Early in Civil War, Tony Stark approaches Cyclops to see where the X-Men would fall with registration. Once they decided to remain neutral because “they had their own problems,” I didn't expect them to be a player in the event. So, I didn't expect much from the X-Men collection. I was wrong. This collection turned out to be one of the best connected to Civil War.

The first third of the (hardcover) book is committed to Wolverine (who also figures prominently in additional stories included herein) as he decided to track down Nitro – the villain who actually caused the Stamford tragedy. I've never read any of Wolverine’s solo series, but after this I am very tempted to do so. He is fascinating! His hunt for Nitro takes some unexpected twists and turn that kept me completely engrossed in the story. He alone is worth the price of this collection.

Wolverine is followed by a short section on X-Factor. This section was interesting because of Layla, the mutant who revealed that reality was altered to the heroes in House of M. Few mutants know the actual cause of the Decimation was Wanda’s power. When X-Factor learns the truth, and that Cyclops kept it from them, it causes internal tension among the few mutants left.

The next section was surprisingly insightful being that Deadpool takes center stage. First off, this section was incredibly entertaining as the Merc with the Mouth breaks the forth wall frequently, and his views on registration are not what I expected. The action is also top notch. This section is critical because it shows how Cable, who is from the future, views registration. I was left wondering why Reed and Tony aren’t more interested in knowing what Cable thinks seeing as how, unlike their probabilities & statistical analyses, he knows what the future actually holds.

The next large section covers the actual X-Men and how they and the government react when the 198 (remaining mutants) decide to break out of the Xavier Institute where the government has been holding them “for their protection.” Much like a concentration camp. Though not directly impacting on Civil War, the X-Men’s actions are important since public perception of registration is logically linked with mutant registration. The last small section follows Blade as he’s tasked by SHIELD with bringing Wolverine in dead or alive. A quick inconsequential story that serves only to show one further hero tied into the crossover.

Overall, this was a fantastic collection that truly expanded on the event while also being very engaging and action-packed at times. Highly recommended! ( )