Mekanix #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMekanix #1 opens a rare extended solo spotlight for Kitty Pryde — one of Chris Claremont's signature creations — repositioning her not as a costumed hero but as a civilian college student navigating anti-mutant bigotry on a real-world campus, a storytelling mode almost never sustained at this length for the character. The issue also marks the first appearance of Shola Inkosi, a Genoshan telekinetic mutant whose traumatic backstory (his entire family killed when Cassandra Nova's Wild Sentinels destroyed Genosha) gave the post-Morrison X-Men era one of its most emotionally weighted new supporting players. By grounding the X-Men's core metaphor — bigotry as lived, daily experience rather than super-villain confrontation — in a university setting, the series bridges Claremont's returning stewardship of the X-books and the Joss Whedon era that followed it, making this issue the narrative handoff point that set Kitty up for Astonishing X-Men.
In "Targets," Kitty's quiet life at the University of Chicago shatters when the anti-mutant group Purity exposes her identity online, escalating tensions during a high-stakes science lab experiment that spirals into chaos. Written by Chris Claremont and brought to life by Juan Bobillo’s dynamic art, with inks by Marcelo Sosa and colors by Edgar Tadeo, this issue captures the urgency and personal stakes of a mutant caught in a storm of prejudice and peril. Celia Calle’s cover powerfully underscores the threat looming over Kitty’s world.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Mekanix was written by Chris Claremont as a companion miniseries to the X-Treme X-Men ongoing he was already helming, with editor Andrew Lis and editor-in-chief Joe Quesada overseeing production. The artistic team of penciller Juan Bobillo and inker Marcelo Sosa, with colors by Avalon Studios' Edgar Tadeo and lettering by veteran X-Men letterer Tom Orzechowski, gave the book a grounded, slightly European visual texture that suited its campus setting. The title's deliberately stylized spelling — substituting a K and X for the conventional 'c' in 'Mechanics' — was a knowing nod to the X-Men franchise's long tradition of extreme letterz branding, a self-awareness the series wore lightly.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Shola Inkosi (also spelled Inkose), a Genoshan-born telekinetic mutant created by Chris Claremont and Juan Bobillo, who would later join the post-decimation Excalibur.
- First appearance of Dr. Maureen Lyszinski, the university counselor assigned to Kitty Pryde after she is placed on academic probation.
- Story title for issue #1 is 'Targets'; cover date is December 2002, with a release date of October 9, 2002.
- Written by Chris Claremont; pencilled by Juan Bobillo; inked by Marcelo Sosa; cover by Celia Calle; lettered by Tom Orzechowski; colored by Avalon Studios' Edgar Tadeo.
- The issue introduces the anti-mutant campus hate group Purity as the series' primary antagonist faction, with members Tom More, Jeff Holloway, and Alice Tremaine appearing here.
- Karma (Xi'an/Xuân Cao Mạnh) and her younger twin siblings Leong and Nga Coy Manh appear alongside Kitty, reestablishing Karma as a key supporting character; Emma Frost appears in cameo.
- The series was first collected in the X-Treme X-Men Vol. 4: Mekanix trade paperback (2003), which also included X-Men Unlimited #36, and was later reprinted in the 2017 Marvel Universe by Chris Claremont Omnibus and the 2024 X-Treme X-Men by Chris Claremont Omnibus Vol. 2.
- A Dynamic Forces limited signed-and-numbered edition of the issue was produced, signed by Chris Claremont and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
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Reprints
Reprinted in X-Treme X-Men #4 (2003), Marvel Universe by Chris Claremont Omnibus #[nn] (2017), X-Treme X-Men by Chris Claremont Omnibus #2 (2024)
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