X-Men Reading Order Guide – Era #7: Onslaught

Stories occurring between Uncanny X-Men #308 in January 1994 and Uncanny X-Men #337 in October 1996. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Collecting X-Men: A Definitive Guide. Last updated January 2013.

Ongoing X-related titles in this era:

• Uncanny X-Men #308-337
• Alpha Flight #128-130 (end)
• X-Factor #98-126
• Excalibur #72-101
• Wolverine, Vol. 2 #76-105
• Marvel Comics Presents  (features Wolverine) #150-175 (end)
• X-Force #29-58
• X-Men, Vol. 2 #27-57
• Cable #6-35
• X-Men Unlimited #3-12
• Generation X #1-19
• X-Man #1-19

Notes:

• This era includes the entire Age of Apocalypse event and all of its titles as well as Onslaught. The end of this era marks the start of the Heroes Reborn universe occupied by The Avengers and Fantastic Four.

X-Men Unlimited #3
When: For the moment, this issue has been orphaned by collections.

X-Force #26-31

Excalibur #72-74
When: Shadowcat appears next in Cable #9. Nightcrawler appears next in UXM #310.

X-Factor #93-100
When: #93 is best read with Fatal Attractions in the prior era, but it is not collected there so I have repeated it here. Professor X appears in #97 after UXM #309, but this is still the best place to read this overall story, since it occurs prior to the wedding issues.

The Wedding of Cyclops & Phoenix
Occurs across Uncanny X-Men: #308-310 & X-Men #27-30
When: Note that UXM Annual 18 precedes XMv2 #30 but is not collected with these issues

X-Factor/Spider-Man: Shadowgames

Wolverine #76-78

Cable #5-14: Classic, Vol 2
When: Cable #5-8 occurs prior to the wedding, though #12-14 occur after X-Force #32-37.

Excalibur #75-78

X-Factor #1o1-105 & Annual 9
When: #102 and Annual 9 occur prior to XMv2 #31

MCP #152-155: Wolverine

Wolverine #79-84

Uncanny X-Men #311-315 & Annual 18
+ X-Men Unlimited #4-5
When: The B-story in Annual 18 falls after #314, where it was released – though the majority of the issue belongs prior to XMv2 #30. UXM #315 exclusively features the Acolytes. X-Men Unlimited #4 comes after the wedding but before XMv2 #31.

Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix
When: Alternately, this time-travel story can be read prior to Cable’s debut in New Mutants, as it details his origins

X-Men, Vol. 2 #31-25
When: #31-32 are best placed directly after the X-Factor run, above, but you can read this entire chunk here.

Excalibur #79-81

X-Force #32-37

Deadpool Vol. 2 #1-4

Phalanx Covenant

Generation Next: Uncanny X-Men #316-317 & X-Men Vol. 2 #36-37

Life Signs: X-Factor #106, X-Force #38, Excalibur #82

Final Sanction: Wolverine #85 and Cable #16

X-Factor #107-109

X-Force #38-43

Cable #15-20
Collectd in Cable Classic, Vol. 3
When: Several X-Men appear in #16-19 after their appearances in UXM #314.

Uncanny X-Men #318
+ X-Men Unlimited #6-7
+ X-Men Annual 3
When: These issues form a bridge from Phalanx Covenant to Generation X.

Bishop #1-4

Generation X #1-4

Wolverine #86-90
When: Some of this occurs prior to X-Men Unlimited #7.

Rogue #1-4
When: Occurs prior to Uncanny X-Men #320

Excalibur #83-86
Collected in Excalibur Visionaries: Warren Ellis, Vol. 1
When: This begins just after the Bishop limited series. Note that stopping at #86 will cut this collection in half – you can just as easily read it in its entirety after the end of AOA.

Legion Quest & Age of Apocalypse

The correct read-order leading into this event is: XMv2 #38, UXM #319, XMv2 #39, UXM #320, X-Factor #108, X-Men #40, XFo #43, UXM #321, X-Men#41, Cable #20

The final issues prior to Age of Apocalypse were:

• • Uncanny X-Men #321
  • X-Factor #109
  • Excalibur #86
  • Wolverine #90
  • X-Force #43
  • X-Men, Vol. 2 #41
  • Cable #20
  • Generation X #4

See Marvel Events: Age of Apocalypse for the full collection and read-order of that event.

After Age of Apocalypse

This period begins with X-Men: Prime, which is reprinted in The Complete Age of Apocalypse, Vol. 4

Excalibur #83-90: Visionaries: Warren Ellis, Vol. 1
When: This begins just after Phalanx Covenant, but reading it in its entirety prior to AOA will create spoilers. #87 is the first issue following Phalanx Covenant.

X-Men: Gene Nation =
+ Uncanny X-Men #322-326
+ X-Men, Vol. 2 #42-45 & Annual 95
+ Wolverine #91 & Annual 95
+ X-Force #44
+ X-Men Unlimited #8
This has not been collected effectively.
When: This tightly plotted group of issues should be read in the following order: UXM #322, Wolv #91 & Ann95, XMv2 #42-44, XFo #44, UXM #323-324, XMv2 Ann95, #325, XMv2 #45, UXM #326, XMU #8

X-Factor #110-115

X-Force #44-48 & Cable #21-28
When: Cable #23 comes after UXM #326. X-Force & Cable Ann95 fits at the end of these issues.

Wolverine/Gambit: Victims
When: Begins after UXM #324 and Wolverine #92

Generation X #5-11 & Annual 95
When: #7 occurs after UXM #324. Ann95 is after UXM Ann95.

Wolverine #93-96 & Annual 95 + Ghost Rider #67-68
When: Begins after UXM #325 and Cable #23. Ghost Rider #68 comes after #96

Excalibur #91-95 + Starjammers #1-4
Collected in Excalibur Visionaries: Warren Ellis, Vol. 2

X-Factor #116-124
Not collected

X-Men: In the Red =
+ Uncanny X-Men #327-330
+ X-Men, Vol. 2 #46-49
+ X-Men Unlimited #9
+ Sabretooth: In the Red Zone
+ Archangel
See various pages for collection information but, spoiler alert, none of this is collected.
When: This tightly-plotted group of issues is best read as XMv2 #46, UXM #327,  XMv2 #47, XMU #9, UXM #328, Sabretooth: In the Red Zone, XMv2 #48, UXM #329-330, Archangel, XMv2 #49, XMU #10. Note that the Sabretooth ITRZ special directly follows UXM #328 as it conclusion.

X-Force #49-51 + Ann95
When: You should read UXM #328 prior to X-Force #51.

X-Man #5-14 & Cable #29-31
Collected in X-Man: Dance with the Devil
When: Cable #29 is before X-Men/Brood and X-Men #50.

X-Men: Wrath =
+ X-Men/Brood #1-2
+ Uncanny X-Men #331-332
+ Wolverine #97-103
+ X-Men #50-52
+ X-Men Unlimited #11-12
See various pages for collection information but, surprise!, none of this is collected effectively.
When: X/B comes after UXM #330, XMv2 #49, and Cable #31, so it is the next chronological X-Men story. Read this sequence as X/B #1-2, XMv2 #50, UXM #331, XMv2 #51-52, Wolv #97-100, UXM #332, Wolverine #101-103, XMU #11, XMU #12 (which can also be read as indicated below in Onslaught)

Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1-4
Cyclops and Phoenix depart for this time-travel tale from UXM #331.

Storm #1-4
When: Begins after UXM #333, but is not a part of Onslaught.

X-Force #52-58
When: The team appears here after UXM #331. X-Force #57-58 include effects of Onslaught, as noted below.

Generation X #12-19
When: Much of the cast appears here directly from UXM #331. #18-19 include effects of Onslaught, as noted below.

Onslaught

This crossover is about as confusing as Marvel gets – over 30 issues in two months divided into Phases and Impacts. What does it mean? It’s actually pretty simple: “Phase” issues are the main action and “Impact” issues are the resulting effects.

When it comes to reading order, you can choose to skip non-X-title Impact issues.

Event Prologue: UXM #333, EXC #99, XMa #15-17, Cable #32-33, XMv2 #53, XMU #11, UXM #334, XMv2 #54, Onslaught: X-Men

Phase 1 (& Impact 1): UXM #335, XMa #18, (XFo #57), Cable #34, (IncredHulk #444), Avengers #401, (Exc #100), FF #415, (XFa #125), (GenX #18), (WolV2 #104), XMv2 #55

Phase 2 (& Impact 2): UXM #336, (XFa #126), Cable #35, (XFo #58), (IncredHulk #445), (Iron Man #332), (Avengers #402), (Punisher #11), XMa #19, (Green Goblin #12), FF #416, (GenX #19), (Amazing Spider-Man #415), (WolV2 #105), (Spider-Man #72), XMv2 #56, (XMU #12)

Event Epilogue: Onslaught Marvel Universe, UXM #337, XMv2 #57, Onslaught: Epilogue

Of course, the collections don’t really align to this distinction at all – especially when it comes to the Impact issues, some of which are collected in full and some of which are only excerpted. Argh!

I summarize Marvel’s collection of this event in full in Marvel Events: Onslaught. However, for your reading purposes it might also be helpful to understand – at a glance – what is collected with Onslaught Vol. 0-4 and what isn’t. As you can see in the summary below, Excalibur, X-Men Unlimited, and Generation X are not collected with this event.

• • Uncanny X-Men #333-337 = Collected
  • X-Factor #125-126 = Collected
  • Excalibur #99-100 = Not Collected (but available separately in Ellis Visionaries)
  • Wolverine, Vol. 2 #104-105 = Collected
  • X-Force #57-58 = Collected
  • X-Men, Vol. 2 #53-57 = Collected
  • Cable #34-35 = Collected
  • X-Men Unlimited #12 = Not Collected
  • Generation X #18-19 = Not Collected
  • X-Man #15-19 = Collected

After Onslaught

Excalibur #96-104 & Pryde & Wisdom #1-3
Collected in Excalibur Visionaries: Warren Ellis, Vol. 3
When: #99-100 include effects of Onslaught.

Era #6: Fatal Attractions  X-Men Reading Order Guide  Era #8: Reassembled