In New X-Men, this traditionally sympathetic figure is outed as (in Morrison’s words) “an old bastard with daft, old ideas based on violence and coercion” who’s peddling a philosophy that no longer connects with mutant society at large. Heck, Morrison even messes about with the characterisation of franchise archvillain Magneto. It’s easy to take this as Morrison making an “out with the old”-style mission statement, and as the break-out characters, redesigned outfits, and radical revisions pile up, in a sense, it is. Morrison launches the first story arc, “E is for Extinction”, with a literal bang, when the island nation of Genosha (home to a sizeable chunk of Earth’s mutant population) is obliterated by terrifying new baddie, Cassandra Nova. Of course, you’d be forgiven for thinking that New X-Men is every bit the full-blown franchise revamp it’s often touted as being. A “greatest hits” book that calls out cyclical storytelling It’s a bold move that nevertheless runs the risk of coming across as offputtingly cynical – until you realise that spotlighting mainstream ongoing superhero comics’ limits was ultimately Morrison’s way of breaking free of them. Sure, the X-Men aren’t quite the same at the end of Morrison’s run, but even so, Morrison very deliberately puts all the major pieces right back where they found them before departing the title. To them, Morrison had added too many concepts, retooled too many characters, and messed around with the status quo too much, which is ironic, considering New X-Men represents Morrison taking aim at serialised superhero comics’ exhaustingly cyclical nature.

New X-Men wasn’t without controversy, though, and by the time Morrison wrapped things up in early 2004 with final story arc “Here Comes Tomorrow” more than a few fans’ feathers had been ruffled.

At the time, the X-books were floundering creatively, something Morrison – working alongside artists Frank Quitely, Leinil Francis Yu, Igor Kordey, Ethan Van Sciver, Phil Jimenez, Chris Bachalo, and Marc Silvestri – is credited with turning this around. Grant Morrison's wildly innovative X-Men saga returns! The X-Men, re-imagined with a new look and a new mission, must face weird new threats including evil twins, organ harvesters, sentient bacteria, rebellious mutant youth, power-enhancing street drugs and living weapons! Joined by wicked telepath Emma Frost and mysterious powerhouse Xorn, the X-Men go public - expanding Xavier's school to train a new generation of mutants including the insect-like Angel, the bird-boy Beak, the living sandstorm Dust and eerie telepathic quintuplets the Stepford Cuckoos.The first issue of New X-Men hit shelves this month 20 years ago (if you go by cover dates, at least), kicking off an acclaimed 41-issue run by superstar scribe Grant Morrison. (W) Grant Morrison (A) Various (CA) Frank Quitely

Grant morrison new x men omnibus