Exceptional X-Men #9

History

Exceptional X-Men launched in September 2024 as one of three core titles in Marvel's X-Men: From the Ashes initiative — the post-Krakoan publishing relaunch that included Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman's X-Men and Gail Simone and David Marquez's Uncanny X-Men. Writer Eve L. Ewing, a sociologist of education and award-winning author (previously known at Marvel for Ironheart and Champions), and Spanish artist Carmen Carnero, a Marvel Stormbreaker with credits on Captain Marvel, X-Men Red, and Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, designed the three new student characters — Axo (Alex Luna), Melee (Thao Tran), and Bronze (Trista Marshall) — from the ground up, with Carnero noting that Ewing's clear character briefs made the visual designs feel natural from the start. Editor Tom Brevoort oversaw the series, which deliberately avoided early crossover entanglements to let the new cast breathe before merging their story into the wider X-Men line. Issue #9 is part of the 'Deep End' arc, collected in Exceptional X-Men by Eve L. Ewing Vol. 2.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Released May 21, 2025 (cover-dated July 2025); written by Eve L. Ewing, pencilled and cover-drawn by Carmen Carnero, colored by Nolan Woodard, lettered by VC's Travis Lanham, edited by Tom Brevoort under Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski.
• Constitutes the new student trio's (Axo, Melee, and Bronze's) first active superhero battle against a major Marvel villain — Mister Sinister — after eight issues of training and slice-of-life storylines.
• Reveals the full identity of biotech CEO 'Sheldon Xenos' as Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister; 'S.X.' = 'Sinister/Essex/Xenos' is treated as an in-story pun that Kitty Pryde berates herself for not catching sooner.
• Sinister's front company Verate has been researching the link between emotion and epigenetics, and he abducts Axo (Alex Luna) specifically to harvest the empathic abilities encoded in his 'affective core.'
• Emma Frost enters both Axo's mind (to protect it before the machinery is disconnected) and ultimately engages Sinister in a direct psychic confrontation, borrowing Axo's own empathic power to deliver a combined psionic strike — ending with Emma inexplicably collapsing alongside Sinister, setting up a promised Astral Plane finale in issue #10.
• Iceman (Bobby Drake) battles a Sinister-made Iceman clone; colorist Nolan Woodard uses a deliberate color distinction between the real Bobby and his duplicate to help readers track the fight.
• Melee (Thao Tran) uses her phasing ability to free herself and Bronze from an ice prison created by the Iceman clone, demonstrating practical application of her training in a life-threatening context.
• Issue #9 is collected in the trade paperback Exceptional X-Men by Eve L. Ewing Vol. 2: The Deep End; a Federico Vicentini variant cover was also released alongside the standard Carmen Carnero cover.

Cast · 30 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Exceptional X-Men

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#1 1st appearance — Bronze

Variants (1)