X-Men's Official Dog Team Are Marvel's Best Variants
In their long history protecting a world that hates and fears them, the X-Men have won the hearts of readers the world over, but that process would have been even easier if Marvel had begun by following the canine version of the team known as the Rex-Dogs. In one reality, Professor Rex gathered together a team of mutant canines, training them to use their unique gifts to defend others from harm.
The Rex-Dogs were created by Kevin Maguire for X-Men: Millennial Visions #1. This anthology collection presented single-page art (complemented by text pages) which laid out strange potential futures for the team as they existed in 2000. While many were bizarre, they were surprisingly influential, seeding a few ideas that would return in future comics, and even depicting the world of Nocturne - the body-possessing child of Scarlet Witch and Nightcrawler, and a major member of the reality-hopping Exiles.
However, one world that hasn't been seen since is 'Universe Rex.' This world - drawn by Maguire and colored by Mike Rockwitz - takes the team's status quo as superheroes secretly based out of Xavier's school and turns them into dogs. The team consists of what appears to be a Chihuahua Professor X (confirmed to be a powerful telepath), a bulldog Wolverine, a bloodhound Gambit, a Shetland sheepdog Storm, a fox terrier Jubilee, a rottweiler Bishop, and a towering Saint Bernard Colossus, set by Maguire against a background of bone 'X's.
The Rex-Dogs are drawn in their beloved '90s costumes, and maintain the origin of being named after their founder (a retcon the comics used to replace the original explanation that the X-Men are named for their "ex-tra power.") Judging by Wolverine's claws and Colossus' organic metal skin, the dogs retain their comic powers, though the brief explanation of this world does note they have "tails, a keen sense of smell, and no opposable thumbs," which suggests Gambit won't be hurling his trademark playing cards.
Far from being unusual in the Marvel Multiverse, the Rex-Dogs come from one of many worlds which contain animal versions of common heroes. The simian versions of Marvel's biggest heroes - including the Ape-Vengers, Spider-Monkey, and Iron Mandrill - even got their own 2008 Marvel Apes series, while the homeworld of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, has boasted cartoon animals based on Marvel heroes since 1983, acting as a tribute to the 'funny animal comics' which commanded the market before the advent of the superhero.
Unlike some of the other worlds in the collection, little explanation is given for the Rex-Dogs. Maguire notes in X-Men: Millennial Visions that he was reluctant to draw the team as he didn't feel he had adequate knowledge of their lore, and was originally asked to draw the team as much older heroes, or even as robotic Sentinels. Finally agreeing to draw them as monsters, Maguire couldn't decide on a theme, and finally struck on the idea of drawing them as different breeds of dog. The chances are always good that any alternate world mentioned in comics will one day reappear, and hopefully that will be the case for these canine X-Men - if only so fans can get the satisfaction of finding out the punny names of team members other than Professor Rex.