Welcome to part 2 of Graphic Policy‘s (mostly) comprehensive reading guide for the X-Men’s Krakoan Era, if you missed part 1 here’s the link. Last time we covered House of X, Powers of X, Dawn of X, and finally X of Swords. This time we’re covering Reign of X, The Hellfire Gala, The Trial Of Magneto, and last but not least Johnathan Hickman’s Krakoan Swansong Inferno.

Now I’m going to repeat myself a bit and talk again about the Marvel Unlimited App. Marvel Unlimited is a subscription service that gives you access to virtually the entire back catalog of Marvel Comics with new comics added around three months after publication. like I said last time, Marvel Unlimited was an invaluable resource for me while reading through the Krakoan Era of X-Men and I can’t recommend it enough.

Without further ado let’s read some comics!

REIGN OF X PART 1

“You are children running a child government.”

X Of Swords may be over but what is to become of Arakko and it’s people? Reign of X deals with the fallout of X Of Swords and continues us on the trajectory started by HOXPOX. Al Ewing joins the Krakoan era with S.W.O.R.D and Vita Ayala takes over New Mutants and turns it into one of the best books in the line. Meanwhile Si Spurrier digs into the social questions at the heart of Krakoa’s laws in Way Of X and Tini Howard starts to explore the intricacies of Mutant capitalism in X-Corp.

Welcome to The Reign Of X.

Reading order:

*S.W.O.R.D #2-4 tie into the King in Black event they work pretty well as a stand alone story and don’t require you to read the larger event. All you need to know is that the Symbiote God, Knull has taken over earth and sword is attempting to fight back against him.

THE HELLFIRE GALA

“This is one of those ‘where were you at when’ moments… and it would be a shame if being closed minded made you miss it.”

It’s a mutant bash! The Mutants throw their first annual Hellfire Gala where the X-Men vote will take place and where the Mutants intend to unveil a planet-sized new project. It’s also the second event of the Krakoan era albeit a smaller in scope then X Of Swords, taking place over a single night we get a multitude of perspectives of the Hellfire Gala.

Reading order:

REIGN OF X PART 2

“How are the mutants resurrecting their dead?”

The X-Men are back! The team that is. After Hickman got away with 21 issues of X-Men without a X-Men team Gerry Duggan steps into the role as the writer of the flagship. The X-Men reenter the world of man as they plant their headquarters within the heart of New York. It’s a exciting new time and a exciting new team. Elsewhere S.W.O.R.D deals with the new Mutant planet of Arrako and it’s impact on Sol and beyond. While the rest of the titles keep on chugging.

Reading order:

*Both Sword #7 and Cable: Reloaded are part of The Last Annihilation event which is some Guardians of the Galaxy thing that you don’t really need to read. The issues mostly stand on their own.

THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO

“Once upon a time… there was a witch”

The Scarlet Witch found dead! After the events of the Hellfire Gala we find ourselves in a full on murder mystery as X-Factor tries to piece together what happened to Wanda Maximoff. The chief suspect in the case? Her own father Magneto! Let the The Trial of Magneto commence!

Reading order:

*While not part of The Trial Of Magneto, New Mutants #24 directly relates to the fallout of the event.

INFERNO

“Someone remembers. It’s why they keep coming.”

The end of a era! Hickman makes his leave from the X-line with Inferno. In many ways this is the conclusion of many of the threads started by HOXPOX. Will Krakoa be able to survive the inferno!? After Inferno we wrap up the Reign Of X and set the stage for Destiny Of X.

Reading order:

*Part of the larger Devil’s Reign event, Devil’s Reign: X-Men is a pretty stand alone story focusing on Emma Frost and Elektra. All you really need to know about the larger event is that Wilson Fisk has become the mayor of new york.
**The reason why I list Marvel’s Voices: Pride 2021 #1 on here is that it contains the story “Man of his dreams” which introduces the character of Sommnus who will become a important part of Steve Orlando‘s run on Marauders. The book also has cute X-Men stories like “Early Thaw” and “The Grey Ladies” but those aren’t directly important to the larger story of Krakoa.

And so we come to a close on the second part of our (mostly) comprehensive Krakoa Era reading guide. Join us next time when we explore the Destiny Of X and beyond!