It had been a decade since we were introduced to Earth-295, better known as ‘The Age of Apocalypse’ – the alternate universe in which Charles Xavier was murdered by his future son, inspiring Magneto to form the X-Men. And it was a huge hit with fans!
The X-Men of that reality sacrificed themselves to save the multiverse just as nukes made their way to America to erase them all from existence. Or so we thought.
On the tenth anniversary of one of the most popular X-events of all time, we discovered that the inhabitants of Earth-295 had found a way to survive! A one-shot revealed three untold tales taking place before the original Age of Apocalypse saga, before a fourth tale taught us how the X-Men of that world fought on…
Crossover: A tale from the one-shot leads directly into the six-issue Age of Apocalypse mini-series, with two issues of Exiles tying into this fifth-week event.
Must-Reads: Issues in bold in the Core List or marked with a ✔ in the Full Reading Order are must-read stories from this event; in the Fallout section, issues marked with a ✔ are the stories that are most heavily impacted by this event.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- LEGION QUEST (1994-1995) – The death of Charles Xavier
- THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE (1995) – Magneto’s X-Men save reality
- DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE (2001) Blink joins the Exiles
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [3/4]
- Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [2/4]
- Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [1/4]
- Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [4/4]
- Age of Apocalypse #1-2
- Exiles #60-61
- Age of Apocalypse #3-6
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [3/4] Before ever meeting the X-Men, Weapon X (Logan) rescues young Mariko Yoshida from the Yakuza and has his first run-in with the Silver Samurai. Angry that Logan had rescued his cousin before he had the chance, the Silver Samurai fights to defend his honor. Logan defeats the Samurai, but allows him to live. 1st appearance: Silver Samurai/Kenuichio Harada | |
| Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [2/4] Having only just joined the X-Men, Sabretooth is captured by Infinites and meets the feral Wild Child in a cell. Together, they escape and rejoin the war against the forces of Apocalypse. | |
| Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [1/4] Just as Colossus and Shadowcat decided to leave the X-Men, Magneto offers them a chance to lead the next generation of mutants – Generation Next. | |
| ✔ | Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 [4/4] After the final battle with Apocalypse (during THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE, 1995), the nukes launched by the Human High Council at America hurtle toward the victorious X-Men and every other survivor of Apocalypse’s reign. But someone dismantles the nukes before they landed, saving everyone from certain death. Magneto rebuilds the Statue of Liberty as an inspirational symbol and everyone assumed he was the one who saved America. Weapon X asks Magneto to bury Jean Grey after she sacrificed herself trying to save the world. Six months later, the reign of Apocalypse is well and truly over. Magneto has allowed the population of the planet to believe he really did save them. But someone else knows the truth. Someone Sinister! |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Age of Apocalypse #1 The Age of Apocalypse isn’t really an ‘Age of Apocalypse’ anymore, now that En Sabah Nur is dead. The X-Men help create a world where humans can live in harmony with their former mutant masters. While the team deal with the latest terrorist mutant threat, Magneto sends someone to track down Weapon X – Logan’s daughter, X-23 (Kirika Yashida). 1st appearance: Beak/Barnell Bohusk, Hellions (Catseye/Sharon Smith, Roulette/Jennifer Stavros, Tarot/Marie-Ange Colbert), Trish Tilby, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair, X-23/Kirika Yashida New identity: [REDACTED] as Xorn |
| ✔ | Age of Apocalypse #2 The X-Men’s efforts to encourage the Morlocks to return to the surface is met with serious resistance. After fighting two of Apocalypse’s former agents – Northstar and Aurora – Weapon X agrees to accompany Kirika back to Magneto and return to the ranks of the X-Men. |
| Exiles #60 The reality-hopping Exiles (a team made up of mutants from alternate realities, trying to put right what once went wrong on other Earths) are sent to the Age of Apocalypse by the Timebroker as punishment for refusing to kill one of their own teammates. Beak remains at the Crystal Palace and is replaced by the psychotic son of Apocalypse of Earth-295, Holocaust. Returning to their home reality, Blink and Sabretooth are shocked to find Earth-295 isn’t the horrifying world they once knew. Holocaust refuses to cooperate with the Exiles and locates the shard of the M’Kraan Crystal. He plans to use it to break the Timebroker’s control and restore his father’s rule, offering Sabretooth a place by his side. | |
| Exiles #61 The Exiles fight Holocaust, attracting the attention of Magneto and Sunfire. Holocaust ultimately rejoins the Exiles to work against the Timebroker, using Dark Beast‘s step-by-step M’Kraan guide to transport the group into the crystal. Arriving at the Crystal Palace, the Exiles confront the Timebroker, himself! 1st appearance: Tiger Shark/Todd Arliss (Earth-295), Power Pack (Earth-295 – Alex Power, Jack Power, Julie Power, Katie Power), Panoptichron |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Age of Apocalypse #3 Weapon X returns to the X-Men just as the Guthrie Family attack the team, led by Husk who survived the conflict with the Sugar Man and infiltrated the X-Men as Xorn. Desperate for revenge against Magneto, Husk threatens to kill gonna kill his and son, Charles Lehnsherr! 1st appearance: Icarus/Joshua Guthrie Identity revealed: Husk/Paige Guthrie is Xorn |
| ✔ | Age of Apocalypse #4 Psylocke returns to the X-Men and helps them beat down the Guthries. Kirika kills Husk, but not before she reveals Magneto’s deal with Sinister. With no choice but to explain away his lies, Magneto reveals Jean Grey was the one who saved the world. Turns out she’s alive, too! 1st appearance: Psylocke |
| ✔ | Age of Apocalypse #5 Weapon X isn’t happy about Magneto not telling him that Jean’s been alive all this time. Magneto’s powers are weaker than ever and he steps down as the X-Men’s leader. The team locate Sinister and his mutant Sinister Six – Cloak & Dagger, Sauron, Sonique and himself… and their sixth member is, of course, Jean Grey, powered by the Phoenix! 1st appearance: Sinister Six (Cloak/Ty Johnson, Dagger/Tandy Bowen) |
| ✔ | Age of Apocalypse #6 The X-Men kill their way through Sinister’s Sinister Six, except for Jean Grey who’s freed from Sinister’s control and rejoins the X-Men. With Sinister is as dead as the mutants’ trust in Magneto, X-23, Sunfire and Weapon X leave the team. Magneto is placed under arrest to answer for his ruse. |
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Exiles #62 (2005) The Exiles are reunited with Beak and meet the Timebreakers – the real power behind the Timebroker; Holocaust is killed by Hyperion of Earth-4023. | |
| Exiles #84 (2006) Blink briefly returns to Earth-295. | ||
| ✔ | Uncanny X-Force #10-18 (2011-2012) Weapon X is revealed to be the bearer of the Apocalypse Seed/Death Seed on Earth-295 and is the new ruler of the Age of Apocalypse; X-Force of Earth-616 travel to Earth-295 to locate a Life Seed to cure their ally Archangel; X-Force aid the X-Men of Earth-295 against Weapon X; Gambit, X-23 and Sunfire are all killed in the conflict; Nightcrawler of Earth-295 joins X-Force when they return to Earth-616. | |
| ✔ | Uncanny X-Force #19.1 (2012) The X-Men of Earth-295 disband following the deaths of Magneto, Rogue and Silver Samurai and Charles Lehnsherr. | THE X-TERMINATED |
| Uncanny X-Force #27-33 (2012-2013) The Blob of Earth-295 is revealed to have joined Daken’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants on Earth-616; Nightcrawler of Earth-295 betrays X-Force; the Blob is killed by Nightcrawler. | ||
| ✔ | Astonishing X-Men #60-61 (2012-2013) Nightcrawler returns to Earth-295 with help from the Dark Beast; Weapon X is killed by Jean Grey. | |
| ✔ | X-Termination #2 (2013) Nightcrawler redeems himself by trapping the Exterminators on Earth-295; Jean Grey uses the power of the Apocalypse Seed to bring about the destruction of the Exterminators along with the end of Earth-295. | X-TERMINATED |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| X-Men: The Age of Apocalypse – Twilight | Age of Apocalypse #1-6 Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 Exiles #60-61 Hulk: Broken Worlds #2 [part] X-Man #53-54 What If #77, 81 What If? featuring X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #1 |
| X-Men: The New Age of Apocalypse | Age of Apocalypse #1-6 Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 |
| X-Men: The Age of Apocalypse Companion Omnibus | Age of Apocalypse #1-6 Age of Apocalypse One-Shot #1 Blink #1-4 Exiles #60-61 Exiles: Days of Then and Now #1 Hulk: Broken Worlds #2 [part] Tales from the Age of Apocalypse (1996) Tales from the Age of Apocalypse (1997) What If #77, 81 What If? featuring X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #1 X-Man #-1, 53-54 X-Man ’96 X-Men Chronicles #1-2 X-Universe #1-2 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Exiles vol.10: Age of Apocalypse Exiles: Ultimate Collection vol.4 | Exiles #60-61 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
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