Mojo and Spiral jump from the pages of the Longshot limited series and into the lives of Marvel‘s mutants, impacting both the New Mutants and the X-Men. ‘The Wildways’ also marks the addition of Captain Britain, Psylocke and Longshot himself to the X-Men’s corner of the Marvel Universe in a suitably deranged caper which sets the tone for all future X-Men/Mojo stories!
Crossover: A two-part crossover which can also be read as separate chapters.
Must-Reads: 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:
- SECRET WARS II (1985-1986) – The New Mutants die and are reborn
- THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO (1985-1986) – Magneto becomes Headmaster of the Xavier School
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- New Mutants Annual #2
- X-Men Annual #10
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| New Mutants Annual #2 Interdimensional TV producer Mojo and his deadly assistant Spiral kidnap English model Betsy Braddock (recently blinded by Slaymaster) and make her the star of the most popular animated series on Mojoverse TV – Wildways. Mojo grants Betsy cybernetic eyes that can steal souls, then kidnaps Sunspot & Wolfsbane of the New Mutants, as well as Leon & Nga Coy Man – siblings of Karma – and Butch, Darla & Alfie of the preteen Fatboys gang, transforming them into his adult Bratpack. The team manipulate the remaining New Mutants into joining them, but Cypher and Warlock escape and ally with Captain Britain (Brian Braddock – Betsy’s brother) who’s also been de-aged by Mojo. Cypher finds Betsy – who now resembles Mojo – and fully merges with Warlock in order to gain the means to free her and the others from Spiral and the real-life Wildways. 1st appearance: Bratpack New identity: Betsy Braddock as Psylocke |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Uncanny X-Men Annual #10 Longshot materialises in the X-Men‘s Danger Room, as the slime that came with him starts to de-age those present. Magneto leads the X-Men to Central Park as they gradually become too young to utilise their powers. The New Mutants graduate themselves to X-Men – donning new costumes – to retrieve the ‘X-Babies’ from Mojo & Spiral who trap both teams in a performance at a Manhattan theatre. The X-Men’s graduall return to adulthood increases Mojo’s hold over them and makes them more bloodthirsty. While battling Magik, Shadowcat phases through Mojo, disrupting his tech and majick and freeing the X-Men. Mojo teleports away, abaonding Spiral. Betsy demands Spiral’s death, but Storm (dubbing Betsy ‘Psylocke’) barters her life in exchange for putting things back as they were. The New Mutants give up their X-Men uniforms and Longshot remains at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. New identity: New Mutants as the X-Men |
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Uncanny X-Men #212 (1986) Betsy Braddock officially goes by the codename Psylocke as a member of the X-Men. | MUTANT MASSACRE |
| ✔ | Mephisto Vs #3 (1987) Longshot is revealed to have joined the X-Men. | THIS HALLOWED ARMOR |
| X-Men Annual #11 (1987) Captain Britain visits his sister and her fellow X-Men, joining them on a mission to the Citadel of Light and Shadow. | ||
| ✔ | New Mutants #53 (1987) Cypher begins to show detrimental effects from repeatedly merging with Warlock. | |
| ✔ | Uncanny X-Men #226 (1988) Forge helps Storm unlock her powers again. New Mutants #60 (1988) Still believing himself to be the New Mutants’ weak link, Cypher takes a bullet for Wolfsbane and dies. Uncanny X-Men #227 (1988) The apparent death of Psylocke and the X-Men is televised (though they actually allowing the world to believe they’re dead while they begin operating under the radar thanks to Roma‘s magic). | THE FALL OF THE MUTANTS |
| Excalibur Special Edition: The Sword is Drawn (1988) Captain Britain learns of Psylocke’s apparent death. | ||
| ✔ | X-Men Annual #12 (1988) Roma’s magic blocks the transmission from Psylocke’s eyes to Mojoworld, making Mojo believe the X-Men are truly dead; Mojo creates a new set of X-Babies from neoplasm to replace the X-Men for entertainment purposes; Ricochet Rita and the X-Babies escape Mojoworld. | |
| Uncanny X-Men #244 (1989) Darla’s Jubilee persona is not to be confused with the mutant Jubilee who first emerges exhibiting similar powers. | JUBILATION DAY | |
| ✔ | Uncanny X-Men #256 (1989) When an amnesiac Psylocke falls into Matsu’o Tsurayaba‘s hands, he grants her a new body – one without Mojo’s cybernetic eyes – ironically with help from Spiral’s Body Shoppe. | ACTS OF VENGEANCE |
| X-Factor #62 (1991) After Cameron Hodge‘s failed attempt to absorb Warlock’s Technarch abilities, Warlock’s ashes are scattered over Cypher’s grave. | X-TINCTION AGENDA | |
| X-Force #99-100 (1991) Shatterstar appears in the Danger Room in much the same way Longshot did, implying a connection between them. | A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH | |
| Wolverine #52-53 (1992) Mojo next encounters Wolverine. | ||
| ✔ | X-Men Annual #1 (1992) Mojo next clashes with the X-Men, reigniting his feud with them. X-Factor Annual #7 (1992) Spiral is revealed to be Ricochet Rita, sent back in time by Mojo to set herself on the path to becoming Spiral. | SHATTERSHOT |
| Excalibur #55-56 (1992) Psylocke is reunited with Captain Britain for the first time since gaining a different body. | ||
| X-Men #20-22 (1993) It’s revealed that an Betsy Braddock’s original body is inhabited by an assassin named Kwannon, with their bodies having been swapped. | ||
| ✔ | X-Men #31-32 (1994) Kwannon removes the cybernetic eyes Mojo implanted in Betsy Braddock’s body; Psylocke destroys the eyes. | |
| Excalibur #77-81 (1994) A techno-organic being calling itself Douglock emerges, with some believing this to be the resurrected Doug Ramsey/Cypher merged with Warlock. | ||
| X-Men ’99 Annual (1999) Douglock is revealed to be a reanimated Warlock and he reclaims this identity. | RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE | |
| X-Necrosha #1 (2009) Cypher is one of many mutants resurrected by Selene & Eli Bard using the Transmode Virus; Cypher remains alive when the majority of other ‘undead’ mutants return to the grave. | NECROSHA | |
| New Mutants #9 (2010) The resurrected Cypher rejoins the New Mutants alongside Warlock. |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| New Mutants Epic Collection: Asgardian Wars (vol.3) | New Mutants #32-44 New Mutants Annual #2 New Mutants Special Edition #1 Uncanny X-Men Annual #9 |
| Uncanny X-Men Epic Collection: Wounded Wolf (vol.13) | Marvel Fanfare #33 New Mutants Special Edition #1 Uncanny X-Men #199-210 Uncanny X-Men Annual #9-10 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Captain Britain Omnibus Captain Britain by Alan Moore and Alan Davis Omnibus Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men vol.14 New Mutants Omnibus vol.2 Uncanny X-Men Omnibus vol.5 X-Men: Mutant Massacre Prelude Omnibus X-Men: Old Soldiers | New Mutants Annual #2 Uncanny X-Men Annual #10 |
| New Mutants Classic vol.6 | New Mutants Annual #2 |
| Marvel Universe by Arthur Adams Omnibus X-Babies Classic X-Men: Ghosts X-Men Legends vol.3 | Uncanny X-Men Annual #10 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
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