Men (1986) #7, Marvel’s Voices (2020) #1, Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices (2020) #1, Marvel’s Voices: Legacy (2021) #1, Marvel’s Voices: Pride (2021) #1, Women of Marvel (2021) #1Written by: Gerry Duggan, Vita Ayala, Tini Howard, Zeb Wells, Al Ewing, Si Spurrier, Benjamin Percy, Leah Williams, Jonathan Hickman & morePenciled by: Phil Noto, Bernard Chang, Paco Medina, Marcus To, Stephen Segovia, Stefano Caselli, Matteo Lolli, Rod Reis, Pepe Larraz, Valerio Schiti, Bob Quinn, Scot Eaton, Alberto Foche, David Baldeón, Joshua Cassara, Francesco Mobili & more
Contributors: (W) Gerry Duggan; Vita Ayala (A) Phil Noto; Bernard Chang (CA) Leinil Yu
Gerry Duggan has become one of Marvel’s most influential writers, having first made an impression at the House of Ideas with a lengthy and always surprising Deadpool run alongside his frequent writing partner, Brian Posehn. Among Duggan’s solo credits are Nova, Hulk and multiple tie-ins to the Secret Wars event. He added Deadpool to the revamped roster of Uncanny Avengers and brought his unique blend of action and humor to All-New Guardians of the Galaxy, leading up to the cosmic event series Infinity Wars. Marauders and Cable established him as a vital part of the storytelling team for the Dawn of X era, a role he has cemented further by launching the blockbuster new X-Men title. Duggan’s earlier collaboration with artist Phil Noto — The Infinite Horizon, a reimagining of Homer’s The Odyssey in a dystopian future — earned an Eisner Award nomination for Best New Series.New York-native Afro-Latinx writer Vita Ayala graduated from DC Comics’ inaugural Talent Development Workshop, soon working on some of the publisher’s most famous characters — including Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Suicide Squad. Their collaboration with artist Emily Pearson on zombie story The Wilds for Black Mask gained Ayala industry-wide attention, including at Marvel, where they demonstrated their talents on books including Shuri and Marvel Knights: 20th. The limited series Age of X-Man: Prisoner X followed, then the ongoing Morbius, and Ayala introduces a new generation of mutants for Dawn of X in Children of the Atom. In addition, they have written comic books featuring such diverse pop-culture icons as Xena: Warrior Princess and James Bond, as well as their critically acclaimed series Livewire for Valiant Comics.Tini Howard kicked her career into high gear by winning the 2013 Top Cow Talent Hunt, which led to her first comics credit as writer of Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament. She went on to write for major properties including Rick and Morty, Power Rangers and Barbie, and created her own series Assassinistas and Euthanauts, published by IDW. Howard arrived at Marvel to join the Dawn of X team on the pivotal book Excalibur, going on to mastermind the X of Swords crossover with Jonathan Hickman. Her other Marvel titles include Strikeforce, Death’s Head and Age of Conan: Bêlit.A writer for the Emmy Award-winning animated series Robot Chicken and co-creator of the stop-motion SuperMansion, Zeb Wells began making a name for himself at Marvel with his irreverent New Warriors limited series, which provided an inspiration for key story threads that would later appear in Civil War; he also wrote the Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways tie-in. His collaboration with the late Seth Fisher on Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan produced one of the 21st century’s most charming comics. Wells’ other credits include Daredevil: Battlin’ Jack Murdock, Venom: Dark Origin, Dark Reign: Elektra and Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Year One. He also contributed to the thrice-monthly “Brand New Day” era of Amazing Spider-Man, most notably with the “Shed” storyline; wrote two Carnage limited series; and helped relaunch New Mutants. Wells has returned to the world of the wall-crawler, teaming with the legendary John Romita Jr. for a new volume of Amazing Spider-Man.Writer Al Ewing began his career on the British anthology 2000 AD. Since breaking into American comics, he has written Jennifer Blood and spin-off series The Ninjettes for Dynamite Entertainment, and the Age of Ultron tie-in issues of Avengers Assemble for Marvel Comics. Ewing’s novels include the Pax Britannia series as well as The Fictional Man. With artist Greg Land, he relaunched Marvel’s Mighty Avengers; for All-New Marvel NOW!, gave the god of mischief a new assignment in Loki: Agent of Asgard. Ewing then took revamped versions of New Avengers and Ultimates, debuted U.S.Avengers; and joined the writing team for the “No Surrender” storyline in Avengers, which brought the Hulk back from the dead. His subsequent titles include Valkyrie, Guardians of the Galaxy, Defenders, the event series Empyre and the critically revered smash hit Immortal Hulk. Ewing has cemented his place in the Krakoan era of the X-Men titles comics with S.W.O.R.D. and X-Men: Red.Simon Spurrier is a rising talent in the U.S. comics world, but his work is well-known in his native England. He is a regular contributor to the venerable sci-fi comics anthology 2000 AD. On this side of the pond, Spurrier wrote Silver Surfer: In Thy Name and Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch for Marvel before fully unleashing his idiosyncratic voice through the multiple-personality mutant Legion in the pages of X-Men: Legacy. Spurrier’s recent titles include X-Force and the Secret Wars tie-in Marvel Zombies.Acclaimed author and screenwriter Benjamin Percy broke into comics in 2014 with a two-issue Batman story arc in Detective Comics. He is also known for his work on Nightwing, Green Arrow and Teen Titans for DC Comics, and James Bond: Black Box for Dynamite Entertainment. Percy wrote two seasons of Marvel’s Wolverine podcast series: Wolverine: The Long Night, which was listed as one of the top fifteen podcasts of the year by Apple and won the iHeart Radio Award for best scripted podcast in 2018, and Wolverine: The Lost Trail. In print, he was a key contributor to the X-Men’s Krakoan Era as writer of X-Force and Wolverine. Percy blazed a new trail for the Spirit of Vengeance with his deliciously dark revival of Ghost Rider and pitted some of Marvel’s greatest heroes against the iconic movie hunters, the Predators. After the mash-up concept Hellverine proved a smash hit in Percy’s Wolverine/Ghost Rider: Weapons of Vengeance crossover, the writer launched a Hellverine limited series followed by an ongoing series — with Wolverine’s son, Akihiro, assuming the mantle. And Percy was the ideal choice to unite the ultimate odd couple in the pages of Deadpool/Wolverine.Fast-rising star Leah Williams is a writer originally from Oxford, Mississippi, who has amassed an impressive list of Marvel credits in a short time. Highlights include What If? Magik, X-Men: Black — Emma Frost, Domino Annual and Giant-Man. Williams demonstrated her flair for comedy and meta storytelling with Gwenpool Strikes Back, and took on a beloved character in the pages of Amazing Mary Jane. For Dawn of X, she has recruited a new team of mutant investigators in X-Factor, and then wrote the seismic X-Men: The Trial of Magneto. Williams’ debut novel was a YA fantasy book titled The Alchemy of Being Fourteen, and she is writing a sequel, The Divinity of Hitting Fifteen.Jonathan Hickman is the award-winning writer/artist of critically acclaimed independent titles Pax Romana, Transhuman and The Nightly News. Teaming with writer Brian Michael Bendis, he launched Marvel’s Secret Warriors, spinning out of Secret Invasion. He then wrote the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four limited series, which served as a warm-up for his revered runs on Fantastic Four and FF, as well as two S.H.I.E.L.D. series. Hickman penned numerous Ultimate Universe titles before bringing his intricate plotting to Avengers and New Avengers. Hickman’s years of planning culminated with the Marvel Universe-shattering Secret Wars. His impressive list of credits includes a trio of lauded series for Image: East of West, Secret and the Eisner Award-nominated The Manhattan Projects. Hickman returned to Marvel to mastermind a transformative relaunch of its mutant titles, beginning with House of X and Powers of X, and continuing with X-Men.A former Disney animator who worked on films including The Lion King and Pocahontas, artist Phil Noto started in comics with DC’s Birds of Prey and Jonah Hex, and DC/Wildstorm’s Danger Girl. For Marvel, he has worked on titles ranging from Black Widow to Uncanny X-Force, and he explored the Star Wars galaxy with Chewbacca and Poe Dameron. Also an accomplished painter, Noto has been exhibited in solo shows in New York, Los Angeles and Paris.Bernard Chang broke into comics at Valiant, earning acclaim for his art on The Second Life of Dr. Mirage and The Visitor. Chang subsequently drew the New Mutants: Truth or Death miniseries for Marvel; at DC, he has contributed to Supergirl, Superman and Wonder Woman, as well as the New 52 titles DC Universe Presents and Demon Knights. Outside comics, Chang has designed several award-winning Disney attractions and provided illustrations for a number of books, including Jenna Jameson’s autobiography.Paco Medina has illustrated a range of Marvel Comics — including New X-Men: Academy X, Captain Marvel, Thor, Venom, Marvel Team-Up, New Mutants and New Warriors, as well as relaunches of Deadpool and X-Men.Firmly established as a Marvel mainstay, Medina has enjoyed lengthy runs on Ultimate Comics X-Men, Nova and Legendary Star-Lord, as well as a major role in the Avengers storyline “No Surrender.”Born in Alberta, Marcus To has been drawing since childhood but never dreamed he would be able to do it professionally. In 2009, he made the move to Toronto; that same year, he started working for DC. In 2010, he joined the Royal Academy of Illustration and Design studio in downtown Toronto. To’s Marvel credits include Black Panther, New Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: Blue and New Warriors, but Excalibur is his longest and most acclaimed run.Artist Stephen Segovia has worked with several publishers on a variety of titles, including Cast for Nautilus Comics in his native Philippines and Shadowmancer for UK publisher Markosia. In the United States, he has contributed to such titles as Top Cow’s Tokyo Nights and M.I.T.H.; Dynamite’s Red Sonja, Battlestar Galactica and Witchblade: Shades of Gray; Harris’ Vampirella; and DC’s Countdown to Mystery. His Marvel credits include Dark Wolverine, Wolverine: Manifest Destiny, X-Treme X-Men and Superior Carnage.Italian illustrator Stefano Caselli broke into American comics during the early 2000s with work on titles including Marvel’s Mutant X and Thunderbolts. He enhanced his reputation on series such as Avengers: The Initiative, Secret Warriors and Avengers Assemble before playing a key role in the rotating art team on Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man and joining Jonathan Hickman on Avengers. Caselli collaborated with Brian Michael Bendis on a groundbreaking Invincible Iron Man run featuring Riri Williams as a new armored hero, and joined Gerry Duggan on the seafaring X-series Marauders.Italian artist Matteo Lolli kept Marvel’s all-ages series fresh and exciting with his lively pencils on titles including Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures Iron Man and Marvel Adventures Super Heroes. He brought his talents to the regular Marvel Universe with Marvel NOW!’s first Thunderbolts Annual, then followed one of that team's members into a showdown with an Avenger in Hawkeye vs. Deadpool. Lolli’s flair for the Merc with a Mouth soon led him to the ongoing Deadpool series.With a background in illustration for Fantasy and RPG magazines, Rod Reis began his comic-book career as a colorist before becoming known for his exquisite artwork on titles including Winter Soldier, New Mutants and Dark Web: X-Men, as well his gallery-worthy Marvel Comics covers.Artist Pepe Larraz penciled Spider-Island: The Amazing Spider-Girl and pitted ’90s rivals against each other in Deadpool vs. X-Force. Larraz worked on titles including Wolverine & the X-Men, Uncanny Avengers, Avengers and the Star Wars: Kanan before proving himself among the industry’s finest talents with House of X. His thrilling artwork made him the ideal illustrator for the blockbuster 2021 relaunch of X-Men with writer Gerry Duggan.Italian artist Valerio Schiti’s first work for Marvel Comics was “Sacrifice,” a short story appearing in 2011’s Ghost Rider #1. He has since illustrated Journey into Mystery, featuring the Asgardian warrior goddess Sif, with writer Kathryn Immonen and New Avengers with Jonathan Hickman. Schiti subsequently went cosmic with Brian Michael Bendis on Guardians of the Galaxy, upgraded the Armored Avenger with Dan Slott in Tony Stark: Iron Man, drew the blockbuster event Empyre and joined Al Ewing to send Marvel’s mutants into space in S.W.O.R.D.Bob Quinn is quickly earning a reputation at Marvel, where his growing list of credits includes Fantastic Four, Ms. Marvel, Uncanny X-Men, Champions and Avengers Halloween Special. His rising profile has seen him illustrate Way of X and Knights of X.The comic-art career of Scot Eaton stretches back to the early ’90s, with work on Doctor Fate and Scarab for DC Comics, as well as a brief tenure drawing Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar for First Comics. After a run illustrating Sigil for CrossGen, he worked steadily at Marvel. His credits include Rogue, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Black Panther, most notably the wedding of Storm and T’Challa. He has been a stalwart of the X-Universe, drawing New Excalibur, several chapters of the “Endangered Species” saga, X-Factor, X-Men: Legacy and Wolverine: Origins. Other Marvel credits include Doomwar, Iron Man/Thor and Secret Avengers.Barcelona-based artist David Baldeon began his professional career at Spanish publisher Planeta DeAgostini. Later moving to an animation studio, he served as a storyboard, layout and key-background artist, as well as a director of several storyboard and concept-art teams. He has worked for DC Comics on such titles as Robin and Blue Beetle, and Marvel on Nomad: Girl Without a World, Young Allies, Avengers Academy Giant-Size, Zombies Christmas Carol and Scarlet Spider. Baldeón joined Gerry Duggan on Nova, chronicling the adventures of young hero Sam Alexander, and illustrated series including Ben Reilly: Spider-Man and Domino. He won acclaim with his collaboration with Leah Williams on X-Factor.Joshua Cassara made a big splash with his work on the event Secret Empire, as well as its tie-in Secret Empire: Uprising one-shot. He joined writer Rodney Barnes to challenge Sam Wilson as never before on Falcon, and teamed with writer Jeff Lemire and fellow artist Kim Jacinto on Sentry. His fast-growing list of Marvel credits also includes Venom, X-Force, X Lives of Wolverine and X-Men.