I’ve sporadically picked up the X-men (mostly X-Force) over the past 20 years but I read all the titles in the 90s.
I stopped reading soon after AoA and Onslaught and was wondering if y’all could guide me on how to best catch up on the last 20 years of X-men lore.
Where do I begin and prioritize?
What should I avoid?
Posted Aug 28, 2021, 9:45 PM UTC
Hit the Messiah Complex/Messiah War/Second Coming trilogy for sure, one of my faves. The Cable series at the time tied in to this event, I would suggest trying that as well.
The essentials in my view in order:
Morrison New Xmen
Whedon Astonishing Xmen
House of M + Messiah Trilogy
HoX/PoX and on
This skips most of the 2010s from Second Coming to Hox/PoX. Imo this era can be skipped unless you want to read more.
Non-essentials:
Wells New mutants
X-23 complete collections + All New Wolverine
This. These are the basic central touch points.
It’s easiest enough to just ignore the main X books from Avengers v X-Men through to HoxPox (around 2012 to 2019). Though there are enjoyable parts, this decade isn’t looked fondly upon and HoxPox and current runs draw more upon the Morrison/Carey runs of the 00s. In 2012, everyone’s separated and Bendis brings a time-displaced version of the O5 to the current time in 2012 to help bring everyone together again. They eventually get sent back to the past about a year before HoxPox begins, so the 10s are kind of like a closed story that tracks the Cyclops/Wolverine schism and reunion. The slate is then wiped clean for HoxPox as Rosenberg’s run on Uncanny wraps up.
Other non-essential but enjoyable runs through the 00s are:
X-Factor vol 3 by Peter David
X-Force vol 3 by Kyle and Yost, which leads into Uncanny X-Force vol 1 by Remender. Remender then picks up the lingering strands of this in his Uncanny Avengers vol 1 run. This run is divisive but I like it - and it uses Havok and Sunfire, among others.
The X-Men Legacy vol 2 run by Si Spurrier, which is about Legion. Spurrier also did X-Force vol 4, which I like.
New Mutants vol 2, which turns into New X-Men: Academy X. This is a great run about a new set of teens.
Wells’ run on New Mutants vol 3, which reunites the original team.
Bunn’s Magneto solo is also swell, but it goes a bit haywire at the end when it gets dragged into crossover events.
Begin with: Grant Morrison’s New X-Men
Then: Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men
House of M
Messiah Complex
Utopia
Messiah War
Necrosha
Second Coming
Avengers Vs X-Men
Brian Michael Bendis’ All New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men
then it all falls apart for a little bit , but a couple great runs to check out wpuld be remender’s uncanny x force, spurrier’s xmen legacy, x-23 solo runs and old man logan, x-men red and some others.
Alternatively, skip straight from Avengers vs X-Men to House of X / Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman and read the current era books.
Thank you!
I've been using this to collect and read tpb's in order.
https://crushingkrisis.com/definitive-guide-to-collecting-x-men-as-graphic-novels/
It includes some opinions on the writers' runs and storylines. I haven't read past you so can't offer any advice as far as what to go for or avoid.