A gorgeous new cover for Dark X-Men #1 by the talented Adam Hughes highlights Madelyne Pryor, the Goblin Queen, as the new leader of the X-Men as the mutants head into their disastrous Fall of X era.
Madelyne Pryor, a tormented and powerful clone of Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister in the 1980s who was once married to Cyclops, has been a longtime thorn in the side of the X-Men. The recent Dark Web event finally saw the troubled woman get some much-deserved closure, leading to this new period of supposed heroism.
The upcoming series Dark X-Men – from writer Steve Foxe and artist Jonas Scharf – will follow Madelyne and a group of other “dark” mutants like Gambit, Azazel, and Emplate as they operate a new X-Men team out of NYCs Limbo Embassy, and Hughes’ new variant cover perfectly spotlights Madelyne as the X-Men’s new, dark leader.
The X-Men Are Heading Into An Age Darker Than Ever Before
Madelyne Pryor has appeared several times throughout the Krakoan Era of the X-Men, first in Hellions, where the vengeful mutant brought zombie Marauders to life to assault her former lover Alex Summers, only to be killed by John Greycrow. At the end of Hellions, with a lot of begging from Alex, Maddie was brought back to life through the Resurrection Protocols, although it was clear she was harboring major feelings of resentment and anger. In the multi-part “Trials of Magik” arc of New Mutants Madelyne and Illyana traveled to the hellish realm where Magik gave ownership of Limbo to Maddie, formally making her the “Goblin Queen” once again. Unfortunately for the X-Men, Madelyne then partnered with the Peter Parker clone Chasm to bring about a second “Inferno” to NYC in Dark Web.
However, by the end of Dark Web, Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor had an incredibly heartbreaking and meaningful heart-to-heart, with Jean sharing memories of raising Maddie’s son Nathan with her, even going so far as to call Maddie “family.” Madelyne, shocked by Jean’s grace and accountability, sided with the X-Men against Chasm and helped to defeat him, before creating the “Limbo Embassy” in NYC, establishing a formal relationship between Earth and Limbo. The X-Men’s upcoming Fall of X era, which has already begun in small ways, will see Krakoa fall to Orchis and most of the major X-Men characters scattered across the globe. Adam Hughes – an amazing artist known for his pin-up covers of iconic characters like Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and more recently the Scarlet Witch – illustrated an absolutely stunning variant cover for Dark X-Men #1 that perfectly elevates Madelyne into her new role as leader of the Dark X-Men.
Madelyne Pryor Is Entering A New Era Of Heroism
The cover beautifully shows other mutant heroes like Wolverine saluting Madelyne as their new leader, a shocking new role for the Goblin Queen who has mainly been a full-fledged villain for the past 40 years. Dark X-Men will be a gothic horror X-Men book that follows Madelyne leading a team of dark and mostly disturbed X-Men characters – Emplate, Azazel, Archangel, Gambit, Alex Summers, Zero, Albert, and the young mutant Gimmick – as they attempt to continue saving the world as a new X-Men team. However, with Madelyne in charge, it is anyone’s guess as to how this dark new team will actually help rehabilitate the image of mutants, or if they will make the X-Men descend even deeper into their fall.
Madelyne Pryor, the impressive and undoubtedly dark mutant clone of Jean Grey is stepping into a new role of heroism and leadership, as the Goblin Queen leads a fresh team of dark X-Men after Krakoa’s Fall of X.
Dark X-Men #1 from Marvel Comics will debut on August 16, 2023.
