Ed Piskor's X-Men: Grand Design returns Wednesday, Aug. 29 with the release of Second Genesis #2, completing the second part of a six-issue trilogy with an ambitious objective: map 30 years in the convoluted history of the X-Men and capture the spiritual essence of characters who have been remade and reimagined in so many different forms.
The first volume of X-Men: Grand Design rewrote the history of mutants, streamlining the Silver Age into a remarkably cohesive storyline, carrying us from the Namor's first attack on New York (which Piskor positions as the original source for anti-mutant prejudice and fear) through the creation of the X-Men and their first fights against Magneto and the Sentinels. But where the first two issues of Grand Design are all about beginnings, Second Genesis retells stories at the very heart of X-Men mythology.
X-Men: Grand Design — Second Genesis is named for 1975's landmark X-Men relaunch in writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum's Giant-Size X-Men #1, which first introduced Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Thunderbird and teamed them with Cyclops and Wolverine for a mission to rescue the original X-Men imprisoned by the living island Krakoa.
The first issue of Second Genesis, released in July, covered some of the most consequential moments from Chris Claremont's legendary 15-year run writing Uncanny X-Men, including the Dark Phoenix Saga and the rise of Sebastian Shaw's Hellfire Club. After much suffering and death, it ends on a quiet moment: new student Kitty Pryde waiting on the stairs of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
"The entire story of Grand Design hinges on Kitty Pryde," Piskor told Newsweek. "If not for her the future of the X-Men would be truly bleak. Many people may have some idea about what I'm suggesting, but everyone will need to read the complete tale to see if/how their prognostications bear fruit."
Here's an exclusive preview from X-Men: Grand Design — Second Genesis #2, which begins with Pryde, left alone at the mansion, reenacting Alien in miniature against the Brood, first introduced to Uncanny X-Men in 1982.
