WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Alan Davis, on sale Wednesday, March 25.
After establishing the first wave of Dawn of X titles, Marvel Comics expanded the X-Men line with the return of Giant-Size X-Men. The special one-shots focus on a particular X-Man, with the first installment doubling up to highlight Jean Grey and Emma Frost. However, the upcoming issue puts Nightcrawler in a prominent role as he leads a team back to the Xavier School to investigate a mystery on the campus.
The X-Mansion has been a staple of the X-Men, going all the way back to their first class of students, which included, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast and Angel. Nightcrawler was first introduced as an X-Man in 1975's Giant-Size X-Men #1, along with Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Thunderbird. Of course, the X-Men have called other locations home, ranging from the Australian outback to the otherworldly Limbo dimension. Following the events of House of X and Powers of X, good and evil mutants alike call the sovereign nation of Krakoa their home.
So what emergency has brought Nightcrawler, Magik, Eye-Boy, Cypher and Lockheed back to the X-Mansion? A preview of Giant-Size X-Men #1 reveals the X-Mansion in Westchester has been converted to the Greymalkin Habitat, where a gateway has received numerous failures relating to a mutant trying to pass through.
We first get a glimpse at the empty campus and hallways of the Xavier School. No one has tended to the grounds in so long that the vegetation has become unruly, growing inside Charles Xavier's study and taking over the Danger Room and Cerebro. Even though the school is empty, someone has been triggering the gateway stored there.
As Nightcrawler mentions, this happens pretty frequently around the world as humans try to walk through active gates. However, since they do not have mutant DNA, the gates won't open for them. Where things get tricky is the person triggering the X-Mansion's gateway failures appears to be a mutant to Krakoa. This is why Nightcrawler has brought a team to investigate the mystery of what is taking place at the abandoned mansion.
This will be the fans' first look at the Xavier School since the big move to Krakoa. We do know that the X-Men have at least placed a gateway on the campus so they can travel back and forth to their old stomping grounds. The only problem is the X-Men haven't done a good job of upkeep, though you can't blame them after living in mutant paradise.
Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler #1 goes on sale March 25 from Marvel Comics.