One of the greatest X-Men of all time is already walking a dangerous road towards reliving his darkest chapter.

X-Men #4 finds the eponymous team preparing to launch an immediate strike against the murderous Trevor Fitzroy and his team of villainous Upstarts. With Quentin Quire and Psylocke already on another mission of their own, the X-Men are left relatively short-handed for the next. As such, Cyclops orders Beast to join the strike team, although it is obvious that the latter has no real interest in playing the role of a hero on the battlefield when there is such important work to be done back in his lab.

Written by JED MACKAY Art by NETHO DIAZ Inks by SEAN PARSONS Colors by MARTE GRACIA Letters by VC’s CLAYTON COWLES Design by JAY BOWEN Main cover art by RYAN STEGMAN, JP MAYBER & MARTE GRACIA Variant covers by CHRIS SAMNEE & MATHEUS LOPES, ELENA CASAGRANDE & ANNALISA LEONI, J. SCOTT CAMPBELL & TANYA LEHOUX, and MARC ASPINALL

Hank McCoy, better known as Beast, has been a part of the Marvel Universe since he made his comic book debut alongside the rest of the original members of the eponymous team of 1963’s X-Men #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. A scientific genius, Hank excelled in his studies and athletics, largely thanks to the superhuman physique granted by his mutation. Hank’s early days were filled with pulse-pounding action and occult and scientific research alike, the latter of which allowed him to study the X-Gene and uncover potential “cures” for any given mutant’s condition.

These experiments were ultimately responsible for jump-starting a second mutation which transformed Hank’s physique from that of an unusual if still objectively ordinary person to that of the blue-furred Beast fans know best today. This was just one of several secondary mutations that Beast would undergo in the years that followed, including shifts into a decidedly more feline form than ever before.

Following the rise of Krakoa, Beast became the Director of X-Force, the Krakoan Intelligence Service. Though Beast was dedicated to the role and safeguarding his people, his mission gradually became a dangerous obsession. After a few months, Beast became a recluse who worked in the shadows, occasionally against his own people. Beast soon went so far as to create clones of his allies, including an army of Wolverines, and even himself. The original Beast’s final act was to sacrifice himself to save others and rewrite his legacy, leaving the Krakoan duplicate Beast created of himself to carry on in his stead as a member of the X-Men of today.

X-Men #4 is on sale September 18 from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics