Marvel took C2e2 2019 by storm with the in-person announcement that writer Jonathan Hickman is returning to the publisher to write two congruent X-Men series. From 2008 to 2015, Hickman stood out as one of the best Marvel Universe writers, delivering impressive work across titles like Fantastic Four, Avengers, and the 2015 Secret Wars event (among others!).
Since Secret Wars, Hickman’s been focused on excellent creator-owned work with Image (books such as East of West
Intriguingly, in pre-release hype Marvel has celebrated four distinct major eras of X-Men since Uncanny X-Men debuted in 1963: Giant Size X-Men #1 (1975), X-Men #1 (1991), Age of Apocalypse, New X-Men. The implication is that Hickman’s two series – House of X and Powers of X – will be the beginning of the 5th era.
Below you’ll find a complete guide to the X-Men comics of Jonathan Hickman, as well as connected prelude and tie-in issues that help explain the story.
Related Reading Orders:
Chris Claremont Era X-Men (1975 – 1991)
Road to Hickman’s X-Men
In interviews (including a brief C2E2 chat with yours truly), Hickman is quick to laud Morrison’s work with praise, from Marvel Boy to New X-Men. It should not come as a surprise if his X-Men comics treat the New X-Men era with a degree of reverence.
Indeed, Hickman’s already pulled from Morrison’s lofty ideas, including the concept of the “phoenix egg” in his “Time Runs Out” build through to Secret Wars.
Comic Book Herald’s Jonathan Hickman Reading Order (2008 to 2015)
Speaking of massive, ambitious all-time great runs in Marvel history, Hickman’s run from 2008 to 2015 across the Marvel Universe stands as my favorite modern sequence of comics in Marvel.
Of particular interest, I’ve also dissected how Hickman wrote specific X-Men characters and concepts, and what we might expect moving forward given this history.
Uncanny X-Men (2018) #11 to #22
Marvel made much ado over the ($7.99) 2018 release of a new Uncanny X-Men #1, and the series ran weekly for the first 10 issues/weeks. While those ten issues do set the stage for a clear break that happens in Uncanny X-Men #11, they’re most focused on driving to the Age of X-Man event.
So, yes, long time X-Men fans can read the entire series, but purely for the purposes of a road to Hickman’s X-Men, I’d argue you can start with Matthew Rosenberg’s time writing the run solo from UXM #11 on.
Uncanny X-Men #22 is scheduled for release July 17, 2019, and is set to conclude this series of Uncanny (which began all the way back in the long ago known as 2018). The first issue of House of X will release the following week.
Hickman on X-Men Checklist
Collects: House of X #1 to #6, Powers of X #1 to #6
This is the collected edition – Full issue by issue breakdown below.
House of X and Powers of X Reading Order
The House of X / Powers of X duology has been so fun, I’ve started a video series called “Krakin’ Krakoa” where I provide background, history, and just overall enthusiasm for the events of the comic.
The series starts here with a history of Professor Charles Xavier prior to House of X #1. From this point forward I’ll just list the next entry in the video series by number, so those of you looking to avoid any possible spoilers can do so here!
You can find my exploration of some stand-out references to past Hickman comics in Krakin Krakoa: Secrets of House of X!
Krakin’ Krakoa #3 also goes with House of X #2.
For my video background, check out Krakin’ Krakoa #4!
Video companion via Krakin’ Krakoa #5!
Video companion via Krakin’ Krakoa #7!
Just the single page story by Hickman and Dustin Weaver about Apocalypse and his four horsemen!
Video companion via Krakin’ Krakoa #6!
Video companion via Krakin’ Krakoa #8!
Video companion via Krakin’ Krakoa #9!
Video companion via Krakin’ Krakoa #10!
Video companion via Krakin’ Krakoa #12!
After HoX & PoX… Dawn of X Trade Reading Order!
You should know that Marvel is collecting (at least) the first six issues of the new comics in the X-Men line known as Dawn of X two ways. First, there’s your traditional series trade paperback where the first six issues of X-Men comics will all be collected (for example). Less traditionally, there are also hardcover collections called “Dawn of X Volume One” and so on, that collect only the first issue of each of the six Dawn of X titles, then only the second issue of each, and so on.
Now, there’s been a lot of debate as to the merit of reading every comic in the Dawn of X. There is some continuity overlap, and in that regard, I’d encourage fans of House of X read at least the first two issues of the six launch titles (all listed below in the issue by issue order!) to see which books you enjoy the most. From there, it’s really down to personal preference, and I’d advise sticking with the books that do it for you. For the completists like myself, though, those Dawn of X collections may seem awfully tempting.
X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1
Collects: X-Men #1 To #6
Marauders by Gerry Duggan Vol. 1
Collects: Marauders (2019) #1-6
Collects: X-Force (2019) 1-6
Excalibur by Tini Howard Vol. 1
Collects: Excalibur (2019) 1-6
New Mutants by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1
Collects: New Mutants 1-6
Collects: Fallen Angels (2019) 1-6
X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 2
Collects: X-Men (2019) 7-11
New Mutants by Ed Brisson Vol. 1
Collects: New Mutants (2019) 7-12
Collects: X-Force (2019) 7-12
Collects: X-Men/Fantastic Four (2020) 1-4
Marauders by Gerry Duggan Vol. 2
Collects: Marauders (2019) 7-11
Excalibur by Tini Howard Vol. 2
Collects: Excalibur (2019) 7-11
Dawn of X Hardcover Collections
Collects: X-Men (2019) #1, X-Force (2019) #1, Marauders #1, Excalibur (2019) #1, Fallen Angels (2019) #1 And New Mutants (2019) #1
Collects: X-Men (2019) #2, X-Force (2019) #2, Marauders #2, Excalibur (2019) #2, Fallen Angels (2019) #2 And New Mutants (2019) #2
Collects: X-Men (2019) #3, X-Force (2019) #3, Marauders #3, Excalibur (2019) #3, Fallen Angels (2019) #3 And New Mutants (2019) #3
Collects: X-Men (2019) #4, X-Force (2019) #4, Marauders #4, Excalibur (2019) #4, Fallen Angels (2019) #4 And New Mutants (2019) #4
Collects: X-Men (2019) #5, X-Force (2019) #5, Marauders #5, Excalibur (2019) #5, Fallen Angels (2019) #5 And New Mutants (2019) #5
Collects: X-Men (2019) 6, X-Force (2019) 6, Marauders 6, Excalibur (2019) 6, Fallen Angels (2019) 6 And New Mutants (2019) 6
Issue by Issue Dawn of X Checklist
My review and theories of Marauders #1
My review and theories of Excalibur #1!
My review and theories of New Mutants #1!
My review and theories of X-Force #1!
My review and theories of X-Men #2!
My review and theories of Fallen Angels #1!
My review and theories of
My review of Fallen Angels #2!
There’s a short story in this Marvel preview/murder mystery by Hickman, RB Silva and Marte Garcia, featuring Mister Sinister. Well worth the read, and for the teaser it contains for X-Men/Fantastic Four.
Given the Marauders involvement in this series, I’d recommend reading prior to Marauders #6, even though this issue was published alongside Marauders #7.
Like X/FF above, Wolverine is a Dawn of X wave 2 series addition that makes more sense earlier in the reading order than its release date would place it (the comic was released the same week as Marauders #8 and New Mutants #7).
Technically, I’d argue you could place Wolverine #1 before even X-Force #1 at the start of the Dawn of X. If the rest of the story plays out in that same timeframe I may adjust accordingly!
Ok, this is a stretch, but there are thematic and literal connections to the Dawn of X in this oddball one-shot that diehards may find interesting. First off, the entire premise is tied to Weapon Plus, which is the expansion of the Weapon X program that originates during Morrison’s New X-Men. Second, Man-Slaughter (they weaponized a Man-Thing!) is actually very tied to sci-fi themes writer Benjamin Percy explores in X-Force #6. And finally, the back-up story about Brute Force (which was an actual Marvel miniseries and is blowing my mind) mentions the Orchis program!
Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost #1
Not super essential, but Wolverine teams up with Felicia, and they occasionally talk Krakoa. Kris Anka’s art slays.
I debated including this issue, but there’s a huge tease in this story that could have major ramifications for the X-Men. Keep in mind that unless you’ve been keeping up with Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness’ run on Avengers since “Marvel Fresh Start,” 66% of this story won’t seem relevant!
Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler
New Titles Coming Soon
Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto
X-Factor #1
Children of the Atom #1
Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomax
Free Comic Book Day 2020: X-Men
Giant-Size X-Men: Storm
Empyre: X-Men #1 to #4
Runaways #34 (?)
Xmen Fantastic Four 3 – where does X/FF 3 fit in?
Should be in there right after issue 2!
So where does Wave 2 actually start? I’d imagine with Wolverine #1 since it’s the first issue to include a reading order at the end of the issue since X-Force #6, I think it was. The reading order it includes doesn’t show X-Men / Fantastic Four, though, or even New Mutants though that series is still running.
Granted, I’m not caught up reading Dawn of X (busy life) but I am still buying them as they come out and tracking the new series as they release.
Where do you feel the x-men/FF fits in on a canonical bases? I was a little thrown off when Kitty was all of a sudden in that book. As a new comic reader non-linear storylines can still throw me for a loop sometime.
Thank you for the continual updates. They are very helpful.
Would putting the 4 Jonathan Hickman written new mutants issues together make more sense or would that overcomplicate.
I like the idea, and in some ways it makes *tons* of sense, but issue #7 actually plays very specifically with the odd release structure of New Mutants so far!
so would you recommend reading 1, 2 and 5 together and leaving 7 after 6?
Off the top of my head, I don’t see why not
I just read that FF issue where Mister Franklin is saying goodbye to everyone. Interesting to note he talks about fighting Nimrod and an Omega Sentinel. Time will tell which parts of Hickman’s earlier work are part of the road to HoX/PoX I guess.
Also, despite its flaws, surely it is appropriate to list Hickman’s work on Avengers vs X-Men here?
That’s a great callout! Very cool to consider seeds that might have been planted in FF.
I remember looking at the Hickman scripts on AvX when putting some of the guides around his content together, but didn’t come away with any essential takeaways. It’s totally fair to callout the work, though, and to give it a look for clues or enjoyment!
Would reading Ed Piskor: X-Men: Grand Design / Second Genesis / X-Tinction help with Hickman’s House of X?
yes, they are a cliffnotes for entire xmen history tho its not in detail. it shows pretty much all the big events that happened
id say at least read giant size xmen issue to understand what krokoa is, and maybe read any of claremont’s xmen books or grant morrisons new xmen, to get an understanding of all the characters and what their powers are.
grand design pretty much recaps their entire history of events that happened but dont so much go in to detail about the characters and what their powers are…
Question.
I am a new reader of comics. Can I start reading X-Men from House of X #1 even if I haven’t read anything prior to that? Will I understand the stories?
Good question! I wrote a whole column about it here: https://www.comicbookherald.com/previously-on-77-can-you-read-house-of-x-as-a-starting-point-the-all-time-pre-release-hype-rankings-and-being-a-fool-at-a-creator-signing/
Short answer, House of X is intended as a starting place, and honestly, the fact that you haven’t read X-Men before might work to your benefit in some ways (less memory baggage!). That said, it can be a challenging first comic book, so mileage may vary! My advice is to give it a shot, and if it’s not working, try out some other comics as a warmup. Enjoy the comics!
id say at least read giant size xmen issue to understand what krokoa is, and maybe read any of claremont’s xmen books or grant morrisons new xmen, to get an understanding of all the characters and what their powers are.
Road to list should include Soule’s Astonishing X-Men. At least the first two volumes that contain the resurrection of Xavier in Fantomex’s body as “X”