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help a x-men newbie

Started by chveik, December 21, 2018, 03:13:17 AM

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chveik

I'd like to get into the X-Men comic books but there's a shitload of them and I don't know where to start. I love Grant Morrison and I thought of starting with his run but there's probably some stuff I need to read beforehand.
Can anyone give me some recommendations please?  (I don't really care that much about continuity, just tell me the essential/enjoyable ones)

madhair60

If you can get hold of Essential X-Men Vol 1 and 2, that's a primer. You basically need to read at least vol 2. I'd suggest going on from there until you can't stomach it. But everything understood about X-Men comes from this run, Claremont's magnum opus.

Morrison/Quitely's New X-Men run is superb, but its more subversive storylines won't be appreciated without reading Claremont.

Following New X-Men, Whedon/Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men is wonderful but very popcorn. Some fabulous moments, big, cinematic stuff. Done in two volumes and well worth your time. I bought Astonishing X-Men Ultimate Collection vols 1 and 2, but vol 1 isn't on Amazon.

Kieron Gillen's relatively recent run is brilliant, but was stymied by events/crossovers (like everything is these days). It set the tone for Bendis' rather good take on Cyclops following the (rather enjoyable) Avengers Vs X-Men event.

Brian Bendis' run that followed Gillen was great too, overall, but like all Bendis stuff it fizzled out. You need to read both All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men.

Everything made since has been repetitive, voiceless rinse. Don't bother with any of the current books. Don't bother with Dennis Hopeless, etc. Fucking awful. I was a fan my whole life and read everything but the last two runs finished me off. Just the same stories told from the same angles.

chveik

thanks madhair, it's very much appreciated!

bgmnts

I'd try out the Marvel Masterworks series of books maybe. I think the start from Giant Size and there are around 7 or 8 volumes of them. Dark Phoenix saga i'd say is essential reading too.

magval

Chveik, what way are you reading? Do you read books or are you on a tablet?

You could probably buy a decent reading tablet and a rake of X-Men books on Comixology for what about five or six of the books listed above would cost.

surreal

Quote from: bgmnts on December 21, 2018, 01:45:41 PM
Dark Phoenix saga i'd say is essential reading too.

Dark Phoenix just to appreciate how badly Fox have fucked that storyline up twice now in the movies..

If I recall, doesn't Days of Future Past lead right into Dark Phoenix?  I'm sure I have the 2 trades for those runs and they follow on, in which case DoFP is worth a look also.

bgmnts

Quote from: surreal on December 22, 2018, 09:59:10 AM
Dark Phoenix just to appreciate how badly Fox have fucked that storyline up twice now in the movies..

If I recall, doesn't Days of Future Past lead right into Dark Phoenix?  I'm sure I have the 2 trades for those runs and they follow on, in which case DoFP is worth a look also.

Aye those two stoeylines are essential. Phoenix edges it for me though.

Has anyone here read the first 66 issues?

magval

I read the first ten a wee while back. Stan Lee died the day I read issue 5 and I got awful sad about the direct influence he'd been having in my nightly routine at that exact week in history.

Unnecessary, though. Comics from back then were designed to be new-ready friendly at almost all entry points. I say start with Claremont.

chveik

Quote from: magval on December 22, 2018, 07:59:32 AM
Chveik, what way are you reading? Do you read books or are you on a tablet?

You could probably buy a decent reading tablet and a rake of X-Men books on Comixology for what about five or six of the books listed above would cost.

I prefer to buy books, but I can't really afford it at the moment, so I mostly read them online.
A tablet is a good idea, I'll try to save up for one.

magval

I did too, until Marvel made it so that a digital version of a £65 Masterworks hardback could be downloaded for £3 a month after release. You can get a great colour Kindle for something like £110 that runs Comixology and the sales are undeniably awesome.

I know this is a hard sales pitch but I've converted myself and a friend and the savings are too great not to pass on.

Phil_A

Quote from: magval on December 22, 2018, 02:47:16 PM
I read the first ten a wee while back. Stan Lee died the day I read issue 5 and I got awful sad about the direct influence he'd been having in my nightly routine at that exact week in history.

Unnecessary, though. Comics from back then were designed to be new-ready friendly at almost all entry points. I say start with Claremont.

It's been a long time since read all the Lee/Kirby issues, but my feeling was they started out quite strong but burned out on the concept quite quickly. Lee only did 20 issues before handing it off to Roy Thomas and Kirby only did up to issue 16.


Mister Six

Isn't a subscription to Marvel (with a big chunk of its back catalogue) about $10 a month? Might be the cheapest option, if you plan to cane these things.

magval

Quote from: Phil_A on December 22, 2018, 08:28:46 PM
It's been a long time since read all the Lee/Kirby issues, but my feeling was they started out quite strong but burned out on the concept quite quickly. Lee only did 20 issues before handing it off to Roy Thomas and Kirby only did up to issue 16.

In the ten that I read, the Magneto's group of baddies appears in almost all of them.

Also, I never quite understood why the X-Men were used as a stand-in for targets of racism (as mutants) but the other superheroes all got away with it. I know Spider-Man was hounded by Jonah and Hulk felt EVERYONE was after him, but weren't the Fantastic Four really well liked by their public. What's the difference?

Maybe that they didn't wear masks?

What's also amusing is that there's a guy on the cover of X-Men #2 who's proclaiming "I've beaten the X-Men before and I shall do it again!" who simply just did not appear in X-Men #1. He's a common or garden Lies Cunt.

Mister Six

Yeah, if I were a mutant I'd just say I got bitten by a radioactive laser beam or summat. Doesn't make sense for the same people who cheers on Spider-Man to also hate Storm or Jubilee.

bgmnts

They're literally mutants, a next step in evolution. Ergo a threat to humans.

Spiderman is a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman. He isn't a threat to humans.

That's how I see it anyway.

Mister Six

Yeah but nobody knows who Spider-Man is. Why wouldn't they assume he's a mutant? Why wouldn't they assume the X-Men got their powers through non-mutanty means? There's probably a good story with "in the closet" parallels here.

magval

Aye that's a better way of putting it. The New Yorkers in Lee's stories make a distinction between mutants and superheroes who don't identify as mutants (but still have wings/are green/are gods/are on fire).

Mister Six

...and there's no reason for them to make that distinction, at least with superheroes whose real identities aren't public knowledge. There's a line in Grant Morrison's X-comics, after he gave them black leather suits to match the films, in which it's revealed their original garish costumes were an attempt to get the public to accept them by playing on superhero imagery. Which is a nice idea, but just raises the question all over again.

samadriel

There's is a good opportunity to introduce a distinction in the movies when they merge the X-Men and mainstream MCU; once the two worlds are combined, mutants could be hated as interlopers from a scary and mysterious foreign dimension, whereas heroes like Spiderman are natives.  Given the same thing will probably happen with the Fantastic Four, they could be feared and hated too, I guess.

kidsick5000

Quote from: madhair60 on December 21, 2018, 08:20:25 AM

Following New X-Men, Whedon/Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men is wonderful but very popcorn. Some fabulous moments, big, cinematic stuff. Done in two volumes and well worth your time. I bought Astonishing X-Men Ultimate Collection vols 1 and 2, but vol 1 isn't on Amazon.

I'd go so far as to start with the Whedon Cassaday run. Incredibly accessible. Does not need a wealth of knowledge to get into it. And the art is great. The perfect jumping on point

madhair60

Quote from: kidsick5000 on December 30, 2018, 08:15:09 AM
I'd go so far as to start with the Whedon Cassaday run. Incredibly accessible. Does not need a wealth of knowledge to get into it. And the art is great. The perfect jumping on point

In part yes, but a lot of it - a LOT - is playing off old stories. The return of Colossus, Cassandra Nova, Hellfire Club, Danger etc.

kidsick5000

Quote from: madhair60 on December 30, 2018, 04:26:25 PM
In part yes, but a lot of it - a LOT - is playing off old stories. The return of Colossus, Cassandra Nova, Hellfire Club, Danger etc.

It does, but much of it was new to me. There's something about the way Whedon writes and Cassaday frames that makes those elements feel inclusive rather than excluding. I didn't feel lost at any point or who the f is that. Everything works on a character level. At least it did for me.

Custard

Just to chime in that Whedon and Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men run is indeed excellent. Really enjoyed reading that a few years back

Gonna check out a few other recommendations from the thread. Cheers y'aaaaaall

EDIT - And Comixology is great too! Use it every day since I discovered it. The sales, as mentioned, are brilliant. And you don't piss off 'er or 'im indoors by filling up the gaff with massive chunky physical copies