A series of variants for Timeless hints at some of the far-reaching repercussions that may unfold in Marvel Comics' time-traveling tale.
Written by Jed Mackay and drawn by Kev Walker, Mark Bagley and Greg Land, Timeless is an oversized one-shot due to come out at the end of the year. The story focuses on Kang the Conqueror, whose exploits will be used to set up the Marvel Universe's 2022. Newly revealed variant art for the issue from Marvel's Stormbreakers teases massive implications for many other characters using time-centric imagery, with one in particular hinting that the story will be revisiting the checkered past of the X-Men's Rogue.
Introduced in 1981's Avengers Annual #10 when she stole the powers of Carol Danvers, Rogue's earliest adventures saw her fighting alongside the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Eventually, the naïve southern belle had a change of heart and joined the X-Men, while also enjoying stints on the Avengers and Excalibur. Despite trying to reinvent herself and move past the damage that she caused in her youth, Carmen Carnero's variant shows that the shadows of Rogue's past still surround her, like the hands of a clock. Whether or not this means that Timeless will be revisiting Rogue's past, the X-Men have major changes in store for them in the new year. In January, X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine will usher in the Second Krakoan Age of X-Men.
Rogue's cover, along with the other variants for Timeless, is the latest in a series of teases for the notably mysterious one-shot. Last week, Marvel offered a first look at Anatoly Petrov, who is set to traverse the time-stream alongside Kang in the issue. Another image for the special showed Thanos wielding an Infinity Stone-powered Mjolnir, calling back to the dark timeline first shown in Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw's run on Thanos, in which the Mad Titan defeats Earth's heroes and conquers the Marvel Universe.
TIMELESS #1
- Written by JED MACKAY
- Art by KEV WALKER, GREG LAND, and MARK BAGLEY
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by NATACHA BUSTOS
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by JUANN CABAL
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by CARMEN CARNERO
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by JOSHUA CASSARA
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by IBAN COELLO
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by PATRICK GLEASON
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by PEACH MOMOKO
- Stormbreakers Variant Cover by R.B. SILVA
- On Sale 12/29
One person who theoretically should have all the answers for the issue is writer Jed Mackay, who recently joked that there are some things in Timeless that even he doesn't understand. However, MacKay did verify that "we'll be seeing these ideas play out for years to come."
Mackay also offered up some vital information about how the story incorporates its lofty premise, saying, "Kang finds himself challenged by a rogue, severed timeline that has fought off the entropic decay that would normally have dissolved it and seeks to reattach itself to the main timeline. The chronal gravity of this rogue timeline is playing hell with the main timeline. It's up to Kang to sort it out."
Timeless #1 goes on sale Dec. 29.
Source: Marvel Comics