…wait, that title doesn’t sound right.
Miles here! Our next two episodes will be about the Mutant Massacre, Marvel’s first-ever X-event. It’s super depressing; huzzah! (Just like a lot of other X-events, come to think of it.)
Anyway! Since the Mutant Massacre involves eleven issues of five and a half different titles and doesn’t have distinct chapter numbers the way later events do, we thought it might be helpful to post a reading order for those following along. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll post the order we decided to use in our upcoming episodes.
(Of note: every single one of these except Power Pack #27 is on Marvel Unlimited right now.)
The Mutant Massacre, X-Men side (Episode 65):
- Uncanny X-Men #210
- Uncanny X-Men #211
- New Mutants #46
- Uncanny X-Men #212
- Uncanny X-Men #213
The Mutant Massacre, X-Factor side (Episode 66):
- X-Factor #9
- X-Factor #10
- Thor #373
- Thor #374
- Power Pack #27
- X-Factor #11
Daredevil #238 is technically a tie-in too, but it’s a loose enough one that we’ll be skipping it.
For an alternate reading order–including a very handy flow chart–we recommend the Mutant Massacre guide at UncannyXMen.net.
We’ll see you – and a ton of dead Morlocks – soon!
EDITED TO ADD: Andrew Vestal hooked us up with this perversely cheery Official Mutant Massacre Flow Chart that Marvel published in ’86. So, that’s a thing:
For the record, if you use the code “Penny” right now at checkout, the first month of Marvel Unlimited is $0.01, just in case you’re on the fence about joining! 🙂
I’ve never read the Thor and Power Pack issues for this, I hope they’re not as depressing as the Uncanny and X-Factor books are. I don’t think I can handle the Marauders killing off any of the Power Pack.
Those Thor issues are part of the Walt Simonson run, so they are amazing.
Man. I’d forgotten about that handy infographic. That thing is SO INAPPROPRIATELY CHEERFUL!
“Hey, kids! Help lead your heroes to traumatic injury and widespread tragedy!”
I remember looking at that flow chart and thinking “That looks hatefully complicated.”
By the time OPERATION: ZERO TOLERANCE finally chased me off the X-Books, I yearned for the straight-forwardness of the Mutant Massacre flowchart.
I just finished re-reading these, so I’m looking forward to it! I also read Uncanny X-Men 214, as it builds on a side plot started earlier involving Dazzler.
Also: all of these issues are on Comixology, including the Power Pack one. And it’s great, if really sad.
I still want someone to explain to me just how in hell the kid friendliest, most innocent book at Marvel at the time, Power Pack, got involved in a story this fucked up and horrific.
Louise Simonson co-created Power Pack, and she was either editor or writer on various X-titles throughout this period. This isn’t the two series’ only crossover, either.
There’s a Marvel collection that I got from my library and is on UK Amazon for less than £10 – it’s called “X-Men: Mutant Massacre”, ISBN 978-0-7851-6741-9, and this s what they include, in order in the book:
* X Men 210
* X Factor 9
* X Men 211
* X Factor 10
* New Mutants 46
* Thor 373
* Power Pack 27
* Thor 374
* X Men 212
* X Factor 11
* Daredevil 238
* X Men 213
(I’ve never read any Thor before this and those chapters are… strange….)
(I came to X Men just after this, my post-Asterix/Tintin comics gateway drug was New Mutants, but I was utterly befuddled by the whole X Factor/X-terminators, because clearly it’s Jean’s red hair, Scott’s glasses aren’t a subtle disguise, Warren’s costume as an X-terminator reveals his whole face and he’s a famous millionaire playboy etc etc etc…. How did the X-Men not spot them? I know, you’ve probably covered this already and I haven’t caught up yet but why aren’t they at least using those nifty holgraphic simulators, or you know, all having costumes with masks/without long flowing locks?)