Stories occurring between Uncanny X-Men #444 in July 2004 and Uncanny X-Men #465 in December 2005. This begins with the immediately post-Morrison period and concludes with X-Men being decimated at the end 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 #444-465
- X-Men, Vol. 2 #157-176
- Exiles #46-71
- X-Statix #21-26 (end)
- Weapon X #19-28 & Days of Future Now #1-5 (end)
- Mystique #14-24 (end)
- Wolverine, Vol. 3 #13-35
- X-Men Unlimited #3-12
The following new titles were launched at the start of this era as part of “X-Men: Reloaded.”
- Cable and Deadpool #1-18
- Alpha Flight #1-12 (end)
- New X-Men: Academy X #1-19 & Hellions #1-4
- Excalibur #1-14 (end)
- District X #1-14 (end)
- Astonishing X-Men #1-12
- Rogue #1-12 (end)
- Gambit #1-12 (end)
- Nightcrawler #1-12 (end)
The following mini-series are included in this period
- Colossus: Bloodline
- Hellions
- House of M
- Jubilee
- Kitty Pryde: Shadow & Flame
- Mutopia X
- Secret War
- X-Men / Fantastic Four (also known as X4)
- X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong
Notes:
- Emma Frost was an ongoing series at this time, but all of its stories were told entirely in flashback to Era #1.
- X-Statix #21-26 are listed with the prior era.
- Due to the line-changing nature of the end of House of M, cut-off points above refer to the last issue released prior to the impact of House of M’s conclusion. Cable and Deadpool actually ends this era at #20, but #18 makes for a better break point. Both Nightcrawler #12 and X-Men Unlimited #12 were released after House of M ended, but neither addresses Decimation.
Wolverine #7-11
Wolverine #12-19
Wolverine/Punisher #1-4
Rampaging Wolverine
Astonishing X-Men #1 and Uncanny X-Men #444 can be read here to introduce the next sequence of stories to explain who is on the team at this time (including Kitty), though I have grouped them with the rest of their arcs below.
Weapon X #19-28
When: #20-25 is Wolverine’s appearance between UXM #444 and XMv2 #157. Otherwise, it shares no characters with the main narrative of UXM. I need to check issues #26-28 for cross references to other X-titles, but until then I believe they are safe to place here.
X-Men #157-160
When: The “Day of the Atom” trade collects both this and the following arc in #161-165. If you plan to read it all in one sitting, I would suggest you skip it here and read it where the rest is placed, below.
New X-Men #1-6
When: Cyclops appears here after XMv2 #157 before he appears in UXM #446. Because we know Wolverine appears in the entire arc starting from #157, this can be placed between there and UXM #446.
Uncanny X-Men #444-449
When: Wolverine appears in #445 after XMv2 #160.
Excalibur #1-4
When: This does not intersect with the main X-Men story, and is Professor X’s first appearance after #443. It ends around the same time as UXM #449.
X-Men Unlimited #1-14
When: Though these two-story anthology issues don’t take place all at once, they all fit within an handful of issues of here in UXM, so I suggest simply reading them here in a chunk while you can! The placement of each pair of stories will make you crazy – they fit into over a dozen unique places in the read order, and I simply don’t think it’s worthwhile to split them up that much.
District X #1-6
When: Bishop appears here between UXM #449-450.
Rogue #1-6
When: Rogue #2 occurs before UXM #450, and Rogue #6 is complete by XMv2 #161
Uncanny X-Men #450-451 fit here, but can just as easily be read with the connecting arc as listed below, as Wolverine is the only character shared in the intervening stories.
X-Men, Vol. 2 #161-165
When: Issue #165 actually fits below.
Uncanny X-Men #450-454
Alpha Flight #1-6
When: I don’t believe this has any crossover to X-Men storylines, it ends around UXM #450.
Mystique #13-24
When: Wolverine appears in #23 after UXM #454. I need to recheck #13-23 to see if Professor X is in Genosha while he communicates to Mystique.
Nightcrawler #1-6
When: This is a tricky placement. Nightcrawler #1-2 occur around the same time as all of the other action after UXM #444. However, the completion of this run does not fit until after #454. Since the action here is ancillary to the action in the main X-books, I choose to place this run at its conclusion.
Avengers Disassembled occurs here.
District X #7-12
When: Bishop appears here between UXM #454 and XMv2 #165 before appearing in UXM #455. District X #13-14 are separated by several story arcs, so I was forced to place them below.
Madrox #1-6
When: Bishop’s also appears here prior to XMv2 #165.
X-Men, Vol. 2 #165 can be read here.
Marvel Team-Up #1-6
Jubilee #1-7
When: Placed her due to Wolverine’s sequential appearances.
Cable & Deadpool #1-6
When: Some characterx appear in #6 after Marvel Team-Up. While #1-5 almost surely occur earlier, I am placing it here based on that final story.
Cable & Deadpool #7-12
When: #7-10 are Wolverine’s next chronological appearance, and Cyclop’s first after MTU. I don’t believe there are any conflicts to finishing the TPB with #11-12 here, although I need to check the stories to be sure.
Excalibur #5-10
When: This is placed by its chronological release. I need to check to see if any of these character appear elsewhere.
X-Men / Fantastic Four #1-5
When: Per Cyclops and Wolverine’s next chronological appearances.
New X-Men #7-11
When: While Cyclops appears in #8-9 after XMv2 #165 and before the subsequent MTU run, the bulk of this run fits better here.
Uncanny X-Men #455-461
When: Emma appears in #455 prior to Astonishing X-Men #2-6, which occurs parallel to #457-459. UXM #460 occurs after Colossus’s return and during Wolverine’s programming, below. UXM #461 is a straggling issue, but little in it will conflict with reading it here aside from the fact that it falls after Wolverine’s deprogramming.
Astonishing X-Men #1-6
When: Clearly some of issues #1-3 may happen parallel to events depicted above, but the bulk of the action in #4-6 works here.
Wolverine #20-25
When: Wolverine and Kitty appear here after AMX #6. This marks the start of Wolverine’s programming by The Hand and Hydra, meaning only stories where he is a villain can fall between #24 and #25. After Wolverine #25, Wolverine is captured and deprogrammed.
New Invaders #1-9 can be read here or just after Wolverine #32, as #6 includes the villainous Wolverine. The series stars Namor.
Wolverine #25-32
When: Wolverine #32 happens an indeterminate amount of time after the other issues here, but it must occur before House of M, so I suggest simply reading it here.
Irredeemable Ant-Man #1-6 are interspersed with the preceding Wolverine run.
Cable & Deadpool #13-18
When: Wolverine appears in #13 just after his deprogramming in #25, but I don’t believe it’s necessary to interrupt the Wolverine story for this entire group of issues. In this instance, I am recommending continuing through #18, even though #17 is a House of M tie-in, because they are all part of the same story arc. I have to check if this should be placed later for other reasons, such as heavy House of M spoilers.
X-Force, Vol. 2 #4-6
When: Wolverine’s first appearance after #31
Secret War #1-5
When: Despite a number of flashbacks to around the beginning of this era, the present day sequences in Secret War occur here.
X-Men: Phoenix Endsong
When: Wolverine arrives here directly from Secret War
X-Men Unlimited #12 can be read here.
X-Men, Vol. 2 #166-170
When: This is the next appearance of Wolverine after Endsong.
Wolverine: Soultaker
When: This is the next appearance of Wolverine after XMv2 #170
Astonishing X-Men #7-12
When: This does not strictly obey continuity, as it features Professor X (and, by implication, an off-screen Magneto) on Genosha independent of the events of Excalibur, Vol. 2
X-Men Unlimited #9 can be read here.
At this time, Wolverine joins the New Avengers! You can read New Avengers #1-6 here; see New Avengers for reading options. While this guide will not track all of his Avengers appearances (since, by definition, they aren’t X-Men), I will continue the major action from that main title here when appropriate.
Rogue #7-12
When: Rogue appears here before XMv2 #171
Gambit #1-6
When: Despite a release schedule that would indicate otherwise, Gambit does not begin this series until after Rogue ends hers.
Gambit #7-12
When: Gambit resolves his series before appearing in XMv2 #171.
X-Men Unlimited #10 can be read here.
X-Men, Vol. 2 #171-174
New X-Men #12-15
When: Beast’s first appearance after XMv2 #174 is in #14. Dust appears in UXM #160 between #13-14. Since no main-cast X-Men appear in #15, I believe it should be safe to place here.
New Avengers #7-10 can be read here.
Kitty Pryde: Shadows and Flame
Nightcrawler #7-12
When: Wolverine and Cyclops’s appearance places #8-12 between Kitty’s limited series and X-Men, Vol. 2 #175.
District X #13-14
New X-Men: Hellions #1-4
When: Emma Frost appears in the conclusion of this just before XMv2 #175.
X-Men #175-176 & Black Panther #8-9
Colossus: Bloodline
When: This is some of the last action prior to House of M.
Alpha Flight #7-12
When: I do not believe this connects to any ongoing X-Men stories, but it does occur prior to House of M.
Exiles #49-68
When: Exiles has no discernible character crossover to the main story of X-Men from the beginning of this period until House of M.
Excalibur #11-14
When: The events including Scarlet Witch that lead directly to House of M.
House of M
House of M #1-8
Uncanny X-Men #462-465
When: Runs in parallel to House o fM
Exiles #69-71
New X-Men #16-19
Wolverine #33-35
Cable & Deadpool #17-18
See Marvel Events: House of M for complete collection information. No other X-Men ongoings participated in House of M, although District X ostensibly becomes Mutopia X in this period.
Read Anytime
Weapon X: Days of Future Now #1-5
This acts as an epilogue to the main Weapon X series and is set in a speculative future. Thus, it can be read anytime in this period – perhaps just prior to House of M.
Era #10: New X-Men X-Men Reading Order Guide Era #12: Endangered Species
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