Phase 1: The Dawn of X
What’s it about? A new dawn begins! With Krakoa well and truly established, mutantkind enters a brave new world—but just because everything’s looking up for the island nation doesn’t mean that everyone who hated mutants before they suddenly became one of the most powerful forces on Earth just stopped. As Krakoa’s ruling Quiet Council looks to find new solutions to maintain peace with the outside world, mutant heroes and former villains alike all have to remember that their enemies still want them dead, even if they don’t realize that such a thing is temporary.
Any recommended books? The current era of X-books is a lot less about keeping up with a singular ongoing narrative, and more about seeking out what sounds neat to you. Want Kitty Pryde fun? Check out Marauders, which sees Kate form a team of swashbuckling adventurers to set sail from Krakoa and help monitor the trade of Krakoan medicine and save stranded mutants who can’t get to the island nation. Always interested in the more cosmic side of X-stories? New Mutants opens with a big interstellar arc, weaving in stories of the young mutants associated with that team over the years finding their own place in a society where they’re no longer the new kids on the block.
Fans of Betsy Braddock—now back in her own body and split from Kwannon, whose body Betsy was forced into as the hero Psylocke for decades—and magical fantasy should take a look at Excalibur, which sees Betsy inherit the mystical mantle of Captain Britain from her brother. If you’d prefer the darker side of things, both X-Force and Hellions deal with mutants making some tough ethical choices—the former dealing with the re-establishment of the titular spec ops team as Krakoa’s own intelligence agency and black ops squad, the latter seeing Mister Sinister work with a team of former villains and misfits looking to find a way to achieve redemption in the new mutant society… often very badly. And if you just want traditional X-Men action? Check out X-Men, silly! Even if, technically, there is no team with that name in the book, as it deals with big hitters like Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, and Storm tussling with mutantkind’s human foes in the scientific organization Orchis.
What are the big events? The Dawn of X culminates in X of Swords, a massive 22-chapter event. Picking up on threads established in Excalibur as Apocalypse seeks to understand the magical powers of the fantastical pocket reality Otherworld, a tournament-arc-with-a-twist breaks out between the mutants of Krakoa and the ancient mutants of its separated sister-island Arakko, with the threat of invasion and destruction of everything mutantkind has worked hard to build in the process. If you liked what you read in Excalibur, this amps it all up to 11—and is a must read for fans of Apocalypse in general.
