Help? No idea what to read

[flammable]

Hey all, I'm fairly new to X-Men and am extremely confused about which books to read. I recently finished the Ultimate X-Men series, which was fantastic, but even finding all the different books in the series was very confusing. So where do I go from here?

[Flight]

Read back issues. X-Men has been terrible since Fraction/Gillen left.

[flammable]

Read back issues. X-Men has been terrible since Fraction/Gillen left.

Back issues of what? Uncanny X-Men? Starting from where? I have really no idea.

[Iron Fist]

If you're new, read Morrisons New X-Men and go from there into Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

That's where I started with X-Men, that stuff should catch you up enough to get to Fraction, Gillen and then Marvel Now after the Avengers vs X-Men event.

Back issues of what? Uncanny X-Men? Starting from where? I have really no idea.

It's super confusing. I downloaded a massive chart to make sense of it (which is here: http://i.imgur.com/UdI3jO1.png )

What's confusing with X-Men is it's a tier book series so there can be 3 different issues out in the same month from different x-men titles. I always read one run and then the one that happened simultaneously (like X-Treme X-Men happens at the same time as New X-Men)

It'a tremendously confusing, but once you get the key stuff read then it's a lot easier to get up to date. I think it took me about 3 weeks to properly understand how it all works and I'm still no expert.

[Baron of Faltine]

Back issues of what? Uncanny X-Men? Starting from where? I have really no idea.

I'll be honest here. Anyone will give you their perosna favorite , offering a definitve skewed perception of the X-men comics, biased assuming that their/our own vision is THE definitive vision of the X-men(and 9 times out of 10 we are deadly wrong. Is the Authors, whoever they are, that write for Marvel or upon unwitty license of Marvel that offer the "definitve" version of the X-men, "definitive" relatively to this or that Medium that's it)
My suggestion is search for the most pivotal stories of the X-men, like "Phoenix Trial", or "fatal Attraction" or "Mutant Massacre" (most of the X-men arc of stories are easily available on comixology in pratical bundles) and then start from there

[missingmarch]

New X-Men by Grant Morrison. Self-contained story, entirely collected, has a beginning, middle, and end.

[ZNOP]

New X-Men by Grant Morrison. Self-contained story, entirely collected, has a beginning, middle, and end.

Don't forget the editorial mandated retcon

[Flight]

Back issues of what? Uncanny X-Men? Starting from where? I have really no idea.

Good point. Don't bother.
Read Batman or something.

[FlashingSabre]

If you want classic, start with Claremont. Giant Size X-men 1, then on from Uncanny X-Men 94.

If you want modern, go for Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

After that, you'll have hundreds of issues of garbage punctuated by the occasional bit of fun.

Note: I haven't read Morrison's run yet.

[Centipede Damascus]

Don't forget the editorial mandated retcon

That didn't happen in Morrison's run, though.

[Centipede Damascus]

Hey all, I'm fairly new to X-Men and am extremely confused about which books to read. I recently finished the Ultimate X-Men series, which was fantastic, but even finding all the different books in the series was very confusing. So where do I go from here?

First off, I highly recommend checking out Marvel Unlimited. It's Marvel's version of Netflix, where you can read all the comics you want for just $10/month or $70/year. It's a great deal, especially if you have a tablet you can read them on.

Second, I recommend starting with Grant Morrison's New X-Men, which jump-started the X-franchise back in 2002. After that run, you should read Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run, followed by the next few years of Uncanny X-Men. Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and Kieron Gillen wrote the series one after the other, and they were all pretty good to great runs.

[flammable]

So New X-Men into Astonishing X-Men. Thanks all. And they are good comics? As good as Ultimate X-Men?

[ZNOP]

That didn't happen in Morrison's run, though.

Well, editorial mandated retcons always happen after the fact

So New X-Men into Astonishing X-Men. Thanks all. And they are good comics? As good as Ultimate X-Men?

That depends on if you are a staunch follower of continuity... Personally, I'd only read New X-Men up to #113 and jump to All New X-Men

[sprior93]

It's overwhelming how much stuff there is to read. If you're really into the X-Men and plan on reading everything then it's best to start with Claremont's run on Uncanny(#94-280, ignore the O5 run before CC). It established the majority of characters, themes, and tropes that are still in the comics today. Otherwise, just go with Morrison's New X-Men and Whedon's Astonishing.

[Iron Fist]

It's overwhelming how much stuff there is to read. If you're really into the X-Men and plan on reading everything then it's best to start with Claremont's run on Uncanny(#94-280, ignore the O5 run before CC). It established the majority of characters, themes, and tropes that are still in the comics today. Otherwise, just go with Morrison's New X-Men and Whedon's Astonishing.

You could do both?

I started with Morrison, then went through Whedon, Fraction, Gillen and into Marvel Now X Titles, while also reading backwards from UXM Omnibus 1-2 and then trades of others.

I think if you mix the classic and the new it's easier to get through, because on their own some of the classics are a mega slog when a modern reader is going through them.