Gallery: Catch Up on 50 Years of the X-Men With These 10 Key Stories
01X-Men-Season-One
For 50 years, the X-Men have fought to protect a world that hates and fears them. That's a *lot* of comics (and cartoons, and movies, and novels, if you're a completist), and it can be hard to find a decent jumping-on point — or figure out which of thousands of stories are worth hitting when you're trying to catch up. To help get newcomers get up to speed on the [50th anniversary of the X-Men](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2013/09/avengers-x-men-50th-birthday/), we've picked 10 of the most important storylines and series from the long, long history of the mutant menace, from time-travel and clones to splinter universes and student uprisings. Above: *X-Men: Season One* -------------------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *X-Men: Season One* hardcover, 2012, by Dennis Hopeless, Jamie McKelvie, et. al. __What Happens?__ *X-Men Season One* is an updated retelling of the first arc of X-Men: Jean Grey joins the team; they fight Magneto, Unus the Untouchable, and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants; and there's a lot of teen drama. __Why Is It Important?__ Lee and Kirby's original X-Men issues may be important, but they're also not very good. Hopeless and McKelvie take the core elements of those issues and reposition them in a way that captures the spirit of the original while very much improving its substance. If you're looking for a one-volume introduction to the X-Men's roots, *Season One* is the way to go. *All images courtesy Marvel*
02Giant-Size X-Men #1
Giant-Size X-Men #1 ------------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *Giant-Size X-Men* #1, 1975, by Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, et. al. __What Happens?__ With his original X-Men lost, Professor Xavier recruits a new team to rescue them. The new recruits, led by Cyclops (the only surviving member of the original team) find their predecessors on the island of Krakoa, rescue them, and launch Krakoa — itself a giant mutant — into space. __Why Is It Important?__ *Giant-Size X-Men* #1 relaunched the series after a five-year gap. Sidelining most of the original X-Men, it introduced a new cast of now-iconic characters, including Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Wolverine, and Thunderbird, and paved the way for Chris Claremont's definitive 17-year run on the title.
03The Dark Phoenix Saga
The Dark Phoenix Saga --------------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *Uncanny X-Men* Vol. 1 #129-137, 1980, by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, et. al. __What Happens?__ After apparently sacrificing herself to save her teammates by piloting a failing space shuttle through the atmosphere, Jean Grey rises from the crash with a new costume, a new codename — Phoenix — and new, improved powers. With time and some manipulation by the Hellfire Club, Phoenix takes over Jean's identity and goes on a rampage through the galaxy. Finally, the alien Shi'ar show up and explain that Jean has been possessed by the Phoenix Force, a cosmic spirit of death and rebirth. They want to stop her by nuking the solar system, but Xavier talks them into a duel for Jean's life on the moon, during which Jean/Phoenix, on the verge of losing control again, sacrifices herself to save her teammates and, presumably, world. __Why Is It Important?__ The Dark Phoenix Saga is one of the definitive arcs of X-Men in general, and Claremont's run in particular. It marked the first death of a core team member — and introduced the Phoenix Force to the Marvel Universe, where it has continued to propel mutant storylines for the next thirty years. The Saga is Claremont and Byrne at their best, a sweeping cosmic epic, and one of the most referenced and adapted stories in all of X-Men.
04Days of Future Past
Days of Future Past ------------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *X-Men* Vol. 1 #141-142, 1980, by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, et. al. __What Happens?__ During her first run through the danger room, Kitty Pryde is possessed by herself from thirty years in the future — a post-apocalyptic ruin where mutants have been hunted to near extinction. According to Kitty, who now goes by Kate, the events leading to her bleak future were set in motion by the assassination of anti-mutant senator Robert Kelly (along with Professor Xavier and scientist Moira McTaggart) by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which she's come back to the past to stop. The X-Men race to prevent the assassinations, while, in the future, Kate's comrades fight to survive long enough for Kate to finish her mission in the past. Finally, the X-Men rescue Kelly — only to learn that Kelly's anti-mutant policy recommendations may result in the same dark future that his assassination led to. __Why Is It Important?__ Days of Future Past introduced the branching timelines that would become core elements of X-Men chronology, laying groundwork for half a dozen sequel stories and introducing two characters — Rachel Summers and Franklin Richards — who would become major players in the Marvel universe.
05God Loves, Man Kills
God Loves, Man Kills -------------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *Marvel Graphic Novel* no. 5, 1982, by Chris Claremont, Brent Eric Anderson, et. al. __What Happens?__ Reverend William Stryker, a violently anti-mutant evangelist, kidnaps Professor Xavier, along with Cyclops and Storm. Stryker plans to use a brainwashed Xavier's power, amplified by a machine, to kill all of the world's mutants; meanwhile, the remaining X-Men team up with Magneto to stop Stryker and rescue their missing mentor and teammates. __Why Is It Important?__ While this story wasn't the first time mutants were treated as an allegory for other marginalized groups, it's one of the best, and one of the first to wield the metaphor with anything degree of finesse. Stryker is the villain, but he's entirely and profoundly human; what powers he has derive from his (and his followers') very human fear of the unknown, and it's ultimately the human compassion of a bystander that stops him. (If that plot sounds familiar, it's because *X2: X-Men United* is adapted from God Loves, Man Kills, albeit with some major alterations.)
06X-Cutioner's Song
X-Cutioner's Song ----------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *Uncanny X-Men* #294-297, *X-Factor* #84-86, *X-Force* #16-18 and *X-Men* #14-16, 1992-1993, by Scott Lobdell, Brandon Peterson, Peter David, Jae Lee, Fabian Nicieza, Andy Kubert, Greg Capullo, et. al. __What Happens?__ While giving a speech on human/mutant tolerance, Professor X is shot by time traveling villain Stryfe, posing as identical, time-traveling hero Cable. Meanwhile, the four horsemen of immortal mutant god-king supervillain Apocalypse — actually working for semi-immortal mutant mad scientist Mr. Sinister, who's disguised as Apocalypse — kidnap Cyclops and Jean Grey (she's alive again by now) from Xavier's mansion and take them to the moon. And then it gets complicated. The short version: A bunch of X-Men fight other X-Men; it's heavily implied (but never quite confirmed) that either Cable or Stryfe is Cyclops's kid with Jean's clone Madelyne Pryor (clones are to superhero comics as long-lost twins are to soap operas), previously sent to the future as an infant to save him from a technoorganic virus; *actual* Apocalypse gets revived and saves Xavier; and Cable and Stryfe apparently destroy each other. __Why Is It Important?__ This arc is essentially an encapsulation of everything that defined X-Men in the '90s: tortured X-pun titles, time travel, clones, the mind-bogglingly convoluted Grey-Summers family tree (including both time travel *and* clones!), Apocalypse, technoorganic viruses, big guns, big pecs, and a lot of yelling. It also had far-reaching implications, including the Legacy Virus, Cable's actual backstory, and a lot of X-Men fans deciding it was time to learn to drink.
07Age of Apocalypse
The Age of Apocalypse --------------------- __When Did It Appear?__, *X-Men: Alpha* *X-Man* #1-4, *X-Calibre* #1-4, *Generation Next* #1-4, *Astonishing X-Men* #1-4, *Weapon X* #1-4, *Factor X* #1-4, *Gambit & the X-Ternals* #-14, *Amazing X-Men* #1-4, *X-Men Chronicles* #1-2, *X-Universe* #1-2, *X-Men: Omega*, and a slew of one-shots and side stories; 1995-1996; by a whole, whole lot of creators __What Happens?__ In a misguided attempt to help Daddy, Professor Xavier's severely unbalanced and nigh-omnipotent son Legion travels back in time to kill Magneto before he can become a supervillain. Unfortunately, at that point, Xavier and Magneto are still close friends, Xavier takes the bullet for his buddy, and the entire Marvel universe breaks. Literally. The result is the Age of Apocalypse: a four-month, line-wide diversion to a splinter universe (complete with alternate series titles) where Charles Xavier died as a young man, and Magneto formed the X-Men too late to stop the rise of mutant demigod Apocalypse, who reigns over a nightmarish dystopia. Only Bishop — a displaced time-traveler in the main universe — retained any idea of the world as it should have been; his fractured memories eventually prove the key to returning the universe to its original state. __Why Is It Important?__ Age of Apocalypse was an incredibly daring project — taking almost a dozen ongoing series and radically reconfiguring them. AoA was presented as a relaunch: fans who read the crossover as it was coming out didn't originally know for sure that the universe would be restored to its status quo. Because of what it is, Age of Apocalypse is both a fascinating read for long-time X-Men fans and a great distillation of the cores of the franchise, examining the extent to which heroes and villains's identities and alignments are products of environment and fate versus nature. A few characters from the Age of Apocalypse universe made their way into the main Marvel universe; and the two have continued to periodically intersect via reality-jumping series like *Exiles*.
08Riot at Xavier's and Assault on Weapon Plus
Riot at Xavier's and Assault on Weapon Plus ------------------------------------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *New X-Men* Vol. 1 #134-145, 2001, by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, et. al. __What Happens?__ These are technically two arcs, but I'm throwing them in together because they occur in immediate sequence. In Riot at Xavier's, a group of Xavier Institute students, led by telepath Quentin Quire, form a gang of omega-level mutnants and briefly take over the school. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Emma Frost have a weird psychic affair, and everyone deals with the ramifications of the outing of the Xavier Institute as a school for mutants. Assault on Weapon Plus takes place in the immediate aftermath of Riot at Xavier's. It's half murder mystery—early in the story, Emma Frost is shot and shattered in her diamond form—and half heist: as the murder investigation unfolds at the school, Wolverine, Cyclops, and Fantomex—Weapon XIII—infiltrate the time-accelerated, self-contained world that serves as the primary lab of the Weapon X program. __Why Is It Important?__ In the early aughts, Grant Morrison's seven-volume run of *New X-Men* established a new status quo for the mutant end of the Marvel Universe. While these may not be the most world-shaking arcs, they introduce some key players and concepts — most notably, mutant enfant terrible Quentin Quire and Weapon X's creepy enclave, the World — and showcases Morrison's crazy storytelling at its elegant finest.
09Astonishing X-Men
Astonishing X-Men vol. 1-4 -------------------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *Astonishing X-Men* #1-24, by Joss Whedon, John Cassady, et. al. __What Happens?__ The X-Men struggle to rebuild in the wake of a near-extinction event that reduced the mutant population to a scant handful — fighting government conspiracies, psychic parasites, a sentient Danger Room, hostile aliens, and occasionally each other. __Why Is It Important?__ When a long-time fan of a franchise gets handed the reins, the results are often disastrous. Not so Joss Whedon; his four-arc run on *Astonishing X-Men* is the best jumping-on point in the last decade of X-Books. Whedon locks on to everything that makes the X-Men both appealing and thematically powerful. He introduces a lot of new material — characters and concepts that have since bled over into the larger Marvel Universe — but the real reason to read his run is how well he grasps and conveys the characters, including several who've been chronically unevenly or weakly written. If Morrison's run is a window into the cosmic scope and potential of X-Men stories, Whedon's is a compelling case for why readers should care about them.
10Second Coming
Second Coming ------------- __When Did It Appear?__ *Second Coming: Prepare*, *X-Men: Second Coming* #1-2, *Uncanny X-Men* #523-525, *New Mutants* #12-14, *X-Men Legacy* #235-237, *X-Force* #26-28; 2010; by Mike Carey, Zeb Wells, Craig Kyle & Chris Yost, Matt Fraction, Stuart Immonen, Ibraim Roberson, David Finch, Greg Land, Terry Dodson, Mike Choi, et. al. __What Happens?__ "Mutant Messiah" Hope — the first mutant born since the near-extinction of mutants following the *House of M* crossover — returns from the future, hunted by a cross-time corps of villains bent on wiping out mutants once and for all. __Why Is It Important?__In addition to providing a good survey of the writing and art on the X-Books at the time of its publication, Second Coming is perhaps the most pivotal arc in the current era of X-Men. It reintroduces Hope, previously a MacGuffin, as a full-fledged character, makes the most significant shift in the status quo of mutants in the marvel universe since *House of M*, and teases the reintroduction of the Phoenix Force. It also showcases the X-Men doing what they do best: fighting impossible odds, in a world that hates and fears them, for the survival of their species — and winning.
11Other Stories
Honorable Mentions ------------------ Some of the best X-Men series and stories that didn't fit into the list. These may not be core reading, but they're well worth a look. - *Excalibur* First Series, by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Warren Ellis, et. al. - *New Mutants* First Series; anything drawn by Bill Sinkiewicz. - *Uncanny X-Force*, by Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña, et. al. - Chris Claremont's entire seventeen-year run. - *Longshot*, by Ann Nocenti, Art Adams, et. al. - The Asgardian Wars, by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, Art Adams, et. al. - *X-Men: First Class*, by Jeff Parker et. al. - *Wolverine and the X-Men*, by Jason Aaron et. al. - LifeDeath: A Love Story, by Chris Claremont, Barry Windsor Smith, et. al. - *Wolverine*, by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller - *Prelude to Schism*, by Paul Jenkins, Roberto De La Torre, Andrea Mutti, Will Conrad, et. al. - *Uncanny X-Men* #169-70 - *Fallen Angels*, by Jo Duffy et. al. - And so, so much more. Even accounting a lot of stinkers, 50 years in a shared universe yields some amazing stories.
