Walter Simonson

One of the absolute pinnacles of American superhero comics. Simonson introduces Beta Ray Bill (a horse alien who proves himself worthy of Mjölnir), brings back Surtur as a cosmic menace, transforms Thor into a frog, and elevated the character's mythology to unseen heights. If you're only going to read one Thor in your life, make it this one.

The Marauders descend into the Morlock tunnels and slaughter an entire community of mutants in the crossover that changed the X-Men forever. Angel loses his wings, Colossus is paralyzed, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde are critically wounded, and the X-Men, X-Factor and New Mutants are all scarred by the violence. Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson and Walt Simonson deliver one of the most shocking and consequential events in Marvel history — a massacre that demonstrated no character was safe and set the tone for a darker era of X-Men storytelling.

X-Factor: The Original X-Men Omnibus Vol. 2 is the emotional crisis volume of the original-team era. Inferno forces Cyclops, Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor and baby Nathan into one of the X-line's cruelest family knots, while Judgment War pushes the team into a stranger science-fiction register. It is central for understanding why X-Factor matters beyond the reunion premise.

X-Factor: The Original X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1 is the reunion volume with a cost: Jean Grey returns, the original five form X-Factor, and the team publicly pretends to hunt mutants while secretly rescuing them. Louise and Walt Simonson turn what could have been a nostalgia gimmick into myth, introducing Apocalypse and transforming Angel into Archangel.