Synthesizing and consolidating 30 years of X-Men lore, writer/artist Ed Piskor surprised everyone last year with his first issue of a groundbreaking new series X-Men: Grand Design. With a retro look only he–or several of the best classic artists of the past coming together–could create, Piskor brought to a new generation of comic book readers a way to catch up on a lifetime of Marvel Comics. All in a single mini-series. It’s all coming together in six issues. The first two issues, discussed here at borg.com and available in a new trade compilation at Amazon here, were successful sell-throughs, immediately going to second printing. The middle chapter (Issues #3 and #4) subtitled Second Genesis begins tomorrow with Issue #3. Take a look below at some preview pages from tomorrow’s issue.
The series is printed on a classic newsprint type of paper stock with unique inks and trademark white inks that really pop on the page. What Piskor has called a love letter to the medium of comics as much as a love letter to decades of X-Men comics, the series was inspired by several artists, including the obvious ones:, Robert Crumb and Jack Kirby, but also Jim Steranko, John Byrne, Alan Silvestri, Jim Lee, Katushiro Otomo, and Moebius. When you flip through one of these issues it brings back sitting on the curb reading when you were a kid.
Elite Comics will have plenty of these available tomorrow in case you forgot to add them to your pull list. If your nearby comic book shop doesn’t have it you may have a long wait, as the trade X-Men: Grand Design–Second Genesis Treasury Edition isn’t coming until October.
Here’s the preview:
. With such a loaded title, you’d expect the entries to be pretty powerful stuff. You’ll certainly find a broad mix of story and art styles, but ultimately beauty is in the eye of the reader. Does the volume live up to the title?
