Marvel Comics has unveiled a new preview spotlighting the young mutants Axo and Melee before their debut in Exceptional X-Men #2. The first issue introduced Trista Marshall/Bronze, who gains Kitty Pryde’s attention after facing bigotry at a concert.

The emotion-stirring Axo and the stealth-fighter Melee will take center stage in October’s Exceptional X-Men #2 as the pair also face bigotry and hatred attendant to the post-Krakoa reality of mutants. Marvel‘s preview reveals Axo keeping to himself at a soccer game as a group of teenagers berates him. Melee, who witnesses the assault from the field, storms to the bleachers to defend Axo from the bullies. On the final preview page, a melancholic Kitty reminisces about her old mentor, Storm, as she ponders her place in the new world.

Exceptional X-Men #2

Written by EVE L. EWING Art by CARMEN CARNERO Main Cover by CARMEN CARNERO

Marvel’s Exceptional X-Men #2 description reads, “Kate Pryde’s continued attempts at living a normal, non-mutant life go laughably wrong as she finds herself in the middle of a brawl started by a couple of headstrong teens with remarkable abilities – which, of course, they’re terrible at controlling. She’s sworn off being anybody’s teacher, mentor, professor, sensei, or anything that reminds her of her old life. But will the White Queen force her hand?”

Part of Marvel’s X-Men relaunch, “From the Ashes,” Ewing and Carnero’s Exceptional X-Men series centers on Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost. The longtime rivals are forced to work together to teach the new generation of mutant superheroes in the new world order post the collapse of the Krakoan Age of the X-Men.

Why Bronze, Axo, and Melee Are “Exceptional”

Exceptional X-Men series writer Ewing discussed how the “exceptional” adjective relates to the new young mutant characters, Bronze, Axo, and Melee. “Well, those who know that I was a poet long before becoming a comics creator will appreciate that Exceptional X-Men, in a world full of X-adjectives, simply sounds really good. But right now, they are exceptional in that they don’t carry a lot of the same history on their shoulders as the main characters in our other titles,” she explained.

Ewing continued, “For better or worse, they have no ties to Krakoa, broader team politics, or the previous era of mutantdom. (Melee, Axo, and Bronze) are just a group of awkward kids in the Midwest trying to figure out their abilities, like generations of young mutants before them.”

Exceptional X-Men #2 will arrive in comic book shops on October 9, 2024.

Source: Marvel