Marvel recently released all the images for the 14 X-Men Evolutions Variants which will premiere throughout the month of May! They each feature a single X-character, taking us through the decades of their various costume changes and styles. These variants coincide with the release of the X-Event, “X-Men: First to Last” by Chris Yost, Paco Medina & Dalibor Talajic, and feature work by some of the best artists in the industry. Check them out:
Wolverine by Patrick Zircher on FF #3
Havok by Larry Stroman on Journey Into Mystery #623
Magneto by Khoi Pham on New Avengers #12
Cyclops by Mario Alberti on Amazing Spider-Man #661
Jean Grey by Paul Renaud on Avengers #13
Angel/Archangel by John Tyler Christopher on Herc #3
Emma Frost by Greg Tocchini on Hulk #33
Iceman by Brandon Peterson on Invincible Iron Man #504
Rogue by Chris Stevens on Captain America #618
Beast by Lee Weeks on Secret Avengers #13
Storm by David Yardin on The Mighty Thor #2
Hope by Michael Ryan on Wolverine #9
Sabretooth by Patrick Zircher on Venom #3
Shadowcat by ? on ?
Colossus by ? on ?
The Shadowcat and Colossus images above weren’t included in any of the press releases I came across, despite them being some of the first Evolutions images to be released. I’m pretty sure one will be on X-Men #11 and is by David Lopez. Couldn’t tell you which one, nor why space suit Kitty is missing. Also, Havok’s cover is apparently on Journey Into Mystery #623, but in his image, issue #11 is there. So, who knows. Speaking of the Havok cover, that may be the best work I’ve ever seen Larry Stroman produce. It looks nothing like his normal stuff, and I dig it.
Other than that, my favorites are Rogue, Storm, Beast, and Shadowcat. You can really see the dynamic differences in all of their costumes, and the artists laid them all out very appealingly, nicely showcasing each era.
Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of the Iceman cover, and I’m a huge Iceman fan- why no spiky Iceman from the late 90s? He looked way cool at that time. Also, the Emma Frost image seems redundant as all of her costumes basically look the exact same. Hope Summers has no business getting her own cover, especially when Nightcrawler doesn’t have one and either Colossus or Shadowcat will be left out. What the hell is that about? I wish Patrick Zircher would have highlighted Sabretooth’s second costume more, as it was the 90s when his character really took off, and is the Sabretooth most fans identify with. As for Magneto- where’s Xorn? Heck, where’s Professior Xavier? And what about X-Force Wolverine?
Overall though, these variant covers are something to be desired; they’ll all be part of my collection come the end of next month. Which ones are you going to pick up?
For more mutant mayhem, check out our weekly X-Men review column, The Uncanny X-Piles!
Andy Liegl
andy@comicattack.net
The Iceman one is horrible! all the others were drawn and it looks like he was CGI’ed 🙁 What a bad way to start Easter.
Havok and Sabertooth +1
That Shadowcat cover is nice, except for that last one on the right, just awful.
I have to get the Cyclops and Jean Grey ones, but I’ll probably get them all. I don’t know why Hope gets one or Sabretooth for that matter and the Emma one is redundant. The Havok, Beast and Storm ones look the best to me.
I agree hope is the last character who needs one. At least the Originals all got one
I don’t get it….
Aren’t there enough X-Men/mutant related titles out that they don’t need to plaster themselves all over entirely unrelated series?
Kris that is just Marvel’s little gimmick. Like this month all the titles have a “Thor Movie Cover” variant, even though Thor has nothing to do with that book. They’ve had Deadpool covers in the past and so on and so on.
Well, it’s a dumb gimmick. 🙁