The X-Men are one of Marvel's most storied franchises. From their rather simple roots as a civil rights allegory, the team has grown and expanded in unprecedented ways, becoming more than it ever was before. In fact, the X-Men mythos is one of the richest in comics, with many stories that helped define who the team is and great stories that have slipped through the cracks over the years.
The X-Men have gotten a reputation for being very complicated and that reputation is pretty well earned. While the stories can be very good, without a working knowledge of the history of the team and the personalities of the characters, these stories will have new readers scratching their heads.
10 X Of Swords
The first crossover event since Jonathan Hickman reinvigorated the X-Men franchise in 2019, X Of Swords was a twenty-two part story that crossed through every X-Men title. Featuring the mutants of Krakoa battling against the mutants of Arrako, the story took place on Otherworld, an interdimensional kingdom ruled Saturnyne.
The story had its ups and downs and it's definitely not new reader-friendly. A reader would have to know about the new X-Men status quo, have a working knowledge of a whole bunch of X-Men, and know about Otherworld and Saturnyne, who have mostly only been in the Excalibur books over the years. Plus, it's just a daunting story in general, as it's twenty-two parts long.
9 "The Rise And Fall Of The Shi'Ar Empire"
"The Rise And Fall Of The Shi'Ar Empire" took place in Uncanny X-Men #475-486, by writer Ed Brubaker and artists Billy Tan and Clayton Henry. It saw a team of X-Men led by Havok chasing his recently revealed brother, Vulcan, into space as he went on a quest of vengeance against the Shi'Ar for all they had done to the Summers family.
This one takes a lot of prior reading. One has to know about the history of the Summers family, the interstellar pirate outfit the Starjammers, and the X-Men's complicated relationship with the Shi'Ar. It's a good story but it's not something casual readers should attempt.
8 "Inferno"
"Inferno" was a line-wide X-Men crossover from the '80s. Affecting all of the mutant titles, it saw Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey, go crazy and attempt to summon demons to overrun the Earth. It all started because Mister Sinister, Pryor's creator, tried to kill her and steal her and Cyclops's child, and the fact that the return of Jean Grey had pretty much destroyed Pryor and Cyclops's marriage.
This story requires a working knowledge of '80s X-Men that would require a whole lot of investment from a reader, which is easier nowadays with the reprint policies of modern Marvel but still pretty financially daunting.
7 "Magneto War"
"Magneto War", by writers Alan Davis and Fabian Nicieza with art by Davis, Lee Weeks, and Leinil Yu, served to tie up the ongoing story of Joseph, who everyone thought was the mindwiped Magneto and the return of the real thing, as he used his titanic powers to hold the world hostage. As the X-Men scramble to stop their oldest foe, one of Magneto's spurned former allies has her own plans for the mutant Master of Magnetism.
"Magneto War" requires a reader to know all the drama surrounding the character of Joesph, which is a '90s deep dive that can be rewarding but also a bit annoying as it's clear no one knew how to resolve the plotline, a hallmark of '90s Marvel comics. It's a pretty good Magneto story with some cool moments but the bar for the entry is a bit much.
6 "The Dark Angel Saga"
"The Dark Angel Saga" took place in Uncanny X-Force #10-18, by writer Rick Remender and artist Jerome Opena. Archangel has tricked his X-Force compatriots into going to the Age of Apocalypse universe and while they were gone embraced his destiny as the heir of Apocalypse. With the chips stacked against them, X-Force engages in a race against time before Archangel and his Horsemen can enact their fiendish plan.
One of the best X-Force stories of all time, this one requires the reader to know a lot about Archangel's history, the mythos surrounding the villain Apocalypse, and the role of X-Force, and what they've been up to since the team reformed.
5 "The End Of History"
"The End Of History" took place in Uncanny X-Men #444-449, by writer Chris Claremont and artist Alan Davis, and saw a new start for the team. Taking a role with the government, the team set out to stop mutant threats to humans as the X.S.E., the X-treme Sanctions Executive. In their first mission, they find themselves up against the Fury, a powerful android from their past.
Serving as Claremont's third term on the X-Men, this one draws off his time on X-Treme X-Men and references the mutant police force from Bishop's future, the X.S.E. but the most confusing thing will be the Fury, a villain introduced in Alan Moore and Alan Davis's Marvel UK Captain Britain book, which is just about impossible to find.
4 X-Men: Schism
X-Men: Schism, by writer Jason Aaron and artists Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, Daniel Acuna, Alan Davis, and Adam Kubert, saw a new Hellfire Club step up, one made up of genius human children out to exterminate the last of the mutant face. The events of the story would see Wolverine and Cyclops come to blows, fracturing the diminished mutant race beyond repair.
This story requires a working knowledge of the post-House Of M Marvel Universe and the status quo of the X-Men back then. It also requires readers to understand the Wolverine/Cyclops dynamic at the time, which was much less antagonistic than in the past, to really understand why this sundering of the two was such a big deal.
3 "The Trial Of Gambit"
"The Trial of Gambit" took place in Uncanny X-Men #341-350, by writers Scott Lobdell and Steve Seagle with art by Joe Madureira, Chris Bachalo, and Andy Smith, and saw the X-Men go to space to battle the Phalanx as they attack the Shi'Ar. On their return to Earth, the team is captured by Erik the Red and Gambit's darkest secret is revealed.
While Gambit is a fan favorite character, a lot of readers might not know about his dark past, something that was referenced a lot back in his '90s heyday. Beyond that, readers would have to know about the Mutant Massacre, who the Phalanx and the Shi'Ar are, and the significance of Erik the Red to X-Men history.
2 "The Hunt For Xavier"
"The Hunt For Xavier" took place in Uncanny X-Men #362-364 and X-Men #82-84. Written by Steve Seagle and Joe Kelly with art by Chris Bachalo, Adam Kubert, and Leinil Yu, it saw the team finally get clues to where Professor X disappeared to after "Operation: Zero Tolerance" and their search for him, only to foiled at every turn by a surprise opponent, one who knows them as well as they know themselves.
This is another book that depends heavily on readers knowing a lot about '90s X-Men continuity, which could honestly be a university level class. There's a lot to love about this story, and Kelly and Seagle's forgotten X-Men run in general, but readers need to do their homework before tackling this one.
1 "The Twelve"
"The Twelve" played out through just about every X-Men book that was being published in 1999 and saw the culmination of Apocalypse's plans, as he tried to draw together the Twelve, a group of mutants that gave godhood to whoever was able to combine their powers. The last X-Men story of the '90s, this one is daunting even for long time readers.
Drawing on so many '90s plot points it can make one's head spin, this story was also built up for over a year in Alan Davis's run as writer of both Uncanny X-Men and X-Men and requires a lot of reading to really get what's going on. At the time, it was nice to have so many plot threads wrapped up but this story definitely isn't new fan-friendly.