New X-Men #114, the first issue of "E is For Extinction". Art by Frank Quitely.

E is for Extinction was the first story arc from Grant Morrison's run on the Marvel Comics title New X-Men. The story was published in New X-Men #114-116 (formerly titled X-Men, the series was renamed "New X-Men" at the request of Grant Morrison, but retained its original numbering). The storyline began Grant Morrison's revamp of the X-Men franchise, introducing a new status quo for the X-Men and the mutant community of the Marvel Universe as a whole. Download high resolution version (485x748, 67 KB)Cover to (New) X-Men #114, drawn by Frank Quitely. ... Download high resolution version (485x748, 67 KB)Cover to (New) X-Men #114, drawn by Frank Quitely. ... Frank Quitely (January 18, 1968 - ) is the professional pseudonym of Scottish comic book artist Vincent Deighan. ... Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... New X-Men refers to two superhero comic books published by Marvel Comics within the hugely popular X-Men franchise. ... In Marvel comic books, particularly those of the X-Men mythos, a human being who is born with genetic modifications that allow for abilities not possessed by regular humans is commonly called a mutant. ...

Plot

As a new generation of mutants begins maturing across the globe, a long-lost Master Mold A.I. and sentinel production facility in the jungles of Ecuador is uncovered by a mysterious woman called Cassandra Nova. She uses the last surviving relative of Bolivar Trask to gain control of the wild sentinels and has the man order the Sentinels to massacre the entire population of the mutant nation of Genosha. However, Cassandra Nova's presence shows up on the newly created mutant detection machine "Cerebra", created by the Beast, leading to Cyclops and Wolverine finding Cassandra and defeating her. But it's too late, as the nation of Genosha falls to the deadly might of the Sentinels and nearly the entire population of the island state is killed off. Master Mold is a fictional character, a robot supervillain in the Marvel Universe. ... Hondas humanoid robot, ASIMO The term Artificial Intelligence (AI) was first used by John McCarthy who used it to mean the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.[1] It can also refer to intelligence as exhibited by an artificial (man-made, non-natural, manufactured) entity. ... The Sentinels are a type of fictional robot in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Cassandra Nova is a fictional enemy of the X-Men in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Bolivar Trask is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Flag of Genosha under Magnetos reign. ... Cyclops (Scott Summers) is a fictional character who exists in the Marvel Comics Universe, a superhero who is the field leader of the X-Men. ... For other uses, see Wolverine (disambiguation). ...

As the X-Men search the rubble, they find former X-Men villain and teacher Emma Frost as one of the survivors, having survived the Sentinel onslaught thanks to her body undergoing a new secondary mutation. At the X-Mansion, Dr. Henry McCoy investigates the biological origins of the powerful enemy they have just captured, while also revealing the possibility of mankind's genetic extinction within the next few generations. When Cassandra suddenly overcomes her imprisonment and effortlessly makes her way to Cerebra (in order to take over Charles Xavier's mind), Emma Frost (who moments before the battle began had left the X-Mansion, intent on revenge against humans for the genocidal Sentinel attack on Genosha) shows up again to snap Cassandra's neck. But Emma arrives too late, as Cassandra has swapped bodies with Xavier and shoots him (now in Cassandra's body) to keep Xavier from revealing what has just happened. Emma Grace[1] Frost, also known as the White Queen, is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... In Marvel comics Secondary Mutation was a worldwide phenomenon that seemed inexplicable. ... This article or section on a comics-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... Professor X Professor X (full name Charles Francis Xavier) is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Days pass as Jean Grey and Cyclops reflect upon the marital problems that have popped up due to Cyclop's post-traumatic stress disorder (brought on by Apocalypse possessing Cyclops's body for over a year) when they turn on the TV and see "Xavier" out himself as a mutant on live television. Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Critical Response

Grant Morrison's arrival on the X-Men franchise as the new writer of the adjectiveless X-Men book was highly anticipated and featured amongst other things, massive changes for the X-Men franchise. Among which were new designs for the X-Men, where the group abandoned their traditional spandex costumes for leather jackets and conservative turtle-neck sweaters. Additionally, Wolverine and Beast underwent massive visual changes as well, Beast becoming more beast-like than man and Wolverine abandoning his old costume for a new casual look similar to that of 1950s greaser.

In the months leading up to the publication of the arc, Grant Morrison fanned the flames of controversy by announcing his new villain Cassandra Nova, who was hyped in promotional interviews as being Xavier's evil twin sister. While Morrison was able to establish Cassandra Nova into Xavier's past rather seamlessly, the character's background was the subject of much grumbling online.

Another subject of controversy that Morrison fanned intentionally, was his plans for a major "mutant massacre" to clear out the deadwood from the X-Men franchise. Again, the rumors of who would live and who would die filled the online comic community with much dread, though the only real "casualty" of Morrison's arc was Magneto (who Morrison had resurface alive and well at the end of his run as writer) and the bulk of the nameless mutant population of Genosha.

This story also led to the disolvement of the X-Men's most beloved and recognized couple, Scott Summers/Cyclops and Jean Grey/Phoenix. Morrison, using the event of Cyclops merging with Apocolypse, slowly began to cause a gulf to form between the couple, while at the same time introducing Emma Frost as a new love interest for Cyclops, while touching on a potential Wolverine/Jean Grey romance.

In an irony of timing, the storyline ran during the summer of 2001, before the infamous terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon Building in Washington, DC on September 11, 2001. As such, Grant Morrison and other writers at Marvel (most notably Chris Claremont) would jump upon the parallels of the 9-11 attacks and the destruction of Genosha as they explored the fall-out of the Sentinel attack on the nation.

Secondary Mutation

One of the major aspects introduced in the storyline was the concept of "secondary mutations." The concept was created mainly by Morrison to give Emma Frost her diamond skin powers (as Morrison wanted to use Colossus as part of his team but was unable to, due to him being killed off months prior by fill-in writer Scott Lobdell in a deus ex machina that eliminated the Legacy Virus). // Deus ex machina describes an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot (e. ... In the fictional Marvel Universe, the Legacy Virus was a devastating plague that ripped through the mutant population, killing hundreds and mutating so that it affected baseline humans as well, until it was cured almost overnight by the sacrifice of the superhero Colossus, a member of the X-Men. ...

Trade Paperback

Trade paperback cover, by Frank Quitely

A trade Paperback of the storyline was release in 2001; the initial printing of the trade paperback included New X-Men #117 (which served as a bridge issue between "E is for Extinction" and the next multi-part storyline "Germ Free Generation") and the "Morrison Manifesto", a detailed account of Grant Morrison's proposal for his plans as writer for the X-Men. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 402 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (992 × 1480 pixel, file size: 420 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cover to New X-Men Vol. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 402 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (992 × 1480 pixel, file size: 420 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cover to New X-Men Vol. ...

Many fans criticized the initital trade paperback for it's omission of "New X-Men Annual 2001", which was omitted due to issues involving how to reprint the story, which was published in the sideways "Widescreen" format. As the issue contained the set-up for a key number of future major plotlines for the Morrison X-Men run, later printings of the trade paperback removed the "Morrison Manifesto" and replaced it with the annual, which was published in the standard comic format, though still sideways.