Crushing Krisis

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Exiles

Oversize X-Men: A map of every existing omnibus, plus what’s missing (Part 3: 2001 to 2008)

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I’m back with a third installment of the ultimate X-Men omnibus mapping, finding a way to squeeze just about every issue of X-titles into a cohesive bookshelf of handy omnibus volumes.

Okay, they’re not actually all that handy. Most of them could probably be wielded as a deadly weapon.

Today’s era begins with Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men starting on #114 in 2001 and ends with the final issue of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, which is the last thing that happens to any X-Men prior to Messiah Complex. Of course, there are a lot of other series contained in that material – you’ll immediately note that neither of those historic runs address a single issue of Uncanny X-Men!

Every one of those issues is covered in this post. Why? To give you ideas for the The Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot, where you vote for the comic runs you’d most like to see in an oversized format. Monday I covered all of X-Men from 1963 to 1991, and yesterday I covered 1991 to 2001.

There are 25 potential omnibus volumes in this material! Many of their contents are high debatable, but that’s part of the fun – collected edition mapping is a contentious pastime. Heck, I don’t even agree with how Marvel does things half of the time! If you have a correction or disagreement don’t hold back – sound off in the comments below.

Now, prepare to be fully educated in the seedy underbelly of this period of all-star X-Men writers, including some books I am sure you never knew existed unless you are a superfreak of a walking Encyclopedia-X like I am.

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The Definitive Exiles Collecting Guide and Reading Order

The Exiles comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated June 2020 with titles scheduled for release through March 2021.

Exiles (2001) - 0001The launch of Exiles in 2001 by writer Judd Winick with author Mike McKone was Marvel’s first long-running ongoing with a continuously-told story combining reality-hopping and alternate versions of heroes.

Prior to the launch of Ultimate Comics in 200o, Marvel Comics had a slim list of ongoing titles that lived permanently in alternate continuities – and Exiles was nothing like Ultimate Comics. Ultimate had the goal of the alternate universe as verisimilitude – the environment started the same as the main Marvel Universe only more modern, and the fascination was watching it splinter.

McKone’s pitch for Exiles followed the debut of Ultimate Comics and swiped the title of a 1990s Malibu series, but it had much more to do with Marvel’s classic series What If. What If never told a consistent story – in fact, there were hardly ever two issues which focused on the same tale! Each one-shot take hopped to a new reality to imagine the most twisted possibilities.

Exiles combined that reality-hopping approach with a consistent team, much like Chris Claremont’s classic Excalibur story The Cross-Time Caper. Instead of starting with a team of known 616-reality heroes, McKone drew inspiration from Age of Apocalypse. That event presented four months of an alternate reality full of X-Men reimagined to take advantage of their best and worst qualities. Exiles would do the same, only with a palette of infinite realities from which to choose.

Lead by the short-lived but hugely-popular X-Men character Blink, this collection of alternate-reality X-Men had little impact on the main X-continuity. Despite that, the book is regarded highly by fans – at least, it was when it was helmed by creator Judd Winnick. By contrast, any issues penned by Uncanny scribes Chris Claremont and Chuck Austen aren’t as popular with fans. [Read more…] about The Definitive Exiles Collecting Guide and Reading Order