Working in a comic book shop, you’d expect us folks to know everything about every title out there. For the most part, we do. Try and stump me with anything Batman and Bat-family related and you’ll received an epic pwning! However, all Geeks have holes in their armor. Ask me about anything to do with Marvel’s Merry Mutants after 1992 and you’ll get an “Um… Let me look it up”. For no real reason, my knowledge of the X-Men hovers around Days of Future Past, Good Loves, Man Kills, and the personally epic Asgardian Wars. Thankfully, there are folks like Mikey of Chronicles of the Nerds to step up and help out. And so, without any further rambling from yours truly, a beginners guide to returning to Marvel’s outcast heroes! - AD
I’m an X-Men fan. I don’t just mean I like Wolverine and I watch the movies, I mean that I know more about the X-Men then most people know about themselves. Now I’ll be the first to admit that the series originating from 1963 has had many ups and downs. It broke ground with its multinational team in 1975, they brought us some of the first openly gay superheroes in comics, and the franchise kicked open the doors of Hollywood paving the way for comic book movies… But, it also brought us some of the most confusing stories of time travel that even Dr. Who could do nothing to fix. It’s no wonder that people stopped reading the comics in the 90’s.
Even though the 90’s were pretty atrocious for my favorite mutants (and comics in general), the last 6 years have actually been pretty phenomenal. Some of the most intense and entertaining stories have been published completely revitalizing the franchise. Since I’ve literally read every issue of X-Men ever I thought I’d do the world a favor and compile a list of stories that have happened over the last few years that are essential readings for someone looking to get caught up or back into the series. This is in chronological order so feel free to read them as listed.
Astonishing X-Men - That’s right, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Joss Whedon wrote for The X-Men. This is seriously the best jump on point for someone who’s been out of touch for a while. Not only are we reintroduced to the issues that define the X-Men, but we’re taken on a journey that really integrates all the diverse stories that The X-Men are famous for from Sci-fi to politics. John Cassiday also has some of the most beautiful art I’ve seen from his entire career.
House of M - Spinning out from the events of Avengers: Disassembled and Astonishing X-Men, House of M takes us to the idyllic world of the Scarlet Witch where Magneto rules and mutants are free. Of course, something’s not right. The Avengers and The X-Men team up to try and fix the broken world with a conclusion so catastrophic that it will affect The X-Men and mutantkind forever.
Deadly Genesis - Professor X isn’t the saint we always thought him to be. He’s been hiding a secret for many years and that secret has now come back to haunt him and his students. Characters die, new characters are introduced, and a new villain rises that is sure to be one of the most infamous bad guys in X-Men history.
The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire - This is the sequel to Deadly Genesis. Havok leads a team across the galaxy in pursuit of Vulcan who’s attempting to take over the Shi’ar Empire. Combining their strength with The Starjammers, The X-Men fight a battle that will affect the entire galaxy and is the prelude to the War of the Kings.
Messiah Complex - The first chapter in one of the greatest X-Men stories ever. Taking place after the events of House of M, one mutant child was born giving a glimmer of hope to a dying race. Humans are trying to kill her, Mr. Sinister is trying to use her, and The X-Men are trying to protect her by any means necessary. Lines are crossed and sacrifices are made.
Messiah War - The second chapter in the Messiah story has Cyclops sending his secret wet works team, X-Force, into the future to assist Cable and to try to bring the baby, Hope back to the present. What they find is Stryfe, Apocalypse and Bishop in the middle of their own war for the baby.
Utopia - Spinning off from the events of The Dark Reign, Norman Osborn sets his sights on the “mutant problem” and sends his Avengers to San Francisco to put pressure on them. War is officially declared on mutants as Cyclops makes critical decisions for an entire species that will either save them or seal their fate.
Nation X - After Utopia, The X-Men now have a place to call home. While trying to build a nation to call their own, Magneto returns, but is he friend or foe? Namor joins the X-Men and carves a new home for Atlanteans, and an X-Man who was thought lost forever makes their return just in time for the impending war.
Second Coming - And finally, the conclusion to my all time favorite X-Men story, part 3 of the Messiah series. Everything that’s been simmering since Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men finally comes to a boil and all out war for mutantkind is declared. X-Men quit, X-Men die (Editors Note - Not a dry eye in the store when we all read this death. Sucked - AD), and everything changes. That glimmer of hope that was presented in Messiah Complex has to now prove whether or not all the sacrifice was worth it. Seriously, this is a great story. So with that you’re up to date on the last few years of the X-Men. I can’t make a guarantee for the future of the series, but if it’s anything like the last few years we’re in for a major treat.
Mikey Neilson is co-founder and co-host of the locally produced (and fun to watch) podcast - Chronicles of the Nerds - And, keeps trying to copy your friendly neighborhood Geek’s hair! - AD 
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:56 am
Hmm.. well, this has inspired a ridiculously long comment, but here goes anyway:
As a lifelong reader of X-Men, I can concur that the 1990s and even a chunk of the 2000s have been a rough time to be a fan. In the ’00s, the X-Verse seemed to take on a nostalgic bent as it revisited characters we hadn’t seen in years (occasionally reconceptulizing them and pretending they were always like that). Some stories have succeeded (War of Kings), if only by pretending that it was a comic from the Ultimate line. But now it’s all paid off as it lead to Marvel telling the penultimate X-men story: Second Coming.
X-Force paved the path for this dark, brutal and weighty take on the backbone of the mutantverse: What if someone attempted to kill all mutants? Not since the 1980s Mutant Massacre has this level of brutality been so convincingly conveyed in the pages of the X-Men (the image of Angel being pithed through his wings and having to be cut down comes to mind). Now, in Second Coming, the stakes are elevated as the outcome of the entire mutant race is more in question than it ever has been before. And I believed it on every page.
Scott Summers has always been the Idealistic Boy Scout of the X-Men and the incremental steps taken to turn him into a Utilitarianistic General who is forced to acknowledge that one can’t always afford their morals were completely convincing. Cyclops has never been compromised to this level and, as a reader, you are able to empathize with each painful decision as he makes it. To make things worse, there are also still the characters who have the luxury of their high horses and are not willing to admit that upholding their morals might come at the cost of the mutant race (I was disappointed that Storm fit into this category - she ’s done some dirty work in her time). These challenges to Scott’s choices make them even more heart wrenching.
Meanwhile, there are the bad guys. Bringing back amalgamations of the X-Universe’s Top Four Racists was stupid (reincarnation is boring for heroes and villains alike), but making them clever was compelling. Sure, these baddies have plenty of fire power, but they also are consistently one step ahead strategically. It’s this competency that gives weight to the X-men being on the ropes - them losing seems like a real possibility. I haven’t felt this level of tension in an X-Men book… possibly ever. There were so many believable scenes that emphasized the “winning a battle, but not the war” reality.
One misstep, in my opinion, was “The Death”. While the idea that *anyone* could die can heighten a thriller, in this case it was handled too casually and minimized the impact. Also, because Marvel loves bringing heroes back, killing one never feels final anymore. Personally, I found deaths of the younger ranks of mutants much more disturbing and impactful. Not only are you killing children (I think we can all agree this is bad), but you’re killing relatively new characters who will probably stay dead. Even Colossus’s broken arm had more impact than “The Death”. As far as I can remember, this has never been done (I can remember cuts and gashes and the like - but breakage?) and demonstrated more vulnerability than the one rushed death.
Overall, Second Coming was very moving and gripping. After each issue, I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. It felt like the story X-Men was always meant to tell. A++