Marvel Comics

Ultimate X-Men Omnibus Vol. 4 brings Marvel's alternate mutant universe into its harsher endgame. After Ultimatum, the surviving mutants are not simply a streamlined version of the classic X-Men; they are people trying to live in a broken political landscape where fear has already won too much ground. It is a closing stretch built on survival, identity and consequences.

Marc Guggenheim (showrunner of Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow) brings his sense of TV pacing to the comic: each issue with its emotional arc, each arc with its climax, and the whole working as a serialised season. Focus on individual characters and the ethical dilemmas that define mutants. Good gateway to the modern format.