10. She Lies with Angels



Uncanny X-Men #437–441 (2004) Chuck Austen

This is a very underrated story. Take William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and give it an X-Men twist. It's such a beautiful story with such a tragic ending. What made this story stand out for me was Icarus and how charismatic he was. Any death in comics resonates in you, but the emotions that came across in Larroca's art hit on all levels. Just look at the cover to the final issue of the story arc and your heart just breaks a little.





09. LifeDeath



Uncanny X-Men #186, 198 (1984)

Chris Claremont

As an attempt to save Rogue's life, Storm is struck by a ray developed by Forge that resulted in her losing her powers. Now de-powered, depressed and unsure of her future Forge takes her in. This story was one that we had never really seen before. Storm has always been an incredibly strong character and here we see her completely shaken to the core. Emotions ran on high in this story as it would for anyone. How would you deal with the fact that you could no longer be who you were born to be? Storm really wanted to die, she felt she had nothing to live for, but Forge wouldn't let her. This is one of her darkest moments and one of the most beautiful stories I have read.



08. Piotr’s Sacrifice



Uncanny X-Men #390 (2001) Scott Lobdell

The legacy virus looked like it was going to be the end of all mutants. The future looked bleak until a cure was discovered but there was only one catch, one mutant would need to sacrifice them self to save the rest of mutant kind. Colossus after much contemplation makes this sacrifice. It was so sad and touching to see him make the choice to give up his life for the rest of his fellow mutants. What made it even more touching is his little sister died from the virus years earlier, so in part he did it to be with her again.



07. Impaled



X-Treme X-Men #16, 17 (2002) Chris Claremont

Love has always been a big theme in the x-books. One couple who have had the most tumultuous on again off again relationship is Rogue and Gambit. This time Gambit is imperil and as he is about to be impaled by Vargas's sword Rogue leaps in between him and the blade and both are impaled. What made this story even more intense is seeing the two in their last moments, or what should have been their last moments if Rogue wasn't so selfish. We see Gambit heading to the light and Rogue pulling him down. Gambit pleads with Rogue to let him go as he has found grace, but she says "our story ain't done" and the two are revived. This drove a wedge between the two as Gambit never fully forgave her for tearing him away from heaven.

06. Best Friends



Amazing X-Men #4 (2013) Jason Aaron

When Nightcrawler died in Second Coming, it was tragic, but what made it even more tear jerking was seeing Wolverine suffer from losing his best friend. For several years there was no blue elf in the X-Books. But as anyone knows no one stays dead for long in the comics. One of the happiest moments in x-history is seeing Wolverine being saved by his thought to be dead best pal Nightcrawler as he almost freezes to death. Knowing the relationship they had that one page was all it took to make even the most cold hearted shed a tear.



05. Die For You



New Mutants #60 (1988) Louise Simonson

Cyphers powers although very practical they weren't as flashy as some of the others, and that resulted in him being underused. Even though his popularity wasn't as great as some of his fellow New Mutants, seeing him take a bullet for his girlfriend Wolfsbane was not only tragic but also extremely touching. Many never realized how great of a character Cypher was until he was gone.

04. Genosha Extinguished



New X-Men #114-116 (2001) Grant Morrison

We've seen death's, that's nothing new to the x-books. But complete and utter genocide that practically wipes out an entire species is definitely new territory. This story is what hurdled the X-Men into survival mode that has lasted 16 years. We hear all the time that blah blah event will shake the x-men to the core and nothing will ever be the same again, and that has never been more true than when Cassandra Nova sent Sentinels to extinguish Genosha.

03. Childhood’s End

New X-Men #20 – 24 (2004)

Craig Kyle, Chris Yost

If thing weren't bad already, the mutant community was still reeling from the events in Genosha years earlier. Emma Frost opens the front door of the school to find Icarus laying bloody on the ground with his wings ripped out of his body. Realizing the school is under siege Cyclops and Emma load the students onto buses to send them home for their own safety. Unfortunately they were too late for Reverend Stryker and his men bombed the buses killing a large number of the students. Truly no mutant is safe and this story reflected that more than any other.

02. Jean Grey's Suicide



Uncanny X-Men #137 (1980) Chris Claremont

The Dark Phoenix Saga was one of the first big epic stories for the X-Men. It was the first time we saw a major character turn bad. No one saw coming at the end that Jean would elect to commit suicide to save not only her fellow X-Men but the universe as well. It was an incredibly shocking moment that set the tone for all future X-Books.



01. God Loves, Man Kills



X-Men Original Graphic Novel (1982)

Chris Claremont

This is arguably one of the greatest​ X-Men stories ever told an it even influenced the movie X2. Mutants are hated and feared is not new, but with the introduction of Reverend William Stryker that concept takes on a new form. The Reverend preaches a message that mutants are an abomination in the eyes of God. Many of the stories in the X-Books have had elements of social issues but it wasn't until this book when we really started to see real world themes transcend into the world of the X-Men.