X-Men Battle of the Atom kicks off this week with mutants from the past, present and future in a time twisting tale to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Children of the Atom.
After years of reading (the X-Men was my first comic book ever) and a lot of thinking about the great epics of mutant past here are my top ten picks for the best X-Men storylines.
Here is our #10-#6:
6. The Proteus Saga I remember being terrified at seeing Nightcrawler and Wolverine turned into floating, stretched out plastic men. Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s slow burning horror tale of a vampire like mutant with the power to warp reality is a classic from the true golden era of X-Men.
It’s a haunting The X-Files style mystery as the X-Men track down a serial killer mutant in Scotland. When we finally learn the heartbreaking truth about Mutant X it punches the gut and changes an X-Man forever. It’s the classic team back when the X-Men were still innocent and shocked at the power and pure evil of a force like Proteus.
7. Age of Apocalypse Professor X’s son went back in time to wipe out Magneto and give his father the peaceful world he’d dreamed of for mutants. Something went very wrong and a nightmarish new world was born. The entire line of X-books was cancelled in 1995.
In the new reality Apocalypse ruled, Cyclops and Beast were disciples of Mister Sinister, Wolverine and Jean Grey were rogue lovers on the run. Magneto and Rogue led a ragtag team of X-Men including Blink, Sabretooth and Wild Child in the impossible fight to stop Apocalypse. Only one X-Man from the true Marvel Universe knew the truth.
Radical and riveting storytelling led by Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza with incredible art and daring dark twists on the X-Men. It’s amazing to think how different the lives of our heroes would be without the influence of Professor Xavier, especially Scott Summers. The strange connections between Victor Creed, Wild Child and Blink was one of my favorite elements of the alternate universe. The crowning achievement of the Lobdell era, Age of Apocalypse was truly groundbreaking story Marvel creators are still using as inspiration for new tales like Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force run.
8. Here Comes Tomorrow Grant Morrison’s epilogue to his inventive New X-Men run illustrated by Marc Silvestri. This is strange tale set in a future ruled by a nightmarish Beast and army of Nightcrawlers with Wolverine leading an motley lot of X-Men.
This is Jean Grey’s final goodbye from the cosmic afterlife in which she offers one more sacrifice of herself to set the world right and send Cyclops to his true destiny.
9. Messiah Complex/Second Coming After the Decimation, no new mutants were being born and the race was on the fast road to extinction until a baby is born in an explosion of mutant power in Alaska. The X-Men, Purifiers (from the Church of Humanity) and Mister Sinister’s Marauders were in a violent race of double crosses to capture the miracle child that could restart the mutant race.
This epic saw the rebirth of X-Force as a covert, black ops team started by Cyclops and Wolverine to take out enemies before they could strike. This team did the bloody jobs the X-Men couldn’t. The sins of Scott and Logan with X-Force would come back to haunt them and divide the team. The ending was a shocker with an X-Man asking the question, “would you kill Hitler as a child?” Bishop answered “yes” and tried to kill the messiah and shot Professor X instead.
Although there were several arcs in between I count the sequel, Second Coming, with Messiah Complex as one giant arc. If you want to second act be sure to pick up Messiah War – a Cable/X-Force crossover as Nathan and Logan’s squad race through the timestream to protect the messiah child from an obsessed Bishop. In the final act – Scott’s faith is rewarded as Cable returns with Hope as a teen girl but is she a messiah or destroyer. The X-Men face an arsenal of Sentinels to save Hope. Beloved X-Men die. It’s hands-down my favorite storyline and portrayal of Cable ever. And in that final moment when Hope’s power is revealed you might just sniffle or out-and-out cry. This crossover was an action packed tale of morality and faith by an all-star cast of creators Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Christopher Yost, Mike Carey, Craig Kyle and Peter David and saw the return of artist Marc Silvestri.
10. Fatal Attractions The 30th Anniversary crossover was a thrilling game-changer that would have a long-lasting impact on the X-line. Magneto creates a mutant have orbiting Earth before waging war on the human race. At Illyana’s funeral (the first time she died of the Legacy Virus) Magneto gives the X-Men one final chance to join him and a distraught, disillusioned Colossus becomes an Acolyte. Earth responds to the Master of Magnetism’s new threat with the Magneto Protocols. Professor X leads a small unit to stop Magneto and in the fight everyone goes to far. Magneto pulls the metal out of Logan. Professor X mind wipes Magneto. This shocking fight would led to some huge stories (Wolverine devolving into an animal, the Professor becoming Onslaught)
(Note: I picked stories from the main X-Men books and excluded X-Force, Excalibur, X-Factor and limited series although issues are those books appear in the arcs above.)
Watch tomorrow for the Top 5.
By Editor