Best Selene Comics: Where to Start, Debut and Key Issues to Read

Selene does not fight, she feeds. This immortal sorceress draws the life force of her victims, which lets her cross the decades without changing her face, and that is the thread tying together appearances scattered over forty years of comics. Sorting them is delicate: she moves through many stories without often carrying them. Five reads show her in command; each is presented with what it delivers and how to approach it.

As always in this guide, we only state verified facts (creators, issue numbers, dates); the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of protected art or dialogue.

Her first appearance

The New Mutants #9, cover-dated November 1983, is titled "Arena!" and introduces Selene. Chris Claremont writes, Sal Buscema draws, and Tom Mandrake is credited as finisher. The issue does not present her as a crime queen in a white gown: she is the wife of Senator Gallio, in the hidden city of Nova Roma where the team of young mutants has just been abducted.

In this issue, Selene whispers unsavory allies into her husband's ear, has the captives drugged and seizes Amara Aquila, whom she judges useful to her designs. The setting is a Roman arena, the gladiators are teenagers, and the sorceress stays in the shadow of the senators. To place this team in its publishing genesis, see the debut of the New Mutants, on which this whole story rests.

Reading Selene in the right order

A character who dies and comes back does not lend herself to a strictly chronological order. The five reads are therefore ranked by the place Selene holds in them: the first two establish her, the third gives her an entire saga, and the last two set her against another character. When she is merely a passage in a story driven by others, she stays out of the ranking; the key issues section then spells out the role she plays.

1: The New Mutants #9 to 11, Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema (1983-1984)

From November 1983 to January 1984, three issues lay down the whole character. In issue #10, "Betrayal!", Selene reveals herself as the self-proclaimed goddess of fire and mistress of the Cult of Fire: she sacrifices young women to feed on their energy, blocks Dani Moonstar's powers and tries to dominate her by drawing her blood. Amara falls into the lava and comes out changed; in issue #11, "Magma", she attacks Selene, who flattens her and drains part of her strength. Senator Gallio dies in a duel, the mutants reach the sorceress's lair and seal her in a lava pit.

What this read delivers comes down to one idea: Selene is a predator before she is a strategist. She lives off her worshippers, she sees an heir in Dani and she survives a defeat that looks like death. It is the matrix for all her comebacks.

Who to recommend it to? Anyone who likes gothic adventure stories with teenage heroes. How to read it? In one sitting, #9 to #11, then take a look at #12: Selene appears there only as a hallucination of Amara, struck by sunstroke, but the issue shows the mark she leaves.

2: The Uncanny X-Men #183 and 184, Chris Claremont, John Romita Jr. (1984)

A few months later, Selene settles in New York. In issue #183, she feeds on a stranger, gets caught up in a bar fight with Colossus and keeps company with Juggernaut; in issue #184, she goes after Rachel Summers, who has just arrived among the X-Men, and kills the man who is sheltering her. The X-Men arrive, led by Professor Xavier; Selene siphons off part of Rogue's life force before withdrawing.

This read shows what the sorceress becomes outside Nova Roma: a huntress who looks for a disciple and finds her in Rachel. That obsession resurfaces twenty years later. Issue #184 is also the one that introduces Forge, which gives it collecting interest independent of Selene.

Who to recommend it to? Readers of the Claremont-era Uncanny X-Men. How to read it? After read 1, since the issue assumes you already know why the sorceress left her lair and what her powers are worth.

3: X-Necrosha, Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Mike Carey, Zeb Wells (2009-2010)

This is the moment Selene takes charge of an entire saga. From late 2009 to early 2010, the event spreads across the one-shot X-Necrosha #1, X-Force #21 to 25 and its Annual #1, New Mutants #6 to 8 and X-Men: Legacy #231 to 233. Kyle and Yost write X-Force, Carey writes X-Men: Legacy, Wells writes New Mutants, with several artists depending on the title.

With Eli Bard's help, Selene exploits the techno-organic virus to bring back dead mutants. She builds a new Inner Circle around Blink, Senyaka, Mortis, Wither and Bard, seizes the ruins of Genosha, which she renames "Necrosha," and sends the resurrected against the X-Men who have taken refuge on Utopia. Bard brings her the ritual dagger; she kills him, absorbs the souls around her and gains divine power. Warpath, instructed in the Ghost Dance, strikes her with that same blade: she explodes into light.

What you gain here is the measure of her ambition: to become a goddess, not to run a club. Who to recommend it to? Readers who want to see Selene at the peak of her powers, and those following Kyle and Yost's X-Force. How to read it? Start with the one-shot, then the five issues of X-Force as the backbone; add the New Mutants and Legacy tie-ins if you like the angle of the resurrected characters.

4: The Uncanny X-Men #452 to 454, Chris Claremont, Andy Park (2005)

The "Chasing Hellfire!" cycle runs from January to March 2005: Chris Claremont writes, Andy Park draws, Jon Sibal inks. Rachel Summers and Emma Frost are thrown to Hong Kong by a Hellfire Club teleportation network, while the rest of the team lands in the sewers of Paris. Emma claims that Selene, Black Queen, rules the club from the catacombs; in Hong Kong, an auction of kidnapped mutants provides the backdrop.

Selene follows Rachel, whom she has coveted since their 1984 meeting and calls her child of the stars, then rescues her narrowly from an attacker to keep her for herself. In issue #454, she feeds on the life force of Paul, alias Red Lotus, and faces off with Rachel: the young woman's attacks pass through her shadow form until Rachel's eye lights up with Phoenix energy and forces her to let go.

The cycle is half devoted to other business, notably Sebastian Shaw, Donald Pierce and Sunspot, presented as the new Black King: that is why it comes in only at fourth place. Who to recommend it to? Readers who want the Selene and Rachel face-off, twenty years on. How to read it? With read 2 fresh in mind, and keeping the Sebastian Shaw profile in reserve for the other half.

5: X-Force #97 and 98, John Francis Moore, with several artists (1999-2000)

Issue #97, dated December 1999, is drawn by Anthony Williams; issue #98, "Temptation," dated January 2000, is drawn by Jim Cheung. John Francis Moore writes both. Issue #97 plants the suspicion: is Selene trying to use Sunspot to steal the power of Reignfire, who is believed dead?

In the second, she locks each member of X-Force inside an illusion fed by their guilt and fears. Sunspot breaks through his and refuses to join the Hellfire Club. But Selene and Blackheart then display Juliana Sandoval, lost by Roberto years earlier, and offer to bring her back to life if he accepts. He accepts. Danielle Moonstar, freed from the confinement where Blackheart was holding her, joins her teammates for the fights.

This read shows Selene as a tempter: she does not break Sunspot by force, but through a precise bargain, drawn from the history they have shared since New Mutants #11. Who to recommend it to? Fans of Sunspot series and of the late-1990s X-Force period. How to read it? In two issues, after reads 1 and 2; you can stop at #98, which serves as the conclusion.

Where to start based on your profile

If you are discovering Selene, read reads 1 and 2, five issues that are enough to understand who she is, how she feeds and why the X-Men fear her. If you like events, go to read 3: X-Necrosha contains the buildup and the end of her plan.

If you follow Rachel Summers, pair reads 2 and 4, which form a twenty-year diptych. If you collect the 1980s, look for The New Mutants #9 and The Uncanny X-Men #183, then round out with the Juggernaut profile, whose circle she keeps company with in 1984. If you are coming from Krakoa, House of X #5 shows her arrival on the island, but she is only passing through: go back afterward to reads 1 and 3 to grasp what makes her dangerous.

Key issues to know

For a collector, you first track the character's birth date, then the issues where she changes role. Values are not quoted here: it is better to compare copies at the same grade and print run, tracked over a long period, than a single listing.

• The New Mutants #9 (November 1983): first appearance of Selene, by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema. The starting benchmark.
• The New Mutants #11 (January 1984): Amara becomes Magma and the sorceress is sealed in the lava.
• The Uncanny X-Men #183 (1984): Selene's arrival in New York, by Claremont and John Romita Jr.
• The Uncanny X-Men #184 (1984): her hunt for Rachel Summers, and the introduction of Forge.
• X-Force #98 (January 2000): Sunspot joins the club, in the scene of Selene's offer.
• The Uncanny X-Men #454 (March 2005): end of the Hong Kong cycle, by Claremont and Andy Park.
• House of X #5 (2019): Selene arrives on Krakoa. She holds only a background role there, hence her absence from the ranking.

When acquiring a copy, compare the cover and the indicia: the series title and the issue number must match. For The New Mutants #9, make sure you have the 1983 single issue and not a reprint, with the print run indication to back it up.

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