X-Men Team Titles Omnibus Mapping for the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 12th Annual Secret Ballot

Until April 5, I’ll be loosely mapping missing and most-wanted Marvel omnibus volumes every day! It’s finally time, y’all… time to MAP MY X. This post offers maps for team X-Men series that were NOT “flagship” books with “X-Men” in the title – like New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, and more.

This post explains titles and potential X-Men Omnibus Mapping for entries on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 12th Annual Secret Ballot. You can vote right now (until 5 April 2024 @ midnight US ET) or watch our mega-length announcement stream reviewing every single voting option.

This post covers X-Team titles from New Mutants, Excalibur, X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, Exiles, Academy X, Weapon X, & Marauders.

If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for my explanations. Or, if you’ve already voted, learn why the team behind the poll decided on these books and titles – including some of my mistakes and regrets as one of the editors of the options on the final poll.

Or… just find some great comics to read!

Remember: These mappings are just my suggestion of how Marvel could assemble these books. They are meant to help you decide on your votes and build your personal reading list, but your vote on the poll is NOT an endorsement of my specific map. It’s a vote in favor of Marvel creating a book with that title or covering that period.

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Academic X-Men Omnibus Mapping: New Mutants & Generation X

The titles in this section are all covered in my Guide to New Mutants & Young X-Men. We already have the first three omnibuses of New Mutants collected, but after that Marvel hasn’t touched any academy runs of Mutants in omnibus! What do we need to rectify that situation?

Generation X Vol. 1
Generation X Vol. 2
Generation X is now officially the oldest ongoing X-Men title without an omnibus to its name! We’d only need two omnibuses to completely cover this very self-contained run, which is why we listed both of them on the poll.

These two volumes would collect the core of Phalanx Covenant that introduces these characters (Uncanny X-Men (1963) #316-318 & X-Men (1991) #36-37); Generation X (1994)# 1-75, -1, Annual 1995, Annual 1996, Annual 1997; Generation X / Dracula Annual 1998′ Wolverine (1988) #94; X-Man (1995) #50; Generation X Collectors’ Preview (1994) #1; Generation X Ashcan Edition (1994) #1; Generation X San Diego Preview (1994) #1; X-Men Unlimited (1993) #16 & 20; Marvel Team-Up (1997) #1; Daydreamers (1997) #1-3; Generation X Underground Special (1998) #1; and material from Incredible Hulk (1968) Annual 1997.

New Mutants Vol. 4 (AKA by Rob Liefeld)
Now that we have a Volume 3 omnibus announced, it’s time to finish this title with a final omnibus!

Volume 3 ends with New Mutants (1983) #85 & Annual 4, so this would collect the contents of the final two Epic Collections – including all of X-Tinction Agenda! That includes New Mutants (1983) #86-100 & Annual 5-7, New Mutants Summer Special (1990) #1, “Days of Future Present” material that pairs with Annual 6 (X-Factor (1986) Annual 5 and Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual 14), X-Tinction Agenda” (Uncanny X-Men (1963) #270-272 & X-Factor (1986) #60-62); and “Kings of Pain” material that pairs with Annual 7 (New Warriors Annual (1991) 1, Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual 15, and X-Factor (1986) Annual 6).

Does this massively double-dip the newly-announced X-Tinction Agenda omnibus? Kinda. Does it also double-dip the beginning of the first X-Force omnibus? Yes. But, it’s our chance to get #86-94, Annual 5, and the Summer Special in omnibus!

Also, as pointed out by commenter Drew, this could also double-dip the final Excalibur omni to include New Mutants: Truth or Death (1997) #1-3, which is not usually collected alongside New Mutants material despite its title.

New Mutants (2009) by Wells, Abnett, & Lanning
A vote for this book is a vote to collect the 2009 run of New Mutants. Would it fit all into one book? Hard to say, but your vote means “get started!”

In total, this would collect New Mutants (2009) #1-11 & 15-21 by Zeb Wells, New Mutants (2009) #25-50 by Abnett & Lanning, Journey Into Mystery (2011) #632, the Exiled crossover (Exiled (2011) #1 and Journey Into Mystery (2011) #637-638), and material from Marvel Spotlight: New Mutants and X-Necrosha #1

New X-Men: Academy X by DeFilippis & Weir (includes New Mutants)
This book would collect the lead-in series to New X-Men: Academy X as well as the initial portion of the run prior to the end of House of M.

A vote for this book is a vote to collect New Mutants (2003) #1-13, New X-Men (2004) #1-15, New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook #1 (AKA New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook Special (2005) #1), andNew X-Men: Hellions #1-4.

That’s a very satisfying school-focused book that feels like a young readers title without as much X-tragedy baked in.

New X-Men: Academy X by Kyle & Yost
This book would collect what we could call the “Fall of Academy X” from House of M to the end of the title. You might also know this by the title “Childhood’s End.”

A vote for this book is a vote to collect New X-Men (2004) #16-39 & 40-42 (A-Stories only; B-Stories were part of Endangered Species), X-Infernus (2008) #1-4 & Saga; and material from X-Men Unlimited (2004) #14 and X-Men: Divided We Stand (2008) #2.

Since that’s not a mega-long book, I’d suggest this tack Young X-Men (2008) #1-12 onto the end, as it features much of the same cast and would otherwise be abandoned!

X-Men: Age of Krakoa – New Mutants
This would collect New Mutants (2019) #1-33, Children of the Atom (2021) #1-6, and New Mutants: Lethal Legion (2023) #1-5.

Excalibur & Captain Britain Omnibus Mapping

The titles in this section are all covered in my Guide to Excalibur and Guide to Captain Britain. Marvel has done an outstanding job of covering these titles and characters through the mid-90s, which means we only need four more books to reach complete coverage!

Excalibur Vol. 4 [AKA by Ben Raab]
A vote for this title is a vote to finish collecting the first Excalibur series in omnibus!

We know exactly what this would collect since we already have a pair of beautifully-mapped Epic Collections of this material – which had never before been collected.

This book would include Excalibur (1988) #104-125 & -1; Colossus (1997) #1; Kitty Pryde: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1997) #1-3; New Mutants: Truth or Death (1997) #1-3; X-Men Unlimited (1993) #19; X-Men: True Friends (1999) #1-3; and Excalibur (2001) #1-4.

Excalibur & New Excalibur (2004 – 2007)
We left this vague enough that you can decide what it ought to collect yourself.

Would it begin with Excalibur (2004) #1-14 by Claremont, which lead into House of M? It could, but they might fit better in a X-Men: Uncanny X-Men, The New Age by Chris Claremont (2004 – 2006) book, since they primarily feature Magneto & Xavier and not any recognizable Excalibur team.

However, it would certainly collect in full New Excalibur (2006) #1-24 and X-Men: Die by the Sword (2007) #1-5, mostly written by Claremont.

In fact, if it collected ALL of that, I think we could call it “Excalibur Vol. 5”! Commenter and longtime friend-of-the-blog James points out we’d probably also want to add some or all of Avengers (1998) #77-84, which introduces Kelsey Shorr Leigh as Captain Britain – a character who returns in New Excalibur.

Captain Britain & MI13 by Paul Cornell
A vote for this book is a vote to collect the brief, charming Captain Britain & MI:13 (2008) #1-15 & Annual 1 by Paul Cornell.

I think we’d absolutely want to precede that with his Wisdom (2006) #1-6, which has a slightly more mature tone but absolutely ties into this series.

X-Men: Age of Krakoa by Tini Howard (Excalibur, Realm of X, Captain Britain)
This would collect Excalibur (2019) #1-26, X-Corp (2021) #1-5, Knights of X (2022) #1-5, Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain (2023) #1-5, and The Secret X-Men (2022) #1.

You could argue that this should also include all of X of Swords, which is very much an Excalibur event. I wouldn’t say you were wrong!

Exiles Omnibus Mapping

The titles in this section are all covered in my Guide to Exiles. Marvel has never touched this title in omnibus, but now that Morph is back on our television screens I’d say it’s time to start!

Exiles Vol. 1
Exiles Vol. 2
A vote for these books is a vote to knock out the run of Exiles (2001) #1-100 & Annual 1 and X-Men Unlimited (1993) #41 in a pair of chunky volumes.

Except… I’d actually recommend these books cut off at issue #89, because the remaining material fits better into the next book! Also, it makes these volumes a bit more of a reasonable size. That’s why I haven’t listed Exiles: Days of Then and Now (2008) #1 here – it fits into the next volume.

New Exiles
A vote for this book is a vote to collect New Exiles (2008) #1-18, 0, & Annual 1 and X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks (2009) #1, all by Chris Claremont.

However, I’d argue this should begin with Exiles (2001) #90-100, Exiles: Days of Then and Now (2008) #1, and X-Men: Die by the Sword (2007) #1-5. That makes this ALL of Claremont’s Exiles material all in one book of a reasonable length.

Krisis Regrets: We forgot to put “by Chris Claremont” in the title!

X-Factor Omnibus Mapping

The titles in this section are all covered in my Guide to X-Factor. This X-Team needs a lot more omnibus love, as it’s still looking pretty bare outside of issues written by Peter David.

X-Factor: The Original X-Men, Vol. 2
The first X-Factor omnibus ends with X-Factor (1986) #26 and Annual 2.

That means the remaining material to collect would include X-Factor (1986) #27-59 & 63-70, Annual 3-6, & Prisoner of Love OGN, plus Muir Island Saga material in Uncanny X-Men (1963) #278-280.

That’s exactly 50 issues, which could fit into an omnibus, but I don’t think it would fit into an omnibus, I suspect Marvel would break this into a Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 and adding in solo material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) to complete the mapping.

X-Factor by J. M. DeMatteis (w/DeZago & Moore) (1993 – 1994)
A vote for this book is a vote to pick up where the existing X-Factor by Peter David omnibus leaves off.

This would collect X-Factor (1986) #93-111 & Annual 9, Spider-Man & X-Factor: Shadowgame (1994) #1-4, and Phalanx Covenant crossover issues (Excalibur (1988) #82 & X-Force (1991) #38). I don’t think we need to collect all of the “LegionQuest” crossover here, since the X-Factor issue is just the first chapter.

This could wrap up with issues #112-114 by John Francis Moore, but they are from the other side of Age of Apocalypse and I think they make more sense in the next volume.

That’s a scant 26 issues, so I think there’s a remote chance this also recollects the Peter David material from #71-83 & 87-92, which is another 19 issues and makes this a single continuous collect of X-Factor.

X-Factor by Howard Mackie (1995 – 1998)
A vote for this book is a vote to collect X-Factor (1986) #112-149 & 1, Strong Guy Reborn #1, and likely also Marvel Fanfare (1996) #6, Sabretooth & Mystique (1996) #1-4, and Sabretooth (1998) #1 (AKA “Back to Nature”).

Note that issues #112-114 are written by John Francis Moore, so they could be in the prior volume, but it makes sense for this to pick up cleanly after Age of Apocalypse. Also, I think some folks would say this should have X.S.E. (1996) #1-4 since Shard appears in this run.

Since this run is already 40+ issues, I think Mackie’s continuation of Havok into Mutant X would need to be its own book – and, it is listed separately on the poll.

X-Factor by Peter David Vol. 4 (includes All-New X-Factor)
A vote for this book is to finish the X-Factor by Peter David collection line by collecting X-Factor (1986 / 2005) #233-262 (and likely also All-New X-Factor (2014) #1-20).

X-Men: Age of Krakoa – X-Factor by Leah Williams (2021 – 2022)
This would collect X-Factor (2020) #1-10, X-Men: The Trial of Magneto (2021) #1-5, and X-Terminators (2022) #1-5.

X-Force Omnibus Mapping

The titles in this section are all covered in my Guide to X-Force. X-Force has a good start in three omnibuses – plus an omnibus of Uncanny X-Force! – but there’s a lot left to go.

X-Force Vol. 4 (1995 – 1997)
The current omnibus line currently ends just before Age of Apocalypse with X-Force (1991) #43 & Annual 3.

Depending on where you imagine this would cut off, this would likely collect a minimum X-Force (1991) #44-69 & -1, X-Force/Cable Annual 1995, & X-Force/Cable Annual 1996. However, it could certainly push a bit farther.

This could also keep pushing forward with including Cable in the X-Force omnibus line.

X-Force Vol. 5 (AKA X-Force: Road Trip)
This would complete the run of X-Force before the book is taken over by X-Statix in issue #116.

Depending on where the prior book leaves off, this would collect X-Force (1991) #70-115, X-Force/Champions Annual ’98 (1998), and X-Force Annual ’99 (1999), and material from “102 Rough Cut.”

We Skipped It: X-Force & Shatterstar by Rob Liefeld
This brief run would only include X-Force (2004) #1-6 and X-Force: Shatterstar (2005) #1-4.

I’d suggest perhaps this could also include Liefeld’s Deadpool: Bad Blood (2023) and Deadpool: Badder Blood (2023) and call it “Deadpool & X-Force by Rob Liefeld” to avoid double-dipping anything else, rather than recollecting almost all of the first X-Force omnibus in the name of titling it “X-Force by Rob Liefeld.”

X-Force by Kyle & Yost (2008 – 2010)
At minimum, a vote for this book is a vote to combine the contents of two existing oversize hardcovers that collect X-Force (2008) #1-13 & 17-20, Annual 1, and X-Force Sex & Violence (2010) #1-3 and material from X-Force (2008) Annual 1.

I’d argue it should also collect two more hardcovers of content, and your vote can be in support of that if you want!

First, this should have all of “Messiah War” – which means adding X-Force (2008) #14-16, Cable (2008) #11-15, X-Force/Cable: Messiah War Prologue (2009) #1, and material from X-Men: Future History – The Messiah War Sourcebook (2009) #1. However, I’d argue that X-Men: The Lives and Times of Lucas Bishop (2009) #1-3 is best left for whatever omnibus collects all of Cable (2008)

Then, I think this should collect some of Necrosha – including X-Force (2008) #21-25, X Necrosha [AKA Necrosha X] (2009) #1, and X Necrosha: The Gathering (2009) #1. It could also include New Mutants (2009) #6-8, which tied in closely to the center of the event, but should omit X-Men Legacy (2008) #231-233, which existed farther off to the side as its own arc.

Personally, I think this should also include Hulk (2008) #14-18, which is a fun arc of X-Force appearing outside of their own title.

Cable & X-Force by Dennis Hopeless (2013 – 2014)
A vote for this would be a vote to collect Cable and X-Force (2012) #1-19 and a crossover with Uncanny X-Force (2013) #16-17.

Ah, but now comes a tricky question. Do you think this book should also collect all of Uncanny X-Force (2013) #1-17? Or, perhaps should it keep following Cable & Hope into X-Force (2014) #1-15.

As soon as we launched this poll, we had many comments that we missed that Spurrier run. Personally, I think it fits into this book perfectly – moreso than the Humphries run.

We Missed It: X-Force by Humphries OR Storm & X-Force by Humphries & Pak
This would collect Uncanny X-Force (2013) #1-17 and a crossover with Cable & X-Force (2012) #18-19.

Personally, I feel like that wouldn’t really sell. Instead, let’s call this “Storm & X-Force” and include all of Greg Pak’s Storm (2014) #1-11 – which is where she heads directly after this run.

We Missed It: X-Force by Brisson OR Domino & X-Force by Simone & Brisson.
This would collect the beginnings of the story of Kid Cable from Extermination (2018) #1-5 and X-Force (2018) #1-10, both by Brisson. We’d also add Shatterstar (2018) #1-5, which fits into this same period but is an odd book out in terms of mapping the 2018-19 era directly prior to Krakoa.

Unfortunately, that would double-dip Extermination (2018) #1-5 from an X-Men Blue omnibus and also wind up as a pretty short book, but there’s nothing else from this period to combine into this… unless we call it “Domino & X-Force” and add in Gail Simone’s Domino (2018) #1-10 & Annual 1 and Domino: Hotshots (2019) #1-5.

Personally, I think that fits in a lot better with a Weapon X book, below, but Domino stars in this entire run and the more I think about it the more it makes sense!

We Missed It: X-Men: Age of Krakoa – X-Force by Benjamin Percy
See Guide to X-Force. This would collect X-Force (2019) #1-50.

Other X-Team Omnibus Mapping

There are three other X-Team books on the poll that don’t quite fit in with any of the above categories.

X-Men: Revolution – Counter X (X-Force Vol. 5 + X-Man & Gen X)
This is included in the poll because people have voted for it before, but I don’t think it makes sense anymore now that Epic Collections have mapped two of these three titles in full.

This would collect the final “Counter X” arcs of all three of these titles – X-Force (1991) #102-115 & 102 Rough Cut, Generation X (1994) #62-75, and X-Man (1995) #63-75 and X-Men Unlimited (1993) #31 (3rd story).

X-Men: ResurrXion – Weapon X by Greg Pak (2017 – 2018)
See Guide to Weapon X. This book would collect Weapon X (2017) #1-27, Weapons of Mutant Destruction (2017) Alpha #1, Totally Awesome Hulk (2016) #19-22, and material from from X-Men Prime (2017).

If you told me Domino (2018) #1-10 & Annual 1 and Domino: Hotshots (2019) #1-5 also belonged here I wouldn’t argue! But, given how big of a name Gail Simone is about to be in the world of X-Men, I suspect those 16 issues could be their own book (or could be half of a Domino & X-Force book.

Instead, I’d argue that Weapon H (2018) #1-12 and Hulkverines (2019) #1-3 – all spinning out of this run and all by Greg Pak – also belong here.

X-Men: Age of Krakoa – Mauraders by Duggan & Orlando
See Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa. You are voting for a book collect Marauders (2019) #1-27, King in Black: Marauders (2021) #1, Devil’s Reign: X-Men (2022) #1-3, and Marauders (2022) #1-10 & Annual 1. Maybe also X-Men: Before the Fall (2023) Mutant First Strike #1.

Comments

Drew says

April 5, 2024 at 7:22 pm

Hey, CK! Just wanted to let you know the New Mutants by Wells/Lanning/Abnett entry has a slight duplication — it says, “ this would collect New Mutants (2009) #1-11 & 15-21 by Zeb Wells, New Mutants (2009) #1-11 & 15-21 by Abnett & Lanning…”

I know you’ve got the New Mutants: Truth or Death mini mapped in Excalibur v4 (I assume because it was written by Raab and features two members of that book’s cast), but I definitely need that included in New Mutants volume 4, even if it’s later duplicated in Excalibur v4. It’s called New Mutants, it features a New Mutants class reunion, they meet the younger New Mutants in the mansion, and the main character is Magik. Excalibur connection or no, that’s a New Mutants story!

Thanks for all of your hard work on these, they’re great!

- krisis says
  
  April 5, 2024 at 7:28 pm
  
  Thanks for that typo catch! And, yes, I agree – those Raab minis also make sense to fill out that last New Mutants book. I’ll add a note.
  
James V says

April 7, 2024 at 6:19 pm

Regarding Excalibur volume.5 (New Excalibur), I’d suggest collecting the Avengers issues that introduce the new Cpt Britain / Lionheart, given her role in the New Excalibur run. It’s also the only significant appearance of Brian between vol.2 and Uncanny X-Men HoM issues, which would also be an acceptable double dip to precede New Excalibur #1.
The only other material worth considering for a Volume 5 would be Black Sun and Magik with Amanda Sefton, which focuses a lot on Excalibur characters.

I hope they keep the Genoshan Excalibur in the New Age, it’s an X-Men story, not Excalibur.

- krisis says
  
  April 7, 2024 at 7:21 pm
  
  I think mapping that Lionheart arc into that book makes perfect sense! I’ll add a note.