In 1988, Marvel Comics’ X-Men Universe combined to tell the Fall of the Mutants, a crossover event built around three major devastating separate events spanning the X-Men, X-Factor, and the New Mutants. Fall of the Mutants is the follow-up to Mutant Massacre, and part of the build to 1989’s Inferno, with some of the stranger and least discussed ideas and beats from the Chris Claremont era of X-Men.
In my video review I answer:
- What are the themes of Fall of the Mutants and what impact do they have on the X-Men of today?
- As the first major Apocalypse story, what does Fall of the Mutants establish about the longtime X-villain?
- Will we see elements from this stranger era of late period Claremont resurface in modern X-Men?
As a whole, Fall of the Mutants is interesting because the event is based on a thematic connection rather than a directly shared story. As the title, suggests each mutant team – X-Factor, the Uncanny X-Men, and the New Mutants – faces a dramatic existential threat to the core of their existence. Beyond that even, the mutant teams very directly confront the threat of human vs. mutant bigotry as America’s Mutant Registration Act takes off in the Marvel Universe.
Previously: Mutant Massacre
Related Reading Orders:
Collected X-Men: Fall of the Mutants Editions
X-Men Milestones: Fall of the Mutants
Collects: Uncanny X-Men #225-227, New Mutants #59-61, X-Factor #24-26
X-Men: Fall of the Mutants – Volume 1
Collects: Uncanny X-Men (1963) 220-227, Incredible Hulk (1968) 340, New Mutants (1983) 55-61
X-Men: Fall of the Mutants – Volume 2
Collects: X-Factor (1986) #18-26, Incredible Hulk (1968) #336-337, Power Pack (1984) #35, Daredevil (1964) #252, Captain America (1968) #339, Fantastic Four (1961) #312
Fall of the Mutants Reading Order (Main Event)
The core “Fall of the Mutants” event comes in three issue sets (bolded below), and personally I prefer reading them in three issue blocks, rather than splitting up issue by issue. As mentioned previously, each individual series has its own story to tell, meaning it makes the most sense to read all of what happens in X-Factor first, rather than bouncing out to Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants.
You’ll notice in the collected editions there are more issues of the core X-Men books, as well as the actual “Fall of the Mutants” tie-ins. Mostly these non-core X books set the stage for the event, meaning you can read any of the lead-in issues prior to X-Factor #24.
X-Factor #24
X-Factor #25
Power Pack #35
Captain America #339
Daredevil #252
X-Factor #26
Incredible Hulk #340
Uncanny X-Men #225
Uncanny X-Men #226
Uncanny X-Men #227
New Mutants #59
New Mutants #60
New Mutants #61
Fantastic Four #312
Next: Inferno
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