The jump from casual. Good starting point.

[IcemanDan]

I'll be totally honest, as shameful as this to admit, I'm a very casual x fan. I love the x.men but due to.where I live and limited funds I've never.been able.to.read as.much as I like. I have a few issues here and a few issues there of current issues but nothing substantial. But now that I have somewhat a budget for.books I'm going to start an actual run. So I just bought All New X Men, which was pretty good, but my question is, is that a good starting point to jump on. For my older books ill just buy the masterworks and all that stuff but for these.newer books I just want to know if there are any arcs of the past fe years that I must read to keep up with the x universes. I thinkk we all know how convoluted it can be. Thanks to the x cast I know pretty much what has happened in the past few years but should I go back and collect from a certain point or can I just jump in here?

[Eric]

I guess All New is a good starting point. Based on your posts here, I think you've got a pretty firm grasp on who's who and how the characters all relate to one another.

If you're looking for a good run from the past, You should check out Whedon & Cassaday's Astonishing. Seriously; this run is a classic. Whedon is obviously a fan of the Claremont era of X-Men, and it shows in his writing. His work on Astonishing recaptures all of the character beats & quirks flawlessly. The only catch I can see with this is that you seem to be an Iceman fan,and he's left out of Astonishing. Instead, Whedon focuses on the team that was shaped by Dark Phoenix, The Brood, Hellfire Club, the Sentinels, Mystique, etc. until it grew into a tightly-knit yet dysfunctional family. It also gives us the origin of Danger; a character who's sort of been with the X-Men since the old days.

Reading this run will give you a lot of emotional shading on Logan & Scott's issues, what makes beast tick, the history shared by Kitty & Colossus, and how freakin' bad-ass and awesome Kitty Pryde is.

The entire run is just 25 issues, so it's substantial enough to dig into and enjoy without being too daunting. It's broken up into four 6-issue arcs: Gifted, Dangerous, Torn, and Unstoppable. You can get the 4 trades for pretty cheap.

Also; Cassiday's art is pretty freakin' awesome.

[IcemanDan]

I was thinking of sticking to three titles due to budget restraints. The main book and two extras, plus also I'm getting the masterworks to get a collection going. I think I will pick up Astonishing and maybe either X Factor or Legacy. Don't know yet. It's nice to finally get stuck in to these books after years of skirting around it. Thanks man.

[MetoxoTheLavaMan]

You gotta get wolverine and the x-men

[IcemanDan]

Noted. Thanks man.
Quick question though. How would I fate in terms of continuity.

[pmaestro]

yeah if you're looking for a decent book and you're an iceman fan, i'd take wolverine and the x-men over astonishing any day. if i was piloting you like a drone i'd make you only buy All-New and Wolverine&theX-Men until Uncanny X-Men launches early next year. then you'll have your three books worth reading.

i only suggest this because Bendis is going to spin Uncanny off of the events he writes in All-New. so... just as you start to fall in love with cyclops' brotherhood of friendly mutants, they're going to break away. and likely the books will occasionally reference each other. of course as is wont to happen in the marvel universe, other characters and teams will show up or be referenced... but i find marvel's been pretty good at keeping visits from other characters from really forcing you into their books.

nothing worse than having storm around for a few pages before an urgent phonecall summons her to another book and you're left feeling bullied by marvel into buying a book you don't want. "Storm's Cellular Adentures" or something. ...anyway

[Eric]

[IcemanDan]

To clarify, I like the character, but Iceman doesn't dictate what I read. I guess I'll be getting Wolverine then. Plus I might be the only Toad fan in existence and Isnt he the janitor at the school. Haha. I guess it'll just be slightly tough to catch up on such a convoluted few years considering I only have vague idea of what has been going on.

[catscandal]

[IcemanDan]

Trust me man, when I read all the masterworks, I will carry on. But as I'm starting out. I'll stick with for now. Also, I'm thinking of getting a run of recent Avengees so when I get up to AvX I have a semblance of what's going in. Mainly because its on sale at 60p an issue so I might start a run if that until now. Will that be necessary storywise. It's the Heroic Age stuff. Brian Bendis. The first issue was actually pretty good.

[Hartoke]

Hey IMD just figure I would help you out as I am an avid X-Men fan like others said All new X-Men is to me going be a tradional team book with ripples that will surely affect the other X books as well as Marvel U in genreal. WATXM for not just the School setting but the triple attack of Logan Kitty and Bobby not to mention as teachers to great not to pick up and as Jason Aaron is on the title for the near future as far as I can tell he has a lot of love for the good ol Claremont days. Also with Uncanny rebooting again it normally is the flagship I would go with that. Honestly this would be the best time to start any of the X books seeing as AVX event left open a new beggining for all that was involved. Im still on the fence about Legacy but I have a feeling and this is purley speculation that we will have to pick that up if we want to know anything really about the aftermath of Professer X and where that will lead because not if but when he returns it will be in the other main books and I for one hate being left in the dark on how things play out. As far as Masterworks they are good but retconning is a pain but that should'nt be a problem for you as much. Another approach
is
1. Writer/Artist
2. Team Members
3. Storyline
4. What you personally enjoy
For instance huge Uncanny X-Force fan but will stop picking up after Final Execution.
Hope this helps some

As for some classic reading Classic Claremont you can't go wrong skip Claremont's Forever good artwork but a basterding of a lot of charaters if you can, If you have a good grasp of the X universe than AOA a good example of how to do an alternate reality. Not a huge fan of Astonishing X-Men by Wheadon but I understand why alot of people do like it. And finally the Uncanny X-cast and wikipedia is everyone's friend. I have to say in closing been an X fan for too many years and right now im more excited than I have been in a really long time. PS try to get a leg up on Days of Future past since the movie will be out this Summer. Not a huge fan of the movies X2 being my fav time will tell though.

[IcemanDan]

Thanks man. I think ill stick with what I've decided now so I can catch up on what's happened really recently. It's mainly the whole Avengers vs X stuff I have no clue about. All I know is the X men split into two and hats where I guess I can pick up from. I don't think I'd like X Force though, it just looks like a big fight book.

[MetoxoTheLavaMan]

[Eric]

[IcemanDan]

Ok ok ill check out X Force. As long as it isn't a bunch of fighting I wont mind. Some of the covers I've seen makes it looks like that. However, if that and Wolverine are two halves if the same book then should I just read one or the other?

[Eric]

[IcemanDan]

Will do. At the moment I'm currently just trying to get totally acquainted with what's happening right now. Got the first two.issues of All New X Men, Uncanny Avengers, Wolverine and the X Men, hell even bought the first two issues of A +X . I think when I get through all that then ill start looking at stuff like X Force and slowly working my way back. That's the way I think I'll do it. I like to know everything, I'm strange like that.
Edi- read the first issue of X Force Apocalypse Solution. Was actually really good although it dud just seem like a team of badasses being badasses with Deadpool supplying a never ending stream of bad comedy. Although Deadpool Isnt a bad character in this. It actually gave me a bit of backstory too which is great, got the next 4 issues, will read them later. Might carry on with X Force all the way up to now if that first issue was anything to go by. Man there's literally too much stuff for me to get. Uncanny, All New X Men, Uncanny Avengers, A v X, Wolverine and the X Men. Crazy yet awesome.

[ProfessorQ]

Hi, everyone. I am new to the forum and I thought this thread would be a good place to introduce myself.

I am 30 years old and much like IcemanDan I've always been a casual fan of the X-Men. My starting point, as many people my age, was in 1991 with the great launch of the Claremont/Lee "X-Men" title. I sporadically kept up with the current x-titles at the time, as well as picking up older back issues at my local comic shop (shotout to GOTHAM COMIXS!!).

For sure my heyday was 1995 with the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover. My first complete collection I would say were those books. My interest was lost around the "Onslaught" crossover. I enjoyed the story but I wasn't even in high school at the time and couldn't afford comics. Sadly, I became frustrated and dropped the collecting.

Every now and then I would pick up a couple of books over the years but no serious collecting ever came of it. Then last Christmas I was given a Kindle Fire by my WONDERFUL girlfriend. I stumbled upon Comixology and got hooked again. I can testify that Wheadon's "Astonishing X-Men" is a VERY good jumping on point for x-books. I started from there and kind of jumped around story arcs. Also, I got into comic podcast and really became a fan again.

I read all of of Gillen's "Uncanny X-Men" digitally but with the launch of Marvel Now and "All-New X-Men" in particular I've gone back to the comic shops and hope to support physical comics again.

Anyways, glad to be on board and hope to get some good discussions going. I am really REALLY excited about this upcoming year for X-Men. It is off to an amazing start!

[mythmakingetc]

Welcome. That's cool that you were brought through Comixology and are now getting some print.

[BachaloFan]

Prof. Q,

Always good to see new peeps on the forum.

The '90s were definitely a good time to be an X-fan. Great arcs during that time: Fatal Attractions, Phalanx Covenant, AOA, and even Onslaught (which has its origins in Fatal Attractions).

I'd be interested to know how you prefer your comics; the experience of going from digital to returning back to floppies.