7 Underrated 1980s X-Men Comics You Must Read

This two-issue arc was pure grit. It's dark, grungy and nowhere near the kind of inspirational story that the series sometimes strives for. It also happened to be one of the most tightly written X-Men tales that can be found.

When a trio of World War II era super heroes with a twisted sense of morals find an unconscious Storm, what follows is a dangerous chase through a dingy forest that threatens to force one of the franchise's most stoic and high-minded characters to consider crossing lines that she previously would never have dreamed of.

That's the basis for a plot that featured some of Claremont's signature flourishes, like surprisingly personal bit characters, put to use in a decidedly different kind of story for the franchise.

In fact, these comics almost feel like they were ripped from the pages of Batman rather than the X-Men, but that doesn't diminish from the fact that this was some of the most gripping and grounded action of Claremont's entire run on the series. That kind of range should always be celebrated, especially when the result is still this good.