Exceptional X-Men #3

Name: Exceptional X-Men #3
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jan 2025 · Marvel · 3.99 USD

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

About this Issue

Exceptional X-Men #3 is the issue in which Trista Marshall, Thao Tran, and Alex Luna formally become Bronze, Melee, and Axo — the first time the trio adopt their codenames and receive their uniforms, crystallizing what would become the core Chicago X-Men lineup. It also marks the close of the Kitty Pryde/Emma Frost power struggle that opened the series, with the two veterans formally agreeing to co-mentor a new generation of mutants in a post-Krakoa Chicago — a premise that consciously echoes the coming-of-age tradition of New Mutants and Generation X while grounding itself in a grittier, street-level setting. Bobby Drake's arrival at the issue's cliffhanger signals Iceman's transition into a lead cast role, adding a founding X-Man to a team defined by its deliberate distance from established mutant institutions.

writer Eve L. Ewing · artist, inker Carmen Carnero · colorist Nolan Woodard · letterer VC's Travis Lanham · cover Carmen Carnero

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $4

CGC 9.8 · 3 in census $62*

CGC 9.6 none in existence

CGC 9.4 · 1 in census $30*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

Raw — NM ▾ $2.62–$20 15 listings

NM · Variant $2.62 NM · Variant $2.62 NM $2.99 NM $3.29 NM · Variant $3.29 NM $3.99 NM $3.99 NM $4 NM $4.2 NM $4.65 NM · 1:25 variant $6.75 NM $6.99 NM $9.4 NM · Variant $11.99 NM · 1:25 variant $20

Raw — VF/NM ▾ $3.19–$11.98 4 listings

VF/NM · Variant $3.19 VF/NM $3.19 VF/NM $3.99 VF/NM · Virgin $11.98

Raw — VF+ ▾ $3.99–$4.49 3 listings

VF+ $3.99 VF+ · Variant $3.99 VF+ · Variant $4.49

Raw — VF ▾ $3.4–$9.4 4 listings

VF $3.4 VF $3.4 VF $3.4 VF $9.4

Raw — FN $2.9 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $1.99–$29.99 46 listings

Verified matches for Exceptional X-Men #3 · eBay asking prices, seen 13 days ago

🏪 Real comic shops near you sell this issue on eBay — from our directory:

Listings on eBay · clicking supports comicbooks.com

Read it digitally

Marvel Unlimited Marvel’s subscription reader ▸ Amazon Kindle Buy the digital edition ▸

Opens a search on each platform — digital availability varies by title.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

Exceptional X-Men was announced in March 2024 as one of three flagship titles in Marvel's X-Men: From the Ashes initiative, which relaunched the X-Men line following the end of the Krakoan Age. Writer Eve L. Ewing — a poet and author making her ongoing X-Men debut — and artist Carmen Carnero (designated a Marvel Stormbreaker) developed the three new mutants from detailed character briefs, with Carnero designing their looks from personality notes Ewing supplied early in development. Issue #3, released November 20, 2024 (cover-dated January 2025), was edited under Tom Brevoort and published under Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski.

Trivia · 8 facts

Released November 20, 2024 (cover date January 2025); written by Eve L. Ewing, art and cover by Carmen Carnero, colors by Nolan Woodard.
First appearance of Bronze (Trista Marshall), Melee (Thao Tran), and Axo (Alex Luna) under those codenames and in costume — the Marvel Database designates this the formal 'first appearance as Bronze,' 'first appearance as Melee,' and 'first appearance as Axo.' Their physical debuts occurred earlier: Bronze in #1, Axo and Melee in #2.
Trista Marshall coins all three codenames in-story: 'Bronze' for herself (metallic skin), 'Melee' for Thao (phasing ability paired with eagerness to fight), and 'Axo' for Alex (a nod to the color-changing axolotl salamander).
Emma Frost is depicted apparently using telekinesis during her physical altercation with Kate Pryde — the Marvel Fandom wiki notes this had not been seen from Emma before.
Bobby Drake (Iceman) arrives in Chicago at the issue's end, fulfilling the tease planted in the bonus page of issue #1 and marking his first active appearance in the series.
Kate Pryde formally agrees to co-mentor the new mutants alongside Emma Frost at Priti's converted dance studio — the training-room scene consciously mirrors the Stevie Hunter ballet-studio sessions from Uncanny X-Men circa issue #139.
The issue carries a Mark Bagley 'Marvel Two-in-One' variant cover (Cover C), part of a line-wide variant program, alongside a 1:25 Carmen Carnero variant and 1:50 David Baldeón Emma Frost Virgin variant.
The series was positioned by Marvel as a spiritual successor to classic X-Men youth titles — New Mutants, Generation X, and Academy X — and is part of the X-Men: From the Ashes publishing initiative that launched in September 2024.