New X-Men #146
New X-Men #146 is the opening chapter of Grant Morrison's 'Planet X' arc and delivers one of the most consequential plot turns in the X-Men's four-decade history: the trusted teacher Xorn removes his mask before Professor X to reveal himself as Magneto, a deception Morrison had been seeding across the entire run since the character's introduction in the 2001 Annual. The issue reframes every prior Xorn appearance in hindsight and sets in motion a five-part endgame that culminates in the death of Jean Grey, the 'death' of Magneto, and the near-destruction of New York City — events whose reverberations (retcons, twin-brother retcons, House of M fallout) shaped the X-line for the better part of a decade. Its narrative ambition — the long-con villain reveal executed across roughly forty issues — remains a model for slow-burn serial storytelling in mainstream superhero comics.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada brought Grant Morrison to Marvel specifically to revitalize the X-franchise, and Morrison requested the book be retitled 'New X-Men' to signal a clean departure from recent continuity. Morrison has stated in interviews that Magneto was always the identity behind Xorn — 'there really shouldn't have been an actual Xorn,' as Morrison put it — though at least one critical reader has argued the Annual's introduction does not fully support that intent, making Morrison's own stated design a minor point of dispute. The pencil art for the 'Planet X' arc was handled by Phil Jimenez (interior pages) with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver, inked by Andy Lanning and colored by Chris Chuckry, under editor Mike Marts; by this stage in the run, Marvel had settled into the strategy of assigning one artist per arc, a more functional arrangement than the revolving roster that had troubled the series' earlier issues.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published September 10, 2003 (cover-dated November 2003); issue #146 of the legacy-numbered series formerly titled X-Men (vol. 2).
- Written by Grant Morrison; interior art by Phil Jimenez (pencils) and Andy Lanning (inks); cover art by Ethan Van Sciver; colors by Chris Chuckry; edited by Mike Marts under EIC Joe Quesada.
- First chapter of the five-part 'Planet X' arc (issues #146–150), subtitled 'Planet X Part 1.'
- Contains the unmasking of Kuan-Yin Xorn as Magneto in disguise — the payoff to a deception Morrison planted from Xorn's debut in New X-Men Annual 2001 — making this the issue where readers first see the full scope of that Trojan-horse scheme.
- Xorn/Magneto manipulates Dust (Sooraya Qadir) into destroying Cerebra and imprisons her, then traps and confronts Professor X alone — establishing the 'Brotherhood' he has secretly assembled from the Xavier Institute's Special Class, including Beak, Basilisk, Ernst, and Martha Johansson.
- Cyclops rejoins the team in this issue after leaving following the 'Murder at the Mansion' arc; Jean Grey's looming Phoenix transformation is foreshadowed in a quiet scene with Professor X.
- Marvel editorial subsequently retconned the Xorn/Magneto identity: then-X-Men writer Chuck Austen was asked to separate the characters, eventually producing the explanation that Kuan-Yin Xorn was a distinct person who had a twin brother (Shen Xorn), a resolution Morrison publicly criticized.
- The issue has been collected in New X-Men Vol. 6: Planet X (2004 trade paperback), the New X-Men Omnibus (2006), and New X-Men Ultimate Collection Book 3 (2008), ensuring wide ongoing availability.
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Xorn is unmasked as Magneto as he begins an attack against the X-Men. Cerebra is destroyed by Dust.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
Key issues in New X-Men
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