The X-Men were the first major Marvel team to make the jump to the movies. Back then, the mutant superheroes were the cream of the crop, the bestselling team comics on the racks, and had been the stars of a beloved animated series. It was a perfect idea to bring them to the big screen. While we’ve had some very mixed quality when it comes to these movies, they’re still beloved by many X-Men fans. The movies borrow from numerous X-Men classics, using stories like God Loves, Man Kills, “The Dark Phoenix Saga”, and “Days of Future Past” to inform the films (“The Dark Phoenix Saga” got tried twice, and both times failed). With the team coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans are excited to see what’s going to get adapted next.
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The X-Men have some brilliant stories in their oeuvre, the vast majority of which have never been adapted. Some of these stories are stone cold classics, amazing tales that fans have loved for decades in some cases. These seven X-Men stories are complete masterpieces that have never been adapted, but maybe they’ll get a chance one day.
7) “Inferno”
Chris Claremont is the greatest X-Men writer. The scribe has had three different runs with the team, wrote the three volume X-Men: The End, and got to go back to the stories that he didn’t get to tell in his first run in X-Men Forever. So far, most of the X-Men movies that have adapted comics came from him. “Inferno” is Claremont’s last major event story with the team. Madelyne Pryor, Cyclops’s wife, has been driven crazy both by her husband’s treatment of her and Mister Sinister chasing her down to get his hands on her son Nathan. She teams with N’astirh, a demon lord of Limbo, launching an attack on New York City. “Inferno” is fantastic, a story that brought together the X-Men, New Mutants, and X-Factor along with other Marvel heroes to battle a demonic invasion. It’s a classic story, and would make for a cool event in the MCU.
6) “Gifted”
So, technically, part of “Gifted” has been adapted; X3: The Last Stand used the mutant cure storyline, but nothing else, so I’m counting it as not-adapted. “Gifted”, by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, saw a new team of A-list X-Men — Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolverine, Beast, and Kitty Pryde — face off against a new alien villain named Ord, just as a mutant cure is developed by a human scientist. Astonishing X-Men was meant to be the mutant flagship book after Marvel ran Morrison from the team, and it kicked off with a bang. This story is honestly the best of Whedon/Cassaday’s run. It has a major X-Men return, great action scenes from Cassaday, and brilliant characterization. It’s a great story that is perfect for people who don’t know a lot about the X-Men, and has an awesome old school feel to it.
5) “Here Comes Tomorrow”
Grant Morrison’s New X-Men the best 21st century X-Men run, and there would have been a time when I made this list just their books. Morrison’s time at Marvel ended unceremoniously (according to their book SuperGods, it was because of weekly shouting matches with Marvel editorial), but the last story of their run showed what a mistake losing them was. “Here Comes Tomorrow”, by Morrison and classic X-Men artist Marc Silverstri, takes place a hundred years in the future. The world is in ruins thanks to the Beast of the Apocalypse, who has gotten his hands on the Phoenix Egg, leading the last of the X-Men into a desperate battle with him and his army of mutant chimera. It’s a fantastic alternate future story in the vein of “Days of Future Past”, with Morrison proving why they’re one of the best X-writers ever. Silverstri’s art is amazing. Every page looks fantastic and you can tell the artist put a lot of work into it. It’s an unsung classic.
4) X-Men (Vol. 2) #50
X-Men (Vol. 2) #50, by Scott Lobdell and Andy Kubert, is almost completely forgotten, but I remember it and it’s sensational. Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and Iceman wake up in a mysterious environment. Cyclops is without his visor, Iceman has a hole in his chest, and no one remembers anything about how they got there. Suddenly, they are attacked by a mutant named Post, the herald of Onslaught, as a way of testing the X-Men’s most formidable mutants. This one and done story was part of the build-up to “Onslaught” and is an action-packed romp that had me hyped for that then-upcoming story. Lobdell’s script is pretty good, but the real high point of the issue is the art. Kubert is outstanding, giving readers what is in my opinion the best art of his time on X-Men. This is an awesome slug fest that no one talks about, and that’s a shame.
3) House of X/Powers of X
The Krakoa Era is beloved by fans, even though the ending wasn’t all that great (Fall of the House of X bogged the whole thing down), but that doesn’t change how amazing its beginning in House of X/Powers of X was. The two series that are one was were written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva and revolved around the mutants creating their own country on the island of Krakoa. This story has everything — big changes that are built off X-Men lore, all-new ideas and plots, political intrigue, some amazing actions, visits to alternate futures and universes, and art that will knock your socks off. HoX/PoX is one of the best X-Men stories of all-time, and injected the X-books with an energy they hadn’t had since Morrison’s New X-Men. It’s a perfect X-Men story.
2) “Ghost Box”
Warren Ellis picked up the baton of Astonishing X-Men after the Whedon/Cassaday run and, in my opinion, easily vaulted over their stories. While Ellis only wrote two stories in the book (along with two miniseries), they are both outstanding. Both of them could be on this list, but today I’m going to focus on the first one, “Ghost Box”, by Ellis and Simone Bianchi. This story sees the X-Men investigate the death of a mutant no one knows — which was impossible in those post-House of M days — and get pulled into a multiversal war between one of their allies and the forces of another universe. It’s amazing X-Men sci-fi at it’s finest, with the kind of character interplay you want to see in the team’s stories. The art by Bianchi is gorgeous, his style bringing each page to life perfectly. This story has it all, and is almost completely forgotten by most X-Men fans.
1) “E Is for Extinction”
“E Is for Extinction” is one of the best X-Men stories ever, a three-issue slice of superhero perfection from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. The team decides that they would could do more for mutants as teachers and rescue workers than superheroes, debuting the black leather costumes, and they’re immediately thrown into a situation with stakes that are nothing less than the survival of the mutant race. This story introduces readers to Cassandra Nova and brings Emma Frost to the team, all while giving people the big ideas and deft characterization that Morrison is known for. Quitely’s art isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it has the perfect feel for this story. Even 24 years later, this story feels like it’s brand-new and vital, a foreign feeling to the X-Men in the post-Krakoa Era, and remains the best X-Men story of the 21 century.
What are your favorite unadapted X-Men masterpieces? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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