X-Men United (2026-) #1

by Eve L. Ewing, Tiago Palma (Artist), Stefano Caselli (Cover Art)

WELCOME TO GRAYMATTER LANE, LEARN TO SURVIVE THE EXPERIENCE! "Build a school," Charles Xavier told them, and the X-Men have done so - but in a manner nobody saw coming! Welcome to Graymatter Lane, a place where mutants anywhere in the world can come together in unity to teach one another the skills needed for their survival! With instructors including Wolverine, Beast, Prodigy, Magneto and more, and a campus unlike any before seen, it's the crossroads of the X-Universe as a student body from across the globe works to take mutantkind to the next step in their evolution - and to cope with a brewing threat to all of their number!

Genres: Comics, Marvel

Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2026

About the author

Dr. Eve Louise Ewing is a writer and a sociologist of education from Chicago. Ewing is a prolific writer across multiple genres. Her 2018 book Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism & School Closings on Chicago's South Side explores the relationship between the closing of public schools and the structural history of race and racism in Chicago's Bronzeville community.

Ewing's first collection of poetry, essays, and visual art, Electric Arches, was published by Haymarket Books in 2017. Her second collection, 1919, tells the story of the race riot that rocked Chicago in the summer of that year. Her first book for elementary readers, Maya and the Robot, is forthcoming in 2020 from Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Her work has been published in many venues, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Poetry Magazine, and the anthology American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time, curated by Tracy K. Smith, Poet Laureate of the United States. With Nate Marshall, she co-wrote the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, produced by Manual Cinema and commissioned by the Poetry Foundation. She also currently writes the Champions series for Marvel Comics and previously wrote the acclaimed Ironheart series, as well as other projects.

Reviews

[Machiavelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, nothing of interest really happened, lots of threads in the story but no hook set an I didn’t care. Scott got pissed, that’s about it

[achilles · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was just boring... reaaallyyy boring. and using cyc to make random conflict... big no from me.

[Xaanua · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me parece un mal primer número, que tira de nuevo de nostalgia con un nuevo intento de schism entre Scott y Emma. Mal dibujo de Scott, cuyas razones negarse a formar parte de esa escuela no están trabajadas y no son propias del estratega que es. Los enfrentamientos de Scott con Rogue y Glob se sienten forzados. Es curioso que Lobezno ensalce que Scott no confía en ellos, justo cuando Scott lo salvó al inicio de X-Men From the ashes y justo lo diga quien le apuñaló en Manhunt para tranquilizarle. La escena que sí me gustó fue Bronze hablando con Flourish. Y lo que no me ha gustado nada es el poco protagonismo de Emma, que supuestamente es la ideóloga de la escuela y sus preceptos. Kitty, Bronze e incluso Lobezno, tienen más protagonismo que ella en este primer número.

[Mikey Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to enjoy this post krakoa new issue. Gray matter Lane is the new school of mutants with the original crew as it’s its teachers. some of the new mutants seemed interesting like Wolf Cub. I’m curious what’s going on with Cyclops.

[Scratch · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, a few thoughts.

1) I absolutely despise how the focal point of the cover is Emma's breasts. I don't like Emma, I don't like breasts, and it's off-putting for any fan who just wants to enjoy the comics for the stories themselves. This is even more incongruous because the content of the comic itself is not really trying to be salacious.

2) The premise is that all the mutants are finding a way to come together after spending the past year or two scattered in different parts of the U.S. Scott's team was in Alaska, Rogue's was in New Orleans, there were a bunch in New York, and now all those groups are coming together to hang out in a special school in the astral plan. "Graymatter" in place of "Graymalkin." I like the idea of all the mutants training together more like classic X-Men in the 90s. But,

3) The characters featured here are a haphazard collection. Even though the first couple pages showed lots of disparate mutants receiving telepathic invitations to join this astral school, characters like Random and Vulcan don't appear in the body of the comic. They only appeared for a single panel each, just to acknowledge that they exist. After that, we largely dealt with the most popular mutants you might already know from reading comics for the past year or two (Rogue's team, Cyclops' team, Kitty's team). However, a few randos from decades past not only are present, but also relegated to junior status. The three students from X-Ceptional X-Men are considered "sophomores," but Dryad and Wolf Cub who appeared in comics 20 years ago are somehow junior to them. Because, I don't know, reasons. This is all the more ludicrous after a bunch of Dryad's contemporaries (Sophie Cuckoo, Prodigy, Anole, etc.) were inexplicably aged up to college age during the Godawful "NYX" title.

4) In keeping with the ludicrous last appearance in NYX, Prodigy is somehow still a "dean" in this new school. Because writers keep putting him in the position of some sort of college professor, despite the fact he has never actually earned any college degrees that we are aware of. The thought process seems to be, "His power makes him smart. So, he's a professor! Good enough."

5) The artwork is fine, or even slightly better than fine.

6) The story feels a tad rushed.

7) The writers were clearly hoping I would gush about this, but I'm reserving judgment. You may have three stars for now. We'll see where this goes.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

marvel, you need to tell the audience projects are important by putting names on books particularly number ones of your biggest characters.

Ewing deserves this, but no offence to the artist, they aren't up for prime time here.

I was so excited for mutants getting together in a facility together, but this is marvel trying to have its cake and eat it too.

it's a mental headquarters and when mutants visit their bodies are fine (how?) using Mr Sinister's technology. it's definitely going wrong.

x men right now feels so forced. all of the solo titles have the same plot - something from their past that only they cna deal with on their own for soem reason haunts them.
Cyclops is feuding with Rogue for no reason.

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like this is the next grand experiment from the X-team. I enjoyed the dynamics of the place and it seems that this may be a place for good storytelling, but Scott is right, trouble will come.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really loved exceptional so i'm a bit disappointed... the concept is fun and i'm glad to see some of these characters together but the way scott is being written is beyond questionable. hoping it finds its footing soon because i would really like this run to go far

[Craig Schorling · Rating 2 out of 5]

This introduces so many characters and story beats that it was difficult to keep up with. The art was ok with some pages looking better than others. The premise is intriguing but I need to know who these characters are and this issue doesn't do much to aid in that.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring.

Pretentious right out the gate. Art was garbage. Story jumped around more than a hyper kid on a trampoline. Nothing made sense. Filled with characters with Stupid names and just a complete mess of a "Story".

[Andy Waldron · Rating 4 out of 5]

really great stuff from eve ewing! i love the way she writes every character here and i can't wait to see where this book goes--immediately the most exciting X-book on the shelves!!

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole mind palace is really interesting and I enjoyed how the issue set everything up, showing what's meant to be the norm at the virtual school.

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Madeesonxoxo · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I mean brooding is a strong word. I’m stewing at best. But yes, you can stew with me.”

yo cyclops is so ANNOYING

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slim <3 my beloved

[Powerman61 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this issue of X-Men United.
A lot of moving parts, but I thought the writer
kept the storyline balanced.

[Axx · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I am laughing because you answered the age-old question, mein freund. "Where can mutants be safe?" Nowhere."