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Everyone’s heard of amazing stories like “The Dark Phoenix Saga” or “Days of Future Past”. There are some stories that get all of the ink, but they aren’t the only great stories that fans need to read. These ten X-Men stories are awesome, and we need to talk about them more.
10) Avengers:/X-Men Utopia
Everyone thinks of Avengers vs. X-Men when they think of crossovers between the two teams, but they should think about the superior Avengers/X-Men: Utopia, by Matt Fraction, Marc Silvestri, Luke Ross, Terry Dodson, and Mike Deodato Jr. This story pit the X-Men, now living in San Francisco, against Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers, as the villain tries to take control of the mutant community during “Dark Reign”. It’s a fantastic crossover story between two very different versions of the teams, and if you haven’t read it yet, you’re in for a treat.
9) X-Men (Vol. 2) #42-43
Paul Smith is one of the greatest X-Men artists ever, and he made a return to the team that no one talks about after “Age of Apocalypse”. X-Men (Vol. 2) #42-43, written by Fabian Nicieza along with Smith, was a two-issue story that saw the Acolytes find Holocaust, frozen in M’Kraan Crystal matter, after X-Men: Omega #1. What follows is two issues of battle, as the son of Apocalypse awakens in a strange new world surrounded by people talking about his father’s greatest enemy, Magneto. This story is just a fun little palette cleanser after the madness of “Age of Apocalypse”, and it’s an unsung gem.
8) Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #281-287
The ’90s were the decade of the X-Men, but there’s an important stretch of the team that gets overshadowed, and that’s the early days of Uncanny X-Men after the 1991 reboot, which was ruled by X-Men (Vol. 2). Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #281-287, by Jim Lee, John Byrne, Scott Lobdell, and Whilce Potracio, followed the Gold Team as they met with the Hellfire Club, got pulled into an attack on the villains, and had an interdimensional adventure, all while Bishop comes back to the present to hunt down Trevor Fitzroy. In this seven issue run, the team sees two major deaths, learns that Colossus’s older brother is still alive, and gets a new member. It’s ’90s as all get out, but these seven issues have a wonderful charm to them that will keep you coming back.
7) Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #273-278
Chris Claremont’s 17-year run writing Uncanny X-Men has some amazing stories, but one that doesn’t get talked about enough came at the end of his run. Uncanny X-Men #273-278 does get talked about, sort of, but only one issue get any attention: issue #274. That issue is the first appearance of the “Savage Land Rogue” costume, but everything else about these six issues is forgotten. We got a cool X-Men in the Shi’Ar Empire story as the Savage Land story was going on, all of that drawn beautifully by Jim Lee. This is peak ’90s X-Men, and if you haven’t read these issues, hunt them down.
6) “Here Comes Tomorrow”
New X-Men has become a legend for X-Men fans, with writer Grant Morrison dragging the team into the 21st century. Everyone talks about “E Is for Extinction”, “Assault On Weapon Plus,” or “Planet X”, but all of the stories are amazing, especially the last story from Morrison’s run. “Here Comes Tomorrow” takes place a hundred years after the events of “Planet X”, on a world ravaged by the Beast of the Apocalypse. This is Morrison doing their “Days of Future Past” and it’s fantastic. It has the world-building, it has the action, and it has killer art from X-Men legend Marc Silvestri. It’s a flawless story that will knock your socks off.
