It’s party time! Marvel Comics has recently announced X-Men: Hellfire Murder, the next title in a series of (almost) yearly titles that bring all of mutantkind together to celebrate their culture and their place in the world. The Hellfire Gala is a legacy of the Krakoan Era, a time when mutants lived (semi) peacefully on the living island of Krakoa. In order to further establish their new nation among other nations that fear and hate them, Emma Frost proposed the first Hellfire Gala. The invitations went out to political leaders, super heroes, and other important figures from around the world. And let’s not forget all those dashing outfits (you’ll have to thank Jumbo Carnation for that)!
So far we’ve had a total of four galas and now the fifth is coming to comic stores in July. This time around, a masquerade will be the stage for the murder of a key mutant figure, setting up the next challenge for our beloved mutants. While we wait to witness the drama and intrigue, why not go back in time to see how it all began? Consider this your very short guide to the history of the Hellfire Gala.
Before the Gala
In the beginning, there was just the island of Mykines. The place was owned by Namor the Submariner and he was approached by Magneto and asked that the island be leased to Emma Frost. It turns out the White Queen had plans to host the biggest party the world had ever seen—one that would forever change mutantkind’s place in the world. With the deal with the Atlantean struck, Magneto used his powers to build the tower and the halls that would become the stage for the event. Then, a Krakoan gate was built to connect the Mykines to the rest of the world.
Read: Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto (2020) #1
The First Hellfire Gala
That was the gala that started it all and it was when mutants revealed to the world their biggest accomplishment yet—one that would reverberate across the political landscape of the planet Earth and beyond: the terraforming of Mars and the renaming it Planet Arakko. That, coupled with the unveiling of mutant-made currency mysterium, ensured mutantkind’s place in the stars.
As for the party itself, it happened across many of the titles that were being released at the time, in a shared narrative fashion filled with drama and super power shenanigans. You can read it yourself with the order below:
1. Marauders (2019) #21;
2. X-Force (2020) #20;
3. Hellions (2020) #1;
4. Excalibur (2019) #21;
5. X-Men (2019) #21;
6. Planet-Size X-Men (2021) #1;
7. New Mutants (2020) #19;
8. X-Corp (2021) #2;
9. Wolverine (2020) #13;
10. S.W.O.R.D. (2021) #6;
11. Way of X (2021) #3;
12. X-Factor (2020) #10.
The Hellfire Gala is also a theme in Children of the Atom (2021), with the last issue, #6, considered a tie-in issue.
The Second Hellfire Gala
The second Hellfire Gala took place just after the world discovered mutants had conquered death by their own means of ressurrection. That revelation put an even bigger target on Krakoa’s back as the fascist mutant-hating organization Orchis infiltrated the Gala to acquire the secret of mutant ressurrection.
Unlike the first Hellfire Gala, the second and subsequent iterations of the event were condensed into one-shot editions as opposed to taking place across multiple titles. That said, tie-in issues were still released as Infinity Comics, Marvel’s digital issues released on Marvel Unlimited. Here’s what you need to read:
Main event: X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2022) #1
Tie-ins (optional): X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic (2021) #50-55
The Last Hellfire Gala
What began with celebration ended with disaster. The third iteration of mutantkind’s biggest party also brought about the untimely end of the Krakoan Era. With the leaders of Orchis crashing into the gala armed with intel and devious plans, mutants were either murdered or scattered, leaving an empty Krakoa for the taking. This issue kick-started the period known as the Fall of X, one of mutantkind’s darkest moments yet.
This Hellfire Gala follows the same pattern as the previous one: a one-shot issue and Infinity Comics tie-ins. However, this one also includes a prelude in 2023’s Free Comic Book Day. The reading order goes as follows:
Prelude issue: Free Comic Book Day 2023: Avengers/X-Men #1
Main event: X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2023) #1
Tie-ins (optional): X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic (2021) #100-105; X-Men: Hellfire Gala Last Rites Infinity Comic (2023) #1; Marvel’s Voices: Infinity Comic (2022) #70
The Hellfire Vigil
Taking place one year after the events of the Fall of X, this issue is one about remembrance and resilience. The Hellfire Vigil brought together mutants from all over the world to Central Park—where the Krakoan memorial is—to pay their respects for their fallen friends and families.
This is the first “Hellfire Gala” (not really a gala in the same way the previous ones were) that doesn’t take place on Mykines Island and is not set during the Krakoan Era. It was also the shorterst Gala yet, with a one-shot and a single tie-in issue only:
Tie-in prelude (optional): Astonishing X-Men Infinity Comic (2024) #27
Main event: X-Men: Hellfire Vigil (2025) #1
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