The X-Men are one of the most storied franchises in Marvel history. For years, it was the top comic in the industry and some of the best writers and artists of all time have found themselves on X-Men books. X-Men stories have stood the test of time and there is definitely something for everyone among the umpteen titles that have borne the X, whether it be fan-favorite tales or some forgotten gems.
There are some stories that have gotten a lot of praise but on further inspection aren't exactly great. Some of them don't stand that well and others just got praised more than they deserve.
10 House Of M Doomed The X-Men To Years Of The Same Story Over & Over
House Of M gets a lot of praise but it doesn't deserve all of it. Written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Olivier Coipel, this story was billed as a crossover between the Astonishing X-Men and the new Avengers. While it would play a massive role in the evolution of the Marvel Universe, it's also a deeply boring book.
On top of that, Scarlet Witch's "No More Mutants" moment pretty much destroyed X-Men stories for years to come, relegating them to stories about the pathetic remnants of the mutant race trying to survive in a world out to kill them. It ruined the X-Men for years.
9 X-Men: Schism Was Sold On Its Conflict But The Book Doesn't Stand Up Very Well
X-Men: Schism, by writer Jason Aaron and artists Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, Daniel Acuna, Alan Davis, and Adam Kubert, was sold as the comic where Wolverine and Cyclops finally came to blows. While it delivered in that regard, too much of the rest of the book doesn't work. While the art is fantastic, the plot sort of meanders a bit too much to hold off the big payoff fight until the end.
A truly timeless story can be read at any time and stand alone, but it's obvious that Schism existed to start new stories. There's no real ending; the villains who instigated everything are still there and it feels like a bridge to other stories. It's okay but ultimately unsatisfying.
8 House Of X/Powers Of X Have Lost Their Impact With The Announcement Of Hickman's Departure
House Of X/Powers Of X, by writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva, promised big things and seemingly delivered on them. The books launched the X-Men into a new status quo, ones that fans love. The problem comes in that the writers love it and Marvel loves money and everyone, including Hickman, has agreed to pause the story he originally set out to tell.
On top of that, Hickman is leaving the X-Men completely, which means that there's a huge chance the story that readers were sold by these two books will never get any resolution. It's hard to deny they are revolutionary but the fact that the story they set up is paused indefinitely is disappointing.
7 X-Men #1 May Have Started Everything But It Doesn't Hold Up Anymore
One of the realities of Silver Age Marvel comics, no matter how praised they are, is they don't really stand up very well and X-Men #1, by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, is an example of that. The first appearance of the X-Men and Magneto, the Jack Kirby art is outstanding but Lee's dialogue is groan-worthy at best.
The early X-Men comics with Lee at the helm were all potential and little else. The concept wasn't completely concrete yet and without Kirby's stellar design, amazing pencils, and page layouts, this book wouldn't be nearly as well remembered.
6 The Age Of Apocalypse Is More Hit Or Miss Than It Gets Credit For
The Age Of Apocalypse gets a lot of deserved praise but people forget just how many books there were. The original story spanned forty issues, not counting sequels and later spin-offs, and while some of them are great, like Astonishing X-Men, Amazing X-Men, Weapon X, and Generation Next, others are merely good, and some of them are complete misses.
No story as big as The Age Of Apocalypse can be completely great, especially with the disparate creative teams. The Age Of Apocalypse has a lot of great parts but it also has just as many not-so-great parts.
5 The Fall Of The Mutants Is More A Series Of Unrelated Events Than A Story
Thinking of The Fall Of The Mutants as a coherent story isn't the right way to look at it. Taking place in Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants and crossing through various other non-mutant Marvel titles, a different story played out in each of the three main X-Men books. The whole point of the story was that each team would save the day but take a loss.
Written by Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson with art by Marc Silverstri (UXM), Walter Simonson (XF), and Bret Blevins (NM), the whole thing succeeded in changing the status quo of the three books but beyond the reveal of Archangel as one of the Apocalypse's Horsemen, nothing from the story really stuck.
4 Inferno Was A Big Demon-Fueled Attack That Didn't Really Feel Like It Fit With The X-Men
Inferno was a company-wide crossover stemming from the various X-Men books, involving one of the Mister Sinister's worst acts and an attack on New York City by Madelyne Pryor as the Goblin Queen and her demonic forces. Inferno has become an important name in X-Men history but going back and reading the story reveals a plot that is a weird fit for the X-Men books.
While a demon attack on New York City makes sense as a company-wide crossover, centering on the X-Men is just a weird choice. It has some big moments but like most Mister Sinister and Madelyne Pryor-centric stories, it's not as great as it seems.
3 Fatal Attractions Was Magneto's Big Return But Not All Parts Of The Story Are Equal
Fatal Attractions was the first big Magneto story since 1991's X-Men #1-3. Crossing through every X-Men title, it would be an amazing story if it was only Uncanny X-Men #304, X-Men #25, and Wolverine #75, but much like The Age Of Apocalypse, it suffers from having to cross through the other X-Men books.
While there are three solid parts of the story, the rest of it doesn't work nearly as well. It's not a bad story by any stretch of the imagination and it changed Wolverine's status quo for the rest of the '90s, but it's the sum of its parts, unfortunately.
2 X Of Swords Is A Bloated Mess
X Of Swords is the first crossover of the Krakoa Era. Crossing through every X-Men title and comprising of twenty-two parts including three bookend issues, the story saw the X-Men pitted against the demonic forces of Amenth and the mutants of Krakoa's sister island Arakko. The problem comes in that the first half of the story was a bit drawn out and ultimately kind of unimportant to the back half.
X Of Swords has its bright spots but it's a remarkably uneven story. It does more to set up things in Excalibur than any of the other nine books it crosses through and forced readers to buy every part if they wanted the whole story, even though in hindsight most of the first half could have been skipped.
1 Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men Looks Positively Quaint
Writer Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men got a lot of praise back in the day but it doesn't really stand up. Basically, a back-to-basics approach after Grant Morrison's revolutionary New X-Men, Whedon channeled Chris Claremont in his run and it was a change of pace that doesn't exactly seem needed. Going back to it now, it's kind of cliché.
There are some good things about the book, like the art, but the plots are a bit simple and it feels remarkably safe compared to what came after. It has its moments but it just doesn't stand up anymore.