Marvel Comics has provided a glimpse at Uncanny X-Men #13, the 8th installment in the X-Men crossover event Battle of the Atom (see "'X-Men: Battle of the Atom'"), which ships on October 16th.  In addition to the regular cover by Ed McGuinness and a variant by Chris Bachalo, Marvel also released a page of Bachalo’s interior art that shows a Phoenix-Force powered Quentin Quire going at it hammer and tongs with what looks like a future version of Iceman.  The big reveal here is that the potent Phoenix Force, which appeared to have been destroyed by Hope at the conclusion of Avengers vs. X-Men event is back and is channeling itself through a new host, Quentin Quire.
 
The newly empowered Quentin Quire (aka Kid Omega) appears on Bachalo’s variant cover for Uncanny X-Men #13, as well as on the interior page where his Phoenix-Force power is really on display.  Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Uncanny X-Men #13 finds Marvel’s mutants in a dangerous spot with Wolverine down and bleeding out with no healing factor and the Jean Grey School under heavy attack.
 
While Marvel’s revelations make it pretty clear that Quentin Quire is the new host of the Phoenix Force, the image on Ed McGuiness’s cover raises another very important question--namely who exactly is the blue dude with the red hair and Wolvie-like claws?