10 X-Men Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die
7. Messiah Complex
Following on the heels of House of M, the Messiah Complex would lay the blueprint that Marvel would follow in regards to the X-Men over the next few years.
When a new mutant signature is discovered, the first since M-Day, the race is on between all sides to claim the child who could change the future for all mutant kind. Along the way, the X-Men are joined in their adventure by the likes of Cable, X-Force, and Hope Summers as they go head to head with Mister Sinister, the Purifiers, and Predator X, to name just a few.
Messiah Complex sees one of the most gut-wrenching moment in Marvel's history as, towards the end, Rogue has the child and, having been told that it can cure her of her mutation, has to decide if she can sacrifice it for her own needs.
A proverbial who's who of writers and artists were involved in bringing this story to life, including but not limited to Ed Brubaker, Peter David, Marc Silvestri, and Scot Eaton, and the whole book is better for it, as the tale it weaves is epic on a scale that only a few have matched before and since.