Comic Books

X-Men Monday #346 – Tony S. Daniel Talks ‘X-Men’

Plus, an eXclusive look at ‘X-Men’ #35!

July 13, 2026

Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT!

The very first X-Men comic I bought was 1994’s X-Men #39, featuring Cyclops’ grandfather and Adam X (who actually comes up later in this installment). Shortly after, I made the life-altering decision to go all in on reading everything X-Men — which meant I, along with Marvel’s merry mutants, was thrown into the Age of Apocalypse. There, I first encountered writer and artist Tony S. Daniel in the pages of Gambit and the X-Ternals. So, for this longtime X-Fan, it was quite cool to see Tony returning to the X-side of the Marvel Universe to join the art team on Jed MacKay‘s ongoing X-Men series.

Even cooler? Tony was willing to make his X-Men Monday debut to discuss his return to the X-Men, his approach to illustration, and more. Let’s see what he has to say.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: Welcome to X-Men Monday, Tony!

Tony S. Daniel: Thanks for having me.

AIPT: It’s been great to see your name and art once again gracing the pages of X-Men comics — but how did your return to the X-line come about, and what appealed to you about illustrating one of Marvel’s core X-Men series?

Tony: I have been freelancing, doing covers for both Marvel and DC for a year or so after I wrapped up a few years doing indie books at Image. I’ve expressed my interest in returning to Marvel to do some books over the years. But I had been exclusive with DC for so long; it’s been a while since I was free from exclusivity. After I wrapped up three issues of a yet-to-be-published Batman story, I let the nice folks at Marvel know that I was finally freed up. Soon after that, I got an email from Tom Brevoort who asked if I’d be down for doing some X-Men. It was super casual, no high expectations on me, just do a good job, and the rest will take care of itself.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: Two similar questions — X-Fan John O. loved your work on Gambit and the X-Ternals during the Age of Apocalypse and was wondering how you’d say your art style has changed since those early days. And X-Fan Alex p. asks if you’re trying any new techniques or artistic processes with X-Men.

Tony: Well, I look at my work as a constant state of evolution. I’ve always been one to try to think about the characters or the story and how I want to approach it. The same way an actor would approach various roles. Same guy, looks the same, but sells you that he’s a different character from his last film. I’ve never gotten too precious with anything I’ve done. I guess that’s forced me to grow, which is a good thing. Change is inevitable when you’re always looking to get out of your comfort zone and change things up. Sometimes I liked the results; sometimes I didn’t. That’s a lengthy conversation.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

But during Gambit and the X-Ternals, I feel like I had just started to get comfortable working as a pro. I was so new at it, I think less than a year in the business. But I was heavily influenced by manga at the time, and I think that showed up more in my work in those early days. I went more house style when I joined DC. I felt that was the only way to get work at the time. But these last few years, I feel I’ve been able to be more expressive again, and I find myself exploring some of the more fun stylistic things I was doing back in the early days of my career. So, blending a bit of that with what I’ve picked up along the way, we’re seeing something that hopefully shows my experience as well as my playfulness with these characters. (Who I really love, by the way.)

AIPT: Well, let’s talk about those characters. Beyond the Alaska team, X-Fan Isaiah Meehan wants to know which X-character (from any era) is your favorite to draw.

Tony: I have yet to sink my teeth into many of the other mutants at this point. However, I’ve done several Wolverine variant covers. I feel like he can easily be considered one of my favorites. But I also love Nightcrawler and Storm, whom I have yet to draw. I grew up on the Chris Claremont/John Byrne era, so all of those characters are deeply nostalgic and dear to my heart. I’d love to do all of them, and they’d all be my favorites.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: How has it been collaborating with X-Men writer Jed MacKay?

Tony: I really love working with Jed MacKay. I first read Jed on Moon Knight and then later Blood Hunt. I really enjoy his ability to mix great action with deep character dives. It’s not always easy to do that — to balance the stories in that way. Especially when you have so many characters, as in X-Men. But I remember reading Blood Hunt and thinking, now this is someone I’d like to work with, and a year later, here I was.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: X-Fan GiveEmmaFrostaPixieCut is really liking your art in the current “Anomaly” arc, especially for the characters Jen Starkey and Ben Liu. Who is your favorite new mutant of the era to draw — and why is it Ben Liu?

Tony: I really love these new characters; they’re so new that it’s a bit easier to get comfortable with them. Ben Liu, I have really enjoyed rendering him. He has a bit of an edge to him. He’s moody, angsty. I think there’s a lot of room for exploration with that character as a whole. If I’m really interested in the characters, I feel it helps me when I’m creating their expressions and gestures.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: X-Fan Blaziken has loved your art on X-Men so far, particularly in X-Men #24. Blaziken asks if there’s a character you haven’t drawn yet in X-Men that you’re looking forward to drawing?

Tony: I think any of the ones I mentioned already. I have a fondness for Nightcrawler; I think he was my favorite as a kid, even above Wolverine. I just loved the way that guy moved and Bamf!’d all over the place.

AIPT: X-Fan Crebain points out that you’re working with the designs that were brought to the series by Ryan Stegman. Crebain is curious if you plan to do any costume redesigns for our heroes at any point.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Tony: It’s a bit hard to do as we’d need to find the proper break to do that and have it make sense. Also, on this series, we double ship, and we have Netho Diaz, who’s doing a great job on his arcs. So what I’ve tried to do is work with what I have; this is normal in comics. I’ve taken some liberties with Beast, for instance, giving him a big floppy hairstyle and a bit of a charming facial expression. I’m very happy with the current designs as well.

AIPT: Back in 2019, I had a chance to ask writer Fabian Nicieza about the creation of Adam-X the X-Treme. As his co-creator, is there anything you remember about bringing this character (who even had an action figure in the ‘90s) to life?

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Tony: It’s been so long ago, and I was fresh out of high school and flying by the seat of my pants. I think at that time I was just trying not to blow my opportunity. He’s very grunge, which, back in those days, so was I. Long hair, listening to Nirvana and Soundgarden albums as I worked — it’s very much there in the character, so he was easy to draw. I do think someone else may have had a preliminary design that was given to me. But I do remember sketches I made, using some of Fabian’s notes. It’s a bit foggy after all these years.

AIPT: X-Fan Duck with a hat says something you have yet to do for Marvel is write a comic. Do you have any plans or desire to write and illustrate an X-book or other Marvel title?

Tony: I’m not sure. Right now, I’m not interested in writing anything as I have decided to put 100% of my focus on my art. I enjoy writing, but I have to have a story to tell. If I did, it would need to be self-contained and not strictly tied to continuity.

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: Finally, in addition to X-Men, you’re also contributing to X-Men: The Hellfire Murder. Is there anything you’ve illustrated that hasn’t been released yet that you’re particularly excited for X-Fans to see?

Tony: I do have more X-Men coming to the stands soon. I had a lot of fun with my last issue, which featured a lot of Magik. I think people will really like that issue. I can’t wait to see what people say.

AIPT: Looking forward to it, Tony! But on that note, thanks for stopping by X-Men Monday!

X-Fans, you can see more of Tony’s work this Wednesday (July 15, 2026), in X-Men #33 (here’s a preview). Beyond that, here’s an eXclusive look at two of Tony’s pages from X-Men #35, on sale August 12, 2026!

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Next X-Men Monday – July 20, 2026

You’re in for a treat, as AIPT will have two all-new editions of X-Men Monday! First, legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont returns to discuss the Gambit: Wanted limited series… and maybe more!