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.
Take a look:
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.
