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After years as the dominant lifeform on Earth, Marvel's mutants are once again the underdogs - and in the line-wide revamp fo the X-Men starting this summer, they're invented a way mutants can discreetly signal to one another even in a crowded space with flatscans - that is, non-mutants.

This Marvel hand-sign, called the 'Midnight Bark,' premiered in Saturday's Blood Hunt Free Comic Book Day special, and now the sign's creator, Uncanny X-Men writer Gail Simone, is explaining how to make the sign yourself - as well as an alternate name for it, the 'Midnight M.'

"The key is looseness, it’s not supposed to be immediately noticeable to observers. So fingers, wrist, and thumbs are loose," writes Simone. "Basically, you make the Ditko web-shooting shape, BUT hand hangs down loose at the wrist. Thumb is out, fingers loose. Thumb is loose and doesn’t connect with middle fingers, unlike Spidey. Fingers make a hanging ‘M’ shape."

Simone goes onto say that it isn't just an identifying sign, but also a question.

"That’s it, that’s how you can signal other mutants. It is an ‘are you okay’ signal and ‘are you one of us’ and ‘do you need help’ sign," Simone explains. "Now you can find others like you!"

Look for the sign to re-appear in the upcoming new X-Men series, including Simone's Uncanny X-Men.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights:

• Marvel Studios has accidentally created a new Phase that predates Phases 1 - 6: the MCU Phase Zero
• Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak
• The biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows
• Donald Trump is the landlord for Marvel's House of Ideas
• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• What Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is saying (and not saying) about the MCU X-Men franchise says a lot about the future of the Mutant Saga
• If Marvel is going to bring Loki back for Secret Wars, it's time to give him an upgrade
• With Daredevil, and spinoffs from Black Panther, What If, and more, Marvel Studios' 2025 Disney+ slate is bigger than ever, and that might be a big deal for the future
• If Kraven the Hunter flops, Sony's Spider-Man Universe could look for a Marvel-assisted reboot
• In 2021, Sony's boss said people won't miss Spider-Man in its Spider-adjacent movie. Turns out, they do.