The X-Men had two of the biggest decades of any superhero team in the ’80s and ’90s. The team was able to take the top of the sales charts and never let go, and gave readers some of the greatest stories in the history of comics. While the group wasn’t as popular by the end of the ’90s as they were at the beginning, they were still a titan. Marvel’s merry mutants entered the 21st century in a very good position, and the ’00s proved to be an interesting time for them. It wasn’t a perfect decade for the X-Men, and it planted the seeds for a lot of future problems, but it was also a great time to be reading the X-Men books (except for the Chuck Austen-written ones).
Videos by ComicBook.com
The X-Men stories of the ’00s went in directions that no one would have guessed at the beginning of the decade. Some of these directions where definitely a mistake (House of M being the major one), but all of them blended together to give readers some of the best X-Men ideas of all time. These are the best five best parts of the ’00s for the team, each of them laying the groundwork for the future.
5) The Relationship Between Cyclops and Emma Frost
Cyclops and Jean Grey were the main couple of the X-Men, but the ’00s changed that in some rather major ways. Emma Frost was added into the whole situation and Jean would end up dying in New X-Men #150. After that, Cyclops and Frost were put together as a couple and it was amazing. Their relationship was quite different from what came before, as they both worked together to make life livable for mutants, especially as time went on. Emma helped Cyclops become the leader we all knew he could be, and it paid off in the years to come. Their relationship helped redefine what the X-Men could be in the ’00s, and their relationship was one of the most best parts of the decade.
4) The Return of Peter David’s X-Factor
X-Factor was a great book in the ’80s and ’90s, but everyone agrees that its best moments come under writer Peter David. David started writing the book with issue #71, and gave readers some of the best stories with Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man, and Quicksilver. The book ended in 1997, years after David left, but things would start to look up for fans of that run in the ’00s. David wrote a Multiple Man miniseries, which would lead into X-Factor (Vol. 3). The writer changed the team’s purpose for existing — they became a mutant detective agency instead of a government sponsored mutant team — and gave readers a comic that is one of the best X-books of all time. David gave the team, which consisted of Multiple Man, Siryn, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, Monet, Layla Miller, and Rictor, the best stories of their existence. This is peak X-Men.
3) The Move Away from the X-Mansion
The X-Mansion was a major part of the X-Men mythos. The Xavier Institute served as the team’s home and safe space, and a plethora of great stories were told there. The mid ’00s were a time of immense change for the team, and X-Men (Vol. 2) #200 would see the end of an era. The X-Mansion was destroyed in battle with Mister Sinister and the Marauders, which was a major turning point in the team’s history. The mutant race, greatly weakened by House of M, lost their safe space and had to survive in a world without a shield. It led to some great stories for the team that have become a major part of X-canon..
2) Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3)
Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) was introduced after writer Grant Morrison left the X-Men. It was meant to be the new flagship book of the line, bringing together Joss Whedon and John Cassday for a 25-issue run that became one of the bestselling books of the decade. The Whedon/Cassaday run is beloved, but it was only the beginning. Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) became a book that would allow Marvel to put the best writers and artists together for some great X-Men stories. It was an important part of the X-mythos in the years after the ’00s, and is full of amazing stories that readers never would have gotten otherwise.
1) Morrison’s New X-Men
New X-Men is the best X-Men run of the 21st century, and it played a huge role in the future of the team. Writer Grant Morrison, working with artists like Frank Quitely, Ethan Van Sciver, Igor Kordey, Phil Jimenez, Chris Bachalo, and Marc Silvestri, took all of the familiar tropes of the team and used them in completely new ways. The 40-issue run showed just what could be done with these old ideas, and laid the groundwork for numerous stories in the future. Without New X-Men, we don’t get the Krakoa Era or the Utopia Era or even the current “From the Ashes” era. It changed the team forever, and remains a classic part of their existence.
What are your favorite parts of the X-Men in the ’00s? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Paramount
