This summer may mark the end of Krakoa, but Forge - who recently took centre stage in X-Men '97 - is about to embark on a bold new mission. Announced last week, he'll lead the all-new iteration of mutantkind's deadlies strike team in Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To's X-Force.
Set in the X-Men's upcoming "From the Ashes" era, X-Force kicks off with Forge unlocking an Omega-Level aspect of his one-of-a-kind power of invention. Witnessing everything broken in the world, he builds the ultimate solution: X-Force, a team of handpicked mutants for off-the-books missions so dire, so integral to the fate of the Marvel Universe, there's no time to stop for permission.
Today, you can take a closer look at this elite team on an assortment of new variant covers for the first issue.
Superstar Venom artist Clayton Crain returns to the world of X-Force with his own line of character-focused variant covers, starting with the team’s leader, Forge. Acclaimed Excalibur artist Mahmud Asrar draws mutantkind's hottest new couple, Betsy Braddock and Rachel Summers, in action.
And then, Tony Daniel assembles the entire squad including former New X-Men leader, Surge; the mastermind behind Krakoa's X-Force, Sage; and Tank!
Finally, like many of Marvel's recent major launches, X-Force #1 will get a special foil cover. The first of those will highlight the debut issue's guest star, Deadpool, on a gorgeous piece by best-selling cover artist David Nakayama.
"I cannot believe the reaction to my pitch with, 'That sounds like X-Force to us,'" Thorne said. "It's a new vibe and a different mission, but it's still X-Force. Looking at all the books coming out under this banner, I'll just paraphrase the prophet, Sheryl Crow, 'All I wanna do is have some fun,' and looking at what I'm getting to do and what the others are bringing, I'm absolutely not the only one."
To added, "When Marvel approached me to be the artist for X-Force, I was ecstatic. I was always a big fan of the X-books growing up, and to be a part of bringing that excitement to new and old readers alike was an opportunity I could not turn down. And the chance to draw Betsy Braddock again is icing on the cake!"
Check out these new X-Force #1 covers below.
X-FORCE #1
Written by GEOFFREY THORNE
Art by MARCUS TO
Cover by STEPHEN SEGOVIA
Foil Variant Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA
Forge Variant Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
Variant Cover by TONY DANIEL
Variant Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR
On Sale 7/31