1. Battle Of The Atom
Marvel ComicsThe dangers of having the original X-Men in the present were illustrated plainly at the beginning of Battle of the Atom, when young Cyclops was killed by a Sentinel. Although he was quickly resurrected by one of the mutants, during the period when he was dead, the present-day Cyclops vanished from existence. This was followed by the arrival of a team of X-Men who claimed to be from the future and who said that the original five must return to the past immediately or risk a massive catastrophe. The young Jean and Cyclops escape, not wanting to return to the past. Theyre pursued by both Wolverines team of X-Men and the future X-Men and they go to Cyclops rogue X-Men for help. Its later discovered by Magik that the future X-Men are actually the future Brotherhood and have reasons of their own for wanting to force the original five to return. Realizing that things are too dangerous, the original five do attempt to return, but are prevented from doing so. But in the aftermath of the battle, the original five and Kitty, angered at the treatment they received at the hands of Wolverines X-Men, decide to defect to Cyclops team of X-Men. In current issues of All-New X-Men, the original five are now fighting alongside Cyclops team and also have to contend with the appearance of the future X-Men who have returned. Reading Battle of the Atom will be helpful in understanding the current place of the original five and why theyre still here after all this time. After reading these stories, you should be pretty well caught-up with the X-Men. So feel free to dive into the books as you like. Some recommendations for the best ones to check out are All-New X-Men, Amazing X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and solo titles like Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine.