10 Essential X-Men Stories For New Readers

By Percival Constantine /

10. Gifted

Marvel ComicsIf you€™ve read any X-Men comics in the past decade or so, there are two things that might have taken you by surprise: 1) Jean Grey is nowhere to be seen (at least in adult form) and 2) since when have Cyclops and Emma Frost been a couple? In the early 2000s, Grant Morrison was given the task of revitalizing the X-Men by Marvel€™s editors. Whether he was successful or not continues to be a subject of much debate in the fandom. And though there were many things he introduced that were retconned or ignored, two changes have continued to have a lasting impact. One of these was the death of Jean Grey at the hands of€well that depends who you ask. The other is laying the seeds for a relationship between Cyclops and Emma Frost, beginning with a psychic affair and culminating with the two of them getting together on the last page of Morrison€™s final issue. But really, the place to pick up here is Joss Whedon€™s run on Astonishing X-Men, which began with the €œGifted€ storyline. In this story, we see Scott and Emma taking control of the Xavier School following the death of Jean and the departure of Professor X. As a bonus, you also get the resurrection of Colossus and the return of Kitty Pryde, both of whom had been absent from the main X-books for a few years.