Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: exceptional x-men, from the ashes

Age Of Krakoa Gave Kitty Pryde PTSD Before Exceptional X-Men

Marvel EVP and X-Men Group Editor Tom Brevoort talked up the new Exceptional X-Men series on the Creator Crush podcast recently.

Marvel EVP and X-Men Group Editor Tom Brevoort talked up the new Exceptional X-Men series on the Homo Superior Podcast recently, from the upcoming X-Men: From The Ashes line.

"Exceptional X-Men is sort of like the third leg on the stool of what X-Men is about, and that is, X-Men as a school. School for Young Mutants, School for Superheroes. And it's a much more grounded, ground-level book, at least to start with. It's the ultimate Spider-Man of the X-Men books. It centres around Kate Pryde. It operates out of Chicago, and when we first tune in to what's going on there, Kate, in the aftermath of the Orchis war and the dissolution of Krakoa and so forth, kind of woke up the morning after that war was done and looked in the mirror and went, I don't really like who I've become. I don't like all the things that I've been doing, and this is a bad environment for me, and I wanna get out. And so she's gone back to Chicago and left a mutant life completely behind. She's rooming with a friend that she knew from Stevie Hunter's dance class years ago. She's worked at a day job, at a bistro, and she is out. She is not getting involved in all this stuff. For all that, living in the world and living in Chicago, you can't help but have some sense of what the feeling is towards mutants and what's swirling around, good and bad, and that's it. So Kate's ready to live an ordinary life and deal with her sort of PTSD, but she ends up having a chance run-in with another young mutant who's in trouble."

Note, when is calling her Kate Pryde despite recent Marvel PR emphasising the Kitty.

"And when push comes to shove, she can't help but get involved and help pull that character out of trouble. And from that point on, that character dogs her. You're the one who can show me what this is all about and teach me how to do it and what it is, and I really need your help. Inevitably, eventually, she comes to the conclusion that, much as Professor X and the X-Men did for her when she was thirteen years old and having headaches and phase them through the floor and stuff and didn't know what this was, these kids need somebody to teach them and train them about this and to do it in such a way that it won't effectively turn them into child soldiers, which is kind of what happened to Kitty across the long arc of history. And then Emma Frost shows up. And Emma goes, darling, I see you're training young mutants here. Relax. I've got it. You go back to your little life. This is my beat, I know how to do this."

Oh, Kitty is back again. Which will it be on publication?

"So the driving engine of the book, really, as much as anything, is the Kate/Emma relationship as they both have different perspectives and different points of view. And for all that they've been friendly in recent years, they have a lot of history where they're not really all that friendly with one another. And then here too, we'll have a crew of new young, perspective X-Men mutant characters, who you will meet for the first time. And a couple of other familiar faces from the past will start showing up as we get a little deeper in."

When Kitty Pryde first appeared in X-Men in 1979, she very soon met her future self, Kate Pryde from the year 2013. Recently, for the Krakoan Age of X-Men, which began in 2019, she took on the name Kate Pryde again as pirate captain of the Marauders. This saw her storyline get darker, and for the Fall Of X, she became a ninja assassin, Shadowkat, killing off Orchis soldiers across the world. But now, with From The Ashes, she is taking on the name Kitty Pryde again, it seems, teamed with Emma Frost for the new comic Exceptional X-Men by Eve L Ewing and Carmen Carnero.

"From the New Mutants to the Hellions, discovering you're a mutant in the Marvel Universe has never been easy, and in the wake of Krakoa, it's going to be harder than ever! While the X-Men reintegrate into society after the fall of their mutant nation, mutants around the world still need protection, community, and guidance. In EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN, a group of young mutants will luckily be trained by two of the greatest teachers in X-Men history—Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost! Today, fans can learn more about the series and see the reveal of the first issue cover!

"Written by acclaimed author Eve L. Ewing and drawn by superstar Marvel Stormbreaker artist Carmen Carnero, EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN will be the final flagship X-Title to launch in the upcoming From the Ashes era. The series will introduce three all-new mutants who turn to Kitty and Emma for help with their emerging gifts: the metallic and whip-wielding Bronze, the emotion-stirring Axo, and the stealth-skilled fighter Melee! Under Kitty and Emma's tutelage, they'll learn not just how to survive—but to thrive! But Kitty and Emma haven't always seen eye-to-eye, and they'll also have lessons to teach each other, as they take up the call once more—for the children!

"EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN begins with Kitty trying to get as far away from all things X as she possibly can. After the actions she took during Fall of X, Kitty craves normalcy and takes a job as a regular-degular bartender. She's definitely NOT getting ready to head up an all-new team of wayward young mutants while avoiding the watchful gaze of Emma Frost. Nothing but work, dating and staving off depression. That's it. Let's see how long it lasts…

"Longtime fans of Kitty Pryde can count on the kinds of adventures you expect from her as a classic favorite, while I hope new and old readers alike will get to love this all-new team of young mutants," Ewing shared. "Kitty, the one-time kid sister figure of the X-Men, has to reckon with her own memories—good and bad—of being a child of Xavier as she navigates a role as leader and mentor for a new generation of mutants who are trying to make their way in a time of crisis."

"The story Eve brought up really hooked me from the beginning," Carnero said. "I found it very interesting to see Kitty away from the X-Men and trying to live a normal life in Chicago, but finding herself with young mutants who have to deal with this post-Krakoa world and Emma's plans."

On how the new cast will connect with both new and longtime fans, Ewing said, "I always try to strike a chord between appealing to veteran comics fans and new readers, but since so many people fell in love with the X-Men as teens and this book is about a team of young folks, that feels especially important to me here."

"Regarding the young mutants, I think the whole team fell in love with all three of them," Carnero added. "I love that they are such opposites. Eve had very clear personalities, hobbies, musical tastes, how they feel… And when it came to designing them, it all developed naturally, and the whole team had a clear vision of what their final looks would be. I can't wait for readers to meet them."

EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN #1
Written by EVE L. EWING
Art and Cover by CARMEN CARNERO
On Sale 9/4

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