The next issue of the X-Men '97 prequel comic book series sees classic Marvel villains the Marauders going on the attack. A new preview of X-Men '97 #4 -- by writer Steve Foxe, artist Salva Espin, colorist Matt Milla, and letterer Joe Sabino -- which goes on sale next week, sees the Marauders, a deadly mutant mercenary group from Marvel Comics, attacking the X-Men in their home at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The preview sees the Marauders -- Arclight, Harpoon, Prism, and Riptide – fighting alongside two other members of the "Sinister Seven" assembled Mister Sinister: classic 1990s X-Men villain Hazard and Siena Blaze (the seventh member of the group, Sabretooth, isn't featured in the provided preview pages).
How will the X-Men handle this new attack on their home? Fans can find out when X-Men '97 #4 goes on sale on Wednesday.
Who are X-Men villains the Marauders?
In the comics, the Marauders were the villains in one of the first major X-Men crossover stories, "Mutant Massacre." In that story, Mister Sinister hired the Marauders, led by Sabretooth, to go into the sewers of New York City and eliminate the community of outcast mutants called the Morlocks who lived there. The X-Men and X-Factor fought the Marauders, leaving several of the X-Men seriously injured and Angel nailed to a sewer wall by his wings (which would ultimately lead to their amputation, setting the stage for Apocalypse to transform him into Archangel). Fellow mutant group the New Mutants and other Marvel heroes like Thor, Daredevil, and Power Pack were also involved in the story.
The Marauders never appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series. That makes this X-Men '97 comic book series their first appearance in the X-Men: The Animated Series/X-Men '97 timeline.
X-Men '97 #4 goes on sale on June 26. X-Men '97 Season 1 is streaming now on Disney+.
X-Men '97 #4
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(W) Steve Foxe (A) Salva Espin (CA) Todd Nauck
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