Professor Charles Xavier (aka, Professor X) recently expanded the student body at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters when he formed the New Mutants (see THE BROOD SAGA, 1982-1983). In the subatomic Microverse, another team of freedom fighters called the Micronauts have been warring against against Baron Karza to free their realm from his tyrannical reign.
When a threat from the ‘macroverse’ starts wiping out the inhabitants of the Microverse, these three teams will collide and not everyone will make it out alive! The final battle with Karza is coming…
Minor Crossover: While the four-issue ‘X-Men and the Micronauts’ mini-series and Micronauts #58 can be read separately and still make sense, one does directly lead into the other.
Must-Reads: Issues marked with a ✔are essential to the story.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- ✔ X-Men and the Micronauts #1-4
- ✔ Micronauts #58
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | X-Men and the Micronauts #1 The Micronauts join forces with the tyrannical Baron Karza when the Entity starts wiping out whole worlds in the Microverse, turning peaceful inhabitants into bloodthirsty warriors. The team soon becomes prisoners of the golden-armoured Entity. Karza flees to the ‘macroverse’ in Bioship, arriving at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters‘ Danger Room where a confrontation with the New Mutants ends with Spellbinder (Dani Moonstar) turning Karza’s worst fear against him by showing him his own humanity. When the X-Men join the fight, Ariel (Kitty Pryde) phases through Karza, only for his mind to inhabit Kitty’s body while still being able to control his own. Bioship stops the fight and convinces the X-Men to let him take them to the Microverse… |
| ✔ | X-Men and the Micronauts #2 The Entity mentally controls the Micronauts, dresses them to look like original X-Men, then sends them on over to the macroverse. Returning to the Microverse, Baron Karza teleports his armour form (still housing Kitty Pryde’s mind) back to Homeworld where Kitty finds she’s able to control it. Bioship crash-lands in the Microverse. The X-Men find they’ve been shunk smaller than blades of grass and on the grounds of the Xavier School. Inside the school, the X-Men are defeated by macro-size Micronauts and an evil Professor X… |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | X-Men and the Micronauts #3 The Entity sends the X-Men and Micronauts back to the Microverse where they unwillingly slaughter Baron Karza’s Dog Soldiers. The Entity returns them all to Homeworld and takes a special interest in 13-year-old ‘Kitty’, unaware it’s Karza. Professor X sends his astral projection to the Microverse and distracts the Entity, giving Kitty a chance to escape her own body. Professor X unmasks the Entity, revealing the face of… Professor Charles Xavier! The Entity mind-swaps with Xavier, leaving him in his dying body. Elsewhere, the X-Men and Micronauts free themselves from the Entity’s control… |
| ✔ | X-Men and the Micronauts #4 In the Microverse, Karza in Kitty’s body fights Kitty in his body. The X-Men and Micronauts break up the fight and discover the mortally-wounded Professor X in the Entity’s body. Having taken Xavier’s form, the Entity turns Spellbinder into his evil mind-slave and uses Cerebro to amp up his powers. He then blows up the planets on the edge of the Microverse. The X-Men and Micronauts return to the Xavier School. Fireflyte switches Kitty and Karza’s minds to the right bodies. Xavier tricks the Entity to return to his own form just before the body dies, ending his threat forever. Bioship resizes the X-Men before he dies. Fireflyte takes the Micronauts home to the Microverse… |
| ✔ | Micronauts #58 The Time Travellers seal off the Spacewall to the macroverse forever, just after the Micronauts return to the Microverse. Fireflyte creates a cocoon to recover from the trip. The Micronauts discover Baron Karza has killed everyone on Homeworld and turned them into his ultimate army of Dog Soldiers. Enraged, the Micronauts kill their way through Karza’s army. Arcturus Rann shatters Karza’s armour with a laser blast, allowing Marionette to deliver the killing blow with her sword. The war is finally over! The remaining denizens fly to Homeworld to check Baron Karza is really dead. Then the Micronauts (with the new Biotron and Microtron) head off to explore the Microverse and start over. Elsewhere, a brand new little Devil hatches from Fireflyte’s cocoon… |
See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Universe with these reading orders:
- X-MEN FAMILY, 1982-1984 – From Broodworld to Battleworld
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event/ Crossover |
| ✔ | New Mutants #18-20 (1984) Spellbinder (Dani Moonstar going back to the codename Psyche) confronts the real Demon Bear. | |
| New Mutants #21 (1984) Psyche/Spellbinder changes her codename to Mirage. | ||
| ✔ | Micronauts #59 (1984) Biotron, Marionette, Microtron and Arcturus Rann, Bug and Huntarr decide to travel the Microverse. | |
| ✔ | Micronauts: The New Voyages #9-11 (1985) Devil is reunited with the Micronauts but confronts them as an enemy; a Time Traveller aggressively blocks Arcturus Rann’s attempts to break through the Spacewall; Acroyear is reunited with Celicia; Cilicia admits she still loves Acroyear but considers him a traitor. | |
| ✔ | Micronauts #16 (1986) The Beyonder breaks the Spacewall and enters the Microverse; the Time Travellers and Worldmind are revealed to have been driven mad by the slaughter on Homeworld; Scion reveals the Pain Wave from the Worldmind threatens to destroy the Microverse and briefly enlists the Beyonder‘s aid in trying to end it. | SECRET WARS II |
| ✔ | Micronauts #17-20 (1986) The evil Devil is killed by the Micronauts, spawning a new Fireflyte; Fireflyte joins the Micronauts; Acroyear helps his wife, Cilicia, give birth to their son; Acroyear and Cilicia part ways again; Arcturus Rann dons an old suit of Baron Karza’s armour to take control of the Prometheus Pits, only for the spirit of Karza to take control of him; Rann/Karza is pushed into a Prometheus Pit to end his threat; Acroyear, Bug, Fireflyte, Huntarr, Marionette, Arcturus Rann and Scion sacrifice themselves, ending the threat of the Pain Wave and allowing their life-energies to form new life on Homeworld and across the Microverse. | |
| ✔ | Marvel Fanfare #25 (1986) The Enigma Force allows access to the ‘macroverse’ again, sending the Uni-Power to Delayne Masters, transforming him into Captain Universe. | |
| ✔ | New Mutants #50 (1987) Despite their apparent sacrifice, Acroyear, Bug, Fireflyte, Marionette and Arcturus Rann can be seen in a bar on a fringeworld near the Shi’ar Empire, full-size and seemingly unaware that Professor X is also present. | |
| ✔ | X-Men #54 (1996) The evil Onslaught is revealed to be another evil aspect of Charles Xavier’s psyche (this time, combined with Magneto‘s dark side); Onslaught reveals Xavier’s secret obsession with teenage Jean Grey. | THE ROAD TO ONSLAUGHT |
| ✔ | Alpha Flight #10-11 (1998) The Microns (Bug, Marionette, Arcturs Rann and new member, Dexam) team up with Alpha Flight against a new dictator in the Microverse called Baron Zebek. | |
| ✔ | Captain Marvel #6-7 (2000) Bug, Dexam, Marionette and Arcturus Rann help Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell) get a rogue Drax the Destroyer under control when he runs rampant in the Microverse; a flashback reveals that Baron Karza returned (as the Baron), allying himself with Thanos to destroy the subatomic universes; the final battle (that also drew in the X-Men) ended with all microscopic realms merging into one. | |
| New X-Men #121 (2002) Cassandra Nova is revealed to be a manifestation of the opposite of Charles Xavier’s spirit (created in the womb due to his psychic potential). | ‘NUFF SAID | |
| Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord #1-4 (2007) Bug is revealed to have crossed the Spacewall into the ‘macroverse’ only to become a prisoner of the Kree; Bug becomes a member of Star-Lord‘s misfit band opposing the Phalanx. | ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST | |
| Ream of Kings: Son of Hulk #1-4 (2010) The Microns change their name to the Enigma Force; Arcturus Rann, Marionette and new member Carl (a Sakaaran Death’s Head cyborg) defend the Microverse from Hiro-Kala, the son of the Hulk. | REALM OF KINGS | |
| Incredible Hulks: Enigma Force – Dark Son #1-3 (2010-2011) Bug briefly rejoins the Enigma Force, along with new members Jentorra and Psyklop; the Enigma Force continue their fight with Hiro-Kala. | DARK SON |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Micronauts: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus vol.3 | Micronauts (1979) #55-59 Micronauts: The New Voyages (1984) #1-20 |
Reading Order ©OmniverseComicsGuide 2024
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