X-Men: The Hidden Years #2

History

The series launched in late 1999 under writer-artist John Byrne, with inks by Tom Palmer and colors by Gregory Wright, edited by Jason Liebig under editor-in-chief Bob Harras. Byrne conceived the series as a finite but open-ended project, telling interviewers that he believed the story space between X-Men #66 and Giant-Size X-Men #1 could have sustained 100 or more issues before he would need to 'send the team off to Krakoa.' Issue #2 (on-sale November 3, 1999; cover-dated January 2000) was the direct follow-up to the oversized debut, maintaining the same creative team and continuing the Savage Land storyline without interruption. The series was ultimately cut short at issue #22 as part of a broader X-Men line retooling by Marvel, leaving several subplots unresolved.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Issue #2 is titled 'Slaughter in the Savage Land!' and went on sale November 3, 1999, with a cover date of January 2000.
• Written and penciled by John Byrne, inked by Tom Palmer, colored by Gregory Wright, and lettered by Byrne himself — the same full creative team as issue #1.
• The issue marks the first appearance of the Nhu'Ghari, a Savage Land tribal people, and the first cameo appearance of Avia, a winged Savage Land native.
• The central dramatic hook: Cyclops, Beast, and Angel believe Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) is dead after their Sentinel transport crashed in the Savage Land, not yet knowing she has been taken to the enigmatic 'Land of the Dead' — where Magneto, appearing only as an astral projection, is scheming to keep her captive.
• Iceman (Bobby Drake) does not journey to the Savage Land in this issue; instead he is depicted back in New York, waking at the apartment of his girlfriend Zelda, and picks up a stray telepathic message from Professor X that sets him on a course to help his teammates.
• The issue introduces a key character beat: Candy Southern (Angel's girlfriend) is quietly confirmed to already know that Warren Worthington and his Xavier School friends are mutants — a detail that adds retroactive depth to her supporting-cast role.
• The entire 22-issue series, including issue #2, was later collected in trade paperback form (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, the latter published in 2012) and ultimately in a complete omnibus edition published in 2024.
• The series' editorial mission was explicitly to bridge the gap created when X-Men #67–93 published only reprints, filling in stories set between X-Men #66 and Giant-Size X-Men #1.

Cast · 6 characters

Full credits