Author: Darren Duncan
Created: 1997 December 18
Updated: 1998 April 25 (minor update; see UXM #192)
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************************************************************
* Continuity of the X-titles *
************************************************************
Version: 1.0.1
Created: 11 July, 1997
Published: 18 December, 1997
Minor Update: 25 April, 1998 (see UXM #192)
Author: Darren Duncan
E-Mail: cst97021@camosun.bc.ca
============================================================
Introduction
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Continuity is an unbroken connection or sequence. In the
X-titles, it is that which makes each X-issue seem to be
part of a greater, ongoing story, rather than an isolated,
self-contained story. It is what makes the events of one
issue affect the events of other issues. Continuity shows,
through a sequence of issues spanning many books, the
chronological history of any given character, team, or
institution. When properly applied by the writers, it
prevents a character from appearing in two books at the same
time, or from appearing in New York when he's supposed to be
in Nova Roma.
This FAQ is meant to be a comprehensive list of all the
issues in the various X-titles, displayed in the order that
they occur in Marvel history. The list also includes many
appearances of X-characters in other books, and in
flashbacks from both the X-books and other books.
The FAQ does not contain "every" appearance of each
character, as they are hard to find, are often
insignificant, and are sometimes done gratuitiously without
regard for continuity. So we will pretend they never
happened. For the sake of simplicity, I also am not
including runs of non-X-titles which feature former or
future X-characters, such as Avengers, Captain Britain,
Champions, and Defenders.
============================================================
Structure
============================================================
This FAQ is a flow-chart which links all of the X-Men series
and a lot of the X-Men miniseries and one-shots that were
published between 1963 and 1996. The flow-chart shows the
chronological order of events, with the earliest events on
top, flowing down to the latest events on the bottom. This
FAQ focuses on chronological accuracy, and I have made every
effort to be complete.
Each issue is its own linked item, with few exceptions.
Many flashbacks are included, since many key events are told
in flashbacks. Reprint issues are not included, as it is
simplest to just go with the orignal publications.
See the Symbol Glossary below for the meanings of what you
see.
The continuity information is divided into several sections,
listed in the Time Periods Index:
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Symbol Glossary
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Series titles mostly appear full-length and in all-caps, and
they are quite self-explanitory. So are the issue numbers,
each of which appears as "#N". Annuals appear as "Ann#N"
and Special Editions appear as "SpEd#N". Volume numbers
appear as "vN", and are shown between the series name and
the issue number. Limited series are identified with the
title suffix of "ls". In cases where there are multiple
stories in a book, backup stories are indicated with "/N"
following the issue number, where N is the story number
within the issue (eg: the third story in a certain annual
would appear as "Ann#7/3").
Most of the linked items in the FAQ are entire single
stories. In some cases, mostly with limited series, ranges
of issues are referred to instead of single issues. Such
ranges appear as "#sN-N". Or, only specific parts of an
issue are referred to instead of the whole issue. Such
instances are indicated with the use of a colon following
the issue number. Here are some ways that specific parts
are referred to (they may be combined):
1. ":N-N" or ":N-N,N-N" -- these are specific page ranges
within the story (eg: pages 1 through 12 of a certain issue
would appear as "#21:1-12"). Page references follow the
same numbering scheme that the issue itself uses (eg: the
issue's page numbers may count only the story pages, or they
may count all of the pages, including advertisements). If
the issue itself doesn't number the pages for us, then my
page references count only the story pages.
2. ":fb" -- this linked item is a flashback shown in the
issue; its specific location in the issue may be indicated
with a page range.
3. ":ff" -- this linked item is a flash-forward shown in
the issue; its specific location in the issue may be
indicated. (Flash-forward is an antonym for flashback; it
is a jump to the future instead of a jump to the past.)
4. ":tt" -- this story involves time-travel, and it exists
in multiple places on the timeline. When you see the ":tt"
designation, you will know that that issue is listed again
somewhere else in the FAQ.
5. "a" or "b" -- these refer to first or second parts of a
story where the exact point of division (what pages) is not
known. Or they refer to the first or second parts of a page
(the division is between panels).
6. Colons are sometimes used to show story contents, rather
than indicate a part of the issue. "XXptN" indicates that
the story is part of a numbered multi-part crossover, such
as the Extinction Agenda ("EAptN"). Or the use of ":app"
indicates that X-characters just have an appearance in the
story, instead of major participation.
Brackets are sometimes used to indicate which characters are
in the story, or when the story takes place, or other
comments.
These are the parts of the ASCII arrows which link stories together:
v A down-pointing arrow.
If it is alone then the issue below it is after the one above it.
If it is next to a > or < then it is an end of that arrow.
> An end piece for a right-pointing arrow.
< An end piece for a left-pointing arrow.
- A middle piece for longer horizontal arrow.
| A middle piece for longer vertical arrow.
/ A middle piece for longer diagonal arrow.
\ A middle piece for longer diagonal arrow.
+ A middle piece for two lines that pass over each other
v<- The issue below this is after the one above and to the right.
->v The issue below this is after the one above and to the left.
-<v The issue above this is before the one below and to the left.
v>- The issue above this is before the one below and to the right.
<-> The issues on the left and right of this are concurrent.
=> The issue on the right of this occurs between pages/panels of the one to the left.
<= The issue on the left of this occurs between pages/panels of the one to the right.
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Books Listed in this FAQ
============================================================
This FAQ includes hundreds of issues from dozens of series.
But it focuses on the X-titles, which are included in their
entirety (newest issues not included).
Since the Uncanny X-Men is the longest running X-title, it
can be used as a "reference ruler" for all of the other
series. If you don't know where a particular series begins,
you can find it by finding the issue of Uncanny X-Men (UXM)
that it is closest to.
Reference Series Issues Included Issues to do
301 - pre CABLE #s 1-4,9-11 #s 5-8,12-pre
142 - 201 DAZZLER #s 1-42 none
234 - pre EXCALIBUR #s 1-34,68-75 #s 35-67,76-pre
318 - pre GENERATION X none #s 1-pre
166 - 274 NEW MUTANTS #s 1-100 none
1 - pre UNCANNY X-MEN #s 1-310 #s 311-pre
234 - pre WOLVERINE #s 1-75 #s 76-pre
201 - pre X-FACTOR #s 1-75,84-93 #s 76-83,94-pre
280 - pre X-FORCE #s 1-5,16-25,32-34 #s 6-15,35-pre
322 - pre X-MAN none #s 5-pre
280 - pre X-MEN #s 1-30 #s 31-pre
300 - pre X-MEN UNLIMITED # 1 #s 2-pre
Limited Series that are included:
year 3761 ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS AND PHOENIX
year 3761 ASKANI'SON
183 - 184 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
219 - 223 FALLEN ANGELS
219 - 220 FANTASTIC FOUR vs THE X-MEN
167 - 207 FIRESTAR
306 - 307 GAMBIT
183 - 192 KITTY PRYDE AND WOLVERINE
199 - 205 LONGSHOT
160 - 160 MAGIK
167 - 168 M S H CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS
180 - 181 M S H SECRET WARS
194 - 195 NIGHTCRAWLER
195 - 206 SECRET WARS II
168 - 172 WOLVERINE
236 - 242 X-TERMINATORS
192 - 193 X-MEN / ALPHA FLIGHT
219 - 220 X-MEN vs THE AVENGERS
179 - 180 X-MEN AND THE MICRONAUTS
- 273 X-MEN SPOTLIGHT ON...STARJAMMERS
Limited Series that are not yet included:
BISHOP
CABLE: BLOOD AND METAL
DEADPOOL: THE CIRCLE CHASE
DEADPOOL v.2
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF CYCLOPS AND PHOENIX
ICEMAN
ROGUE
SABRETOOTH
STARJAMMERS
STORM
WOLVERINE AND GAMBIT: VICTIMS
There are hundreds of other issues also included, which is
too many to list here.
These issues (or most of the story within each) are
chronologically out of order with the rest of their series:
1 X-FACTOR #47:fb occurs before UXM #55/2
184 NEW MUTANTS #63:fb occurs between pages of NMU #21
??? NEW MUTANTS #82 is somewhere between NMU #s 13 and 57
244 EXCALIBUR #20 occurs between EXC #s 9 and 10
244 NEW MUTANTS #92:fb occurs between NMU #s 76 and 77
266 UNCANNY X-MEN #269 occurs between UXM #s 266 and 267
273 UNCANNY X-MEN #s 273 and 274 end with the same event
286 WOLVERINE #60 occurs between WOL #s 57 and 58
============================================================
Time Periods Index
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1. Featurettes and Character Biographies Not Part of Known Continuity
2. Origins of the X-Men Series: prior to UXM #1
3. Original X-Men stories: Uncanny X-Men #s 1-66
4. The X-Men in Transition: between UXM #66 and GSXM #1
5. Origins of the All New, All Different X-Men: prior to GSXM #1
6. All New, All Different X-Men, and more: between GSXM #1 and UXM #200
7. Absense of Xavier, and more: between UXM #200 and XFA #70
8. Beginning of Modern Storyline, and more: between XFA #70 and XME #41
9. Moments of Discontinuity: between X-Men #41 and X-MEN PRIME #1
10. Alternate History of the Age of Apocalypse:
between X-Men #41:past and X-Men ALPHA #1
11. An Alternate Present Timeline: Age of Apocalypse, a World Without Xavier:
between X-MEN ALPHA #1 and X-MEN OMEGA #1
12. Modern/Post AOA Storyline Begins: between XM PRIME #1 and UXM #333
13. Events Predicted in Future Timelines That Are Now Coming True
14. The Alternate Future Timeline of 2013 AD
15. The Future Timeline of 2062 AD
16. The Future Timeline of 3761 AD (See X-Force #20)
17. The Parallel Timeline of Mojoworld
18. Miscellaneous Future and Alternate Timelines
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Acknowledgements
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This FAQ is for everyone's use and enjoyment. I would
greatly appreciate anyone's help in improving it. If you
have any information, suggestions, comments, criticism or
praise then I would love to hear from you. If you see any
mistakes or omissions, please let me know, and I can fix
them. Send e-mail to the above address.
This FAQ was compiled from the continuity information
provided by several sources:
1. The initial backbone was based on "The Official Marvel
Index to the X-Men" (1994), written by Murray Ward with help
from others, and published by Marvel Comics. All
information from this source is assumed to be correct unless
proven otherwise (and I have found several mistakes).
2. This backbone was modified and supplemented mainly from
the countless hundreds of hours of notes that I made since
1993 while I closely read and studied my own issues of the
various X-Men titles. I was generally thorough with my
research and careful with writing decisions; and therefore,
I think the results are very accurate.
3. Daniel McEwen's "dazzler.txt" told me how MARVEL GRAPHIC
NOVEL #12 and the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST limited series fit in
between issues of the DAZZLER series. Due to its lesser
popularity, the Dazzler series is not often documented. But
thanks to Daniel, there is at least one complete and well
written document covering the series.
4. Borere's X-Men Continuity FAQ v1.0 (Dec, 1995) was
helpful as far as that I used its introductary layout as a
guide for my own introductions. This document provides
one-sentance synopses of most of the X-issues, often using
the story name or the cover blurb. But the main feature of
the document is that it displays the issues in approximate
continuity order, called a "laundry list". I say
approximate because the list is one-dimensional, a structure
which can not show continuity accurately.* I did not use
this document when making my Continuity FAQ, preferring to
go directly to the source (or the official X-Men index), but
I later used it to confirm that I was on the right track.
* That is, with the way that the stories in the X-titles
are organized, you simply can not put them all in a
one-dimensional list and keep them in order. Most issues do
not fit neatly between two issues of other series. I found
that it is easier to maintain accuracy in a two-dimensional
list. Here, for example, you can say that story A is after
story B but not necessarily after story C.
============================================================
Revision History
============================================================
This is the general history of this FAQ, from its inception
to the present. All versions were formatted as flow-charts.
Up until 1997, they were all done on paper.
1. Late 1993: small charts were made on new '93 and '94
issues as they were read.
2. August, 1994: the first large-scale version copied
continuity information from the 1994 Marvel X-Men Index.
But the info wasn't properly interpreted and I tried to
include all the links. The result was a big mess, and I
stopped by UXM #255.
3. Winter, 1995: the second large-scale version was started
from scratch. It also copied from the Marvel index, but
interpreted it properly and didn't include needless links.
This version covered every X-issue in the index, and has
since been added to by my own reading and research. It
still persists today.
4. 11 July, 1997: the first electronic version of the FAQ
was created, with the intention to display on the internet.
It was copied from the latest paper version, and includes
most of that information. Since then it has been updated
seperately.
5. 18 Dec, 1997: the electronic version was first
released on the internet, as version 1.0.
============================================================
Featurettes and Character Biographies Not Part of Known Continuity
============================================================
UNCANNY X-MEN #43/2 starring Cyclops
UNCANNY X-MEN #47/2 starring Iceman
UNCANNY X-MEN #48/2 starring Beast
UNCANNY X-MEN #57/2 starring Marvel Girl
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