The writer Douglas Wolk has created and shared an immensely helpful reading guide to the last three years of X-Men stories from Marvel Comics, starting with House of X/Powers of X all the way up through the recent “Destiny of X” relaunch. The X-Men franchise is experiencing a bit of a comics renaissance right now, partially due to the ingenious 2019 relaunch by architect Jonathan Hickman, but the X-Men’s Krakoan Era has undoubtedly been a confusing one, making Wolk’s reading guide incredibly necessary for new fans.
Douglas Wolk is not only an incredibly dedicated X-Men fan, but he has also turned his love for Marvel Comics into a career. Wolk is the author of All of the Marvels, a truly brilliant recounting of the entirety of the Marvel Comics publication history, pulling together important thematic and narrative elements that build to a larger reflection on the impact Marvel has had on the world, while also giving new and old readers a legitimate year-by-year guide to reading Marvel Comics. To prepare for the book Wolk read literally every single one of the 27,000+ comics that Marvel has published over the decades, meaning he is truly the perfect person to have created this X-Men reading guide..
Related: Even Deadpool Is Calling Out the X-Men’s Lack of Heroism
Last week Douglas Wolk posted his guide – titled “The Books of Krakoa” – to Twitter. It is a reading guide to all the X-Men collected editions since 2019s House of X/Powers of X, giving brief summaries of the connecting threads between the collections as well as naming the specific individual titles that comprise each. To make an “essential reading list” even more accessible Wolk has bolded the collections, or “eras,” that are completely imperative to have a full understanding of the current line of X-Men books. These eras include events such as X of Swords and the first Hellfire Gala. Through this reading guide, Wolk successfully gives the necessary broad stroke recommendations for getting up to date on the Krakoan Era, and also offers his email address for anyone who wants to reach out and get an actual chronological list of every X-Men title since HoX/PoX.
It’s obvious that Douglas Wolk is really a big X-Men fan because he cleverly spells his name using the Krakoan alphabet designed by Tom Muller for Marvel, and created in-continuity by Douglas Ramsey, the X-Man Cypher. Wolk hilariously describes certain titles in a way only he could, labeling Benjamin Percy’s Wolverine Vol. 2 as “vampires, Maverick, further sniktiness, etc.” and poses the question “who’s more messed up, the team or Arcade?” about Zeb Wells’ Hellions Vol. 2. Plus, as part of a brief FAQ at the end of the guide Wolk states that his personal favorites of the recent X-Men comics have been House of X/Powers of X, X of Swords, Hellfire Gala, Inferno, X-Men and New Mutants by Jonathan Hickman, as well as S.W.O.R.D. and Hellions. The X-Men stories have never been particularly easy to get into, often having multiple titles running concurrently and leading into a variety of crossover events, so guides like “The Books of Krakoa” may become more and more necessary for new fans.
Since Wolk wrote a full book on how to read and enjoy ALL Marvel Comics published since 1961, it seems reasonable that he can be trusted to create an easy to follow and understand guide for just three years of X-Men publications. Fans of the X-Men, or Marvel Comics in general, who don’t know where to jump in to get caught up, should definitely check out Douglas Wolk’s “The Books of Krakoa” reading guide, and also pick up a copy of his comprehensive book All of the Marvels.
More: Two X-Men Villains Just Became Powerful Enough To End The Krakoa Age
