Despite the fact that this review of the first issue of Jonathan Hickman’s run on X-Men, which drops next week, incorrectly refers to his New Avengers title as Secret Avengers, it has me in a tizzy. Hickman will be relaunching the X-Men titles at Marvel with two limited series, one titled House of X, the other Powers of X, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is what they call a big frikkin’ deal.

The X-Men are very important to me, as they are to many comic fans. Like so many, my love of comics began with the X-Men. With their important social message disguised as superhero fare, they were my point of entry, my gateway drug, and I’ve stuck by them ever since, through thick and thin. Things have been, well…thinner lately. The X-Men titles have been seemingly ignored by Marvel, just treading water, and have been far too dependent on nostalgia.

But if the buzz is to be believed, that is about to change. I first heard about Jonathan Hickman jumping on board back in March at C2E2. Though Hickman’s writing style has never really been my thing (I’m in the minority here, but I found myself slogging through his Avengers and Secret Wars and didn’t quite enjoy myself, having to re-read sections multiple times just to follow along), it’s still exhilarating to know that Marvel is finally putting effort into the Children of the Atom again. The X-Men deserve the finest, biggest talent, and Hickman may be just the right person to shake that mutant snow globe. So, don’t bother me next Wednesday, July 24th, 2019. I’ll be reading. And perhaps re-reading if I didn’t understand what the hell is happening the first time.