X-Men '97 season 2 premieres this summer, but you'll be able to return to the beloved series a little bit early with a comic book prequel that fills in some of the gaps between season 1 and season 2. The five issue limited series is written by Steve Foxe and drawn by Salvin Espa, the creative team of the first volume of the X-Men '97 comic that accompanied season 1.
The comic will directly set up X-Men '97 season 2, introducing some of the biggest plotlines and characters that will feature in the new season, including multiple new teams. In the end of season 1, most of the main team of X-Men were sent hurtling through time on a collision course with Apocalypse, while a few X-Men were left behind with no idea what happened to their teammates.
"Extinction-day has come and gone, and your favorite X-Men are lost in time!" reads Marvel's official description of X-Men '97: Season 2 #1. "Spinning out of Marvel Animation's X-Men '97 series, follow the X-Men left behind in a world that hunts and hates mutantkind! Can they survive? And just where - or when - are the X-Men now?! No X-Men '97 fan can miss this one!"
Here's a gallery of both covers for X-Men '97: Season 2 #1 including the main cover by Todd Nauck and a variant by Jhony Caballero:
"I feel exceptionally grateful that Salva Espin, Matt Milla, and I get to tell more stories fleshing out the world of X-Men '97! Everyone who watched Season 1 knows the team left us one heck of an era-spanning cliffhanger, and our prequel for Season 2 doesn't take any cheats or shortcuts around that wild status quo," says Foxe in a statement. "We got to work closely with the series team to make sure this comic is a vital, additive experience for our mutants - what's left of the X-Men, anyway…"
X-Men '97 Season 2 #1 goes on sale June 3. The animated series premieres sometime this summer, though no specific premiere date has been announced. In the meantime, check out the best X-Men stories of all time.
