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X-Men: Grand Design Trilogy
Collects Grand Design (2017) #1-2, Grand Design - Second Genesis (2018) #1-2, Grand Design - X-Tinction (2019) #1-2. Over six tumultuous decades, the X-Men have carved a singular place in comic-book lore and popular culture. Now, New York Times best-selling author Ed Piskor (Hip Hop Family Tree, Wizzywig) takes you on a pulse-pounding tour of X-Men history unlike anything you've ever experienced before - an intricate labor of love that stitches together hundreds of classic and obscure stories into one seamless X-Men masterpiece! All three volumes of Piskor's GRAND DESIGN series are collected in a single book - taking you from Professor X's formation of the original team through the Second Genesis of the All-New, All-Different X-Men and the devastating Dark Phoenix Saga to 1980s epics such as Inferno that pushed mutantkind to the brink of X-tinction!
- GenresComics
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2023
13 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Ed Piskor
84 books201 followersEd Piskor had been cartooning professionally in print form since 2005, starting off drawing American Splendor comics written by Harvey Pekar. The duo continued working together on 2 graphic novels, Macedonia, and The Beats. Ed began self publishing Wizzywig after developing a huge interest in the history of Hacking and Phone Phreaking. 3 volumes, making up 3/4 of the full story, have been published to date.
Recently Ed had designed the characters for the new Adult Swim series, Mongo Wrestling Alliance.
Recently Ed had designed the characters for the new Adult Swim series, Mongo Wrestling Alliance.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 5, 2025
Ed Piskor took on the challenge of retelling the history of the X-men from the first issue up through Days of Future Past. This is a Herculean task that mostly works. This book provides a quick overview of the major events in the historic run of the X-Men. It’s amazing he was able to do it in 258 pages.
It’s ambitious and sometimes it can be overwhelming and confusing. Entire arcs are retold in a few panels. Character's show up and leave on whim. The stories are kinda repetitive but Piskor makes it work narratively. It’s a testament to his skills as an adapter and to the skills of Lee, Kirby, Claremont, and others who originally told these stories
It can be a lot but, it’s invaluable to a new reader who wants to catch up on the X-Men. Also, given the prices of the multi-volumes of materials in the series, this collection is very economical. I f you’re interested in checking out X-Men but not sure where to start, look no further than the Grand Design Trilogy.
It’s ambitious and sometimes it can be overwhelming and confusing. Entire arcs are retold in a few panels. Character's show up and leave on whim. The stories are kinda repetitive but Piskor makes it work narratively. It’s a testament to his skills as an adapter and to the skills of Lee, Kirby, Claremont, and others who originally told these stories
It can be a lot but, it’s invaluable to a new reader who wants to catch up on the X-Men. Also, given the prices of the multi-volumes of materials in the series, this collection is very economical. I f you’re interested in checking out X-Men but not sure where to start, look no further than the Grand Design Trilogy.
November 8, 2024
Needed more Nightcrawler
May 14, 2024
This was probably really spectacular if you are an X-Men fan. Having never read a single X-Men comic, I wasn't quite sure what was happening here. Was it a faithful summary of previously published stories, a reinterpretation, a combination, or something else entirely? I'm certain I missed the deeper meaning.
Coming in without much background knowledge, it felt pretty uneven to me. Some story lines felt like they breezed by and others lingered. The character development was cursory and hard to follow.
What I remember most from the movies I've seen and what I appreciated here was the concept of the mutants as "othered" and the different ways that they are discriminated against, largely analogous to the treatment of Jews throughout history.
Overall, I enjoyed getting a sense of some of the history of the characters I've seen in film even if I don't quite know how much of it is accurate to the original tellings.
Coming in without much background knowledge, it felt pretty uneven to me. Some story lines felt like they breezed by and others lingered. The character development was cursory and hard to follow.
What I remember most from the movies I've seen and what I appreciated here was the concept of the mutants as "othered" and the different ways that they are discriminated against, largely analogous to the treatment of Jews throughout history.
Overall, I enjoyed getting a sense of some of the history of the characters I've seen in film even if I don't quite know how much of it is accurate to the original tellings.
September 11, 2024
3.75 stars rounded up.
Typically these world encompassing summary stories don't have much mileage for me. But, Piskor's take on the style with his bold character designs, coloring, and panel layout are what turn this book into a must-read (or more accurately, a must look-at). The "underground" cartoon style works unbelievably well for the soapy sci-fi wacko material, it's like a match made in comic heaven. The first and third books had a lot of the strongest story material. I have never really been all that keen on The Hellfire Club, a plotline which dominates a lot of the second book. Regardless of that, I could stare at pretty much any page on this collection for hours and not really get sick of it. A wonderful visual interpretation of the X-Men world. A real pity he was never tasked with illustrating a true nuts and bolts storyline.
Typically these world encompassing summary stories don't have much mileage for me. But, Piskor's take on the style with his bold character designs, coloring, and panel layout are what turn this book into a must-read (or more accurately, a must look-at). The "underground" cartoon style works unbelievably well for the soapy sci-fi wacko material, it's like a match made in comic heaven. The first and third books had a lot of the strongest story material. I have never really been all that keen on The Hellfire Club, a plotline which dominates a lot of the second book. Regardless of that, I could stare at pretty much any page on this collection for hours and not really get sick of it. A wonderful visual interpretation of the X-Men world. A real pity he was never tasked with illustrating a true nuts and bolts storyline.
April 1, 2024
Really fantastic! A great intro to the first 30 years of X-Men condensed into about 260 pages. I've always considered X-Men to be confusing due to timelines, clones, deaths and re-briths, various character connections and time travel. This book does a great job of laying it all out. Im reminded of an X-Men encyclopedia I had as a kid. Really unique artwork. Excited to check out more X-MEN.
May 28, 2024
Great volume! Piskor truly understands the history of the x-men and was able to portray their confusing multi-decade saga in a simple and linear plot. The issue with this type of story however is due to so much occurring, not enough time can be focused on the indiviplot plot points so certain points are rushed and not given their due. Not piskors fault, more of an issue with the format. Grade: B+
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2025
An all encompassing and singular take on the history of the X-Men with a twist. Really cool.
September 6, 2025
A clever idea, and a compendium to treasure. It's not hyperbole to say that Ed Piskor completes redefines the colour white.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews