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’90s X-Men Reading Order (1991-2001) – Part. 2: Fatal Attractions, Age of Apocalypse, Onslaught, Zero Tolerance, and more

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This is Part #2 of our tentative to compile a comprehensive X-Men Reading Order using the collected editions – You can find the first part here (The Silver Age & Chris Claremont, 1963-91). Now, it’s the ’90s!

A new decade full of events. Yes, it’s when Marvel almost perish under the weight of its commercial ambitions and gave us too many events and series to follow. For the mutants, it was a period of big storylines, some of them became iconic, others are almost forgotten today. But first, there was the launch of a new X-Men series. Xavier and the original X-Men are back. As a result, we got two teams, two books: Storm’s “Gold Team” (in The Uncanny X-Men) and Cyclops’s “Blue Team” (chronicled in X-Men). Also, new spin-offs joined the line-up: X-Force, Generation X, and numerous solo series like Deadpool, Cable, Bishop, X-Man, and Gambit. At one point, Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter was replaced with Mutant X.

This is a massive reading guide, so here is a menu to help you navigate. Some parts are under construction for now. I’ll keep updating this article regularly.

Menu

The reading guide is a work in progress. It’s a major project, it will take time to complete.

  1. X-Men: The Silver Age Reading Order (1963-70)
  2. The Chris Claremont X-Men Reading Order (1975-1991)
  3. ’90s X-Men Reading Order (1991-2001)
    1. From the launch of X-Men Vol. 2 to Fatal Attractions
    2. The Road to Age of Apocalypse
    3. The Road to Onslaught
    4. The Road to Zero Tolerance
    5. X-Men: From Blue and Gold to The Twelve
    6. X-Men: Revolution & Maximum Security
  4. The Modern Era Reading Order with Grant Morrison (2001-2004)
  5. X-Men ReLoad Reading Order (2004-2007)
  6. Messiah trilogy, Dark Reign, Schism, Avengers Vs X-Men Reading Order (2007–2012)
  7. X-Men: Marvel NOW Reading Order (2012-2015)
  8. All-New, All-Different Marvel X-Men Reading Order (2015-2017)
  9. ResurrXion Era Reading Order (2017-2020)
  10. The X-Men of Krakoa Reading Order: Dawn of X/Reign of X (2020-2021)
  11. The X-Men of Krakoa Reading Order: Destiny of X (2022-)

90s X-Men Reading Order (1991-2001)

Last Additions:

I. From the launch of X-Men Vol. 2 to Fatal Attractions

The first volume of New Mutants just ended, but Rob Liefield jumped to a new series called X-Force (introduced in New Mutants #100) with the help of writer Fabian Nicieza. In the beginning, this new team included Boom-Boom, Cable, Cannonball, Domino, Feral, Shatterstar, Warpath, and Siryn. For more information, go to the X-Force Reading Order.

Infinity War
Collects Infinity War #1-6, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7-10 and Marvel Comics Presents #108-111.

Spectacular Spider-Man #197-199
The X-Men teamed up with Spidey, if you can find the arc.

Infinity Crusade
The sequel to Infinity War. Collects Infinity Crusade #1-6; Warlock Chronicles #1-5; Warlock And The Infinity Watch #18-22; Thor #463-467; Iron Man #294-295; Avengers West Coast #96-97; Darkhawk #30-31; Cage #17; Alpha Flight #122-127; Marc Spector: Moon Knight #57; Silver Surfer #83-85; Deathlok #28; Material From Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #54-56; Web Of Spider-Man #104-106; Silver Sable & The Wild Pack #16-17; Deathlok #29.

  • X-Force Epic Collection: Assault On Graymalkin
    Collects X-Force (1991) #20-26 And Annual #2, Cable (1993) #1-4, Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1-4, and Nomad (1992) #20.

    • Those issues are all collected in Deadpool and X-Force Omnibus (X-Force #19-31, Annual #2; Cable (1993) #1–8; Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1-4; Deadpool (1994) #1-4; New Warriors (1990) #31; Nomad #20)
  • X-Men Epic Collection: Legacies
    Collects Uncanny X-Men (1981) #297-300, Uncanny X-Men Annual (1992) #17, X-Men (1991) #17-23, Stryfe’s Strike File And X-Men Unlimited (1993) #1. Some of those issues are also in the next book on the list.

Spider-Man: The Mutant Agenda
Collects Spider-Man: The Mutant Agenda #0-3 and Marvel Team-Up (1972) #90.

  • Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties
    Collects Avengers #368-369, Avengers West Coast #101, X-Men (vol. 2) #26, Uncanny X-Men #307 and Black Knight: Exodus #1.

The omnibus editions:

  • X-factor By Peter David Omnibus Vol. 1
    Collects X-Factor (1986) #55, #70-92; X-Factor Annual (1986) #7-8; Incredible Hulk (1968) #390-392; material from X-Factor Annual (1986) #5-6; New Mutants Annual (1984) #6.
  • Excalibur Omnibus Vol. 2
    Collects Excalibur #35-67, Excalibur: Weird War III #1, Excalibur: The Possession (1991) #1, Excalibur: Air Apparent #1, Excalibur: XX Crossing #1, Sensational She-Hulk #26; material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #75, 110.

II. The Road to Age of Apocalypse

There’s a new spin-off of the X-Men: Generation X, a team of teenage mutants mentored by Banshee and former supervillainess Emma Frost.

It’s time for The Age of Apocalypse. For more details, go read the dedicated X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Reading Order.

  • X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus
    Collects Uncanny X-Men #320-321, X-Men #40-41, Cable #20, X-Men Alpha, Amazing X-Men #1-4, Astonishing X-Men #1-4, Factor X #1-4, Gambit & The Externals #1-4, Generation Next #1-4, Weapon X #1-4, X-Calibre #1-4, X-Man #1-4, X-Men Omega, Age Of Apocalypse : The Chosen and X-Men Ashcan #2.
  • X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus Companion
    X-Men Chronicles #1-2, Tales from the Age of Apocalypse #1-2, X-Man #-1 & 53-54, Blink #1-4, X-Universe #1-2, Exiles (2001) #60-61, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (2005) one-shot & #1-6, What If? (1989) #77 & 81, What If? X-Men Age of Apocalypse; and portions of Hulk: Broken Worlds #2, X-Men Prime, X-Man Annual 96, X-Men: Endangered Species, Exiles: Days of Then & Now, and the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Age of Apocalypse 2005.

III. The Road to Onslaught

The stories leading to the Onslaught crossover events are now collected in an omnibus collection: X-Men: Road to Onslaught Omnibus Vol. 1 (Collects X-Men Prime #1, Uncanny X-Men (1981) #322-328, Uncanny X-Men Annual ’95, X-Men (1991) #42-47, X-Men Annual ’95, X-Men Unlimited (1993) #8-9, Sabretooth Special #1, Wolverine/Gambit: Victims #1-4 And Starjammers (1995) #1-4).

There’s a big hole in the X-Factor collected editions, issues #110 to 124 are missing for now.

It’s time for Onslaught. For more details, go read the dedicated X-Men: Onslaught Reading Order.

  • X-Men / Avengers: Onslaught Omnibus
    Collects Wolverine #104-105; Cable #32-36; Uncanny X-Men #333-337; X-Force #55, #57-58; X-Man #15-19; X-Men (vol. 2) #53-57, Annual ’96; X-Men Unlimited #11; Onslaught: X-Men, Marvel Universe, Epilogue; Avengers #401-402; Fantastic Four #415; Incredible Hulk #444-445; X-Factor #125-126; Amazing Spider-Man #415; Green Goblin #12; Spider-Man #72; Iron Man #332; Punisher #11; Thor #502; X-Men: Road to Onslaught #1; material from Excalibur #100, Fantastic Four #416.

IV. The Road to Zero Tolerance

More than before, there is a really big hole in the collected editions during the pose-Onslaught era: Generation X, X-Factor, X-Force, and Cable.

not collected yet: Cable #37-44, X-Factor #127-135, X-Force #59-66, X-Force and Cable Annuals

This is when the Solo ongoing Deadpool series began. Connections to the X-Men books are limited, but I’ll include most of the Deadpool titles. For more, I recommend our Deadpool Reading Order.

not collected yet: Uncanny X-Men #347-350.

V. X-Men: From Blue and Gold to The Twelve

not collected yet: X-Factor #136-149, Excalibur #115-125, X-Force #71-86, X-Man #31-45, X-Men Unlimited #19-21. The Mutant X series follows Havok on a parallel dimension (Earth-1298) and is set after the conclusion of X-Factor. It is not considered in continuity and has no impact on the rest, but if you follow Havok, the character will come back later in Uncanny X-Men #410.

This is when Marvel launched the “M-Tech” imprint with three new different titles: The first series was X-51, starring the Machine Man, then a Deathlok series, and a Warlock one with the revived New Mutant.

not collected yet: those M-Tech series except Deathlock, but also Generation X #48-58, X-Force #87-100, Cable #72-74, Wolverine #140-144.

not collected yet: X-Force #87-100 & Annual 7/1999, Generation X #59-62, Bishop: The Last X-Men #1-14,

VI. X-Men: Revolution & Maximum Security

Coming Next: The Modern Era Reading Order (2001-2007)

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