The second annual Hellfire Gala is just around the corner, and a six-page preview promises plenty of antics ahead for the X-Men and their guests.
Warning! Contains a preview for X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1!
It's almost Hellfire Gala season again, and the newly released preview pages tease everybody who's somebody on Earth 616 are all dolled up for a night of drama, glamor, and intrigue with the X-Men. The six-page first look comes from this year's upcoming X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 by Gerry Duggan, C.F. Villa, Matteo Lolli, Russell Dauterman, and Kris Anka. The inaugural Hellfire Gala event was full of looks and surprises that will be hard to top, but from the looks of the preview, this year's installment will be giving it a run for its money.
As opposed to this year's epic 72-page one-shot, Krakoa's first Hellfire Gala was a crossover event for all of the ongoing X-titles. Between innovations in mutant fashion, terraforming planets, and announcing the first X-Men team of the Krakoan Era, it was a busy night for mutantkind, to say the least. All that was known going into this year's function was the announcement of the new X-roster, the new Gala redesigns, and a tie-in to the late summer event Judgment Day. that is until Marvel released yesterday's preview of Hellfire Gala #1.
The guests featured in the first look from Marvel include but are not limited to: Peter Parker having a tense chat with Victor Von Doom, Scott Summers dancing with Emma Frost before the flaming visage of Moira MacTaggert, the arrival of the Five, Sorcerer Supreme Clea Strange in a tiff with Emma, and Mary Jane Watson chasing down Proteus. Finally, one page that has been partially censored reveals Emma hosting flawlessly. Although that last one was pretty par for the course, all these other interactions set up plenty of surprising fun and intrigue.
The recently split Spider-Man and MJ are particularly interesting inclusions after the events of Free Comic Book Day 2022: Avengers/X-Men #1 from Kieron Gillen, Gerry Duggan, Danny Lore, Dustin Weaver, Karen S. Darboe, and Matteo Lolli. Similarly notable is the apparent lack of celebrity appearances at the second Hellfire Gala. They were a staple of last year's event and really hammered home the idea that this function was the Krakoan answer to the human Met Gala event.
Ultimately, six dialogue-free pages can only tease a fraction of the events of the truly massive issue. Are the Eternals set to appear at the Hellfire Gala? Who won this year's X-Men vote? What does Moira X have planned for the night's festivities? The answers to those questions remain to be seen in X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1, which releases on July 13, 2022.
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Source: Marvel Entertainment
