Article:
A Graphic Novel Reading Guide to the X-Men Second Coming Crossover

With the beginning of Marvel's newest mutant crossover event Second Coming (you can read the review of the first issue here), I thought I'd provide a graphic novel guide to getting caught up with the mutant comic book world. These are the books that I think are important to the story, books that serve to set up backgrounds, beginnings of plots, characters and themes. Even so, I do believe you can just jump into it with just the first issue of Second Coming as the "what happened before" gives you a pretty good rundown and starting point. But if you'd actually like to read the important stories that lead up to the event, follow my guide below. I'll also say that if you can only get one of these graphic novels, the most important volume would be the Messiah Complex, which I will explain in the description below.

1. House of M
The book that changed the landscape of the X-Men universe with three simple words "no more mutants." With that, the Scarlet Witch forever changed the X-Men by depowering the majority of the mutant population and ensuring no new mutant births. The X-Men are left with only 198 mutants (convenient that nearly all the X-Men were a part of this 198). The book established the state of the mutant universe before the birth of Hope.

2. Messiah Complex
After the events of M Day (what the X-Men call the events of House of M), a mutant is suddenly born in a small town in Alaska. The X-Men, the Purifiers and the Marauders all converge and fight for control of the baby, the first mutant to be born with powers at birth (most get it a puberty)--and who just may be the savior of the mutantkind. This is one of the best X-Men stories of all time in my opinion. This book made me excited for the X-Men again, something I hadn't felt in a long time. This is the most important book in the list, as it has the birth of the baby soon to be named Hope and a precursor to key series Cable and X-Force.