The Dawn Of X storyline has been dominating the X-Men this year, and to say the least, it’s been a slightly confusing run to collect. But this guide is going to give you everything you need to read and enjoy it!

If you’ve been following the bind up releases, or just my weekly release guides, then you know that there are two ways to collect the run’s bind ups. You can either go through it by reading the Dawn Of X bind ups, or you can collect the bind ups of each individual team. I’m going to give you both, so you can go with whichever option you like best.

Recommended pre-reading

As with most X-Men comic runs, there’s a need for context from previous stories and Dawn Of X is no different. I’d recommend that before you start this run, you pick up Grant Morrison’s New X-Men era (I go into more detail about it here). Morrison’s run will give you an idea as to who all the characters are, if you don’t already know them, and give you context to some events mentioned in House Of X/Powers Of X.

I’d also recommend reading House Of M (reading guide coming in January/February), as that major event shook the X-Men to their core, and provides more context to some of the decisions made in this run.

With that, onto the actual reading order.

Starting point – House Of X/Powers Of X

Mutants are the future, and the future begins now. Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman (Infinity, Secret Wars) takes the reigns of the X-Men universe with artists Pepe Larraz and RB Silva to change the way you look at every X-Men story. House of X and Powers of X intertwine to reveal the secret past, present, future, and far future of Mutantkind. It all starts when Charles Xavier reveals his new masterplan for Mutantkind, one that will bring mutants out of the shadow of humanity and into the light. 

This is the starting point of Hickman’s run, and you don’t want to miss it. House Of X/Powers Of X gives you the jumping off point for Dawn Of X. But, in saying that, it is a rather confusing thing to read. Be prepared to read it several times to give all the timelines and characters straight in your head – I had to read it twice to figure it out!

Dawn Of X

This is where things can get a little complicated to explain, but I’ll do my best.

Essentially, this is where you can collect everything in two ways – individual teams, or via the Dawn Of X bind ups. Dawn Of X means you’ll get an issue from every team in each book (so Dawn Of X volume 1 collects the first issues of X-Men, X-Force, Marauders, Excalibur, Fallen Angels and New Mutants, volume 2 collects the second issues, and so on and so forth), so you get the entire story from all of the characters.

Or, you can read each team’s bind up, which collects that specific team’s story in six issue chunks. If you go down this route, you can just read from the characters you enjoy, and skip any you don’t. You don’t miss much doing it this way, as there’s only slight overlaps, so it’s entirely up to you with what you do!

Dawn Of X Bind Ups

It’s as simple as this: Collect Dawn Of X volumes 1-10. They don’t have extra titles, they’re all called Dawn of X volume_. As a quick note, there will be more coming in the next few months, so keep an eye out for those! Also, when you get to around volume 10, there are tie-ins and mentions of the Empyre event, so I’d also read those around the same time. I’ll give an Empyre event guide when more bind ups have been announced/released.

Individual Team Bind ups

X-Men by jonathan hickam

Volume 1 and volume 2

DAWN OF X! The X-Men find themselves in a whole new world of possibility – and things have never been better! Jonathan Hickman (House of X, Powers of X, Secret Wars) and superstar artist Leinil Francis Yu (New Avengers, Captain America) reveal the saga of Cyclops and his handpicked squad of mutant powerhouses

Marauders by gerry duggan

volume 1 and 2

The X-Men sail at dawn! Even in this glorious new dawn, Mutantkind faces hardships and oppression from their human counterparts. Led by Captain Kate Pryde and funded by Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, Marauders Storm, Pyro, Bishop and Iceman sail the seas of the world to protect those hated and feared!

X-Force by benjamin percy

X-Force is the CIA of the mutant world – one half intelligence branch, one half special ops. Beast, Jean Grey and Sage are on one side. In a perfect world, there would be no need for an X-Force. We’re not there… yet.

Excalibur by tini howard

A NEW DAWN IS FORGED! The Otherworld is rocked by war! It is a new era for mutantkind as a new Captain Britain holds the amulet, fighting for her Kingdom of Avalon with her Excalibur at her side–Rogue, Gambit, Rictor, Jubilee…and Apocalypse.

New Mutants by Jonathon hickman and ed brisson

The classic New Mutants (Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Mirage, Karma, Magik, and Cypher) join together with a few new friends (Chamber, Mondo) to seek out their missing member and share the good news – a mission that takes them into space alongside the Starjammers! 

Fallen Angels by Bryan hill

Psylocke finds herself in the new world of Mutantkind, unsure of her place in it. But when a face from her past returns only to be killed, she seeks help from others who feel similarly to get vengeance.

X-Men/Fantastic Four: 4X by CHip zdarsky

KRAKOA. Every known mutant lives there…except for one. But now it’s time for FRANKLIN RICHARDS to come home.

It’s the X-MEN vs. the FANTASTIC FOUR, and nothing will ever be the same.

Wolverine by Benjamin Percy

The best is back! Wolverine has been through a lot. He’s been a loner. He’s been a killer. He’s been a hero. He’s been an Avenger. He’s been to hell and back. Now, as the nation of Krakoa brings together all mutantkind, can he finally be…happy? With his family all together and safe, Logan has everything he ever wanted…and everything to lose. But he’s never been one to back down from a fight – not even a combined assault from Lady Deathstrike, Sabretooth and Dr. Cornelius. Yet the fearsome Flower Cartel might have enlisted his worst and greatest foe: Wolverine himself! Writer Benjamin Percy (X-FORCE, WOLVERINE: THE LONG NIGHT) and legendary WOLVERINE artist Adam Kubert unite to put Logan at the heart of a criminal conspiracy that threatens to darken the Dawn of X!

Hellions by Zeb wells

Bad is the new good! When the new nation of Krakoa opened its doors to all mutants and forgave all past crimes, its leaders knew that they’d have to accept some of their worst foes into the fold… but they didn’t plan for what to do with them. Not to worry – Mister Sinister has plans for the troublemakers. Meet his new Hellions: Scalphunter, Wild Child, Empath, Nanny, Orphan-Maker, Psylocke… and Havok?! Under Sinister’s direction, they are sure to become productive members of mutant society…and the new mutant team that you’re going to hate to love! Though right now the Hellions can barely keep from killing one another, let alone find a way to fit into Krakoan society. Of course, that might be just what Mister Sinister is counting on when he sends them to clean up his messes…

Cable by Gerry Duggan

The dawn of rebellion! Cable used to be a grizzled old veteran of dozens of wars to save the future… and someday he will be again. But for now, he’s a young mutant living in paradise and leading a life of adventure! Nathan Summers, son of two of the most powerful mutants on Krakoa, knows he has a destiny to lead the youth of mutantkind in rebellion… so why not start now? Mutant babies have started going missing, and Cable takes that sort of thing personally. Almost as personally as his love life… after all, it’s not easy dating five girls – even if they are clones! 

X-Factor by Leah Williams

Mutants have conquered death! By the grace of the Five, the resurrection protocols of the island nation of Krakoa can bring any of the X-Men’s fallen comrades back to life. But such a huge enterprise comes with even huger problems and complications! And when a mutant dies, X-Factor is there to investigate how and why – in order to uphold the rules of reincarnation! Writer Leah Williams (AMAZING MARY JANE, X-TREMISTS) and artist David Baldeón (DOMINO, WEB WARRIORS) take Northstar, Polaris, Prodigy, Eye-Boy, Daken and Prestige into a world of murder and missing persons. And their very first case might be their last, as they investigate the disappearance of a mutant dancer at a prestigious ballet academy…in the Mojoverse!

Empyre: X-Men by Jonathan hickman, tini howard, etc

Alien plants versus mutant zombies! Plant people from outer space have come to Earth as part of the cosmic events of EMPYRE – but wouldn’t you know it, they happen to arrive just as millions of deceased mutants rise from the grave as undead creatures hungry for human flesh! What are the odds? And can even the X-Men handle two simultaneous crises? The X-Men return to the graveyard island of Genosha in a tale so crazy, it’s taking the entire writing crew of the Dawn of X line to tackle it! 

Currently, that’s every bind up released to do with the Dawn Of X run! I’ll be adding a part two to this once we start getting bind ups of X Of SWORDS, etc, but for now, that’s everything!

I hope this helped you, and if you have any questions, please leave them down below, where I’ll do be my best to answer them!

Also, as a quick note – I’ll be taking a two week break from Sunday posts, as it’s Christmas. But, I’ll still be releasing my Wednesday reading guides, so keep an eye out for those! Other than that, I will see you all in the New Year!