X-Men Reading Order Guide – Era #12: Endangered Species

Stories occurring between Uncanny X-Men #466 in January 2006 and Uncanny X-Men #494 in March 2008. Can also be referred to as the Decimation era, since it is entirely composed of the aftermath of House of M. 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 #466-494
• X-Men, Vol. 2 #177-207 (end)
• Exiles #72-100 (end)
• Wolverine, Vol. 3 #36-61
• X-Men Unlimited, Vol. 2 #13-14 (end)
• Cable and Deadpool #19-50 (end)
• New X-Men #20-46 (end)
• Astonishing X-Men #13-24
• New Excalibur #1-24 (end)
• X-Factor #1-27
• Nextwave #1-12 (end)
• Black Panther #14-34 (co-starring Storm)
• Wolverine: Origins #1-20
• Marvel Comics Presents (featuring Weapon Omega) #1-5

Notes:

• This era starts the moment that heroes wink out of the House of M reality back to the main Marvel 616 continuity. Along the way there are several major continuity complications – including the issue-by-issue continuity of Civil War and the fact that Uncanny X-Men cuts away from Earth for 12 issues!
• Really, this era could be said to conclude before Messiah Complex begins. Because a number of titles end at the close of Messiah Complex, it makes more sense from the perspective of read order to group them together here.
• X-Men Unlimited #13-14 were placed in the prior era.
• Cable’s final appearance in Cable and Deadpool is #42, which ties to his joining X-Men, Vol. 2

Sentinel Squad ONE #1-5
When: This series acts as a prelude to Sentinels appearing in the final panel of “The Day After,” below. Other than that, it really has very little to do with X-Men.

X-Men #177-181 & House of M: Decimation – The Day After
When: The Day After is literally the first 24 hours after House of M concludes, and the final panels of Sentinels touching down at the mansion continues directly to XMv2 #177-179. There is a slight break in the action before #180-181 – perhaps a night.

X-Men: The 198 #1-5
When: This starts with the X-Men beginning to collect mutants – powered and depowered – onto the grounds of the mansion, which clearly has Sentinels present.

Son of M #1-6
When: This series dealing with Decimation’s implications for Quicksilver does not intersect the X-Men’s stories, though it does include Spider-Man, Callisto, and some of the Inhumans. Since Quicksilver opens the series shopping for groceries without his powers,  I think it’s safe to say that over a day has elapsed since “The Day After.”

Generation M #1-5
When: This series views Decimation through the eyes of a reporter, which necessarily places it at least a day or two after “The Day After” in order for her to have enough time to file stories in the newspaper.

X-Factor #1-6
When: This occurs soon enough after M-Day that Richtor is attempting suicide in the opening panels, which I think places it prior to the “two weeks later” at the end of New X-Men #20.

New Exalibur #1-7
When: Issues #1-3 is Psylocke’s first appearance after House of M (and before UXM #468). #4 occurs after #468 based on a reference Nocturne makes on the phone to Nightcrawler, but it is oblique enough that you lose nothing by reading it first.

Uncanny X-Men #466-471
When: Rachel Summers opens #466 with a narration that covers almost all of the events in the books above here, and she does not mention the final panel of New X-Men #23. Some other characters in this arc – Bishop, specifically – appear afterwards in New X-Men #24. However, events as late as New X-Men #22 happen prior to this book.

New X-Men #20-23
When: Though #20 actually features the earliest scenes after House of M, that only lasts for a page or two – it then picks up “two days after M-Day,” which places it after most of the Decimation sequence above – and it ends two weeks after. #21 occurs sometime after XMv2 #180.

Wolverine #36-40
When: Wolverine appears in New X-Men #24 prior to this sequence. The opening scenes of this run feature Wolverine on the phone to Emma, referencing his slipping off the mansion grounds repeatedly.

Wolverine Origins #1-5

Wolverine Origins #6-10

Wolverine Origins #11-15
When: According to the Marvel Official Index, Wolverine resolves his actions here prior to UXM #470. However, on re-read there is no reason that #470 cannot come before this Wolverine sequence.

Wolverine #41 can be read here, as it occurs prior to Civil War – but, there’s really no harm in reading it as it is collected, below.

Cable & Deadpool #19-24
When: Does not intersect other X-Men stories, though it does include several Avengers.

Uncanny X-Men 472-474 & Annual 1
When: This action occurs prior to the Apocalypse story in XMv2 #182. While some of the following Black Panther collection occurs prior to Annual 1, it’s easier to simply read this first and then flashback for that action.

Black Panther #14-18
When: Black Panther’s courting of Storm begins before UXM #472, but UXM Annual 1 features her deciding on his proposal – and then wedding occurs in the middle of the lead-up to Civil War! You have to choose to read this somewhere, and I say it belongs before you even begin Civil War, even though the events in #18 may slightly spoil Civil War through #3.

X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula #1-4
When: The action in this story spans centuries, but ultimately it is a prelude to the following X-Men, Vol. 2 story.

Cable & Deadpool #25-29
When: First, Captain America appears in #25 significantly prior to Civil War. Then, #26-27 is an Apocalypse story that I believe fits between here and XMv2 #182.

X-Men, Vol. #182-187

X-Men / Runaways #1 can be read here.

X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6

Nextwave #1-6
When: This ends roughly at the same time as XMv2 #187, though it has no tie to the main X-Men narrative.

Wolverine & The Black Cat: Claws #1-3

Exiles #75-83

Exiles #84-89

Civil War

Working out the full reading order of Civil War is an undertaking far beyond the scope of this guide – especially since very few X-Men stories intersect with the event! This section shows the stories that do intersect.

Wolverine #42-48
When: Wolverine #42 is effectively a flashback to Civil War #1.

X-Factor #7-12
When: This begins not long after Deadly Genesis. Issue #8 occurs before Civil War #3

New X-Men #24-27
When: Issue #25 occurs after the start of Civil War.

New X-Men #28-32
When: #28 occurs just before Storm’s wedding and sometime after Civil War #3.

Civil War: X-Men #1-4
When: This resolves prior to New X-Men #32.

Black Panther #19-25
When: Issue #22 occurs after Civil War: X-Men.

Cable & Deadpool #30-35
When: This includes three Civil War tie-in issues, which wrap up prior to Civil War #4. Issues #33-35 occur an unspecified amount of time later.

Wolverine #41 + Giant-Size Wolverine + #49
When: Occurs prior to Civil War #6 and Wolverine’s reappearance in XMv2 #193.

After Civil War

New Excalibur #8-15
When: Issue #8 occurs nominally after New X-Men #32; I don’t believe anything else in this run intersects X-Men significantly. Psylocke next appears in Exiles #80

X-Men, Vol. 2 #188-193
When: Though this is collected together through #198, those issues form two distinct arcs that include some action between them.

Nextwave #7-12
When: Issue #11 carries a Civil War cover treatment, but does not relate to the event. This ends around the same time as XMv2 #193.

New X-Men #33-36
When: Begins after the X-Men leave Earth in UXM #476 and after the end of XMv2 #193. This completes prior to Phoenix: Warsong.

X-Men: Phoenix – Warsong #1-5

X-Factor #13-17
When: I don’t believe this intersects the main narrative of X-Men.

Cable & Deadpool #36-42
When: Issues #40-41 happen around the same time as XMv2 #198. Since some information about Cable’s recent exploits is necessary to understand his actions/powers in XMv2, I suggest reading this first.

X-Men, Vol. 2 #194-199
When: This takes place after Warsong.

New X-Men #37-43
When: Issue #43 occurs later than the rest of these issues – after World War Hulk: X-Men – but you don’t spoil much by reading it here.

Uncanny X-men #487-491
When: Occurs prior to XMv2 #201 .

X-Factor #18-23
When: Placed per Beast’s appearance in #23

X-Men, Vol. 2 #200-204

Uncanny X-Men #475-486
When: The Rise & Fall of the Shi’ar Empire arc begins around the same time as X-Men, Vol. 2 #188, but it goes on for several weeks – some of which pass off-panel in #479. The final pages occur after X-Men, Vol. 2 #204 and New X-Men #41.

X-Men: Endangered Species
When: This story is comprised of a one-shot and a series of backups in the prior four issues of UXM, XMv2, NXM, and X-Factor. It is best placed here.

New Avengers #27-34 and Mighty Avengers #8 can be placed here.

Cable & Deadpool #43-50
When: Placed via Wolverine’s participation. Cable no longer stars in this title.

Die By the Sword

This isn’t really an event, but a quick sequence of several Excalibur and Exiles stories that wrap up together in the Die by the Sword mini-series.

Exiles #90-94

Wisdom #1-6

New Excalibur #16-24

Exiles #95-100

X-Men: Die by The Sword #1-5

World War Hulk

The X-Men’s only involvement in this event is through X-Men: World War Hulk #1-3. You can treat these issues as New X-Men #42.5.

Wolverine #50-55
When: While #50-51 occur chronologically just after Warsong, the bulk of this story can be read here.

Wolverine Origins #16-20 & Annual 1
When: Occurs just after the Sabretooth story in Evolution.

Wolverine #55-61
When: Follows Wolverine Origins #20.

Wolverine: Firebreak can be read here, though it is collected in Wolverine: Dangerous Games in the next era.

X-Men / Spider-Man #1-4
When: Much of this series is told in flashback, but the modern-day elements can be placed here.

Astonishing X-Men #13-18
When: Some events of Astonishing X-Men #13 happen closer to the beginning of this era, but the main portion of the story occurs here.

Astonishing X-Men #19-24 & Giant-Size
When: This is effectively the last thing that happens prior to Messiah Complex.

Messiah Complex
Includes Uncanny X-Men #492-494, X-Men Vol. 2 #205-207, New X-Men #44-46, and X-Factor 24-26

Era #11: The New Age  X-Men Reading Order Guide  Era #13: Nation X