Battle of the Atom is underway! X-Men from the future, past and present collide in fight to save future of the mutant race as part of the 50th Anniversary. Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron and Brian Wood are the “Professor X’s” of the current X-books and co-writers working together on this crossover.
As part of the 50th Anniversary we looked back at the top 10 greatest X-Men stories but I wanted to look ahead. These next recent stories by the Battle of the Atom writers are strong contenders to join that impressive pantheon
All-New X-Men: Yesterday’s X-Men How could the dream have gone so wrong? Professor X is dead. Cyclops is a killer and a revolutionary. There’s an explosion of new mutants but they’re hated and hunted more than ever.
Beast’s bold plan to stop his old teammate takes unexpected twists and sets the stage for a new era of greatness. It was pure genius for Brian Michael Bendis to bring back the original five X-Men into the Marvel Now. There are wordless moments with Jean Grey expressions that speak volumes because to Stuart Immonen’s art. With Kitty Pryde’s new role, no has written Kitty this strong since Joss Whedon. This blast from the past has been just what the franchise needed to remind us of why we love the mutants and why they’re here to stay.
Wolverine and the X-Men Logan as a Headmaster? In the aftermath of Schism, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Beast and Iceman establish the Jean Grey School in the ashes of the Xavier Institute for a thrilling, heartbreaking and strange epic of young mutants (and their teachers) in love and war.
In the first volume Team Logan fights the new Hellfire Club, Iceman gets cool, bamfs invade, Kitty Pryde find a new love and a classic villain makes a surprising comeback. Quentin Quire, Idie and the kids suffer love triangles, teen angst and terrifying villains in thrilling, funny and sometimes heartbreaking arcs. while What I still marvel at is how writer Jason Aaron (with artists Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw) mix big action while creating incredible small moments for everyone even Doop, Toad and a Brood in glasses.
X-Men: Blank Generation An ancient discovery that changes everything we knew about mutant history! Storm leads a squad to protect the secret of the Proto-Mutants and trusts no one – not even Wolverine or Cyclops.
Brian Wood and David Lopez created a sci-fi conspiracy mystery that’s a hybrid of Torchwood and The X-Files and harkens back to the Chris Claremont/Paul Smith era. No one has written Storm this good since Claremont.
The success of this run with an almost all female cast (Storm, Psylocke, Domino, Pixie, Colossus) led to Wood’s return to launch the latest volume.
X-Men: Primer An all-female team by Brian Wood and Olivier Coipel. The highly anticipated book smashed all expectations with a brilliant, fast paced thriller starring Storm, Rogue, Psylocke, Rachel Grey, Kitty Pryde and the return of Jubilee.
A mysterious orphan, the return of X-Men villain Sublime asking for refuge and a terrifying new enemy force Storm to form a new squad to save humanity from an eons old conflict that’s come back to Earth.
Uncanny X-Men The Revolution begins with Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto and Magik recruiting young new mutants to their secret school. The team dynamic is tense as each member faces the consequences after Avengers vs. X-Men. Creating a new mutant is tough after 50 years but Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo create compelling young mutants (Benjamin Deeds, Triage, Tempus, Hijack and…Goldballs?) They’re young, funny, fascinating and symbolize the spirit of being a young mutant and teen excited but scared of their life ahead.
I have to include the second volume because Bendis pulled off an amazing feat! He made me love Magik. The demonic sorceress mutant who’s been dead, resurrected, possessed and more has one of the most confusing origins and I’ve never liked her. Artist Frazier Irving joins Bendis in the supernatural showdown between the revolutionary X-Men vs. Dormannu with an appearance by Doctor Strange that will surprise you.
Here’s our X-Men countdown 10-6 and 5-1.
Happy 50th X-Men and happy reading!
By Editor