so i kinda never read them,i just followed things i like,but lately i want to start reading x men, what are some good runs to start with? preferably good art too
so i kinda never read them,i just followed things i like,but lately i want to start reading x men, what are some good runs to start with? preferably good art too
Depends on your budget and resources. Do you have an Unlimited digital subscription? That would help with this.
I still suggest checking in from Uncanny X-Men #1 in 1963. You can't beat "starting at the start" as it were.
After that, a highly suggested point is Giant-Size X-Men from 1975 which goes into Uncanny #94 and onwards. This is the beginning of the celebrated Chris Claremont run which lasts all the way up to Uncanny X-Men #279.
Another really good start point for a more "modern" take on the X-Men is New X-Men by Grant Morrison from 2001. It's a solid run with twists, turns, establishment of new characters and relationships, and has a more overall "mature" take on the franchise.
One run people suggest but I don't really is Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon. It's only 25 issues long, it's a fairly self-contained/small group of members. It has some cool moments for the members involved but for me it's too isolated from the broader continuity and too much "its own thing". Also I don't really feel it is all that innovative.
Another starting point could be much more recent with All-New X-Men #1 by Brian Michael Bendis from 2012. This will be very new and hard for you to completely understand if you've never read any other comics ever but it could work. You may really also want to read the Uncanny X-Men by Bendis alongside it, as the two books are pretty complementary.
The only other "starting points" since have been another volume of Uncanny by Bunn, and then the new GOLD or BLUE books. A lot of people also like the new X-Men RED book.
I am pretty sure a bunch of casual fans will wait for the upcoming new edition of Uncanny X-Men and hop onto that and I'm sure they'll try to design it so it's accessible to newcomers. I can't recommend it since I haven't read it, it hasn't come out, I have no idea if it really will be good or stand the test of time.
One thing you can do is either use wikipedia or the uncannyxmen.net website to try to browse for like... broad storylines. And read summaries of them, find out which ones sound the most appealing to you (or look up individual characters and read summaries of them, find out which of those sound best to you) and then look for issues that way. Kind of "work backwards". That can work.
Forget the old ways - Krakoa is god.
OBEY
I would suggest to read Chris Claremont's run from #94 to #279 and from Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #50 to #66
The others (such as Morrison) are mostly trash.
Last edited by jalsrix; 09-21-2018 at 06:21 AM.
This is going to sound like a weird suggestion, and maybe it is. Alongside whatever you read, I would think about finding a way to watch the 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series. The show's genius was to take a lot of the most classic storylines and characters, and present them in an easily digestible, 22-minute format for new fans. It's almost like Cliff's Notes for a ton of continuity. Obviously, you will find changes from the comics, and some major characters are absent from it or underrepresented in it, but it will make it easy to pick up on a lot of the history.
Also, definitely check out the new Uncanny X-Men that is coming out in a few months. It sounds like it's intended to be accessible to new fans.
Oh yeah you COULD also try reading Ed Piskor's "Grand Design" miniseries.
It's not many issues but it's essentially a reinterpretation/compression of a lot of the older stories and events in a sort of quirky cartoony style. It's very new, still being released.
Keep in mind that it's not going to be 1:1 "what really happened" he takes liberties in order to try to link together a lot of the older stories that were more ad hoc / filler.
But if you don't want to have to read tons of issues... this can work
Forget the old ways - Krakoa is god.
OBEY
Lots of great suggestions, I just want to add the Marvel Now X-Men from Brian Wood (2013 to 2015) because they had an X-Women team
Another resource to check out: https://cmro.travis-starnes.com/
It hasn't been updated in a few years, but you can look up your favorite characters or groups and see all the books they appeared in.
From:
Also. Morrison is GREAT.
Also:
There are a lot of good things written there, but it's a start. Enjoy. :-)
Cyclops was SO DAMN RIGHT, BABY
Pull list: X-23, Mr. & Mrs. X, Extermination, Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider, Uncanny X-Men
Have been informed that the Black Swans are "only seeking female members, but thank you very much for your time"
I highly recommend Joss Whedon's Astonishing Run.
- Easy to follow: I found this a good starting point for new readers
- Good Plot: I always read this book first each week of my pull list.
- Team/characterization: I found this to be one of the biggest strengths for this run. The interaction and conflicts with these particular members. Everybody had a role.