Daniel Acuna named as new artist on X-Men: Legacy

I’ve been a fan of Daniel Acuña’s work from DC Comics’ Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters and Marvel’s Eternals (canceled far too soon), but it looks like I’ll soon be enjoying his fine artwork in the pages of Marve’s Mutant family the X-Men.

A fan of Byrne and Cockrum, Acuña will bring a new kind of classic style to the book that fans will no doubt clamor for. Joining writer Mike Carey on X-Men: Legacy, I am hoping that the addition of a regular artist of this caliber will help the series find its footing. With a series of issues dealing with Charles Xavier facing his past with new eyes, the issues degraded into a mish-mash of sci-fi stories and something about Rogue and Gambit. I may be alone in my disappointment with the direction of this series but hopefully it will finds its way thanks to a new artist.

The focus seems to be shifting away from Charles Xavier and toward Rogue and Gambit, both of whom enjoy a loyal fan following. With Rogue finally in control of her powers rather than a slave to them, I am curious to see where Carey takes the title next.

As some of the characters fans may be surprised to know, not everyone in the comic biz is familiar with Rogue and Gambit, Acuña included!

Honestly, before I started drawing them they were the characters I was least interested on from the team (laughs). But that made it more interesting and forces me to work more. But now that I’m some pages in, I can say they are changing my mind. As characters, all three of them are really interesting, but I think I could do some work in making Rogue’s and Gambit’s look better – mostly Gambit, who’s some sort of ‘rebel without a cause’ character. So… an outsider with a black and fuchsia suit, with metallic knee pads? He’s not a super hero, per se, in attitude and motivations, so, why does he dress like one? I’m trying to think on something to make it all fit, visually and in my head.

I know that I often wondered why Gambit dressed in a black and fuchsia suit!

Acuña debuts on the title with the X-Men Legacy Annual out in September.