X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Beyond, the Chris Claremont Era Reading Order (1975-1986)

Starting in 1975, writer Chris Claremont took over writing X-Men with what was essentially a reboot of the series, picking up from Len Wein's initial continuation a few issues earlier. This run lasted until 1991, so I will be breaking it up into a few reading orders. This era is entirely written by Claremont (and Wein), including all of the many spin-offs. This does not cover every X-Men appearance in this era, but focuses on Claremont's sprawling ongoing story to form a cohesive experience. This half of Claremont's reading order goes from 1975 to 1986, focusing on the X-Men and their spin-off series New Mutants. The main book is technically called X-Men until issue 141, but I will be referring to the entire run as Uncanny X-Men for the sake of simplicity.

This reading order covers Giant Size X-Men, Uncanny X-Men (1963) #94-203, New Mutants (1983) #1-37, Wolverine (1984) #1-4, Magik #1-4, and Nightcrawler (1985) #1-4. Some prior knowledge of the X-Men would be helpful, but is not necessary to enjoy the run. Spoilers for Claremont's run, 1984's Secret Wars, and Secret Wars II.

Quality:★★★★★ Cohesion:★★★★☆ Accessiblity:★★★★★

Dark Phoenix Sub-Era (1975-1980)

Claremont's run starts with the overarching plot of the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix Sagas, one of the best known and best regarded comic book stories of all time. This is the perfect place to start reading X-Men, taking place after the original run.

1. Giant-Size X-Men (1975) #1
• This 64-page one-shot written by Wein is basically a soft reboot of the X-Men, sidelining the main cast from the original run and focusing on a new cast of X-Men: Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Banshee, Sunfire, and Thunderbird. This is the best place to start this run, and arguably X-Men in general.
2. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #94-124
• This set of issues features the death of Thunderbird, the return of Magneto, and the first Phoenix Saga. It is the first set of new normal X-Men issues since issue 66, with Claremont's first issue being 96.
3. Uncanny X-Men Annual (1970) #3
• This annual sees the X-Men go to space to help Arkon and doesn't feature Jean Grey. It goes nicely here as a last adventure before the Proteus and Dark Phoenix Sagas.
4. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #125-138
• This set of issues contains the stellar Proteus Saga and Dark Phoenix Saga, introducing Proteus, Kitty Pryde, and the Hellfire Club. While the Dark Phoenix Saga is usually collected as ending with #137, #138 is a perfect epilogue, showing Cyclops' time with Jean throughout the years. It also has Kitty joining the team, showing a new life after death.

Demons and Sleazoids Sub-Era (1980-1983)

After the Dark Phoenix Saga, the X-Men continue to fight aliens and the supernatural as well as the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, led by Mystique. It also sees their roster expand, as well as the first spin-off series and miniseries with New Mutants and Wolverine Vol 1, respectively. This era ends with Cyclops' wedding and the reveal of Illyana's powers, providing an end to both Cyclops' story and the demon problems for the forseeable future. You can start with this era, but it does continue some themes from the previous era and continues into the next one.

1. Uncanny X-Men Annual (1970) #4
• This annual sees the X-Men team up with Dr Strange to go through a fabricated hell, kicking off the trend of demons and the supernatural in this era.
2. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #139-148
• Cyclops is mostly away from the team in these issues and Magneto is built back up. Days of Future Past happens during issues 141-142.
3. Avengers Annual (1967) #10
• Introduces Rogue and hands an amnesiac Carol Danvers off to the X-Men, with her appearing in the next issues.
4. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #149-150
• A climactic confrontation with Magneto.
5. Uncanny X-Men Annual (1970) #5
• Cyclops is back, placing this after the fight with Magneto.
6. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #151-166
• The X-Men fight Dracula in issue 159, Illyana goes to Limbo and grows up in 160, and the X-Men are sent to space for weeks during the Brood Saga from issues 161 through 166.
7. Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982)
8. New Mutants (1982) #1-3
• Professor Xavier creates a new team of mutants while he believes the X-Men are dead in space. Issue 3 is a tie-in to the Brood Saga.
9. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #167
• The end of the Brood Saga sees the X-Men return from space and meet the New Mutants. Xavier also demotes Kitty to the New Mutants since she is their age.
10. Uncanny X-Men Annual (1970) #6
11. Marvel Graphic Novel #5: God Loves, Man Kills (1982)
• The annual sees the return of Dracula, and the graphic novel is the famous God Loves, Man Kills story. It leads into the next era, but fits well here due to Illyana and Cyclops, and both issues manage to skirt around Kitty's demotion.
12. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #168-171
13. Wolverine (1982) #1-4
• Kitty reverses her demotion in issue 168, and Wolverine leaves there as well to adventure in his own miniseries. Rogue also joins the X-Men while Wolverine is gone and the Morlocks are introduced.
14. New Mutants (1982) #4-7
• The New Mutants fight the Silver Samurai and Viper after Wolverine's miniseries but before his wedding. They then head to Brazil where they will stay for a bit.
15. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #172-176
• Wolverine returns from his miniseries and he and Cyclops both have weddings, albeit not the same one. Issue 176 is pretty much an epilogue issue for Cyclops, but does lead into the next arc.
16. Uncanny X-Men Annual (1970) #7
17. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #177-179
• The annual is a terrible comedy issue while issues 177 through 179 end off the X-Men's time in this era by bringing back the Morlocks and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
18. New Mutants (1982) #8-13
• This set of issues introduces Magma and Selene in the mystical city of Nova Roma before bringing the New Mutants back to the mansion.
19. Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976) #6
• Due to the roster, this is the only place to read this issue, but it isn't relevant until the next era and is not very good or really super relevant, so it can pretty much be skipped or saved for later.
20. Magik: Storm and Illyana (1983) #1-4
21. New Mutants (1982) #14
• We learn what happened to Illyana in Limbo before she uses her powers to help the New Mutants, tying up her mystery and capping off most of the loose ends for this era by stopping the biggest demon.

Lifedeath and Secret Wars Sub-Era (1983-1986)

This era focuses more on the political side of the X-Men and starts to get significantly darker and grittier than the previous eras, but still with some elements of fantasy. The two big stories are Lifedeath, focusing on the depowering of Storm, and the X-Men's tie-ins to Marvel's Secret Wars events, which Claremont is able to work nicely into the main story without a lot of exposition. John Byrne's Alpha Flight, an X-Men spin-off, also starts during this era, but since it doesn't connect to the main story of the X-Men, I am leaving it out of this reading order.

1. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #180
• This issue sets up the next arcs of both X-Men and New Mutants.
2. Secret Wars (1985) #1-12
• While not strictly an X-Men story, it does feature the X-Men and Magneto in a decent capacity. Written by Jim Shooter, this story is optional for reading, but does provide some context for the next couple of issues and is how the #180 cliffhanger gets resolved.
3. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #181-182
• Stories featuring the aftermath of Secret Wars as the X-Men return to Earth. They can pretty much be read right after issue 180.
4. New Mutants (1982) #15-21
• The first two arcs takes place during Secret Wars while the X-Men are away, but fit well enough here. The X-Men first show up at the end of issue 20, acting almost as a deus ex machina savior in the epilogue, which works nicely since they were theoretically away the whole time. Issue 21 brings Warlock and Cypher into the New Mutants.
5. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #183-188
• This arc first introduces Rachel Summers as well as being the main arc of Lifedeath, introducing Forge and seeing Storm get depowered. Kitty and Wolverine also take a leave of absense from the team.
6. (from Demons and Sleazoids) Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976) #6
• If you didn't read this issue above when it takes place, it works as a prologue to the next New Mutants arc.
7. New Mutants (1982) #22-25
8. New Mutants Annual (1984) #1
• While the annual probably takes place before issues 22 through 25, Warlock and Cypher feature in the annual and the next arc but not 22 through 25, so their story works better this way. Plus, the continuity is so minimal otherwise that nothing is really lost. In a way, it acts as foreshadowing if read in this order.
9. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #189-191
• Technically an X-Men/New Mutants crossover featuring the Avengers, Dr Strange, Spider-Man, Rachel, and Selene.
10. Kitty Pryde and Wolverine (1984) #1-6
11. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #192
12. Uncanny X-Men Annual (1970) #8
13. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #193
• The Kitty Pryde and Wolverine miniseies details what they've been up to in their absense before they come back in issue 192. Unfortunately, issue 192 ends with Xavier getting beaten half to death, which picks right up in #193, which ends with Storm leaving the team. However, the 8th annual has Wolverine, Kitty, Storm, and Xavier, meaning that it takes place during #192. You shouldn't have to swap an issue in the middle, and since Kitty, Storm and Wolverine are more relevant than Xavier, it can go between 192 and 193, with the acknowledgement that it fits in there somewhere.
14. X-Men and Alpha Flight (1985) #1-2
• This mini sees the X-Men team up with Alpha Flight to fight Loki, with Xavier having just recovered from his injuries.
15. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #194-195
16. Nightcrawler (1985) #1-4
• Nightcrawler's mini takes place during #195, but can be read after. Issue 195 also leads into Secret Wars II.
17. New Mutants (1982) #26-29
18. Secret Wars II (1985) #1
• New Mutants 26 through 28 introduce Legion and New Mutants 29 starts a new story arc that goes through Secret Wars II #1, temporarily bringing the New Mutants and X-Men together.
19. New Mutants (1982) #30-31
• Kitty joins the New Mutants as they finish off their previous arc.
20. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #196-199
21. New Mutants (1982) #32-34
• Storm winds up in Africa in #198. This is where she'll meet the New Mutants during their next arc, which reintroduces old member Karma. Cyclops is also brought back to the team to deal with a dying Xavier.
22. New Mutants Special Edition (1985) #1
23. Uncanny X-Men Annual (1970) #9
• These two issues are a two-parter focusing on Storm and the New Mutants as they traverse Asgard and deal with Loki.
24. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #200-201
25. New Mutants (1982) #35-36
• X-Men #200 sees Xavier leave the Mansion and be replaced by Magneto, while #201 sees Storm cement herself as the team's leader over Cyclops, with him leaving for good. New Mutants #35 deals with the fallout of these issues while issue #36 is a prologue to the rest of the Secret Wars II arc.
26. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #202
27. New Mutants (1982) #37
28. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #203
29. Secret Wars II (1985) #9
• These two arcs intertwine in a myriad of ways and deal with both teams confronting the Beyonder for the final time. X-Men #203 is a fantastic, if bittersweet ending, but Secret Wars II bring it all together as an epilogue, resetting the status quo for the next era of X-Men. The rest of Secret Wars II does not feature the X-Men or New Mutans and is not necessary to understand the X-Men's storyline.