Part 04 | Formation of Excalibur to Muir Island Saga [1988 to 1991]

Vol. 32 - Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn
[I’m just including the formation of Excalibur, this series has very limited interaction with the main X-Men books and so it will not be visited much in the reading order.]

X-Men Legends #12
Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn
Excalibur #1-5



Vol. 33 - Down Under
Uncanny X-Men #228-231
Marvel Comics Presents #1-10 (Wolverine stories) (optional)
Uncanny X-Men #232-234
Uncanny X-Men Annual #12 (1988)
Uncanny X-Men #235-238



Vol. 34 - X-Factor: Kiss of Death
[I’m including these issues because they show Beast reverting back to his furry look.]

X-Factor #27 (p. 1-8, 13-14)
X-Factor #28-31
X-Factor #32 (except p. 21)
X-Factor #33 (except last page)



Vol. 35 - Inferno
[There are a lot of things happening concurrently in Inferno, so I felt that, to tell a good story, I had to break several issues in many places. I understand that for some people, this is not the ideal way of reading a story, but I prefer it over reading events out of place. You can find several reading orders online that do not break issues, if you prefer it that way.]

X-Terminators #1 (p. 1-3)
X-Factor #32 (p. 21)
X-Terminators #1 (p. 4-28)
X-Factor #33 (last page)
X-Factor #34
X-Terminators #2
Uncanny X-Men #239
X-Factor #35
New Mutants #69 (Magneto pages)
New Mutants #70 (p. 5-6, last page)
X-Terminators #3 (p. 1-12)
New Mutants #71 (p. 1-18)
X-Terminators #3 (p. 13-19)
Uncanny X-Men #240
Uncanny X-Men #241 (p. 1-14)
X-Factor #36 (p. 1-16)
X-Terminators #3 (p. 19-29)
New Mutants #71 (p. 18-23)
X-Factor #36 (p. 17-23)

-----
X-Terminators #4 (p. 1-6)
New Mutants #72 (p. 2-9)
X-Terminators #4 (p. 7-19)
New Mutants #72 (p. 10-17)
Uncanny X-Men #241 (p. 15-20)
X-Terminators #4 (p. 19-27)
New Mutants #72 (p. 18)
X-Terminators #4 (p. 28-29)
New Mutants #72 (p. 19-23)
New Mutants #73

-----
X-Factor #37 (p. 1-7)
Uncanny X-Men #241 (p. 21-23)
X-Factor #37 (p. 8-23)
Uncanny X-Men #242
X-Factor #38
Uncanny X-Men #243
X-Factor #39
New Mutants #74 (p. 9-12, 21-22)
New Mutants #75
X-Factor Annual #4 (1989) (Inferno back-up)
X-Factor #40



Vol. 36 - Double Cross
Uncanny X-Men #244
Uncanny X-Men Annual #13 (1989) (Jubilee back-up)
Uncanny X-Men #245
Uncanny X-Men Annual #13 (1989) (1st story)
Marvel Super Heroes v2 #6-8 (X-Men stories) (optional)



Vol. 37 - Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown
Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1-4



Vol. 38 - New Mutants: Curse of the Valkyries (optional)
[Including this because the Asgard portion will be referenced a lot in future stories, and the Rusty/Skids portion leads to Cable's introduction.]

New Mutants #76-85



Vol. 39 - Siege Perilous
Uncanny X-Men #246-260
X-Factor Annual #6 (1991) (Mystique back-up) (optional)



Vol. 40 - New Mutants / X-Factor: Homecoming (optional)
[Cable’s introduction and X-Factor returns to Earth.]

New Mutants #86-87
X-Factor #51
New Mutants #88-89
X-Factor #52-53
X-Factor #54 (p. 1-3, 5-9)



Vol. 41 - Hunted
Uncanny X-Men #261-264
New Mutants #90-91
Uncanny X-Men #265-269



Vol. 42 - Wolverine: On the Road (optional)
Marvel Comics Presents #54-61 (Wolverine stories)



Vol. 43 - Days of Future Present
Fantastic Four Annual #23 (1990)
X-Factor Annual #5 (1990) (p. 1-10)
New Mutants Annual #6 (1990)
X-Factor Annual #5 (1990) (p. 11-41)
Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (1990) (p. 1-11)
Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (1990) (Back-up)
Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (1990) (p. 12-40)



Vol. 44 - X-Tinction Agenda
Uncanny X-Men #270
New Mutants #95
X-Factor #60
Uncanny X-Men #271
New Mutants #96
X-Factor #61
Uncanny X-Men #272
New Mutants #97
X-Factor #62



Vol. 45 - Crossroads
Uncanny X-Men #273-277



Vol. 46 - Deadpool Vs X-Force (optional)
Deadpool vs. X-Force #1-3

Deadpool vs. X-Force #4 (p. 1-20)

New Mutants #98-100



Vol. 47 - Kings of Pain
New Mutants Annual #7 (1991) (Freedom Force back-up)
Uncanny X-Men Annual #15 (1991) (Freedom Force back-up)
X-Factor Annual #6 (1991) (Freedom Force back-up)
New Mutants Annual #7 (1991) (1st story)
New Warriors Annual #1 (1991) (1st story)
Uncanny X-Men Annual #15 (1991) (1st story)
X-Factor Annual #6 (1991) (1st story)



Vol. 48 - X-Factor: Endgame
[Issues heavily referenced in the coming years.]

X-Factor #65-68



Vol. 49 - Muir Island Saga
Uncanny X-Men #278-279
X-Factor #69
Uncanny X-Men #280
X-Factor #70
X-Factor #71 (p. 1-19) (formation of New X-Factor)



And that's it for the Claremont era!

Continue to Part 05