The Definitive X-Men Reading Order (that’s also easy to follow!)
I’ve been an X-Men fan for over 30 years, but I’ve never found a perfect reading order for X-Men comic books – so I decided to build one myself!
I examined every X-Men title, issue, and major appearance published in their first 50 years and organized them into a single X-Men reading order.
My approach is a little different than other guides. I’ve tried to examine the X-Men’s entire history one story at a time – so you can read without switching comics mid-story. I don’t think inserting single issues between one another or even switching mid-issue makes for an ideal reading experience.
This X-Men reading order takes advantage of the breaks in stories created by Marvel’s collected editions wherever possible and was built by referencing release dates, chronology guides, and Marvel’s own Official Indexes.
The result? An easy-to-follow guide that threads all X-Men titles together like one massive crossover.
Is a comprehensive X-Men reading order more than you were looking for? For a trade reading order guide to any single X-Men title, like Uncanny X-Men or Wolverine, head to the Crushing Comics – Guide to Marvel Comics!
Or, try Instant X-Pert, which only include stories that were the highlights of the first 50 years of X-Men comics leading up to Avengers vs. X-Men.
How does the X-Men reading order work?
Click one of the Eras below based on the period you’re interested in or the dates your comics were originally released.
If you’re not sure where to start, each X-Men reading order era begins with a list of all the ongoing series released in that time period. Each era breaks down the primary X-Men narrative (usually contained in Uncanny X-Men) into digestible chunks divided by major storylines like “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and “Avengers vs. X-Men.”
I am constantly updating these eras with notes from my own re-reading as well as improvements from commenters and patrons!
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The Eras of X-Men
Era #0: Before X-Men
Stories occurring prior or parallel to X-Men #1 in September 1963 – as well as “Origins” and “Before the X-Men” types of series.
Era #1: Original X-Men
Stories from X-Men #1 in September 1963 through (but not including) Giant-Size X-Men #1 in May 1975
Era #2: Second Genesis
Giant-Size X-Men #1 in May 1975 to Uncanny X-Men #140 in December 1981
Era #3: New Mutants
Uncanny X-Men #141 in January 1981 to Uncanny X-Men #198 in October 1985
Era #4: X-Factor
Uncanny X-Men #199 in November 1985 to Uncanny X-Men #243 in April 1989
Era #5: X-Tinction
Uncanny X-Men #244 in May 1989 to Uncanny X-Men #280 in September 1981
Era #6: Fatal Attractions
Uncanny X-Men #281 & X-Men, Vol. 2 #1 in October 1991 to Uncanny X-Men #307 in December 1993
Era #7: Onslaught
Uncanny X-Men #308 in January 1994 to Uncanny X-Men #337 in October 1996.
Era #8: Reassembled
Uncanny X-Men #338 in November 1996 to Uncanny X-Men #365 February 1999.
Era #9: Revolution
Uncanny X-Men #362 in December 1998 to Uncanny X-Men #393 in June 2001.
Era #10: New X-Men
Uncanny X-Men #394 and New X-Men #114 in July 2001 to Uncanny X-Men #443 in June 2004.
Era #11: The New Age
Uncanny X-Men #444 in July 2004 to Uncanny X-Men #465 in December 2005. This begins with the immediately post-Morrison period and concludes with House of M.
Era #12: Endangered Species
Uncanny X-Men #466 in January 2006 to Uncanny X-Men #491 in December 2007. It includes the events Decimation, Civil War, and World War Hulk.
Era #13: Manifest Destiny
Uncanny X-Men #495 in April 2008 to Uncanny X-Men #525 in August 2010, which spans Messiah Complex to Second Coming. It includes the events includes Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, and Siege.
Era #14: Breaking Points
Uncanny X-Men #526 in September 2010 to Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2 #20 in October 2012, including all of Fear Itself and Avengers vs. X-Men.
Hi. I’m interested in getting into the X-Men but I don’t know where to start. I’m a fan of Astonishing X-Men but not so much the 60s & 70s X-Men, the overly cheesy era. If anybody could make any suggestions that would be great. Thanks!
Timothy, a lot of Astonishing fans would either hop backwards to the immediately preceding Grant Morrison New X-Men or move forward to the next chronological story, Messiah Complex.
Of course, there are MANY prior jumping on points in Uncanny X-Men that come after the original Silver Age era you want to avoid; I’ve listed them here: https://www.crushingkrisis.com/definitive-guide-to-collecting-x-men-as-graphic-novels/where-to-start-reading-x-men-comic-books/#uxm
Hi, first of all, great work! Your X-men Guide is fabulous. I wonder if you’ll continue your guide after Era #15, since 2016 marks a new beginning to the marvel comics. I hope so.
Frank, I continue to debate if I’m going to continue the Reading Order. I have a lot of that next period mapped out, but it would take a TON of time to re-read it as I put it together and right now I’d love to spend that time on making new character guides. I may wind up making this a stretch goal for my Patreon campaign.
Hi, first of all great work on the site and the guide. I just started reading Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender and love it. Its just that I dont know where to go back to start. People recommended this but ive been seeing other recommendations.
Grant Morrison’s New Xmen
Joss Whedon’s Astonishing Xmen 1-12
House of M and the House of M: Decimation
Astonishing Xmen 13-24 and Giant Sized Astonishing Xmen 1
Xmen: Deadly Genesis
Xmen: Messiah Complex
Xmen: Divided We Stand
Xmen/Dark Avengers: Utopia
Xmen Second Coming
Xmen: Schism
Avengers vs Xmen
Mark, comics fans are crazy people who would tell you to read forward from X-Men #1 in 1963 if you have the time, and that includes me. I’ve got an article called “Where to Start Reading X-Men” that suggests start points across multiple series. That said, I don’t always think it’s worthwhile to cast back years and years to find a perfect start point when you’re enjoying current material – sometimes it’s best to hopskotch backward a chunk at a time. From that perspective, one major hop back from UXF is Messiah Complex.
However, here’s the honest truth about Uncanny X-Force: It reads just fine on it’s own, but it doesn’t really hurt to have read X-Force, Vol. 3 (for background on Angel’s recent history) or the Weapon X arc of New X-Men (for background on Fantomex).
I don’t really understand that list, as it’s a mix of single series and events and has at least one thing out of order. Happy to provide some clarification on a more specific question about how to use it.
Hi. I want to say thank you for this list. I have honestly read almost a great deal of comics and love having a good system for it. I do have to ask though. When will era 15 be ready? I’m pretty much reading up to date on new books but I have no clue what I’m missing from that missing era. I do so hope you finish that one. There’s a lot of books in there and don’t want to miss a single one. Thank you again for all your hard work. I can’t even imagine how you went about this.
While I know it’s nowhere near as concise or aesthetically pleasing as your lists, I went ahead and compiled my own orders for what would be “15 – Yesterday’s X-Men” and what I would call “16 – All New All Different X-Men”, 16 is still very much a work in progress as it would be Secret Wars until now, which doesn’t leave room for much more than 10-11 months of comics.
That said, for anyone interested, my list for “15” is below. This goes from the end of “Era #15”, or the end of AvX, directly into Secret Wars.
I wouldn’t recommend going into Secret Wars without reading Hickman’s ENTIRE Avengers and New Avengers runs leading in, but that’s a conversation for a different time and place…
I cannot guarantee this is complete, it has been culled from a variety of sources, but the majority of the initial ordering came from http://comicbinding.com/mapping/complete-x-men-volumes-88-100-the-new-revolution with some heavy modifications by myself as warranted while reading.
AoA – Extinction:
Age of Apocalypse #1-13
Astonishing X-Men #57-58 & Annual
X-Treme X-Men #1-12
Astonishing X-Men #59
X-Termination #1
Astonishing X-Men #60
Age of Apocalypse #14
X-Treme X-Men #13
Astonishing X-Men #61
X-Termination #2
New Union:
X-Men Legacy (2013) #1
Uncanny Avengers (2012) #1-4
A+X #2
Cable and X-Force #1-5
Gambit #1-8
A+X #3
Wolverine & X-Men #19-20
X-Men LEgacy #2-6
Wolverine & X-Men #21-23
X-Men #40-41
A+X #9
All New X-Men (2013) #1-8
Wolverine & X-Men #24
X-Men Origins: Cyclops
X-Men Origins: Jean Grey
Let it Bleed:
Uncanny X-Force #1-4
A+X #1
X-Men Legacy #7-9
Cable and X-Force #6-9
A+X #7
Gambit #9-17
Uncanny X-Force #5-9
X-Men Legacy #10-12
Uncanny X-Force #10-15
X-Men Legacy #13-14
A+X #10
Astonishing X-Men #62-68
X-Men Origins: Colossus
Fantomex Max #1-4
The New Revolution:
X-Men (2013) #1-3
Wolverine & X-Men #25-28
Uncanny X-Men (2013) #1-3
All New X-Men #9-11
Uncanny X-Men #4
A+X #11
Uncanny X-Men #5-7
Uncanny Avengers #5-6
All New X-Men #12-14
A+X #12
Wolverine & X-Men #29-35
Uncanny X-Men #8-11
A+X #13, 17
X-Men #4
All New X-Men #15
X-Men Origins: Beast
X-Men Origins: Iceman
Ragnarok Now:
Cable and X-Force #10-14
Uncanny Avengers #7-23
All New X-Men Special #1
A+X #14, 15, 11, 10
Marvel Knights X-Men (2013) #1-5
Wear the Grudge Like a Crown:
X-Men Legacy #15-24
Cable and X-Force #15-18
Uncanny X-Force #16
Cable and X-Force #19
Uncanny X-Force #17
X-Men Legacy #300
Wolverine (2013) #1-13
Origin II #1-5
Battle of the Atom:
X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1
All New X-Men #16
X-Men #5
Uncanny X-Men #12
Wolverine and the X-Men #36
All New X-Men #17
X-Men #6
Uncanny X-Men #13
Wolverine & X-Men #37
X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2
Wolverine & X-Men Annual #1
A+X #4
All New X-men #18
Uncanny X-Men #14
All New X-Men #19-21
Uncanny X-Men #15-16
Wolverine & X-Men #38-40
Amazing X-Men (2014) #1-6
Wolverine & X-Men #41-42
Amazing X-Men #7
A+X #5-6
DOOP #1-5
X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler
A+X #16, 18
X-Men Gold (2014)
Trail of Jean Grey:
Amazing X-Men Annual (2014) #1
Magneto #1-4
Uncanny X-Men #17
All New X-Men #22
Uncanny X-Men #18
Guardians of the Galaxy #11
All New X-Men #23
Guardians of the Galaxy #12
All New X-Men #24
Guardians of the Galaxy #13
X-Men: No More Humans (OGN)
Uncanny X-Men #19-22
X-Men #7-12
Cyclops #1-6
Uncanny X-Men Special (2014)
X-Men 100th Anniversary (2014)
Tomorrow Never Learns:
Wolverine & X-Men (2014) #1-9
Wolverine (2014) #1-12
Nightcrawler (2014) #1-6
Amazing X-Men #8-13
X-Men #13-17
All New X-Factor #1-6
X-Force 1-6
Wolverine Annual (2014)
X-Men #18-21
All New X-Factor #7-14
X-Force #7-15
Last Will and Testament:
All New X-Men #25-30
Uncanny X-Men #23-31
Uncanny X-Men Annual (2013)
All New X-Men Annual (2013)
All New X-Men #31-37
Death of Wolverine:
Storm (2014) #1-3
Uncanny Avengers #24
Death of Wolverine #1-4
Nightcrawlers #7
Death of Wolverine: Life After Logan
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #2
Storm #4
Wolverine & X-Men #10-11
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #3-4
Storm #5-8
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #5-6
Magneto #5-8
X-Men: Magneto Testament #1-5
The Logan Legacy:
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #1
Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program #1-5
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #7
Wolverines #1-20
Axis:
Magneto #9
Uncanny Avengers #24
Magneto #10
Uncanny Avengers #25
Avengers & X-Men Axis #1
Axis: Revolutions #1
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #2
Magneto #11
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #3
Magneto #12
All-New X-Factor #15
All-New X-Factor #16
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #4
All-New X-Factor #17
Amazing X-Men #14
Axis #5
Axis: Revolutions #2
Axis: Revolutions #3
Axis: Revolutions #4
Wolverine & The X-Men #12
Axis #7
Axis #8
Axis #9
X-Men Final:
Amazing X-Men #15-19
Nightcrawler #8-12
X-Men #22-26
All New X-Factor #18-20
Cyclops #7-11
Storm #9-11
Black Vortex:
Black Vortex Alpha #1
Guardians of the Galaxy #24
Legendary Star-Lord #9
All New X-Men #38-39
Guardians Team Up #3
Nova #28
Legendary Star Lord #10
Cyclops #12
Captain Marvel #14
Legendary Star Lord #11
Black Vortex Omega #1
Tidying Up:
Magneto #13-17
Uncanny Avengers (2015) #1-4
NEXT: SECRET WARS 2015!!
Thank you!
I have only one doubt about it: A+X #8 is not listed and I see #10 and #11 repeated a couple times…
Hello there. Is there a collected edition of Uncanny X-Men where Wolverine is crucified by the Reavers? Looking forward to read the full story arc.
I literally read this every day. Amazing works!
I want to get into X-men comics. I have uncanny X-men all 544 issues for an ebook. What comes after that. Can someone please list me everything in order and include spin-offs and just everything in chronological order. I have been googling this all day and I can’t find a complete guide to start from the beginning and just read every single issue and spin-offs in chronological order. I’d really appreciate it.
Jenners, it sounds as though you are in the right place – because I’ve looked for that exact thing in the past, and it’s how I wound up writing this guide! If you follow the Eras in this guide, it’s exactly what you describe: a complete guide to start from the beginning and read every single issue in chronological order. Let me know if you have specific questions!
Hey Peter! I was wondering when you plan on updating this guide to include the newer eras on X-Men. I’ve made my through Era #4 now and am looking to get some of the recently released TPB and OHC but I have no clue what I’m doing. No pressure, just wondering.
Hi Krisis. Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you taking the time yo make this guide. I’ve been watching your Crushing Comics series on Youtube. What a great idea foe a video series!! Thanks again!
I’m planning to read all the X-Men and supportive titles I can get my hands on from 1963 to 2001. My only confuses went to read X-Men 2099. Please tell me when to read them and don’t say they can we were at anytime. I need to read him sometime and somebody has to tell me when. And Kudos on a great list it’s really got me back in X-Men.
I’m rereading my X-Men Comics based on this guide. The only thing I don’t knows when I read X-Men 2099. Please don’t say any time but give me an idea when I should read them. Thank you and great list!
X-Men 2099 has nothing to do with the main timeline of X-Men – it’s not even strongly connected to the future timelines of Cable, Rachel Summers, et al. Spider-Man 2099 is one of the only 2099 characters to spend significant story time in the main 616 Universe – and even that came much later in his existence as a character.
Thus, it has no intersection with your X-Men reading at all! You could just intersperse it with your read in chunks based on its release dates (it began the same month as Fatal Attractions and ended during Onslaught, with the final 2099 story in
2099: World of Tomorrow (1996) #8 out just before Operation: Zero Tolerance).
There is a character who eventually turns up a few years later in X-Force #91-92, so you should finish all of your 2099 reading by then.
I was wondering when you were going to continue on to the next era. Era #15: Yesterday’s X-Men
Thanks for this in depth guide. Looking forward to seeing more
I’m also looking forward to era #15!
Best regards and keep up the awesome work!
Hey,I want to start reading X-men and I am starting to read uncanny X-men(ISSUE #1) release in 2019.I wanted to know if I should read soem other comics before it or should directly jump into it. It will be helpful if you can also suggest some other X-men storylines which will be cool to read.
Hi, I’ve recently started the House of M/No More Mutants Storyline and im currently reading deadly genesis, but i am tryung to find a “super guide” for the entire story even if its the tiniest tie in to this storyline i’ll read it.
When are we getting eras 15-17?
Anxiously waiting for this as well
Does this still get updated?
Wjes, I’m always working to clarify and expand the reading order through 2012, but I don’t presently have plans to cover 2012-2019 with a reading order.
Do the ‘Classic X-men’ and ‘x-men first class’ collections (the modern stories telling unheard stories from the past in both cases, not classic as in old but the title of the book) detail where they fit in between old issues or are they just from general time periods? Say if I wanted to read then chronologically story wise
Classic X-Men collections do, but First Class do not.
Hi. This is exactly what i need. Ive currently just finished the Second Genesis era and will get to New Mutants as soon as I’ve located all the titles mentioned. Youve been a tremendous help.
But its not complete 😢 when will it be updated?
Alas, I have very little interest in re-reading X-Men comics from 2013 and on, so this reading order stops at AvX.
Will this guide ever get caught up?
Ah nevermind, just saw the comment where I guess it won’t. Bummer.
John, I appreciate that you’re interested in this guide getting caught up to present! Right now my focus is on tightening and adding clarity to all of the existing reading order eras, which is a time-consuming process (as well as updating the 200+ guides on CK). While I would never say never to expanding this guide to new eras in the long-term, there are a lot of folks out there more passionate about post-2012 X-Men then I am who have worked to cover 2012 to present.
I was going to be sad about this update, but as I am just now embarking on this journey, there is a solid chance you get to updating it sooner than I get halfway through your content. Currently reading a lot of your recommendations to get prepared for the Claremont era. Thank you so much for the hard work, I would have dove in headfirst after only reading origins and first class, but there is so much I would have missed. You’re the real hero here!
P.S. if anyone reads this, is Captain Britain worth reading? At this time that is one of the only things I plan to skip, other than the Super Spider-Man issues that fall in the early Claremont era and other crossovers of his.
You truly don’t need Captain Britain to enjoy X-Men. I’d say that there’s a fair bit of his later Moore/Davis material that Excalibur references pretty heavily, but there are many thousands of people who have never read all of it and still loved Excaibur (myself included).