Kitty Pryde played many different roles among the X-Men; she never settled on one codename, from Sprite to Ariel to Shadowcat to Red Queen. During the X-Men time on the mutant island of Krakoashe became a pirate captain, sailing the high seas to rescue mutant refugees for the Helfir Trading Company.

Now in Dr. Eve Ewing and artist Carmen Carnero's new ongoing Exceptional X-Men, Kitty is back in her (and Ewing's) hometown of Chicago. When the comic began, Kitty decided to leave the saving world behind and was working as a bartender. But she finds young Mutants in need of guidance, and teams up with her old nemesis-turned-friend Emma Frost to teach them.

Marvel shared an exclusive preview of the first look of Exceptional X-Men #6's illiterate pages with /Filmcontinuing the story of Kitty and her new students.

Most X-Men writers try to make their mark by introducing new "college" characters who can follow the coming-of-age arc that Kitty continued in the classic Chris Claremont years. Grant Morrison introduced Quentin Quaire and the Stepford Cowards during their New X-Men run, while Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men gave us Armor. Even during the Uncanny X-Men sister title right nowGail Simone and David Marquez introduced four young mutants called "The Outliers". So how do Kitty and Emma's students compare?

Ewing and Carnero's teenage Exceptional X-Men team is as follows:

• Bronze/Trista Marshall, who can turn her skin into bronze

• Axo/Alex Luna, who can affect emotions and change skin color to complement them

• Melee/Tao Tran, who can pass through solid matter like Kitty and also become invisible.

The three deal with the still-existing prejudice against mutants, so Kitty and Emma give them some X-Men style self-defense courses. Until now, the teacher and students met in a dance studio to train; it's not quite The Danger Room, but it's enough. The first preview pages show them doing that training with Iceman (who joined the series in issue #3).

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Exceptional X-Men has completed its first volume of stories, Duty Calls. back in December with issue 5. The next arc, or at least the first issues of it, looks to put Axo in the spotlight. The synopsis for issue 6 reads:

"WHO IS SHELDON XENOS?" AKSO, the resident empath of the exceptional X-Men, goes to work for the creator of the popular app Verate. Perhaps the Xenos and his inventions can bring mutants the support, recognition and connection they deserve. But the charismatic tech tycoon seems to be hiding a secret... or two... or four... or...'

The following preview pages feature the three young mutants meeting Mr. Xenos, who is apparently a mutant himself with rams' horns growing from his forehead.

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

"Exceptional" was one of three initial titles under the X-Men's From the Ashes banner; each following different teams in different parts of the country. Jed McKay and Ryan Stegman's X-Men is set in remote Alaska, while Simon and Marquez's Uncanny X-Men takes place in a bayou in Louisiana. "Extraordinary," meanwhile, takes place in one of America's urban heartlands; of the three series, it feels like the one that has its finger on the pulse of the real struggles of young marginalized people the most. The Verate app, described as DNA collection and analysis that offers lifestyle advice, sounds like it explores how such apps have become an integral part of lives, yet fail to build the connections or community they claim.

Exceptional X-Men #6 is scheduled for print and digital release on February 19, 2025.