Legendary ’90s comic book artist Tony Daniel returns to mutants with a story that closes an era and opens new doors for the X-Men
X-Men and the return of a drawing legend
The artist, known for his spectacular lines in X-Force and later for his work in Batman Yes Detective comics for DC, he comes home at just the right time. Daniel joins the screenwriter Jed MacKaywho was able to convert The age of revelation in one of the most intense and visually powerful phases of the mutant universe.
Tony Daniel himself defines it as “a pinch for me“:
“It seems like my career has come full circle. I started at Marvel, drawing X-Force right out of high school. It was a dream then, and it’s still a dream now with X-Men.”
The artist recalls that his passion for mutants was born at school, when a classmate brought him an old copy Giant-sized X-Men:
“I fell in love instantly. From then on I started drawing my favorite mutants on any scrap of paper I could find.”
The spirit of the 90s returns in the mutants
For many longtime fans, Daniel’s return is it a love letter to the golden age of the X-Men. His dynamic style, with compositions full of energy and action, marked a generation alongside names like Jim Lee or Joe Madureira. May he return right now, in the epilogue of The age of revelationit seems almost symbolic: this futuristic story of hope and loss for the mutant race closes the cycle that has begun The Age of Apocalypse in 1995, where Daniel also participated.
The number, which will be on sale on January 7promises to be more than just goodbye. According to Marvel it will be useful connect the threads towards the next great mutant stageand there are already rumors that it could leave clues about the next event that will mark the future of the X line.
Daniel, for his part, is happy to work with Jed MacKay:
“Jed has an incredible balance between action and character development. Their stories are an artists dream. If we have fun drawing, the fans will have fun reading. And there’s a lot of fun to come for the X-Men.”
A look at the artistic legacy of the 90s
Over the course of his career, Tony Daniele he demonstrated a special ability to combine visual intensity and emotional narrative. In X-Men #23his return represents not just a nostalgic nod, but an artistic evolution. Daniel doesn’t just replicate his ’90s style, he replicates it too reinterprets with technical maturity which enhances each vignette, providing a balance between epic and vulnerability.
Furthermore, its connection with Jed MacKay promises one of the strongest creative teams of the modern X-Men era. MacKay revitalized the tone of mutants with stories that delve into their moral dilemmas and humanity. The combination of MacKay’s strategic script and Daniel’s expressive line It could be the ultimate push for a new, more introspective, dynamic, and visually impressive mutant age.
A new beginning for the X-Men
The age of revelation showed an uncertain future, in which mutants face the consequences of their ideals. But X-Men #23 promises to close that cycle on a note of renewal and hoperight at the point where everything could change forever.
Against Tony Daniel in pencil, Jed MacKay on screenplay and one variant cover by Ivan Talaverathe comic not only represents the end of one phase, but the prelude to another that could redefine what it means to be an X-Men.
