Top 10 Marvel Comics Events Of All Time

9. Onslaught (1996)

Why it was good: The high concept was actually kind of silly: when Magneto and Professor X get together, they become a being who’s actually more evil than Magneto alone? Wouldn’t Charles actually rein him in a bit? But man, what a visual. It also provided a threat credible enough to need the combined might of the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four. To defeat it required a crazy amount of sacrifice, temporary as it may have been. It’s hard to argue with Andy Kubert artwork on a big story like this, though it was a long event that involved a bunch of artists. Speaking of which …

Why it didn’t rank higher: This was an unfortunate example of the excess that events can bring to the table. Over 30 individual issues were involved, and to this day, I still see people confused about the reading order. I like things self-contained, or at least with a main series and logical tie-ins. Then there’s that ending: to beat Onslaught for good, we’ve all got to jump inside him! Not you mutants though, you’ll just make him stronger. Wow, this is a lot of heroic sacrifice. It sure would be great if everyone who just gave their lives was secretly reliving them in another reality or something. Wink, wink.

How it had lasting effects: The idea of “Professor X’s brain plus bad guy = really powerful bad guy” is still with us, as it’s about to be front and center in AXIS. Otherwise, Onslaught hasn’t really endured through the decades, but at the time it’s impact was seismic. It took the Fantastic Four and Avengers completely out of the equation and shunted them to another dimension where they starred in mostly forgettable stories until another event, Heroes Return, brought them back. Can you imagine Marvel doing that with the Avengers today? The Fantastic Four, on the other hand … Maybe they’ll end up on “Fox Earth.”