When did you first really get into the X-Men?

[mikeb]

XTAS was my gateway drug.

Yah, me too. But I was a late bloomer. Didn't buy my first comic until the series ended in 1997. UXM#348. Bought tpb's to catch up, especially the then new "Essential X-Men" volumes. Bought myself, for a 33rd birthday gift to myself in July of 1998 the TPB of "From the Ashes", which collected UXM#168-176.

[yogaflame]

I didn't know what was going on (as far as the publish goes, or the story) and thought they stopped selling that particular one..especially since the name changed and the characters were all different. I came back later right before OZT.

it used to be fun digging through long boxes of back issues (especially when they weren't in order!) finding a cover you liked and buying it lol then "filling in" what you were missing.

After a good decade I realized I'm noting rereading these anymore and donated them to a childrens hospital (I think I had 12 long boxes). I can remember the stories and now I can look stuff up online. They weren't doing me any good sitting collecting dust.

Yeah, I got rid of most of my physical comics a while ago too, but those old days of putting in time at the comic shop were the best. I feel like it was such a personal experience. The cartoon had come out, but I only had like one friend in school who actually read physical comics, and he was mostly a DC guy, so the stories were really just in my own head. I had almost stopped reading comics by the time the internet was really becoming a thing. These days, with online solicitations months in advance, and these forums dissecting every issue as soon as it comes out, it seems that way of reading is long gone. A certain innocence, lost.

[The Man With The Stick]

Weekly UK reprints of the O5 run in 1983 (with Kirby's Devil Dinosaur as the back-up strip).

X_Men_weekly1.jpg

[uebersoldat]

This poll is a bit surprising to me. The numbers are so low it could just not be representative of the forum as a whole, but it always seems to me that the posters here skew younger than this poll would suggest. The poll does seem to correlate with the known trends of the franchise, though, with the early 90's obviously being the peak of it's commercial success.

Yes I did notice that a bit, very interesting.

[FUBAR007]

This poll is a bit surprising to me. The numbers are so low it could just not be representative of the forum as a whole, but it always seems to me that the posters here skew younger than this poll would suggest. The poll does seem to correlate with the known trends of the franchise, though, with the early 90's obviously being the peak of it's commercial success.

I think that's because the younger posters tend to be more outspoken and post more frequently. Meanwhile, this forum has a lot of lurkers who don't post much, but do answer polls, and skew older.

[Rnap22]

Uncanny X-men 248. Claremont and Jim Lee was the guest artist. Loved the art. The story was confusing in the beginning because I didn't know anyone besides Wolverine who showed up as a robot. I had to keep collecting and I had to go back and read about the characters that had just left. I'm still amazed how he weaved so many plots into his books and watching them come to fruition later down the road

[yogaflame]

I think that's because the younger posters tend to be more outspoken and post more frequently. Meanwhile, this forum has a lot of lurkers who don't post much, but do answer polls, and skew older.

That sounds about right.

[Alphaxman]

As a kid from the 80s, I got into superheroes thanks to Saturday Morning Cartoons. So of chorse I first became fans of Spider-Man and DC's Super Power Team (Super Friends). My brother was into comics and he had a large collection of Spider-men from the 70s. But I didn't start reading comics regularly until I decovered the Teen Titans. And thru the TT I found the X-men when I got my hands on their crossover. Love-at-first-sight!! What sell the deal was reading my brothers Sercet Wars and I had to root for the X-Men. I even hated Spider-Man for beating them up so easiler -- not to mention the Wasp. The Wasp -- really?
By the time I stated getting an allowance to go get my own comics, most of the charecters like Prof X, Nightcrawler, Kittty and Cyclops were off the team.

It was this issue that stated off my colloction:
uncanny223.jpg

That's why the Outback years are my favorite.

merry-xmen.jpg

[Jasticus]

Started with XTAS on Saturday mornings, and gradually shifted into begging the parents to buy comics in the local grocery store while that was still a thing. Then getting a job in the late 90's and being able to visit the LCS on my own. I was more Gambit-focused than I was X-Men focused, though. I just bought whatever he was in at the time.

[Criticalfan]

UXM #272 - weird that it was part 7 of x-tinction agenda, but it was still written like "every comic is somebody's first v" and made me want to figure out what was happening. I think I bought 2 issues every month after that, 1 of which was a back issue.

[Michael Watkins]

first time? it was that jim lee book where the Acolytes landed on Astroid M begging for protection.

2nd time was the Outback period

3rd, X-Cutioners Song

4th was Generation X (most impactful period of my life)

[StephenFoxMonster]

I watch both cartoons and all the movies, but then I read AvX and all of Bendis' run on Uncanny then worked my way back.

[Hizashi]

I caught reruns of the ‘92 Animated Series, but since I was born in ‘94, I couldn’t read, let alone buy, any comics until later. I do recall checking out both Morrison’s X-Men and Millar’s (I think?) Ultimate X-Men from the library. I had a tough time grasping all of the concepts at the time, but I preferred Morrison’s stuff to Ultimate, even though I didn’t read either run to completion at the time. I also checked out a couple of other major stories, like Dark Phoenix Saga; God Loves, Man Kills; Days of Future Past; etc, and a few scattered stories here and there. I also remember buying a few random single issues with some spare money from a magazine rack at a convenience store by my school.

I started properly buying comics from a brick and mortar store late 2015, although most of the books I get are DC, Image, or Doctor Who/sci-fi comics.

[WebLurker]

I seriously got into the movies and and Evolution TV show in college a few years ago. I started collecting X-23 stuff after seeing Logan, and that's the sole extent of my interest in X-Men.

[Tarantino]

TAS.

Unfortunately my first comic experience was buying Uncanny 319 with Psylocke and Archangel. Immediately after that they went into AoA. It confused me and I stopped reading for about a decade lol

one issue and then AOA was NOT a good "jumping on" point

AOA was the first revelation of how messy alternative realities stories could be. Genius story but cynical.

I know the story traumatised a lot of Rogue and Gambit fans.lol