Jonathan Hickman's X-Men: 5 Reasons To Be Excited

This is it.

After a few years of languishing in a cycle of okay books, with the odd gem sticking out of the pile, the X-Men are finally receiving a long overdue relaunch, helmed by the brilliant Jonathan Hickman.

The writer has had many iconic runs at Marvel, having helmed the biggest titles the House of Ideas has to offer from the Avengers to the Fantastic Four. His works are grand in scale and almost always leave a huge impact on the entirety of the Marvel universe, whether that be by redefining what has come before, or introducing concepts that send ripples through the superhero-filled world that can be felt for years after.

While the idea of Marvel doing yet another relaunch, even if it may be only for a section of their books, may seem tiring, Hickman's upcoming stint on X-Men is one that you should make sure to keep an eye on. It promises big things, and while there's still plenty to love about Marvel's current crop of X-Books, this new series promises to restore Marvel's mutants to their rightful place in the Marvel Universe, front and centre alongside the Avengers.

It's not difficult to get excited, but here are a few reminders why you should be anyway...

While many fans will have enjoyed much of the X-Men books over the last few years, whether that be Tom Taylor's X-Men Red or Matthew Rosenberg's current run on Uncanny - the way these books are deep rooted in many decades of the team's history can present challenges for new readers, namely in the fact the X-Men's history is so darn convoluted.

Thanks to the new era starting with Hickman's Powers of X and House of X, readers will finally have a great place to start.

From all reports, Powers seems set to redefine the history of mutants in the Marvel universe - the book seeming likely to completely change how us readers perceive those with the X-gene - while House will tell the story happening in the present, the threads woven in each presumably coming together to form one giant web by the time they both conclude.

Taking the vast roster of X-books down to just two will make it so much simpler for both new and old fans alike to follow all things X-Men, but the comics that will explode out of this couple? They seem pretty exciting as well...