Best X-men Stories Of The 2000s

[Geneva Andreotti]

TheX-Men spent the 90s at the top of the sales roost, but many questioned the quality of the books. The 2000s opened with the X-Men still at the top of the charts, and Marvel's creative renaissance of the 2000s benefited the team. Over the decade, the team's books fell from the heights they had attained, as Marvel started to push the Avengers, but fans still loved the X-Men.

The 2000s saw some amazing X-Men books released. While Marvel did begin the marginalization of the team during the decade, the publisher still blessed the books with amazing talent. The decade was great for the X-Men stories.

Many epic Marvel events felt rushed, something that affected the Dark Reign. While this publishing initiative mostly dealt with the Avengers and the mainline Marvel books, the X-Men got their chance to fight the Dark Avengers in X-Men/Avengers: Utopia, by writer Matt Fraction and artists Marc Silvestri, Luke Ross, Mike Deodato Jr., and Terry Dodson.

The story kicked off the Utopia Era for the X-Men, as the team created their own island nation to escape Norman Osborn and the Superhero Initiative. The story introduced the Dark X-Men, and ended with a barn burner of a battle between Osborn's forces and the X-Men. It's a great story, like many of the tent pole stories of Dark Reign.

Astonishing X-Men was the flagship X-Men book for its first twenty-four issues. Written by Joss Whedon with art by John Cassaday, the book was highly regarded at the time, but hasn't stood up well for a variety of reasons. However, the final story is easily the best the book got.

It pit the team against the forces of Breakworld, an alien world that an X-Man was prophesied to destroy. The X-Men and sci-fi always went well together, and this book's retro feel definitely helped this story out. It ended the run greatly and is worth checking out.

A lot of the early Ultimate Universe didn't age well, but there are some stories that definitely hold up. Ultimate X-Men/The Ultimates: Ultimate War, by writer Mark Millar and artist Chris Bachalo, pit the Ultimate Universe's two biggest teams against each other in a no holds barred battle. It was the kind of action spectacle that Millar did so well.

Ultimate Universe crossovers were rare at first, and this one remains the best. The four issue story is well paced and plays off current plot lines from both books. Bachalo's art is amazing and truly makes this story sing.

X-Men status quo changes have always played a big part in the team's history, with New X-Men's focus on the school giving readers some great stories. New X-Men: Riot at Xavier's, by writer Grant Morrison and artists Keron Grant and Frank Quitely, used the school as backdrop. A group of students led by Quentin Quire decided to fight the power at the school and attack on its first open house.

The story saw the group of students, led by the ultra-powerful Quire, pull one over on the team. The story was exciting and used the X-Men's school setting in a novel way. Quire would become a big deal in the team's future and this story started New X-Men towards its biggest stories.

X-Men stories can be thought-provoking, something that X-Men: Supernovas played into. Written by Mike Carey with art by Chris Bachalo and Clayton Henry, the book introduced the posthuman group the Children of the Vault. This new evolution of humanity, combining machines and genetics, set their sights on the reduced mutant race.

It also introduced Rogue's rapid response team - Mystique, Iceman, Cannonball, Sabretooth, Lady Mastermind, and Omega Sentinel - as they battle the new group. It's an action-packed story that debuted a new factor in the war between humanity and mutants. It also kicked off Carey's long run, planting seeds that come home to roost in the future.

X-Men history is full of great action stories. The best of the 00s was New X-Men: Assault on Weapon Plus, by writer Grant Morrison and artist Chris Bachalo. Wolverine hunts down an AWOL Cyclops and enlists him in a mission alongside X-Men ally Fantomex. The three of them invade the World, the home of Weapon Plus.

Weapon Plus had been mentioned earlier in the book and this story put readers inside their home. It's an amazing Morrison sci-fi concept, a genetic laboratory using time control technology to create the ultimate living weapons. Bachalo was the perfect artist for this story, his unconventional style bringing it all to life.

Grant Morrison's time at Marvel was short, but they went out with a bang. New X-Men: Planet X, with artist Phil Jimenez, was their penultimate story and closed out many of their plots. Xorn was revealed to be Magneto, and the Master of Magnetism revealed himself by decimating the team. He then attacked Manhattan, and the wounded X-Men had to come together to defeat him.

The story ended with the death of both Jean Grey and Magneto and would be retconned to death when Morrison left. However, at the time it was a shocking story. What made it all the more so was the way Morrison characterized Magneto, making him into a deluded terrorist and not a sympathetic villain. It's a different, yet still valid, take on the villain.

Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Box, by Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi, was a return to the high concept days of Morrison's New X-Men after the more retro take the title took under Whedon and Cassaday. The story saw the post-M-Day team confront an entirely new mutant, which saw them go after former member Forge. What they discovered could destroy the world.

Storm was added to the team in this story, and Forge's return saw him very different, as he searched the multiverse for a way to undo M-Day. The story took the X-Men to some very interesting places. Bianchi's art was perfect for the book, and shot this already great story into the stratosphere.

The X-Men's most underrated stories are gems, each of them bringing something interesting to the table. Uncanny X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire, by Ed Brubaker, Billy Tan and Clayton Henry, is a slice of old-school X-Men sci-fi mixed with great modern storytelling. A team of X-Men - Havok, Polaris, Nightcrawler, Darwin, Marvel Girl, Warpath, and Xavier - follow Vulcan on his quest of vengeance against the Shi'Ar Empire.

The twelve issue story teams the X-Men up with the Starjammers as Vulcan finds common ground with the man he hates the most, Shi'Ar Emperor D'Ken. It's the definition of epic. Superhero war stories done right are wonderful, and this is a perfect example of that.

The greatest X-Men stories often find a ways to change the X-Men. New X-Men: E is for Extinction, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, dragged the X-Men into the future. Focusing on the school and divorcing the team from their superhero past, it sees the team become a mutant rescue group, and they're immediately thrown into conflict with the deadly Cassandra Nova.

E is for Extinction was revolutionary. Morrison used the X-Men as a concept engine, something they hadn't been in a long time. It's three issues of breathtaking storytelling and action. It's perfectly paced, magnificently written, and full of beautiful art. It shook things up and launched a bold new era.

The X-Men are coming to the MCU in the near future, and while fans wait with great anticipation to see how the mutants will be interpreted, the comics may hold some clues. A lot of the MCU has drawn from more recent comics from the 2000s, and some of the best issues of 2000s era X-Men might provide a blueprint as well.

The 2000s saw some of the biggest creative reimaginings of the franchise in its history, with the Grant Morrison run on New X-Men and the Ultimate Comics reboot occurring around the same time. It also provided some of the biggest events in Marvel Comics history, some of which are likely to find their way into live-action.

Ultimate X-Men #1, written by Mark Millar and drawn by Adam Kubert, is a critical issue in the history of X-Men, as it's the biggest wholesale reimagining of the franchise since Giant-Size X-Men #1 in the 70s.

This story takes place in Earth-1610 and reboots and remixes X-Men history and characters in intriguing ways, introducing characters like Wolverine into the mix from the beginning and taking a darker approach to the story that would be typical of Millar's work both within Marvel and in his own creator-owned comic books like Jupiter's Legacy.

Writer Chris Claremont and artist Alan Davis, who collaborated on the 80s Excalibur run, reunited for issue #450 of Uncanny X-Men, which brought X-23, Laura Kinney, to the team. The issue is great for a number of throwbacks - including the brown and yellow costume X-23 wears, similar to a classic one by Wolverine - but also a reference to the events of Excalibur #16.

X-Statix #1 from 2002 represents one of the most unique and refreshing takes on the world of mutants in this period. The dark and often splashy X-Force comic book issues of the 90s are completely reimagined by writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred into a fun, irreverent story full of strange new characters like Doop.

The first issue features the death of a significant character but is otherwise an oasis of fun and color in what would ultimately become a very dark decade for the world of mutants, making this issue all the more rewarding.

X-Men #188 from 2006 is a great issue for a number of reasons. One of the most important is the introduction of the Children of the Vault, strange and powerful villains who factor significantly into the current run of X-Men comics and are likely to for some time to come.

Written by Mike Carey and with excellent art by Chris Bachalo, the issue is also a lot of fun, uniting Sabretooth, Mystique, Emma Frost, and others under the leadership of Rogue as she leads them into a dangerous mission.

Rachel Summers is one of the most powerful mutants and key for the prospect of the multiverse, and she is the only version of the character throughout the infinite realities in Marvel Comics. Despite this, she's been an afterthought at times.

Uncanny X-Men #468 is a great issue for providing Rachel a singular identity as Marvel Girl - taking on the surname of Grey to honor her then-late mother, Jean. Rachel begins to come to terms with the dark past she has left behind as a member of one of the best alternate versions of the X-Men in the Days Of Futures Past timeline.

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