Featuring the Artwork of Simone Bianchi & Salvador Larroca Series Editor: Axel Alonso Assistant Editor: Will Panzo Sketchbook Editor: Jody LeHeup Senior Editor, Special Projects: Jeff Youngquist Senior Vice President of Sales: David Gabriel Book Design: Spring Hoteling Cover Design: Rich Ginter Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada Publisher: Dan Buckley ASTONISHING X-MEN SKETEHBOOK SPECIAL peti 208 Pub by NOBEL PUBS Sand $305 Frodo ninety tae Dre at maamanccom, Fer Merve histones 1090765492INTRODUCTION The “X” symbol over the heart -- it’s the first thing you noticed, right? Well, there's a reason for it. It marks a spot. A part of the body that knows some things can’t be explained by facts or data or science. That some things just come down to faith. And faith is what’s fueling the X-Men. Since the fateful moment known as “M-Day,” the mutant race has stood at a precipice. staring at an uncertain future. But are those storm clouds in the distance, or rays of sunlight? Does the mutant race face imminent extinction, or glorious rebirth? Only one thing’s for sure: Next month, the X-Men will stare at their future over a new horizon -- the Pacific Ocean. That's right. For the first time in their storied history, Marvel's mutant family is severing its roots to Westchester and planting seeds 3,000 miles away in the Marin Headlands, only a stone's throw from San Francisco. This change of scenery signals not just @ change in strategy [in a hostile world, why be a sitting duck?) but also in philosophy. Marching forward with the faith -- but not the knowledge -- that there is a future, the X-Men are now, more than ever, an army, linked by the common understanding that all they have is each other. They are a unit that is more than the sum of its parts, guided by the unquestioned leadership of Scott Summers. And Cyclops has a vision. What follows is a glimpse of it: newly redesigned costumes, rendered by the upcoming Astonishing X- Men artist Simone Bianchi, and the blueprints for the X-Men’s new headquarters, rendered by former Uncanny X-Men artist Salvador Larroca. This July, the East Coast is a Mutant Free Zone; the Avengers can have it. The West Coast belongs to the X-Men. ik afew . Axel Alonso X-Men Group Editor