Marvel's X-Men wish you a merry X-Mas in a brilliant new image from superstar artist Russell Dauterman. The X-Men have always felt more like a family than your traditional superhero team. As such, Christmas and Thanksgiving have always seemed like a very special time to Marvel's merry mutants.
This in part explains why there have been so many X-Men annuals and Christmas specials, and why some of the biggest and most memorable events in X-Men history have happened on or around Christmas. Cyclops and Jean Grey finally got engaged in an issue that released around Thanksgiving, for example, and they broke the news to the rest of the team at Thanksgiving dinner. And who can forget when, one Christmas, Kitty Pryde wound up alone in the X-Mansion and found herself on the run from a demonic N'Garai?
Christmas 2020 is a strange time for the world, and so it's oddly appropriate the X-Men comics themselves are having something of a lower-key celebration this year. After all, the books are just beginning to explore the consequences of the recent X of Swords event, so it's not really the right time to have another big special. Still, artist Russell Dauterman has decided to usher in some festive cheer with a superb reworking of an image featuring the X-Men in their classic animated series/Jim Lee era costumes.
It's quite a delightful image, showing the X-Men in their most iconic and memorable looks from the '90s. Four of the X-Men are wearing costumes most commonly associated with the classic 1990s X-Men animated series; and note Cyclops' jacket, which he tended to wear a lot more in the show than he did in the comics themselves. Emma Frost is an amusing addition, of course; she's sporting the look she wore in Generation X, where she served as a mentor to the next generation of mutants. Dauterman has subtly adjusted the image to try to convey the character of the scene, and he's done such an amusing job with it. Jean Grey seems the one most comfortable in the Santa hat, with a cute smile on her face, while Wolverine's expression is absolutely hilarious. Suffice to say Logan isn't one for festive cheer.
So consider this a delightful unexpected X-Mas present for X-Men fans all over the world, a gift from one of Marvel's hottest artists today, and a tribute to the history and legacy of some of the best comics of all time. Hopefully next year Marvel will print it as an X-Men poster as an even better present.