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X-Men Reading Order: The Modern Era (2001-2005) – From Grant Morrison to House of M (Part. 3)

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Welcome to Part. 3 of our Comprehensive X-Men Reading Order Guide using the collected editions. The X-Men enter the Modern Era with the help of Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Chris Claremont, Joe Casey, and more! After the chaotic ’90s, the mutants needed a fresh start, or a real revolution. The one that just happened with Chris Claremont’s return on the franchise didn’t pay off and was poorly received by X-Men fans.

After having revamped the JLA at DC Comics (while also creating the creator-owned series The Invisibles), Grant Morrison moved to Marvel Comics at the start of the 2000s, where the Scottish writer soon tackled another major superhero team: The X-Men. New Concepts, new villains, new disasters. Simply put: New X-Men. Morrison made so many drastic changes to the franchise that this period became known as the Morrison era. This is one of the most celebrated and divisive runs on the X-Men, redefining and influencing the mutant world for years to come.

During that time, Chris Claremont was in charge of the new X-Treme X-Men while Chuck Austen wrote Uncanny X-Men, one of the most panned mutant runs. The X-Men franchise was also less stretched than usual, with no official major crossovers and only a few limited spin-offs. However, the world of X-Men will be poorer if there weren’t some short-lived solo series and other fondly remembered team books.

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’90s X-Men Reading Order (1991-2001) – Part. 2: Fatal Attractions, Age of Apocalypse, Onslaught, Zero Tolerance, and more

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This is Part #2 of our tentative to compile a comprehensive X-Men Reading Order using the collected editions – You can find the first part here (The Silver Age & Chris Claremont, 1963-91). Now, it’s the ’90s!

A new decade full of events. Yes, it’s when Marvel almost perish under the weight of its commercial ambitions and gave us too many events and series to follow. For the mutants, it was a period of big storylines, some of them became iconic, others are almost forgotten today. But first, there was the launch of a new X-Men series. Xavier and the original X-Men are back. As a result, we got two teams, two books: Storm’s “Gold Team” (in The Uncanny X-Men) and Cyclops’s “Blue Team” (chronicled in X-Men). Also, new spin-offs joined the line-up: X-Force, Generation X, and numerous solo series like Deadpool, Cable, Bishop, X-Man, and Gambit. At one point, Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter was replaced with Mutant X.

This is a massive reading guide, so here is a menu to help you navigate. Some parts are under construction for now. I’ll keep updating this article regularly.

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X-Men Hellfire Gala Reading Order (2021), A Marvel Crossover Event

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Less than a year after their last crossover event that concluded the Dawn of X era, the X-Men are preparing for another one. This time, it’s not a war, but a big party: The Hellfire Gala. The guests’ list is impressive, and the twists will be surprising. Here is the official synopsis:

The X-Men are rolling out the red carpet for the biggest Krakoan event of the season—and this high-class hardcover details every drink, dance, dalliance, and deception at the Hellfire Gala! You are cordially invited to join the mutant party to end all mutant parties. Everyone will be there—all of your favorite X-Men, their closest allies … and even their worst enemies.

For Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, it’s an opportunity to show off the newfound power for both herself and for Krakoa as a nation. The very first elected team of Krakoan X-Men will, at last, be revealed to the world … and that’s just the first of the surprises in store for the evening!

What to read before X-Men Hellfire Gala?

Following the X of Swords crossover (reading order here), a new era in the X-Men by Jonathan Hickman epic started, it’s called Reign of X and you can find the reading guide here.

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Y The Last Man Reading Order: How to read Brian K Vaughan’s comic book series?

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Y The Last Man Reading Order

Y: The Last Man is a dystopian science fiction comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. It was published under the DC Comics Vertigo imprint between September 2002 and March 2008 and had recently been adapted as a television series. The adaptation didn’t find success and was canceled after one season, but you can just read the comic instead!

The series centers around the sole surviving male human after the spontaneous, simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth. More precisely, Y: The Last Man starts in the summer of 2002, when Earth is struck by a pandemic plague of unknown origin. This plague destroyed every mammal with a Y chromosome, including spermatosa and unborn children. Referred to as “gendercide”, the plague exterminated 48% of the global population, approximately 2.9 billion men. Two male mammals survived: a young man from Brooklyn named Yorick Brown and his pet Capuchin monkey Ampersand. How and why? The answers to those questions could save humanity from a possible extinction.

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Ultimate Marvel Reading Order (with Spider-Man Miles Morales, Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Ultimates)

Ultimate Marvel Reading Order

Welcome to Earth-1610, home of the Ultimate Universe. Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, where familiar heroes and villains were re-booted for the contemporary reader.

Those characters include Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Ultimates (the counterpart of the Avengers), the Fantastic Four, and others. The imprint was launched in 2000. Brian Michael Bendis wrote the first comic book of the Ultimate imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man. A little bit later, Mark Millar (Jupiter’s Legacy) started the Ultimate X-Men comics, the Ultimate Fantastic Four, and The Ultimates.

The Ultimate Universe ended at the conclusion of the 2015 “Secret Wars” storyline, when select characters from the Ultimate Universe moved to the mainstream universe. However, writer Brian Michael Bendis established at the end of the 2017 miniseries Spider-Men II that the universe and its superheroes still exist.

Ultimate Marvel Complete Reading Order

Menu

Following is a menu to navigate in this reading order, and going directly to the era of your choice

  1. Ultimate Marvel (2000–2009)
  2. Post-Ultimatum, Ultimate Comics (2009–2011)
  3. Ultimate Comics: Reborn (2011–2014)
  4. Ultimate Marvel NOW! (2014–2015)
  5. Other collected editions

Read More »Ultimate Marvel Reading Order (with Spider-Man Miles Morales, Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Ultimates)

Heroes in Crisis Reading Order, Welcome to Tom King’s Sanctuary

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Heroes in Crisis Reading Order

Written by Tom King and penciled by Clay Mann, Heroes in Crisis is a 2018-2019 DC event from the Rebirth Era, dealing with trauma and murder.

The story takes place at the Sanctuary, an ultra-secret hospital for superheroes and reformed supervillains who’ve been traumatized by crime-fighting and cosmic combat. But something goes inexplicably wrong when many patients wind up dead, with two well-known operators as the prime suspects: Harley Quinn and Booster Gold!

It’s up to the DC Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman to investigate–but can they get the job done in the face of overwhelming opposition?

What to read before Heroes in Crisis?

Nothing is essential for understanding the story. For those who want a better picture and understanding of why specific characters are at the Sanctuary, you can read:

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Marvel’s Eternals Reading Order

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Making their first appearance in The Eternals #1 (July 1976), The Eternals were created by Jack Kirby. The series was thematically similar to DC’s New Gods that Kirby didn’t finish … like his Eternals’ saga. Other artists used the characters after that, but they never became really that big. Maybe the movie will help change that.

Who are the Eternals? They formed a race of immortal beings possessed with seemingly limitless superhuman abilities. Once worshipped as gods, this fantastic group left Earth to explore the stars after warring with the Greek, Roman and Norse pantheons for supremacy over humankind. One million years ago, the Celestials visited Earth and performed genetic experiments on early proto-humanity.

As a result, they created two divergent races: the Eternals and their enemies, the Deviants. The Eternals have mostly protected the human race, especially during their fights against the Deviants. But some of the Eternals want to conquer the other races… Their history is full of conflicts and power struggles.

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Jason Todd Reading Order (Second Robin, Red Hood, Wingman and Arkham Knight)

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Jason Todd / Red Hood Reading Order

When Dick Grayson became Nightwing, Batman found himself without a Robin—until he met Jason Peter Todd in Batman #357 (1983). Created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton, Jason became the second Robin, the new sidekick to the Dark Knight. Initially introduced as a near-copy of Dick with a similar backstory as the son of circus acrobats killed by a criminal, the main difference was his red hair (which he no longer has).

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Jason was reimagined by writer Max Allan Collins. This version gave him a new origin: a street-smart kid with a troubled past and a lot of anger, but also a drive to learn. It will lead us to a tragedy and one of Batman’s most famous stories.

It would take more than 15 years (in our time) for Jason to come back—this time as the anti-hero Red Hood. And once again, things weren’t simple for Jason. Reboots and relaunches kept reshaping his backstory, personality, and relationships. Let’s just say it’s not easy being Jason Todd, a character deserving, who, if you ask me, deserves more love and stronger storylines.

From Batman’s sidekick to the anti-hero Red Hood, here’s your complete Jason Todd Reading Guide covering his complex history and all his adventures as a member of the Bat-Family, leader of the Outlaws, and more!

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The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison Reading Order

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Grant Morrison is back on a regular DC Comics series, but not on Batman. As part of the DC Rebirth relaunch in 2016, the regular Green Lantern series was canceled and replaced with “Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps” and “Green Lanterns.” After that, the Scottish writer teamed up with British comic book artist Liam Sharp to give us a new kind of Green Lantern series with a very European style.

This new series began when one of the famous Green Lanterns from Earth, the intrepid Hal Jordan, encountered an Alien hiding in plain sight. This set off a chain of events that rocks the Green Lantern Corps to its foundations.

The Green Lantern is divided into two “seasons” with a miniseries between them, for a total of 27 issues + 1 annual

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Onslaught Reading Order, a X-Men Crossover

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Onslaught Reading Order Marvel

After the massive Age Apocalypse (reading order here), another huge X-Men event followed. At its center, there was Onslaught, a sentient psionic entity created from the consciousness of Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto. The character co-created by writers Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, and artist Andy Kubert became one of the biggest villains in the X-Men Mythology. The event spread among multiple X-Men related or not like Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, Cable, X-Force, X-Man, X-Men (vol. 2), X-Men Unlimited, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, X-Factor, Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, Punisher, Thor, Excalibur and more.

Here is the official synopsis: The psionic force of nature known only as Onslaught sprang forth from the fractured psyche of mutant mentor Charles Xavier and the genetic terrorist called Magneto. Powered by his progenitors’ rage, Onslaught laid siege to humanity — touching off a cataclysmic conflict destined to deprive a world of its most revered icons!

What to read before Onslaught?

For more information on the ’90s X-Men era, check out our ’90s X-Men Reading Order. That said, the essential stories have been collected by Marvel in three books:

  • X-Men: Road to Onslaught vol. 1
    Collects X-Men (vol. 2) #42–45; X-Men Annual ’95;plus Uncanny X-Men #322–326; X-Men: Prime; X-Men Unlimited #8.
  • X-Men: Road to Onslaught vol. 2
    Collects X-Men/Clandestine #1-2; Uncanny X-Men #327-328, Annual ’95; X-Men (vol. 2) #46-49; X-Men Unlimited (1993) #9; Sabretooth (1995) #1
  • X-Men: Road to Onslaught vol. 3
    Collects Uncanny X-Men #329-332, Archangel #1, X-Men/Brood #1-2, X-Men Unlimited #10, X-Men (vol. 2) #50-52, Wolverine #101, Xavier Institute Alumni Yearbook.

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