Top 10 Essential Krakoa X-Men Comics (Collected)

Ever since House of X and Powers of X rejuvenated X-Men fandom in 2019, one of the most consistent questions I’ve heard has been “What are the essential comics of the Krakoa era?” Admittedly, my initial reaction was “Read it all, you cowards!,” but even I can acknowledge that after a near 5-year journey, that’s a lot of comics, and not everything is vital to enjoying and understanding this fascinating era of X-Men.

So, I’ve set myself the task of selecting the 10 collected works that best summarize the Krakoa / Hickman era of X-Men, and provide the most invaluable contributions to the grand metanarrative and overarching plot. This would have been much easier if I could have made a list of 12, but unfortunately, the X-Office’s insistence that Powers of X is pronounced “Powers of Ten” and X of Swords is pronounced “ten of swords” leaves me no choice but to take the Roman numeral way too seriously. This means the list will truly concentrate on contributions to the larger story, and some of my picks for best comics of the era will get left out as honorable mentions.

If you feel jumping around through the essential works is skipping too many comics, that’s why I have the complete Krakoa era X-Men reading orders on Comic Book Herald. This guide is for those who want a relative fast track that captures the era’s essence. To those who say even this fast track is too much: “Read more comics, you cowards!”

#0) House of X / Powers of X

This is our central text, our bible, and does not count towards the recommended reading, as this is not merely recommended, but required. There’s a case to be made that these are the best X-Men comics of all time. Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, RB Silva, and Marte Gracia, I salute you.

#1) Dawn of X Vol. 1 – Vol. 3

This was not my initial first pick, but the more I thought about it, the more value I see in approximating what it was like to set foot into the possibility of the Krakoa era through the Dawn of X trades. Following the set-up of the new status quo, with the sovereign island nation of Krakoa established as the home for all mutantkind, the Dawn of X kicked off with 6 launch titles exploring different facets of the new normal. In addition to Jonathan Hickman continuing his vision in the pages of X-Men and New Mutants, you have Marauders looking at rescuing mutant refugees from hostile nations, X-Force establishing Krakoa’s security and intelligence branches, Excalibur developing Apocalypse’s interest in mutant magic and other dimensions, and Fallen Angels not getting the memo and doing a solo Kwannon story.

Not all of these books are going to hit, and some I would actively not recommend, but through these trades, you get the first 3 issues of each, and that sense of wonder about how creators would be playing in the Krakoan playground from here on out. This is a good sample platter approach, too, to help you know which books you might want to continue with for your own enjoyment.

#2) Hickman’s X-Men

When I started tracking a reading order for every X-Men title after HoX/PoX it was under the title “Hickman’s X-Men reading order.” Marvel fans have come to expect a singularly focused vision from Hickman, one of the most celebrated American comics writers of the 2000s, which he established so successfully from 2008 to 2016 with work across Fantastic Four, Avengers, and 2015’s Secret Wars event. So while we have to point out comics are a collaboration, and the storytelling genius of Pepe Larraz, RB Silva, Marte Gracia and team make House and Powers knockout hits, Hickman’s profile and shadow set the expectation for fans. If Hickman wrote it into the X-Men narrative, it simply felt more vital.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, Hickman left the X-Men franchise in 2021, around the midway point of what has subsequently been relabeled the Krakoa era. We’ll never quite know what the full story would have looked like with Hickman on board through the conclusion. Prior to that point, though, Hickman wrote a 21 issue X-Men run, 4 issues of New Mutants, and 5 Giant-Size X-Men one-shots. These are all collected in an X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus, and vital to the development of the Krakoa era.

#3) X of Swords

The Krakoa era’s first crossover event focuses on the history of Apocalypse, Krakoa (remember, this is a sentient island nation!), and the seeds Hickman and Tini Howard had been planting across X-Men and Excalibur. The event gets longwinded in places, but the core is essential to Krakoa. As you’ve seen, I’m always an advocate of reading more comics, but you can pretty sensibly fast track this event by reading just the following:

X-Men #12

X of Swords: Creation #1

X-Men #13

X of Swords: Stasis #1

X-Men #14 to #15

X of Swords: Destruction #1

X-Men #16

#4) Hellions

Hellions is the greatest unlikely success story of the Krakoa era, taking the ragtag team of Psylocke (Kwannon), Havok, Wild Child, Scalphunter (aka John Greycrow), Nanny and Orphanmaker, putting them under the court-ordered leadership of Mister Sinister, and setting Krakoa’s problem children off on “suicide” missions like some kind of… squad. This could have been an absolute disaster, but with Zeb Wells writing career-best comics comedy, and artists like Stephen Segovia knowing exaclty how to balance the blend of pathos and humor, Hellions makes a case for best comic of the entire era. It’s the lone entry here that makes it on quality alone, although there are continuity relevant developments for Sinister, a key player of this era.

5) The Al Ewing X-Verse

Ok, so technically an omnibus collecting Al Ewing’s work across S.W.O.R.D. and X-Men Red doesn’t exist yet, but it will one day because these comics are too damn good not to combine. SWORD ran for 11 issues before transforming into X-Men Red, which is slated for an 18 issue run prior to Ewing ending his saga with The Resurrection of Magneto. That accounts for arguably the best 30+ issue run in the Krakoa era.

SWORD and X-Men Red are vital to establishing how Krakoa interacts with the universe at a cosmic level, including intergalactic politics and the development of Planet Arakko. On top of that, Ewing does masterful work with characters like Magneto, Storm, Abigail Brand, and yes, Wiz Kid. Great comics and essential, the best of all worlds.

6) The Hellfire Gala Vol. 1

In mid-2021, after X of Swords the real-world delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the X-Office introduced fans to an annual tradition of Hellfire Galas, banquets put on by Emma Frost and mutantkind inviting dignitaries, heroes and allies the world over to celebrate Krakoa and announce what’s to come. The showcases communicated the new X-Men team rosters, and in the case of the first Hellfire Gala, announced to the world in incredible Pepe Larraz style that mutants were terraforming Mars and renaming it Planet Arakko, capital of the Sol System.

It’s one of the most memorable single issues of the Krakoa era, and absolutely vital to understanding the journey.

7) Inferno / X Lives & X Deaths of Wolverine

Here’s the flashpoint (no, not that one), the moment Hickman’s X-Men officially ends, and readers are thrown into the next phase of things. Inferno marks Hickman’s final 4 issues, a mini-event in which Orchis makes a play to tear apart the secret mutant leaders Moira X, Magneto and Professor X, and the secrets of Moira’s mutant abilities (to relive lifelines with the knowledge of how things played out in past lives) are revealed to Destiny, Mystique, Emma Frost, Doug Ramsey and Krakoa themselves! After deliberately avoiding his biggest story from HoX/PoX, Hickman finally returns in triumphant style, teasing some new mysteries for the likes of Omega Sentinel and Nimrod within Orchis.

The event was immediately followed by the Benjaim Percy written X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine, two intermingling 5 issue event books focused on, yes, Wolverine and the fallout of Moira X on the run from Krakoa. I don’t fault Percy for the attempt – somebody had to step up and try to take on what came next for Moira, and it took guts to do it – but this became a make or break book for many readers, including myself. Something vital was lost here, and it’s a hard work to recommend on its own terms. Nonetheless, you have to know what happens in these events to fully understand where the Krakoa era goes from here.

8) The Kieron Gillen X-Verse

It’s my party, and I’ll cheat if I want to. Fresh off a wave of creator-owned success (Die, Once and Future) and the most effective Eternals run in Marvel history, Kieron Gillen stepped into Krakoa’s Destiny of X and alongside Al Ewing re-established a sense of ambition and focus with the excellent Immortal X-Men. The great run built towards a Marvel Universe event in Judgment Day, which successfully placed both the X-Men and Eternals at center stage, and the alternate reality madness of Sins of Sinister.  For my money, you have three creators who played the biggest role in saving the post-Hickman Krakoa era, and they are Al Ewing, Victor LaValle, and Kieron Gillen.

9) Fall of X

I have a lot of complicated feelings about Gerry Duggan’s massive role in the Krakoa era of X-Men (Ben Percy is the only writer with more comics contributed during this timeframe), but the one thing nearly everyone can agree on is that Duggan brought his A-game for the Hellfire Gala specials. That was true yet again in 2023, as the year’s Hellfire Gala initiated the Fall of X, and set up Orchis’ grand scheme to utterly destroy mutantkind and Krakoa. This is the beginning of the end, a long time coming, and it’s devastating for the mutants of Marvel. The collected edition includes the Free Comic Book Day set-up, and the Hellfire issue, but doesn’t include Duggan’s follow-up in X-Men #25, which I would highly recommend as well.

10) Fall of the House of X / Rise of the Powers of X

Which brings us full circle to the end of Krakoa, with two 5 issue titles calling back to the books that started it all. Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck will be telling the Fall of the House of X with Kieron Gillen and a returning RB Silva on Rise of the Powers of X.

There you have it. The Krakoa X-Men comics wrapped up in 10 selections. Hope you survive the experience.