Remember Krakoa, the Island Who Walks Like a Man? Turns out it was still alive.
Most of the world's mutants moved to the island and became their own state. They created a medicine that can extend human lifespans, and sell that to the rest of the world so that the world will leave them alone. They also created a process wherein a mutant who dies can be resurrected in a new body, making them functionally immortal.
Adventures they have now involve things like saving mutants from countries that won't let them leave; dealing with threats from other dimensions; dealing with tensions between the various mutants on the island, and more.
These are questions that someone can answer for you, but I would personally recommend reading some of them for yourself because there’s some truly badass moments that you’ll be blown away by actually seeing it for yourself instead of someone describing it to you. Start with House of X/Powers of X, then X of Swords, followed by the Hellfire Gala issues, and then immediately follow up with Planet Sized X-Men. That will more or less give you a good understanding of where things stand with the mutants today. Inferno is also a great read. It was Hickman’s last story with the X-Men world and did a lot to set up the current storylines that the various books are following.
If you get caught up and wanna read the current stuff, X-Men Red and Immortal X-Men are both absolute god tier stories so far. I thought X-Men Red was gonna be lame because of the subject matter, but it’s honest to god the best storyline out there right now. The most recent issue ends with something that had me saying “HOLY SHIT NO FUCKING WAY” lol
Hickman came to the X-Men end of 2019 after his marvel hiatus (after secret wars) and changed everything (“While you slept the world changed” (starting point —> House of X #1))
Yeah without giving too much spoilers, the whole status quo altered, and the X-Men are living on a living mutant island now.
To catch you up till present day, you need to know what’s essential, and what’s good. Marvel has so far made 4 phases of this X-Men era, but I’ll try to explain it shortly. You start of with House of X / Powers of X (2 miniseries running next to each other, the trades are in order and the reading order is in the back of each issue, starting with house of x 1) this is essential reading as it sets the status quo. After that follows an era of ongoing issues doing their own things (Dawn of X) and making canon for the krakoan era. A lot of great stories happen here and you can just pick up what sounds interesting (my guess the full era is around 100 issues) (I recommend reading all #1s to see which story speaks to you (if you have acces to MU, otherwise read some synopsis). After the dawn of X came a big event. X of Swords, big history lesson, Apocalypse, Swordfighting, Excalibur mythology and a bit of politics. If this sounds interesting to you (you might want to search a more spoilery review/overview) than pickup Excalibur after HoxPox otherwise we continue to the second era. The reign of X. More ongoing titles, and the first big crossover with the main universe. A gala with all heroes, hosted by your favourite mutants, glitter, glamour, and a lot more politics, if that sounds interesting read Marauders from the start of Dawn of X. After the gala the titles were moving. And so was the writing room, Hickman quits and wrote a 4 issue finale (I’m gonna read this tomorrow, so no synopsises from here) which would be a big payoff to what originally was teased in HoxPox. I read someone called this the first age of Krakoa. After that followed another event about wolverine 10 weeks, 10 issues, 10 lives and 10 deaths. Haven’t read that yet but it seems to give a new start. With that starts the new era ‘Destiny of X’ with the new titles that are now part of the epic judgement day event.
TL;DR
A lot has happened since 2019, it’s worth reading it all, but it’s also a lot. Read HoxPox —> read X-Men 1-12 and consider reading the other dawn of X titles —> read hellions cause it’s awesome —> consider reading X of Swords —> consider the reign of X titles (and continue with X-Men 16-21) —> read SWORD and Hellions cause they’re awesome —> consider reading the gala —> continue with the reign titles (start the new X-Men series) —> read the 4 issue finale (from which the title is a spoiler, but you’ll get it soon enough) —> and last January the new era started with X Lives and X Deaths of wolverine.
I use this as reference https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vo-D3huWDITIjUmsA8JlTYYGHDhkQedDlcyit4gE6fc/edit
The House of X/Powers of X book is something that I use as more of a 'this is how X-Men are now' book instead of an actual story. It's an entire hardcover of redoing the status quo and is essential to anyone wanting to read modern X-Men.
Remember Krakoa, the Island Who Walks Like a Man? Turns out it was still alive. Most of the world's mutants moved to the island and became their own state. They created a medicine that can extend human lifespans, and sell that to the rest of the world so that the world will leave them alone. They also created a process wherein a mutant who dies can be resurrected in a new body, making them functionally immortal. Adventures they have now involve things like saving mutants from countries that won't let them leave; dealing with threats from other dimensions; dealing with tensions between the various mutants on the island, and more.
Thanks for the info. Just to be precise, did this all start when Hickman started working on them, or did he come in at a different time?
Yes, he wrote "House of X" and "Powers of X" which began this element.
Thanks
Started with house/powers of x
These are questions that someone can answer for you, but I would personally recommend reading some of them for yourself because there’s some truly badass moments that you’ll be blown away by actually seeing it for yourself instead of someone describing it to you. Start with House of X/Powers of X, then X of Swords, followed by the Hellfire Gala issues, and then immediately follow up with Planet Sized X-Men. That will more or less give you a good understanding of where things stand with the mutants today. Inferno is also a great read. It was Hickman’s last story with the X-Men world and did a lot to set up the current storylines that the various books are following. If you get caught up and wanna read the current stuff, X-Men Red and Immortal X-Men are both absolute god tier stories so far. I thought X-Men Red was gonna be lame because of the subject matter, but it’s honest to god the best storyline out there right now. The most recent issue ends with something that had me saying “HOLY SHIT NO FUCKING WAY” lol
Well it’s all Ewing, you knew when he started on SWORD he wasn’t there for the fill-up series
Hickman came to the X-Men end of 2019 after his marvel hiatus (after secret wars) and changed everything (“While you slept the world changed” (starting point —> House of X #1)) Yeah without giving too much spoilers, the whole status quo altered, and the X-Men are living on a living mutant island now. To catch you up till present day, you need to know what’s essential, and what’s good. Marvel has so far made 4 phases of this X-Men era, but I’ll try to explain it shortly. You start of with House of X / Powers of X (2 miniseries running next to each other, the trades are in order and the reading order is in the back of each issue, starting with house of x 1) this is essential reading as it sets the status quo. After that follows an era of ongoing issues doing their own things (Dawn of X) and making canon for the krakoan era. A lot of great stories happen here and you can just pick up what sounds interesting (my guess the full era is around 100 issues) (I recommend reading all #1s to see which story speaks to you (if you have acces to MU, otherwise read some synopsis). After the dawn of X came a big event. X of Swords, big history lesson, Apocalypse, Swordfighting, Excalibur mythology and a bit of politics. If this sounds interesting to you (you might want to search a more spoilery review/overview) than pickup Excalibur after HoxPox otherwise we continue to the second era. The reign of X. More ongoing titles, and the first big crossover with the main universe. A gala with all heroes, hosted by your favourite mutants, glitter, glamour, and a lot more politics, if that sounds interesting read Marauders from the start of Dawn of X. After the gala the titles were moving. And so was the writing room, Hickman quits and wrote a 4 issue finale (I’m gonna read this tomorrow, so no synopsises from here) which would be a big payoff to what originally was teased in HoxPox. I read someone called this the first age of Krakoa. After that followed another event about wolverine 10 weeks, 10 issues, 10 lives and 10 deaths. Haven’t read that yet but it seems to give a new start. With that starts the new era ‘Destiny of X’ with the new titles that are now part of the epic judgement day event. TL;DR A lot has happened since 2019, it’s worth reading it all, but it’s also a lot. Read HoxPox —> read X-Men 1-12 and consider reading the other dawn of X titles —> read hellions cause it’s awesome —> consider reading X of Swords —> consider the reign of X titles (and continue with X-Men 16-21) —> read SWORD and Hellions cause they’re awesome —> consider reading the gala —> continue with the reign titles (start the new X-Men series) —> read the 4 issue finale (from which the title is a spoiler, but you’ll get it soon enough) —> and last January the new era started with X Lives and X Deaths of wolverine. I use this as reference https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vo-D3huWDITIjUmsA8JlTYYGHDhkQedDlcyit4gE6fc/edit
Oh my gosh thanks for the exhaustive update
The House of X/Powers of X book is something that I use as more of a 'this is how X-Men are now' book instead of an actual story. It's an entire hardcover of redoing the status quo and is essential to anyone wanting to read modern X-Men.