From humble Silver Age beginnings, the X-Men exploded into the comic industry's most popular team by the '80s and retained a stranglehold on the industry ever since. A key part of this equation was runs crafted by the best writers Marvel had to offer and the legendary artists they teamed up with.

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X-Men fans are spoiled when it comes to great runs, but some rise above the others. These runs are the ones every fan should read. Packed with action, character development, and intrigue, these run are critical to X-Men history showcase the creators' talents.

10 Roy Thomas And Neal Adams Did Some Amazing Work

Professor X Charles Xavier Neal Adams

Roy Thomas was Stan Lee's protégé. He had two runs on X-Men, but it's the second one that really stood out. Spanning issues 55-63 and 65, this run was made special by artist Neal Adams fantastic illustrations. Thomas and Adams just clicked.

X-Men 55-63 and 65 is the perfect run for any fan who wants to take a look at the Silver Age years of the X-Men. Adams' art is amazing and Thomas provides him with plenty of material to work with. Together, they create Sauron, a highly underrated (albeit entertaining) X-Men villain.

9 Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men Is A Modern Classic

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After Grant Morrison's revolutionary take on New X-Men, Marvel wanted something a little more conventional. Writer Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men was the result. Whedon and Cassaday channeled Claremont with a "back to basics" superhero X-Men book, pitting the team against enemies old and new.

Focusing on Kitty Pryde, Astonishing X-Men resurrected Colossus, cemented the relationship between Cyclops and Emma Frost, and gave Wolverine a new teenage sidekick, Armor. While it's basic compared to other X-Men stories, there's a lot to love about the book.

8 Jonathan Hickman's X-Men Has Some Memorable Stories

X-Men 1 Leinil Yu Summers Family

Jonathan Hickman's House Of X/Powers Of X (with artists Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva) and Inferno (with artists Valerio Schiti, Stefano Casselli, and R.B. Silva) are excellent. However, some of Hickman's other stories from X-Men (2019) don't reach the same heights by comparison.

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Working with artists like Leinil Yu, Mahmud Asrar, and more, there are some amazing issues that really lay out the potential of the Krakoa era of the X-Men. Despite some of its ups and downs, the run is worth reading for HoX/PoX, Inferno, and those amazing issues alone.

7 Scott Lobdell's Time On Uncanny X-Men Is The Best Work Of His Career

Gambit stands between the X-Men and their foes

Scott Lobdell is an interesting writer. His time on Uncanny X-Men were so fantastic, his later works have struggled to reach the same level. Working with artists like John Romita Jr., Joe Madureira, Chris Bachalo, and more, Lobdell was one of the chief architects of The Age Of Apocalypse, one of 1990s Marvel best stories, and wrote the industry's best-selling comic from issue 286-350.

Lobdell kept Uncanny X-Men at the top of the charts after the exodus of Image founders, keeping readers coming back month after month with his interesting plots and character work. He charted the team's course through multiple big events, telling great stories that stand the test of time.

6 Kieron Gillen's Uncanny X-Men Introduced One Of The Most Powerful X-Men Teams Ever

Storm Extinction Team Cropped

Kieron Gillen worked on Uncanny X-Men right before the Schism event changed the X-Men books for years to come. His best work on the team came in Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) #1-20. Working with artists Carlos Pacheco, Greg Land, Brandon Peterson, and Billy Tan, Gillen's run introduced the Extinction Team, one of the most powerful X-Men teams ever.

Gillen's X-Men dealt with Cyclops consolidating his power on Utopia and putting together a powerful team to defend the remaining mutants there. Pitting the X-Men against Mister Sinister, the Avengers during Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover issues, and more, it's an amazing run from an underrated period of X-Men history.

5 Jason Aaron's Wolverine And The X-Men And Amazing X-Men Are Chock Full Of Mutant Goodness

Wolverine and the X-Men standing in front of Krakoa in Marvel Comics

Jason Aaron wrote Schism and then launched Wolverine And The X-Men, working on issues 1-35 and 38-42 with artists Chris Bachalo, Nick Bradshaw, Jorge Molina, and more. The book followed Wolverine and his X-Men after their split with Cyclops, pitting them against the new Hellfire Club, Cyclops's X-Men, and more.

Making Wolverine an X-Men leader was a huge step forward for the character and this book was better for it. Aaron focused on the school aspects and played with great X-Men concepts from the past. His six issue run of Amazing X-Men with artist Ed McGuinness brought Nightcrawler back to the team and was a fitting capstone for his X-Men run.

4 Fabian Nicieza's X-Men Was A Highlight Of The Early To Mid-90s

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Fabian Nicieza became writer of X-Men with issue 12 and stayed on until issue 45. He mostly worked with artist Andy Kubert, and his run contained some of the most important Marvel stories of the '90s — like The Age Of Apocalypse and X-Men #25.

Nicieza was the superior of the two X-Men writers during the early to mid-90s. Where Lodbell was known for drawing out plot points, Nicieza gave fans stories that started and ended during his tenure. His time on the book was unceremoniously cut short, but never flagged in quality.

3 Joe Kelly And Steve Seagle's X-Men And Uncanny X-Men Was The Highlight Of '90s X-Men Books

An image of comic cover art for Marvel's Hunter for Xavier story arc

Joe Kelly and Steve Seagle were given the reins of the two X-Men books in 1997. Kelly wrote X-Men #70-85, with artists Carlos Pacheco, Adam Kubert, German Garcia, Leinil Yu, and more, and Seagle wrote Uncanny X-Men #350-365, with artists Joe Madureira, Chris Bachalo, Steve Skroce, and others.

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Kelly and Seagle picked up after Operation: Zero Tolerance nuked the X-Men's status quo. They introduced new members to the team, whittled down the roster to Storm, Wolverine Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Marrow, Gambit, and Rogue, and told some amazing stories. Their run was the best of the '90s, the team's most fertile decade.

2 Grant Morrison's New X-Men Is Brilliant

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Grant Morrison's time at Marvel was short but produced amazing stories. Rechristening X-Men as New X-Men when they joined the book, Morrison wrote issues 114-154, working with artists Frank Quitely, Igor Kordey, Phil Jimenez, Chris Bachalo, and more. Their forty issues introduced Cassandra Nova, brought Emma Frost to the team, gave Jean Grey the Phoenix Force again, and felt like the future in a way nothing has since.

Morrison's run is one big story, thematically linked together. They focused on the school and for the first time ever, mutants actually felt like the next iteration of humanity. Morrison brought their huge imagination and big concepts to the X-Men, and it worked brilliantly.

1 Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men Run Made The X-Men Legends

Dark Phoenix Saga, Inferno, and Mutant Genesis

Chris Claremont wrote the X-Men for seventeen years, from Uncanny X-Men #94-279 and X-Men #1-3. He's Marvel's longest tenured writer and if it wasn't for him, the X-Men might have never become the biggest team in Marvel history. Working with artists Dave Cockrum, John Byrne, Paul Smith, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee, and more, he created everything great about the X-Men.

Every X-Men writer who came after Claremont owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude. He not only wrote some of the best X-Men stories, but some of Marvel's best stories. His Uncanny X-Men was the definitive X-Men and there's no contest. He'd return for two more runs: Uncanny X-Men #381-389 and X-Men #100-109 concurrently and Uncanny X-Men #444-473, working with Adam Kubert, Leinil Yu, Tom Raney, Alan Davis, Chris Bachalo, and more.

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