Ah, the halcyon days of the ’90s, when the graphic design was indecipherable and you could still count on seeing a hologram on a comic book cover. But the ’90s was also a time for taking bold risks. DC had killed off Superman and put Batman out of commission, garnering national media attention. So the X-office embarked on one of the wildest publishing experiments in superhero comics history. They canceled their entire line for months, replacing each book with alternate teams living in a world without Xavier where Apocalypse had taken over with radical results. The result was The Age of Apocalypse, one of the most beloved and well-remembered stories (and stunts) in X-history, one that’s been revisited more than a few times.
This week, the nostalgic time travels of Kamala Khan continue as the Hivemind of Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly take Ms. Marvel and sorta-Legion to Earth-295! Surely they’ll run into debased alternate universe X-people and have deep and meaningful adventures with them. And surely this is more than just table setting for the Jeph Loeb and Simone Di Meo AoA “event” coming this fall.
To mark the occasion, we consulted Battle of the Atom’s Big Ol’ List — an official ranking of more than 1,000 of the best X-Men stories — to find the 10 best stories involving the Era of En Sabah Nur. Don’t see your favorite AoA story here? (You may notice X-Man didn’t make it.) Disagree with the order? Too bad, so sad! Keep in mind that despite ranking 1,000+ X-stories, we haven’t ranked ’em all. It’s also important to remember that we are X-perts, so as Zack says, “There is no room for arguments, and no room for disagreement.”
CORRECTION: Upon further review, this list should have a different No. 9. We (specifically, editor Dan Grote) left out the Marvel Unlimited Infinity Comic story X-Men Unlimited Vol. 3 #62-67, “A World Without X,” by Jordan Blum and Salva Espin, in which Charles Xavier visits the the AoA. Dan hasn’t read the Infinity Comic stories and didn’t recognize it when he was combing the list. That’s on him. Sorry!
1. Generation Next #1-4
(current ranking: 14)
Let’s start with some brutal honesty: For many years, I was very against the Age of Apocalypse. And the genesis of that opinion came directly from reading Generation Next. Not because I didn’t like it. To the contrary, Generation Next established such a high standard that I couldn’t believe that any of the other books could even come close to matching it.
I did not read Generation Next as it came out. Instead, I bought the gold holofoil TPB collection that came out afterward (I now own a complete shiny set and, if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up) from a spinner rack in a comic store in a shopping mall. I was 15 years old, and was not quite prepared for the story I was about to read.
Because Generation Next is DARK. Superhero comics up to this point in my reading experience were dramatic, and sometimes sad, but usually uplifting because in most cases the heroes win. No one wins in this book. I won’t spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t read it, but the failure of our heroes isn’t just heartbreaking, it’s downright depressing. Writer Scott Lobdell certainly wasn’t interested in pulling punches. It’s one of only a handful of comic book stories I can say actually made me cry.
My emotional reaction wouldn’t be possible without the incredible art and character design of Chris Bachalo and Marc Buckingham, who maintain enough familiarity with the cast’s 616 analogs, while still establishing them as fascinating counterpoints whose lone misadventure still hits like a bomb. Long after I read AoA in its entirety and gained more respect for the full creative picture, Generation Next is still the story that stands out as not only the best of the bunch, but as one of the most powerful — and best — X-Men stories ever made.
2. Uncanny X-Force #11-18: The Dark Angel Saga
(current ranking: 18)
One of the Simonsons’ chief innovations during their X-Factor run was turning Warren Worthington III, the handsome rich and feathered member of the original five X-Men, into a flying cutlery set as Apocalypse’s Horseman of Death. Rick Remender and a powerhouse team of artists (Jerome Opena and Mark Brooks, among others) up the ante, making Archangel into Apocalypse’s heir with his own horsemen. This could be enough of a pitch on its own, but Remender doubles down, having his X-Force team travel to the Age of Apocalypse timeline, a move that provides new characters and beats that will stick with the book throughout its run and develop into more AoA stories. Even without the inclusion of the alternate timeline, Remender shows us the storytelling power of letting good guys break bad or even just evolve into something next level and new. “Dark Angel Saga” is almost 15 years old now (I know, I know, turntodust.gif) but remains one of the best X-Men stories of the 21st century.
3. X-Men Alpha and X-Men Omega
(current ranking: 41)
In-the-know readers knew something was about to happen to the X-Men after “Legion Quest,” but I can only imagine the double take of someone who wasn’t paying attention hitting their LCS to discover the chrome foil cover of X-Men Alpha and opening it to find a new and wildly different version of the X-Men led by Magneto. Why was Wolverine missing a hand? Who was the mini-me Sabretooth was carting around on a chain? Why does everyone have face tattoos? Alpha reset the status quo with bold character redesigns and a new universe for them to play in. Roger Cruz does his best Joe Madureira (who provides cover art and would continue into Astonishing X-Men), animating the “New World! New Beginning!” with a manga influence that would carry over to the other books in the line. It’s not easy setting up an entire alternate timeline’s worth of players in a single issue, but Alpha does it well. Omega is a little more of a mixed bag, as it has to wrap up all of the plotlines from all of the various AoA books in one giant nuclear explosion, but still has enough gusto to make us know we’ll miss these variants as they head into non-existence (or did they?!).
4. Astonishing X-Men #1-4
(current ranking: 76)
Coming in a strong second of the original AoA titles, Astonishing provides the backbone of the event with a creative reimagining of the core X-team. Joe Mad provides fluid, manga-influenced art that despite its cartoony qualities still conveys a great deal of emotion. In four short issues, Magneto is able to send multiple other books on their marching orders, establish rapport between key team members like Blink and Sabretooth, and pay everything off with an epic fight against Apocalypse’s poorly named (by Marvel) son, Holocaust. If this is the book readers at the time remember the event for the most, they chose wisely.
5. Amazing X-Men #1-4
(current ranking: 177)
Not to be confused with Astonishing, Amazing X-Men is the one Andy Kubert draws. Despite Storm’s presence, this is probably the weakest lineup of the AoA teams, but one thing you have to give the X-office credit for is just how many groups and competing entities are in these stories. Amazing boasts not only the Madri (an Apocalypse-worshipping cult made entirely of Jamie Madrox clones) but the Brotherhood of Chaos, Infinites and Abyss. Can the team sneak humans to safety? Can they protect the time-traveling Bishop? Some of these stories don’t really get wrapped up until Omega, but it still keeps the world building and action at great pace.
6. Gambit & the X-Ternals #1-4
(current ranking: 196)
Of all the AoA books, Gambit and the X-Ternals hands down has the funnest cast and the funnest pitch as Gambit, Jubilee, Lila Cheney, Strong Guy and Sunspot team up to steal the M’Kraan Crystal. Fabian Nicieza definitely seems like he’s having fun, too. Where the book is uneven is that midway through the artist changes from Tony Daniel to early Salvador Larroca. And while both are doing Jim Lee imitations, Daniel seems better suited to the story. It makes the latter half of this one less enjoyable. That said, the basic building blocks hold strong and make it one of the stronger entries in the event.
7. Weapon X #1-4
(current ranking: 309)
You know a character design has cultural cache when 30 years later it appears in a major motion picture (Deadpool & Wolverine) for a blink of an eye and nerds gasp. The elimination of Logan’s left hand was brilliant. The fact that there are (spoiler alert) still claws in there? Even better. Logan and Jean stans will love Weapon X as the two are a couple working with the Human High Council who stand on opposite sides of the debate over whether to nuke Apocalypse to end his evil reign. Writer Larry Hama and artist Adam Kubert get to stretch their Wolverine storytelling chops in wild new directions. Also, if you’ve ever wanted to see a Chatty Cathy version of Gateway? This is the book for you.
8. Age of Apocalypse #1-4 and Uncanny X-Force #19.1
(current ranking: 322)
Continuing out of “The Dark Angel Saga” (and Akira Yoshida’s 2005 mini), this tale of the Age of Apocalypse focuses on a group of humans called the X-Terminated, made up of Donald Pierce, Graydon Creed and William Stryker, battling Logan, who has become the heir to Apocalypse. David Lapham and Roberto De La Torre put a wild spin on Remender’s prompt, making us root for humans who in the world we’re used to are villainous monsters. It doesn’t rise to the heights of “Dark Angel Saga,” but it is novel and worth checking out if you were reading Uncanny X-Force and missed it.
9. Factor X #1-4
(current ranking: 339)
One thing AoA gets so so right is the Summers brothers. By having them be raised by Mister Sinister as competing evil Prelates, it sets the perfect dynamic for X-Men 2099’s John Francis Moore to have Cyclops break good and have his inferior dorkus brother try to stop him. Steve Epting is on art duties here, so this book isn’t as flashy as its peers, but Factor X’s core sibling rivalry still makes this a must read.
10. X-Calibre #1-4
(current ranking: 348)
If you ever wanted to read an Excalibur lineup with Deadpool on it, Warren Ellis and Ken Lashley delivered exactly that. With a little fill-in help from Roger Cruz, X-Calibre has all the requisite Kurt, Mystique and Destiny drama you might want from that family unit and also has a pacifist monk Juggernaut and a surprise enemy in the Shadow King. Bonus: There is no Pete Wisdom AT ALL. And we can all be thankful for that. (Grote’s note: HEY!)
Adam Reck is the cartoonist behind Bish & Jubez as well as the co-host of Battle Of The Atom. Follow him @adamreck.bsky.social.
