10 (More) Great X-Men Stories

You know ’em, you love ’em, it’s Marvel’s- maybe comics’- greatest team, the Adjectiveless, Exceptional, Astonishing, Wolverine & The, New, Immortal, X-Men! They’ve been around for over 60 years now, and insanely popular for 40+ of those years. Combining that with the fact that for many of those years there have been numerous titles running simultaneously, you end up with thousands of X-Men comics!

Out of those thousands there are so, so many great stories. The Marvel universe’s best and most important moments are full of X-Men stories. There are so many amazing ones, and many of them so drastically different, that creating any kind of ranking is both impossible and leads down the road to madness.

So, that being said, the following are not necessarily my favorite X-Men stories, but I love them all the same. There are still so many more I could include, so we may have a couple more installments of these.

All right, let’s get to it! Here are, in no particular order, 10 great X-Men (or X-Men adjacent/related) stories! (Also, you can find the first of these here, and one for Spider-Man here!)

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Top 100 Comic Book Heroes Master List

The age old questions of comic fans: Batman or Superman? Spider-Man or Wolverine? The debates about the best heroes are endless. We tried to make a top 10 list, but that was just too hard. So we tried a top 25, but that quickly became a top 50… you get the idea. So we were able to ‘narrow’ it down to an even 100. Odds are you will vehemently disagree with who did or did not make the list, or just the order that we placed them. But, hey, it’s our list.

(Honorable mentions to Beta Ray Bill, USAgent, Martian Manhunter, Kid Flash, Hercules, The Frenchman and the Female (the Boys), Abe Sapien, Spider-Man 2099, Static Shock, Nite Owl, Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Spawn, Atom Eve, Mary Marvel, and a hell of a lot more. So many more we could- and may- do another whole 100 list!)

We will release these in installments of 10 so that you don’t have the longest list ever to read through. Agree with the placement or who made the list? Disagree with the burning power of a thousand suns? Let us know! Enjoy!

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10 Great X-Men Stories

You know ’em, you love ’em, it’s Marvel’s- maybe comics’- greatest team, the Adjectiveless, Exceptional, Astonishing, Wolverine & The, New, Immortal, X-Men! They’ve been around for over 60 years now, and insanely popular for 40+ of those years. Combining that with the fact that for many of those years there have been numerous titles running simultaneously, you end up with thousands of X-Men comics!

Out of those thousands there are so, so many great stories. The Marvel universe’s best and most important moments are full of X-Men stories. There are so many amazing ones, and many of them so drastically different, that creating any kind of ranking is both impossible and panic inducing, so instead of ranking I will do what I did with our buddy Spider-Man and just list ten great X-Men stories that have connected with me for whatever reason over the years.

These are not necessarily my ten favorite X-Men stories, but I love all of the ones listed today. There are so, so many more I could include that it’s maddening, but I’ll save those for another future installment.

So, let’s get to it! Here are, in no particular order, 10 great X-Men stories!

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Issue #44: Replacement Heroes – Podcast

Comic Zombie #44 – Replacement Heroes – Podcast

“We need new heroes. Ones suited for the times we’re in. Symbols are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning.” – Sam Wilson, Captain America (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier)

Chris and Erik talk about some of their favorite “Replacement Heroes” in comics!

Characters include:

  • Batman Beyond (Terry McGuinness)
  • The Superior Spider-man (Doc-Ock)
  • Sam Wilson / Bucky (Captain America)
  • Azrael / Dick Grayson (Batman)
  • Mile Morales (Spider-man)
  • Rhodey (Iron Man)
  • Damian Wayne / Tim Drake (Robin)
  • Barry Allen / Wally West (The Flash)
  • Hal Jordan / John Stewart / Guy Gardener / Kyle Rayner / Jessica Cruz (Green Lantern)
  • Jane Foster / Eric Masterson (Thor)
  • X-23 (Wolverine)
  • And more?!

Also on this Episode:

  • Trailer Review – “Captain America: Brave New World”
  • Trailer Review – “Batman: The Caped Crusader” (Animated Series)
  • Trailer Review – “HellBoy: The Crooked Man”
  • Speculation about James Gunn’s “Superman”
  • Our ‘Mount Rushmore’ picks – DC Writers (1:25)

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Issue #43: X-MEN ’97 (Part 2 of 2: Episodes 6-10) – Podcast

X-MEN ’97 (Part 2 of 2: Episodes 6-10) – Podcast

“Magneto was right…”

On Part 2 of our long-awaited X-Men ’97 coverage, we’re talking about every crazy twist, comic book reference, Morph cameo, and ‘Oh Shit!’ moment from the second half of Season 1 of this insanely good animated legacy series…

Also on this Episode:

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Check out our blog at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ComicZombie.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more! 

Issue #42: X-MEN ’97 (Part 1 of 2: Episodes 1-5) – Podcast

X-MEN ’97 (Part 1 of 2: Episodes 1-5) – Podcast

“The name’s Gambit… Remember it.”

On this extremely belated episode, Chris and Erik are talking about the *incredible* first season of Marvel’s “X-Men ’97” – now on Disney Plus! (Part 1: Episodes 1-5)

Also on this Episode:

  • “My Adventures with Superman” – Anime Series (Max)
  • James Gunn’s “Superman” (2025) update / suit talk
  • “Invincible” – Season 2 (Amazon Prime)
  • Jonathan Hickman’s “Ultimate Spider-man” relaunch
  • “Deadpool and Wolverine” – coming soon!
  • Zack’s thoughts on “X-Men ’97”!

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

 

Podcast – Issue #38: X-MEN: The Dark Phoenix Saga / Days of Future Past

Issue 38: X-MEN: The Dark Phoenix Saga / Days of Future Past

“Hear me, X-Men! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am Fire and Life incarnate! Now and forever – I am PHOENIX!”

This week, Chris and Erik are talking about the Chris Claremont / John Byrne era of X-Men comics history, delving into two of the most iconic storylines of all time: “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and “Days of Future Past”!

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Check out our blog at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ComicZombie.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more! 

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Essential Reads: X-MEN

Be sure to check out Episode 38 of the podcast for our thoughts on all-time great X stories “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and “Days of Future Past”.

There are oh-SO many X-Men stories, and a lot of them are really good to great, so it’s very difficult to provide a recommended reading list that isn’t very, very long, but we’ve narrowed it down to some favorites. Keep in mind that these don’t include stories only found in books like New Mutants, Wolverine, X-Factor or X-Force, as they honestly deserve their own lists. 

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Top 100 Villains 50-41

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Everyone knows nothing makes a good hero like a great villain. Sherlock Holmes needed Moriarty, G.I. Joe needed Cobra, the rebels needed Darth Vader, etc. Nothing makes a story better quite like an interesting, intriguing, and yet hated adversary. Readers tend to flock to the villains they love to hate. The best villains bring something out of the hero that nobody else does, or force the hero to push themselves further than before to find a way to win.

We wanted to make a top 10 list, but that’s impossible. There are just too many good choices, and we couldn’t agree on any of it. So we increased the list, and increased it, and increased it (honestly we probably could have kept going, too). So, before it gets too out of hand, here are our choices for the 100 best villains in comics.

(Click here for our Top 100 Heroes List!)

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Top 10 Avengers Teams

In the past 60-ish years there have been a lot, and I mean a LOT of people assembling as Avengers. The roster has been in a constant state of evolution and change since the fourth issue, when they re-introduced Captain America to the Marvel universe, and issue 16, when they replaced everyone but Cap with a former Iron Man villain (Hawkeye) and two of Magneto’s lackeys from the Brotherhood over in X-Men (Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch)!

Because there have been oh-so-many rosters over the decades, it’s fun to debate which are the best ones. Of course, as always it comes down to personal preference; for instance, I’ve got the West Coast Avengers on this list, but I’m sure many would disqualify them just based on the name. To each their own. That said, what follows are my picks for the 10 best Avengers rosters ever assembled.

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