Every Missing X-Men Omnibus from 1963 – 2000, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Marvel Omnibus fans – time for the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot! This post explains every X-Men omnibus from 1963 to 2000 that does NOT exist – all of which will appear as options on the 2025 poll.

To be very clear, this post only deals with books with “X-Men” in the title – and only through 2000! Books from 2001 will be in a post later today. Other X-Teams will be in one of my upcoming posts.

For the next two weeks, I’ll be covering Marvel’s entire publishing history by mapping missing omnibus volumes to fill in every gap in your Marvel oversize shelf! That’s all leading to the kickoff of the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot on Near Mint Condition on April 28, 2025.

Just counting omnibuses with the actual word “X-Men” in the title, we’ve had a staggering ten announced for 2025 or early 2026. But, see if you can spot the pattern in these books: X-Men: Blue & Gold – Mutant Genesis, X-Men: Onslaught Aftermath, Cosmic X-Men, X-Men by Marc Guggenheim All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis, Uncanny X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis, X-Men: Age of Krakoa – Dawn of X Vol. 1, X-Men by Al Ewing, X-Men by Gerry Duggan, X-Men: Fall of The House of X / Rise of The Powers of X.

Plus, plus a reprint of the House of X / Powers of X oversize hardcover – a rare occurence! And, without X-Men in the name but still collecting X-Men issues is Phoenix: The Death And Rebirth of Jean Grey.

Look at all of those books one more time and then try to spot the theme.

If you said “only one those collect newly-oversized material from before the year 2000,” you get a free milkshake!

Well, it’s not actually free. You’re going to have to buy it yourself. But… it’s a milkshake!

Only X-Men: Onslaught Aftermath collects previously non-oversize pre-2000 material. X-Men: Blue & Gold – Mutant Genesis collects some 90s X-Men in an outstandingly well-mapped way. And, Phoenix: The Death And Rebirth of Jean Grey does collect some newly-oversized mid-00s material (though I’d still want to see it elsewhere). But, Marvel’s attention in this slate of books is mainly on the period from 2013-2024.

That means we still have some major books to pick off to fully collect the rest of the two flagship X-Men titles through the year 2000, after which the line relaunched with New X-Men (2001) and X-Treme X-Men (2001). Plus, there are still many recollections of existing oversize material we could wind up seeing – including more classic Uncanny X-Men Masterworks omnibuses, more line-wide omnibuses, and two more volumes of Blue & Gold!

If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for a list of books vetted by a gang of the biggest mapping nerds on the internet with explanations from yours truly – keeper of the most-definitive guides to Marvel’s collected editions on the planet.

Or, if you don’t care about omnibuses, just use this post to learn about Marvel’s history and find some great comics to read!

This post would not be possible without the help of JM21, a major CK supporter for the past decade and a massive, massive X-Men fan! I have been mapping and re-mapping these books on my own for more than a decade, and JM21’s fresh perspective got me unstuck on several persistent mapping annoyances in the X-line. JM21 is also a supporter of the UK charity Men Walking & Talking, which helps to create safe space for men to discuss their mental health and wellness. If you love this post and have a bit of extra comics cash you can spare consider donating the Men Walking & Talking today!

This post covers the following speculated omnibus volumes:

• Silver & Bronze Age X-Men
  • X-Men: Silver Age Vol. 3 (1972 – 1975) [AKA The Lost Years AKA Darkest Before the Dawn]
• Silver & Bronze Age X-Men Retcon Material
  • X-Men: X-Men Origins (1996 & on) [origin-retelling series, minis, & one-shots]
  • X-Men: First Class (2006 – 2011) [Original X-Men retcon comics]
  • Wolverine & The X-Men: First Class (2008 – 2010) [retcon YA comics]
• Chris Claremont’s X-Men in MMW-Based Omnibuses
  • X-Men: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 6 (1986 – 1988) [AKA MMW 14-15]
  • X-Men: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7 (1988 – 1989) [AKA MMW 16-17]
• Chris Claremont’s X-Men in Line-Wide Event Omnibuses
  • X-Men: X-Men – Inferno Aftermath (1989 & on) [an “event” omni of the entire X-line]
• X-Men in the 90s – Before Age of Apocalypse
  • X-Men: X-Men – Blue & Gold Vol. 2 (1993 – 1994) [AKA Shattershot + Fatal Attractions + Blood Ties]
  • X-Men: X-Men – Blue & Gold Vol. 3 (1994 – 1995) [AKA Wedding + Phalanx + LegionQuest]
  • X-Men: X-Men Unlimited Vol. 1 (1993 & on)
• X-Men in the 90s – After Age of Apocalypse
  • X-Men: Road To Onslaught Vol. 2
  • X-Men: X-Men – The Trial of Gambit (1996 – 1997) [follows Onslaught Aftermath]
  • X-Men: Uncanny X-Men by Kelly & Seagle (1998 – 1999) [AKA The Hunt for Xavier]
  • X-Men: X-Men – Magneto War (1999) [fits prior to The Twelve]

Remember: These titles and mappings are a suggestion of how Marvel could assemble these books. They are meant to help you decide on your votes on the Tigereyes poll. Your vote on the poll is a vote in favor of Marvel creating a book with that title or covering that period, NOT an endorsement of a specific map. Maps are presented as a proof of concept and to help you build your personal reading list.

Want to check out all of the other voting options for the 2025 Tigereyes Poll? Check out my 2025 Tigereyes poll options overview page that explains the poll, how to vote, and every title that will appear – including links to all of the posts in this series.

Over-the-top comics posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics.

X-Men Omnibus Mapping: Silver & Bronze Age X-Men

We already have the X-Men’s complete run of Silver Age comics in The X-Men Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 and a recton book in X-Men: The Hidden Years (see Guide to Silver Age X-Men), and then all of their Bronze Age run in a series of The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 through Vol. 5 and a “special features” book with X-Men Classic (see Guide to X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975 – 1991).

What’s left to collect from 1963 to 1985? We’re literally just one book of material away from complete X-Men collection – not only of their main title, but all of their tie-ins and spinoffs. ONE BOOK! Let’s get it printed, Marvel!!!

Plus… maybe some other retcon books too. But let’s start by focusing on that one book.

X-Men: Silver Age Vol. 3 (1972 – 1975) [AKA The Lost Years AKA Darkest Before the Dawn]

When X-Men (1963) went into reprint-only mode starting with X-Men (1963) #67 in 1970, Xavier and the X-Men (plus Magneto!) became cameo stars across the rest of the Marvel Universe. Their guest appearances included Spider-Man Team-Ups, Beast gaining his fur, and Cyclops & Jean involved in the original “Secret Empire” storyline… plus, the debut of a certain Canadian mutant.

These hiatus-years material has been collected in both the X-Men Marvel Masterworks and X-Men Epic Collection lines, officially establishing it as part of Marvel’s own canonical X-Men reading order.

Some folks balk at the idea of this becoming an omnibus if it only mirrors that one Epic Collection… although that was 540 pages in Masterworks and 512 pages in Epic Collection! (The Masterworks were longer because they contained covers from the reprint-only issues of X-Men (1963) #67-93, which the omnibus line has already collected).

We’re limited by mirroring the content of those existing collections, although there are a handful of additional Magneto appearances we can add to nudge this closer to 600 pages of a material.

A vote for this book is a vote to finally collect the Hiatus Years in oversize format!

This would collect Amazing Adventures (1970) #11-17 (transformation of The Beast), Incredible Hulk (1968) #150 & 161 (Havok/Polaris & Beast/Mimic), Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #92 (Iceman), Marvel Team-Up (1972) #4 (full team), Avengers (1963) #110-111 (Magneto vs. Avengers), Incredible Hulk (1968) #172 (minor Xavier/Scott/Jean) and #180-181 (debut of Wolverine), Captain America (1968) #172-175 (Cyclops & Jean in the original Secret Empire), Marvel Team-Up (1972) #23 & 38 (Iceman), Defenders (1972) #15-16 (Magneto’s infamous de-aging), and Giant-Size Fantastic Four (1974) #4 (the debut of Jamie Madrox, The Multiple Man).

To this, we could insert Magneto’s appearances in Fantastic Four (1961) #102-104 and Amazing Adventures (1970) #9-10, another 100 pages of contemporaneous material!

X-Men Omnibus Mapping: Silver & Bronze Age X-Men Retcon Material

A “retcon” is a portmanteau for “retroactive (or retrospective) continuity” – stories that insert new or revised developments in the past. They’re hard to do on screen, because actors get older, but so easy to do in comics that Marvel and DC are addicted to them!

We already have omnibuses of the two most major X-Men retcon ongoing series – X-Men: The Hidden Years (see Guide to Silver Age X-Men) and X-Men Classic (see Guide to X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975 – 1991)). But, there are three more potential omnibuses worth of retcon material that fit into this period.

X-Men: X-Men Origins (1996 & on) [origin-retelling series, minis, & one-shots]

We deliberately left this title vague so folks could imagine whatever they wanted for its contents.

Personally, it seems obvious it could be anchored by a series of 11 X-Men Origins one-shots from 2008 to 2010. They’ve been collected in a single 320 page book, so we’d need more material to turn this into an omnibus.

Luckily, there is no shortage of X-Men origin material we could use to flesh this out. To me, the next most obvious material to insert are the contents of Uncanny Origins (1996), six issues of which retold the origins of Cyclops, Quicksilver, Archangel, Beast, Nightcrawler, and Storm.

Where to go from there? You could argue that both runs of Wolverine’s origins could be collected here, from Wolverine: The Origin (2001) and [Wolverine] Origin II. Of course, Logan has many pre-Logan adventures, but these two mini-series focus on his earliest life.

At that point we’re close to 30 issues of content, which certainly justifies this book. But, there’s more we could add – from The Magneto Testament (2008), First X-Men (2011), Storm (2006), 1997 flashback issues, and more! However, I think we’d leave out the entirety of Emma Frost (2003), which at 18 issues would dominate the bulk of this book.

A vote for this book is to collect all of the X-Men’s canonical retcon origin stories in one place so you can easily read them prior to any X-Men read!

This would collect Wolverine: The Origin (2001) #1-6 and [Wolverine] Origin II (2013) #1-5, The Magneto Testament (2008) #1-5, X-Men Origins one-shots (Colossus, Jean Grey, Beast, Sabretooth, Wolverine, Gambit, Iceman, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Emma Frost and Deadpool), Uncanny Origins (1996) #1-3, 6, 8, & 9, Classic X-Men (1986) #15, 16, 19, 41-42 (back-ups, Storm (2006) #1-6, Angel: Revelations (2007) #1-5, First X-Men (2011) #1-5, the #-1 flashback issues from 1997 (from Uncanny X-Men (1963), X-Men (1991), Excalibur (1991), X-Force (1991), Wolverine (1991), Generation X (1994)), and Mythos: X-Men (2006) #1.

You could also argue for Rise of Apocalypse (1996) #1-4 and The Further Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix (1996) #1-4, which both could fit this theme.

X-Men: First Class (2006 – 2011) [Original X-Men retcon comics]

X-Men: First Class was a series of YA (but not all ages) tellings of continuity-lite stories that could formed connective tissue between the pages of Silver Age X-Men and tracking the team from their recruitment to Xavier’s school to their “final exams” before graduating.

A vote for this book would be a vote to gather all 40 issues of the X-Men: First Class material in one place for the first time!

This would collect Cyclops (2011) #1, Iceman and Angel (2011) #1, Magneto (2011) #1, Marvel Girl (2011) #1, material from Spider-Man Family (2007) #8-9, [Uncanny] X-Men (1963) #1, X-Men First Class (2006) #1-8, X-Men First Class (2007) Special & #1-16, and X-Men: First Class Finals (2009) #1-4.

Wolverine & The X-Men: First Class (2008 – 2010) [retcon YA comics]

Alongside the original run of X-Men first class, Marvel ran a similar series called Wolverine: First Class (2008). However, this wasn’t the adventures of a youthful Wolverine – it was more like a “Wolverine & Kitty Pryde: The Early Years” series to insert more stories about Kitty’s life at the X-Mansion into Claremont’s run.

Also, after the conclusion of X-Men: First Class Finals (2009), Marvel continued the YA approach to early X-Men with Uncanny X-Men: First Class (2009), meant to insert stories into Claremont’s X-Men. These stories are a little harder to reconcile with continuity, since early Claremont is plotted so tightly – especially with the addition of stories from Classic X-Men (1986).

A vote for this book is a vote to collect all of these kid-friendly Claremont-era retcon tales into the same place for the first time.

This would collect Uncanny X-Men: First Class (2009) Giant-Size Special & #1-8, Wolverine: First Class (2008) #1-21, and Weapon X: First Class #1-3.

This could potentially also collect X-Men / Power Pack (2006) #1-4 and Wolverine / Power Pack (2008) #1-4, which have a similar vibe but exist outside of continuity.

X-Men Omnibus Mapping: Chris Claremont’s X-Men in MMW-Based Omnibuses

First, let’s get one thing out of the way: We have all of Chris Claremont’s X-Men covered in omnibus already! All of it! Every last issue!

However, it is collected in a mix of two formats. Right now, the classic format based on Masterworks tags out with Uncanny X-Men (1963) #209 & Annual 10, and the collections of line-wide events tag in with Uncanny X-Men (1963) #210 and Mutant Massacre. See Guide to X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975 – 1991) for details.

However, Marvel has been forthright with the fact that they plan to continue releasing the Masterworks-based line of omnibuses as well. The Event line is relatively comprehensive, so there won’t really be any benefits of the Masterworks-based line until it hits 1988 and can start pulling bonuses in the form of additional stories from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) and Marvel Super-Heroes (1990) in the same vein of the Wolverine omnibuses.

The Uncanny X-Men omnibus line routinely breaks the “3 Masterworks” rule, both to find good stopping points in stories and because fans will buy anything X-Men so Marvel is in no hurry to make these books very large.

X-Men: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 6 (1986 – 1988) [AKA MMW 14-15]
X-Men: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7 (1988 – 1989) [AKA MMW 16-17]

Marvel’s cadence between books in this MMW-based line has ranged anywhere from 2-5 years between volumes. We’ll have already missed the 2-year mark since Volume 5 by the end of 2025, so Marvel might need a nudge from voters to continue this line in 2026.

A vote for these books is a vote that you want Marvel to continue their Masterworks-based collection of Uncanny X-Men (1963) even though it will overlap existing line-wide event omnibuses

Volume 6 would very likely collect the contents of MMW 14-15 (minus UXM Annual 10), which are Uncanny X-Men (1963) #210-231 & Annual 11, New Mutants (1983) Annual 2, Fantastic Four vs X-Men (1987) #1-4, X-Men vs. Avengers (1987) #1-4, and material from Best of Marvel Comics (1987). It could also add material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #10-17 (which is collected with the X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda omnibus, but that is part of the Event line.)

Volume 7 would very likely collect the contents of  MMW 16-17, which are Uncanny X-Men (1963) #232-255 & Annual 12-13, the direct Inferno crossover issues from X-Factor (1986) #37-39, and material from Classic X-Men #39 and What The?! (1988) #1-5. It could also add material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #24-32 (which is collected with the X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda omnibus, but that is part of the Event line.)

X-Men Omnibus Mapping: Chris Claremont’s X-Men in Line-Wide Event Omnibuses

Some fans have gone all-in on the X-Men line-wide “Event” omnibuses that run though X-Men: Mutant Massacre Prelude, X-Men: Mutant Massacre, X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, X-Men: Inferno Prologue, and X-Men: Inferno and also picked up X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda.

That currently leaves them with a gap on their shelf from Uncanny X-Men (1963) #244-269 & Annual 13 … which happens to be PERFECTLY COVERED by X-Men by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee Vol. 1!!! See Guide to X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975 – 1991) for details.

So, why are we voting for another book? Because some X-fans want to see that same material be collect into a pair of line-wide books that also pick up the contents of both New Mutants and X-Factor throughout the same period. Clearly that would need to be 2-3 books, since it took one book to collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) material and we’re adding two more series!

X-Men: X-Men – Inferno Aftermath (1989 & on) [an “event” omni of the entire X-line]

A vote for this book is a vote to continue the X-Men line-wide omnibus line after Inferno to begin filling the gap from there to X-Tinction Agenda.

This would likely collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) #244-254 (or 258) & Annual 13, New Mutants (1983) #74-83 (or 86) & Annual 5, and X-Factor (1986) #41-50,  as well as contemporaneous other X-Men material, ending just prior to or just after Acts of Vengeance.

Then, a follow-up volume would collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) #255 (or 259) -269, New Mutants (1983) #84 (or 87) -94, Annual 6, & The New Mutants Summer Special (1990) #1, and X-Factor (1986) #51-69, Annual 5, & Prisoner of Love OGN,  as well as contemporaneous other X-Men material, meeting with X-Tinction Agenda on the other side.

X-Men Omnibus Mapping: X-Men in the 90s – Before Age of Apocalypse

Wait a second… isn’t this period already entirely covered in oversize hardcover?

It was, but now it’s not.

That is because of the announcement of X-Men: Blue & Gold – Mutant Genesis releasing later this year. The contents of that omnibus and how they release to other existing omnibuses are so complex that Omar and I made a three hour video about it!

The short story is that it is a combined collection of both flagship titles based on the Epic Collection line mapping rather than collecting the titles separately or integrated with event material from the other X-titles.

If that book is a hit (and we already know from pre-orders it likely is), we need two more Blue & Gold volumes to reach Age of Apocalypse on the other side. After that, X-Men omnibuses already merge both books into a single line. See Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s and Guide to X-Men Vol. 2 (1991 – 2001) for details.

X-Men: X-Men – Blue & Gold Vol. 2 (1993 – 1994) [AKA Shattershot + Fatal Attractions + Blood Ties]

This would merge the Fatal Attractions Omnibus with the remaining materials from the Shattershot OHC and the uncollected Gambit mini-series. It would likely end with the “Bloodties” crossover with Avengers titles, which is very much an epilogue to Fatal Attractions.

A vote for this book is a vote to continue the complete, sequential collection of the pair of flagship X-Men titles for another volume, finally merging the stories into the correct comprehensive reading order from existing OHCs Shattershot, Fatal Attractions, and possibly the beginning of The Wedding of Cyclops & Phoenix.

This would collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) #298-306 & Annual 17; X-Men (1991) #17-25 & Annual 2; X-Men: Survival Guide To The Mansion (1993) #1; X-Men Anniversary Magazine (1993) #1;  X-Men Unlimited (1993) #1-2; Wolverine (1988) #75, Gambit (1993) #1-4.

I suspect it would also collect all of “Bloodties,”  from X-Men (1991) #26, Uncanny X-Men (1963) #307, Avengers (1963) #368-369, Avengers West Coast (1989) #101.

In that case, would conclude with X-Men Unlimited (1993) #3, which directly follows that story.

It could possibly add the core of Fatal Attractions from X-Factor (1986) #92, X-Force (1991) #25, and Excalibur (1988) #71. It would probably not add Sabretooth (1993) #1-4, which is mapped into the Wolverine line (despite it having a major impact on upcoming X-Men plots).

X-Men: X-Men – Blue & Gold Vol. 3 (1994 – 1995) [AKA Wedding + Phalanx + LegionQuest]

This volume would collect all of the remaining X-Men flagship material up to Age of Apocalypse from wherever the prior volume leaves off.

A vote for this book is a vote to complete sequential collection of the pair of the flagship X-Men titles for a final volume prior to Age of Apocalypse, finally merging the stories into the correct comprehensive reading order from existing OHCs The Wedding of Cyclops & Phoenix, Phalanx Covenant, and LegionQuest.

This would collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) #308-321 & Annual 18/1994, X-Men (1991) #27-41 & Annual 3, X-Men Unlimited #4-7, X-Men: The Wedding Album (1994) #1, What If? (1989) #60, Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix (1994) #1-4, Rogue (1995) #1-4, Bishop (1994) #1-4, and material from Marvel Valentine Special.

It might also include LegionQuest issues X-Factor (1986) #107-109 and Cable (1993) #20, but they are not essential to understand what is happening in LegionQuest. However, the X-Factor issues do follow from X-Men Unlimited (1993) #4 to connect Mystique back to the main thread of plot, which is an argument for including them here.

It could possibly add Cable (1993) #6-8 (an inessential Wedding prologue story) or the core of Phalanx Covenant crossover issues, which is only five more issues (Excalibur (1988) #82; X-Factor (1986) #106; X-Force (1991) #38; Wolverine (1988) #85; & Cable (1993) #16), but there would be no reason to collect prelude material from Excalibur (1988) #78-81.

X-Men: X-Men Unlimited Vol. 1 (1993 & on)

I need to go on the record with the comment that I think this a very bad idea.

X-Men Unlimited (1993) was an anthology series that was originally released quarterly, with each issue telling one extra-length, one-shot X-Men tale that could sometimes be as long as 64 pages.

Due to the length of these stories, there’s no way to make it past collecting half of this 50-issue series in a single omnibus. And, because the series continued to X-Men Unlimited (2004), this is likely three volumes of content.

Considering that the main line of X-Men omnibuses is making a concerted effort to completely collect all of this material, it seems wasteful to fill up three spots on the X-Men release calendar with these books. But, there are a dedicated core of voters who want to see this series as its own collection, and salute them.

There’s a future when we have all of the other omnibuses on this list where it will become clear what has been missed from them – and at that point we will know how necessary these books might be. So, maybe voters are just thinking ahead.

A vote for this book is a stubborn vote that X-Men Unlimited ought to have its own omnibus line despite it largely being collected along with other X-Men material from this period.

This would begin to collect X-Men Unlimited (1993) #1-50 and X-Men Unlimited (2004) #1-14. It could likely collect a maximum of 20-24 issues in a single volume.

Here you would read the existing X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus & Companion Omnibus – see Guide to Marvel Universe Events – Age of Apocalypse.

X-Men Omnibus Mapping: X-Men in the 90s – After Age of Apocalypse

Right now our coverage of Uncanny X-Men (1963) and X-Men (1990) in the 90s ends in 1997  just after Onslaught with X-Men: Onslaught Aftermath and doesn’t pick up again until 1999 with X-Men vs. Apocalypse: The Twelve.

Two years is an eternity in X-Men comics – we’ll need three omnibuses to fill the gap!

X-Men: Road To Onslaught Vol. 2

Your eyes do not deceive you – we left this book off of the poll!

That’s because Marvel basically said “don’t worry about it” when they expanded the contents of Vol. 1 and left some content for a second volume. Much like Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson Vol. 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy by Brian Bendis Vol. 2, we don’t see a reason to take up anyone’s vote for a popular book that is already all-but-confirmed by Marvel.

This will likely collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) #329-332, X-Men (1991) #48-52, X-Men Unlimited (1993) #10, Archangel (1996) #1, X-Men vs The Brood (1996) #1-2, X-Men & ClanDestine (1996) #1-2, Wolverine (1988) #101 (and maybe #100), Xavier Institute Alumni Yearbook (1996) #1, Further Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix (1996) #1-4, Storm (1996) #1-4

That’s only 25-26 issues, although some are extra-length. Since there is room, this may also add contemporaneous books Rise of Apocalypse (1996) #1-4, X-Men: Books of Askani (1995) #1, or Askani’son (1996) #1-4. The Askani issues might make more sense in the Cable omnibus line.

Here, you would read X-Men/Avengers: Onslaught and X-Men: Onslaught Aftermath see Guide to Marvel Universe Events – Age of Apocalypse and Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s.

X-Men: X-Men – The Trial of Gambit (1996 – 1997) [follows Onslaught Aftermath]

The X-Men: Onslaught Aftermath Omnibus was initially announced with a bigger issue range, which Marvel then retracted once fans starting attacking the book with material that was obviously left out.

That leaves us with a pretty clear set of material for this follow-up book, which needs to pick up where Aftermath leaves off and conclude before Joe Kelly & Steve Seagle take over the X-books.

This could easily collect all of the “Zero Tolerance” crossover as well. That makes sense, since it’s a major X-Men story that happened mostly outside of the flagships!

A vote for this book is a vote to extend our X-Men omnibus coverage even closer to being complete through the year 2001 with one of two volumes we need to fill the gap between Onslaught Aftermath and The Twelve.

This would collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) (1993) #341-350 & -1, X-Men (1991) #62-70 & -1, X-Men Unlimited (1993) #16, Gambit (1997) #1-4, Psylocke & Archangel: Crimson Dawn (1997) #1-4, and Imperial Guard (1997) #1-3.

That’s 32 issues, which means we could add all of “Zero Tolerance” from X-Force (1991) #67-69, Cable (1993) #45-47, Wolverine (1988) #115-118, and Generation X (1994) #27 & 29-31.

X-Men: Uncanny X-Men by Kelly & Seagle (1998 – 1999) [AKA The Hunt for Xavier]

This long-demanded volume would collect a pair of runs that used to be our last color collection gap in X-Men comics, which was finally filled by a pair of 2018 trades called X-Men Blue, Vol. 0: Reunion and X-Men Gold, Vol. 0: Homecoming.

Neither of them were the “Vol. 0” of anything – they were just titled that way to attract fans of the current X-Men Blue (2017) and X-Men Gold (2017) runs to buying some difficult-to-market trades.

This is a run of the X-Men getting somewhat back to basics with a merged cast that absorbs Kitty, Nightcrawler, and Colossus back from Excalibur after a 20-year absense from X-Men flagships! It also includes a very active Jean Grey, who gets some of her first major plots for several years.

A vote for this book is a vote to finally see this material in oversize format, which fills one third of the remaining oversize gap in X-Men from 1997 to 1999.

This would collect X-Men (1991) #70-84, 1/2, & X-Men/Dr. Doom Annual 1998, Uncanny X-Men (1963) #351-365 & Uncanny X-Men/Fantastic Four ’98 (1998), X-Men Unlimited (1993) #17-22, and Cerebro’s Guide to the X-Men (1998) One Shot. It might also include X-Men Liberators (1998) #1-4, which fit in reading order here and Alpha Flight (19972) #9, the other perspective on UXM #355.

Note that the Blue/Gold trades omitted X-Men Unlimited (1993)#19 (Nightcrawler), #20 (Generation X), and #21 (X-Factor). But, the convention of the X-Men omnibus line is to include every issue of Unlimited.

X-Men: X-Men – Magneto War (1999) [fits prior to The Twelve]

This is the final omnibus we need to collect the gap prior to X-Men: The Twelve. Since it collects a relatively standalone story, there’s no reason we have to wait for the prior to volumes to get this one.

Since this is only recollecting the content of one 500-page paperback, there’s the opportunity to right some prior collection wrongs here. The most-tantalizing one would be to collect all of Bishop: The Last X-Man (1999) up until his return to the X-line.

A vote for this book is a vote to finally see the “Magneto War” storyline in oversize hardcover, which fills one third of the remaining gap in oversize X-Men prior to 2001.

This would collect Uncanny X-Men (1963) #366-371, X-Men (1991) #85-91 & Annual 7/1999; X-Men: The Magneto War (1999) #1; X-Men Unlimited (1993) #23 & 24 (B-stories); and Magneto Rex (1999) #1-3.

As this volume concludes with the “M-Tech” storyline, it could extend to include all of Warlock (1998) #1-9 and S-relevant material from X-51: The Machine Man (1998) #1-12. it also could collect all of Bishop: The Last X-Man (1999) #1-14 could also be added here (issues #15-16 are collected in the X-Men: Revolution Omnibus).

After that, read X-Men vs. Apocalypse: The Twelve Omnibus, X-Men: Revolution by Chris Claremont Omnibus, and X-Men: Eve of Destruction – see Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s. Voila – you’ve reached 2001 and the debut of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and Chris Claremont’s X-Treme X-Men.

PS: I know those books omit X-Men: Magik (2000). Check out the next post to see my solution to that.

X-Men Omnibus Mapping: Chris Claremont’s X-Men Forever

X-Men: Forever by Claremont (& Simonson) (2009 – 2011)

A vote for this book is a vote to collect Chris Claremont’s weird, woozy, and occasionally downright absurd dream extension of his original run on X-Men.

This would collect X-Men Forever Alpha (2009) #1 (a reprint of X-Men (1991) #1-3), X-Men Forever (2009) #1-24 & Annual 1, X-Men Forever Giant-Size (2010) #1, X-Men Forever 2 (2010) #1-16, and material from X-Men Forever Digital Preview (2009) #1.

We could also add two separate continuity “Forever” series by Louise Simonson to extend her respective runs that cut off shortly before Claremont’s departure, New Mutants Forever (2010) #1-5 and X-Factor Forever (2010) #1-5.

Want more X-Men omnibus mapping? Tune in later today for the past 25 years of X-Men, mapped!