Early next year, artist Brett Booth will make his return to Marvel Comics' X-Men after two decades away.
The official solicitation information for January 2021's X-Men #17 reveals that series writer Jonathan Hickman will be joined on the issue by artist Brett Booth. This news follows main X-Men artist Leinil Francis Yu's departure with last month's issue #12. (Issues #13-15 will be drawn by Mahmud Asrar, and issue #16 by Phil Noto.) At this time, it is unclear if Booth will pencil any additional issues of X-Men past #17, or if he has any other work at Marvel lined up.
Known for co-creating the WildStorm/Image character Backlash alongside Jim Lee, Booth got his start at Marvel penciling the two-part Backlash/Spider-Man crossover in 1996. He went on to draw for such Marvel Comics titles as Fantastic Four, Astonishing X-Men, X-Men Unlimited and the main X-Men title from about April of 1997 to January of 2001. He later returned to the House of Ideas to draw the first seven issues of Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Guilty Pleasures from 2006 to 2008.
For close to a decade now, however, Booth has primarily worked for DC Comics, and his perhaps best known for his tenure penciling Teen Titans under DC's New 52 banner, and Titans under its Rebirth banner. In addition to returning to Marvel for X-Men #17 this coming January, Booth is attached to draw the publisher's Chris Claremont Anniversary Special, which is written by legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont himself and is due for release later this year on Dec. 16.
"When the Shi'ar Empire asks the X-Men for help, Cyclops, Storm and Marvel Girl answer the call," the official synopsis for X-Men #17 teases. The issue will feature a main cover by the aforementioned Yu, as well as a variant cover by Russell Dauterman as part of the "Marvel vs. Alien" line.
Written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Brett Booth, X-Men #17 goes on sale Jan. 27, 2021 from Marvel Comics. The full solicitation information can be found below.
X-MEN #17
- JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • BRETT BOOTH (A)
- Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
- MARVEL VS ALIEN VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
- STORM THE EMPIRE!
- When the Shi’ar Empire asks the X-Men for help, Cyclops, Storm and Marvel Girl answer the call.
- 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99