Marvel Comics will launch a unprecedented historical collection tying together nearly 30 years of X-Men history, written and drawn by Eisner Award-winning artist Ed Piskor.

Piskor is the author and artist behind the award-winning Hip Hop Family Tree series, published by Fantagraphics (see “Ed Piskor's 'Hip Hop Family Tree' In Development”). Now he applies his encyclopedic knowledge and research skills to distill the first 280 original issues of X-Men comics (from issue #1 by San Lee and Jack Kirby through Chris Claremont’s final issue Uncanny X-Men #279) into a coherent continuity which will be presented in X-Men: Grand Design. Piskor’s material will appear in six 40-page issues, separated into three interconnected mini-series: X-Men: Grand Design, X-Men: Grand Design-Second Genesis and X-Men: Grand Design-X-tinction.

The series will launch with X-Men: Grand Design on December 9. After publication of the second issue, Marvel will collect X-Men: Grand Design in an oversized paperback collection, similar to the size and format of Hip Hop Family Tree collections (9.3” x 13.3”, with thick paper stock), releasing April 17, 2018. The collection will also include the X-Men #1 story from September 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, recolored by Piskor; as well as multiple recolored classic pinups.

“X-Men: Grand Design is a tribute to everything comic book fans love about the X-Men from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original run and Chris Claremont’s, epic 16-year stint as the series’ writer,” said Piskor. “It’s a compelling and complete story with a beginning, middle and an end, featuring everything from Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Cerebro and the Danger Room to the Mutant Massacre, the Reavers, Gambit, and Genosha.”