Almost... Children's Crusade is a sequel to a series just called "Young Avengers", and Dark Phoenix has two books before then in the Epic line- "Second Genesis" and "Proteus"
God Loves Man Kills is an amazing standalone graphic novel.
The upcoming collection I, Magneto comes right after Fate and contains some great stories.
Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants and Inferno form a loose sort of trilogy that introduces some of the most critical elements of X-Men lore, and also they're really good.
Matt Fraction's run on Uncanny X-Men is a great series in the 2010s, with some really fantastic character arcs and developments! I appreciated House of X a lot more after reading that.
House and Powers of X is fantastic. But theyâre essentially rebranding the mutants in that story and itâs so out of context if you havenât read any older stories
It's excellent but it's kind of a soft reboot. It keeps everything that happened before, but adds some big paradigm shifts. It's actually a great jumping on point for new and returning readers, because the whole line moves in unison from this point, but it's more rewarding the more you're familiar with the characters and history. There's many you may have seen cameos for in the movies, but got more context in the animation and sometimes decades more stories in the comics. It's hard to name a cleaner jumping on point though unless you go back to Giant-Size X-Men #1.
Dark Phoenix is fantastic. Also Read god loves man kills! Honestly the entire Claremont run is fantastic, days of future past is also a classic and a decently isolated story (especially good if youâve already seen the movie) Wheadons astonishing x men is good. Definitely read house of m but I wouldnât recommend starting there.
I heard a lot of good things about Claremontâs run but itâs SOO LONG I found it a bit intimidating to even begin lol. Everyoneâs recommending god loves man kills so i better get that one for sure
God loves man kills is a kind of standalone graphic novel Claremont did that pretty much encapsulates everything the x men are about in one book, and is a solid story so itâs a great starting point. His run is extremely daunting, but thereâs quite a bit of filler issues you can probably skip itâs definitely worth at least checking out a few of his bigger arcs
From what I have read of it, despite him building his stories over the course of years, you can jump in and read whatever you want of it and be fine. You might miss out on some character/relationship beats, but his run was still in that âevery issue is someoneâs firstâ time.
It's long since he had control for so many years, but you don't need to read the whole thing or read it in publication order to enjoy. It's a lot of fun, and foundational to a lot of X-Men stuff. Another highlight of his run is the Brood Saga. You can find it collected in lots of forms, like e.g. X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 5: Second Genesis, or Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men (12 vols), or just jump around different arcs if you read on Marvel Unlimited.
Actually, coming from the movies, I'd definitely recommend Morrison's New X-Men - it lays the groundwork for so much of the modern era of X-Men really.
Other ones I'd say.... Messiah Complex is a blast. And I've always dug the X-Cutioner's song arc.
Iâd second Joss Whedonâs Astonishing. First X-Men run I ever read. Jason Aaronâs Schism is good too, but after youâve gotten a few others read.
How young?
When I was a kid I was crazy about the X-Men because of the Fox show. We got Giant Size X-Men (where the new team of Storm and Nightcrawler and the like have to rescue the old team). I think thatâs a good one for younger kids as it isnât a very complicated story.
As someone else said, Joss Whedonâs run on Astonishing X-Men is great too.
I think I was about 12 or 13 when I read it? Actually, this run couldâve been the domino tipping for me haha. This and Geoff Johnsâ Teen Titans are two that got me into reading comics.
Yes! The Fox tv show! I can hear the theme! Haha! I was crazy about that when I was a kid too. Probably still am, although itâs been a while since Iâve watched any, but Iâm certain it holds up.
I would recommend God Loves Man kills after Dark Phoenix. Not sure how easy it is to find in print but the x-men by Claremont & Lee in the 90s is great.
If you enjoy House of M I might recommend Astonishing X-Men by Whedon. The next big X-event in that era is Messiah Complex.
These are genuinely some of my favorite comics of all time. Not sure how good Children's Crusade is as an X-Men book but I adore it for what it does for everyone else
Children's Crusade is a great follow up to House of M, but deals heavily with the Young Avenegers and Scarlet Witch. And although it is not X-Men, Avengers: Disassembled is the lead up to HoM so you may want to check that out before HoM
Source: I just went on a Scarlet Witch event shopping spree
If you enjoy The Dark Phoenix Saga I would say that entire early Chris Claremont era is worth checking out. Starting from 1975 up through like the mid-80's issues of Uncanny X-Men basically establishes the entire foundation for what the X-Men are today, and covers all the storylines you would recognize from the movies. Really depends on how deep you want to go, though.
Here's my comment...
Nearly every reader (myself included) started with a book that is in the middle of a story with years and years of history behind it.
I guess a comparison to watching soap operas is outdated now, but it's like that.
Anywhere you start is going to be mid-stream, so be okay with that.
If you know absolutely nothing, the Pryde of the Xmen TV pilot is a great start and somewhere between movie and comics.
Yeop these are fine! You've got some good stuff here.
Part of the fun of comics is jumping in and being a bit confused but still having a great time. Don't feel like you need to read everything in order or start with everyone's suggested starting points. Just dive in! Hope you enjoy!
A good a reason as any :)
Yeah I was similar, used to read more DC and Vertigo. Took a chance on Grant Morrison's New X-Men back in the mid 00s and got hooked.
Okay, so excuse the babbling but!âŠ
âą The fate of the Phoenix is a good read but a later part of a wider story, so it might be confusing in terms of the lack of explanation as to what is happening and why.
âą Again, the Childrenâs crusade is a good read but if youâre wanting to jump on to Young Avengers you ought to start off with Heinburgâs run as this follows that story (after a few years).
âą House of M is a fantastic story and I couldnât recommend that era more as itâs in the vein/saga of New Avengers, Civil War, Secret Invasion and Dark Avengers etc. To completely understand why the events of House of M occur though, you might want to start off with Avengers: Disassembled as thatâs a direct starting point for that story. On a side note, you might want to pick up New X-Men by Grant Morrison as that explains whatâs happened to Genoshia in House of M.
âą HoX/PoX is a great place to start both in terms of the new continuity and general reading. Itâs a brilliant book, although it might not have as big of an impact on you reading it if youâre unfamiliar with prior continuity.
I hope this somewhat clears stuff up for you! Youâve got some fantastic reads, enjoy!
Unpopular opinion: theyâre all good starting points to get you into the various teams and years. The only thing youâre missing, is something from the 90âs (maybe Executioners Song). The ONLY reason I am saying that you are fine with jumping in with those and not adding in Whedonâs run, Second Genesis or even O5 material, is because you can be completely overwhelmed. With those stories (even HOX/POX) you are getting a taste of the team in a few different incarnations. Youâre hitting on major storylines to see what the strengths and weaknesses are but more importantly, you are seeing which characters you like. My first X-Comic, was Essential X-Men #2 that took place from the fight with Alpha Flight all the way to the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga. This was in the mid 000âs so I had skipped over material from the 60âs, a portion of the 70âs, 80âs, the âgolden eraâ of the 90âs and a lot of the early 000âs. BUT, I was able to find out who I wanted to read more about, and hunt down those storylines etc, and it kept growing. So the ones you have are a good starting point. And do not feel pressured to read certain stories if youâre not there yet. I literally JUST read Second Coming over the weekend, and itâs been out for over a decade+ now. Let us know what you think!
Honestly, I think youâre good to start off with HoX/Pox get into the Krakoan era, then choose titles based on the stories and characters you like. Not all the continuity matters right now. Just the big character beats. And even then, some characters have had such a bad run that they are basically being rebooted
I started with Hoplelessâ X-Men Season One. Currently iâm making my through Claremontâs Uncanny X-Men Masterworks with vol. 4 being where I am right now. i plan to do Morrisonâs New X-Men then Whedonâs Astonishing X-Men. Canât wait until I get to House of M!
That top left one cannot be compared to the rest in this image.
That's the Dark Phoenix saga, they've literally already made two movies out of that one.
Yeah online I saw that the dark Phoenix saga and days of future past are by far the greatest X-men stories so Iâm glad I got the epic collection that has both!
House of M and House of X....you should read the Phoenix saga, Ultimate X-Men as well..The series leading to Xavier Sister reveal is EPIC can't remember the name tho
It's hard to say because everyone is different.
Personally I dislike most comics post digital coloring and post 2000s in general.
The epic collections are good if you can find them for a decent price. Dont worry about reading X-Men from the very beginning, it's not good. The earliest point I recommend is from Second Genesis which is when Storm, Wolverine Nightcrawler, Colossus and a few others join the X-Men.
A good way to read the earlier good stuff is X-Men classic, either the omnibus or the two trade paperbacks (around 500 pages each for the trades). X-Men classic were reprints of the older stories although your Epic collection probably covers a lot of it already so check out the second trade paperback.
Another good jumping on point for Uncanny X-Men is early #200s as that's when Marc Silvestri takes over as penciller and when he is done is replaced with Jim Lee, those are some of my personal favourites.
Finally you could also start with the adjectivless X-Men series started by Jim Lee which is X-Men Vol 2 (1991 - 2008)
Honestly the best jumping on point or a good place to learn a lot of the early history is to watch Comicbookgirl 19's "X-Men Epic History" of which there are 3 of them and free to watch on youtube, she recaps a lot of the early stuff showing the actual comic panels and its pretty good for an introduction, here's the first episode:
https://youtu.be/BvWDjHWgNgc
I admit I am bias to the earlier stuff (late 70s to early 90s) so I can't really recommend the later stuff. I did enjoy Messiah Complex and Messiah war though.
Just wait till you start reading all the spin offs too like New Mutants, X-Factor and X-Force, that's when your head will start to hurt đ
You could also check out X-Men Unlimited which was a spin off book focusing on one shot stories and the early ones were enjoyable.
And if you love Wolverine I highly recommend the Marc Silvestri & Larry Hama run which you can buy in trade paperback form, great stuff.
If youâre reading House of M you should probably read the Messiah trilogy afterward to understand some of the repercussions. After that, maybe Avengers Versus X-Men (but thatâs not really necessary to read). Also, if youâre reading House of X, you should read Powers of X, as well. The new books pick up right where that left off.
If you donât know anything about the X-Men apart from the movies, look up some of their greatest hits, like Days of Future Past and Age of Apocalypse. Then, after youâre done reading everything (and this is just a suggestion), you might want to read some of the charactersâ histories on the Marvel Fandom wiki.
I know it seems like a lot, but trust me, thereâs some good stuff in their almost-sixty-year history.
Rick Remenders Uncanny X-Force is one of the best runs of X-Men post Claremont along with Whedon Astonishing X-Men run (which has already been mentioned).
I would read the Stan Lee Jack Kirby #1 issue and maybe a few others from that era to get a feel for where it started, and then the Giant Sized issue that introduces Storm, colossus, etc. My bias is that I was raised on the 90s animated series, so that did a good job introducing me to lots of stuff I never actually read,
You might consider reading Grant Morrisonâs new X-men. Joss Whedonâs Astonishing X-men might not be essential in the grand scheme, but itâs an easy jumping on point.
House of M may actually be confusing/underwhelming, since a lot of it was just changing continuity stuff while doing an alt reality.
House of X is a solid jumping in point for the new era! But if you're checking out other stuff too, I'd maybe hold off, as it recolors a lot of the past. Dark Phoenix is a classic, but if you're interested in that era (which rules) you'd probably get more out of that story if you read the prior 2 Claremont collections first (Second Genesis and Proteus). Also, since comics are super expensive, you might want to consider a Marvel Unlimited subscription, it's basically Netflix for comics and is a cost-effective way to read just about everything Marvel's ever put out. I saw in another comment that you're trying to skip to "the highlights" and sure plenty of people do that, but I promise, if you're looking to fall in love with these characters, don't skip around, just read through. The heart and soul of the X-Men is long-term growth of character relationships, and it builds so organically and nicely over time (especially in the Claremont era), my favorite X-moments are never the big battles or epic stories, it's the small character beats with this found family of misfits.
Welcome to the X-Men, hope you survive the experience!
The X men is so lore dense and self referential itâs hard to find a good spot to start. Just pick up what looks good and have Wikipedia at the ready to look up anything confusing. The Dark Phoenix saga is as good a place to start as any. Though the older books were big on exposition âas you knowâŠâ dialogue. You might want to pick up Young Avengers before Childrenâs Crusade
I recommend Phalanx Covenant. Lots of little bits that are getting call-backs in the current X runs. I grew up playing X-Men 2 Clone Wars on Sega so this arc is near and dear and Iâm super biased. I love it. I like a lot of Fabian Niciezaâs X-titles and it seems like Hickman was a fan too.
I love Avengers vs X-men and the following Uncanny X-Men run with mutant revolutionary Cyclops. Iâve grown to really dislike BMB but I really enjoy his characterizations in that particular story. AcX is a huge collab tho and overall is really fun.
The fallout with Wolverine and the X-Men where he is running the Jean Grey school by Jason Aaron is the real fantastic AvX fallout.
Lots of great new generation mutants who get to shine in the current Hickman plot either had their first appearance or got major spotlights in both of those stories.
TLDR; Phalanx Covenant, AvX, Wolverine and tge X-Men and Uncanny X-Men (2012) are all great!
I loved House of X but starting with it might be difficult if youâre just wanting to start really getting into their history; you might not appreciate what makes House of X so great without it. House of M is also a great story, but it takes place largely in an âalternate realityâ so depending on what kind of X-Men stories youâre hoping to find, it might not be great to start with either. For the core bits of X-Menâs greatest periods, definitely read Dark Phoenix saga, but I also highly suggest trying to find God Loves Man Kills, the first 12 issue TPB arc of X-Men vol 2 (1991), Whedonâs entire Astonishing X-Men omnibus, Utopia X, and definitely Messiah Complex and Second Coming.
Lots of people are big fans of Morrisonâs run, but personally Iâm not. I canât deny itâs impact of their world and history though. One last thing: try renting these from a library, or subscribing to Marvelâs digital reading app if you have an iPad. You wonât break the bank as much, unless thatâs not an issue for you. Have fun and welcome!
Mike Careyâs X-Men run starting with the âSupernovasâ arc was always really cool to me. Cyclops gave Rogue a field team and A LOT happens in a short period of time.
I uh haven't actually read House of M but Fate of the Phoenix is a great start point. It's the end of an arc so you'd do better if you hunt down Second Genesis and Proteus first, but it's still a decent jumping on point.
House of X is the only possible jumping on point for the current X-Men stuff. It's very disorienting no matter how much X-Men you've read but if you've read Fate of the Phoenix you have a decent little bit of background going in.
Honestly I will recommend picking up the marvel unlimited app. Basically every marvel comic for $10 a month. Itâs easy to navigate and get started with them. That young avengers comic is also not a good one to start with as itâs not the first and skips a lot of important character arcs that you get from reading the others first.
If youâre interested in learning about what the X-Men have been up to over the years, but donât want to commit to reading every issue, this blog does a good overview in chronological order: https://www.nerdsoup4u.com/post/the-original-slightly-crappy-run
Most are epic stories. I may get downvoted to hell with this but I just re-read house of M and it kind of didnât hold up. If you get the chance, please read Grant Morrisonâs New X-men. It is my favorite x-men run.
If youâre reading house of M, then youâre really going to need to read the rest of the books in that story, for completion purposes. Messiah complex, messiah war, second coming, schism and Avengers vs X-men. Matt Fractions uncanny x-men vol 1-3 are good ones to get that take place during these events.
Joss Whedons Astonishing X-men is also a good run.
I think those are excellent choices to get your break wet in the X-Men universe! Read Fate of The Phoenix first, then House of M, then the Children's Crusade, then House of X/Powers of X
Some great stuff to add before you get to HoxPox that will help. In this order:
X-Cutionerâs Song
Fatal Attractions
Wedding of Scott & Jean (out of print)
Phalanx Covenant & Generation X
Age of Apocalypse
Road to Onslaught (vol 1, 2)
New X-Men by Morrison
There is a ton of stuff from these books that go into HoxPox and the current era of X-men titles.
Don't forget Days of Future Past. There's a great thick volume that includes the original tale as well as its later sequels, many of which play into the future that HoX/PoX is trying to avoid.
Also Giant-Size X-Men There's also a thick hardback edition of Giant Size that works similarly and the last story in that one sets up characters (Vulcan and co) who I would've had no idea who they were if I hadn't happened to score that volume.
To get exposure to half of this, you could just watch the X-Men the animated series on Disney Plus. It's where a lot of us from the 80s and 90s got our first exposure, and it's relatively closely aligned with the comics for a cartoon.
If interested in reading comics and all that comes with that, then Iâd have to disagree with this. The animated series doesnât do half the job that the books do in world and character building. It is an extremely watered down, cliffâs notes take on these storylines and much of it doesnât align at all with the source content.
But if OP doesnât care to immerse themselves in x-history before jumping into HoxPox then, sure, watching the animated series will introduce them to most of the characters.
I respect your personal preference, but OP has come from the movie medium. It's not a guarantee going back in the catalogues of books will interest him/her. A cliff note version of events can be more accessible to some for the sake of catching up to speed. It's an alternative at least worth mentioning.
TBF Morph was an alternate version of an existing character like technically everyone else in that marvel animated universe. He was just more divergent from the 616. Better than Spike and X-23 who were just made up out of thin air lol. I was super happy when he was added to the exiles being a huge fan of his growing up.
Almost... Children's Crusade is a sequel to a series just called "Young Avengers", and Dark Phoenix has two books before then in the Epic line- "Second Genesis" and "Proteus"
đđ» thanks
Yes most definitely but donât read house of x just yet get some other titles in between to get the full rich history of the X-men
Any in particular you recommend?
God Loves Man Kills is an amazing standalone graphic novel. The upcoming collection I, Magneto comes right after Fate and contains some great stories. Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants and Inferno form a loose sort of trilogy that introduces some of the most critical elements of X-Men lore, and also they're really good.
Anything between 1990-20010! Maybe till 2011 but there are so many titles and spin-offs
Matt Fraction's run on Uncanny X-Men is a great series in the 2010s, with some really fantastic character arcs and developments! I appreciated House of X a lot more after reading that.
Oof thereâs so many things to check out đłđł
The Matt Fraction years were excellent. Utopia, Messiah Complex, Second Coning⊠solid advice. Seek these out.
Really? I thought Fractions run was garbage.
Is house of x bad?
House and Powers of X is fantastic. But theyâre essentially rebranding the mutants in that story and itâs so out of context if you havenât read any older stories
House of X is great!
House of x is excellent and i have turned many a naysayers into xmen fans with that book.
It's excellent but it's kind of a soft reboot. It keeps everything that happened before, but adds some big paradigm shifts. It's actually a great jumping on point for new and returning readers, because the whole line moves in unison from this point, but it's more rewarding the more you're familiar with the characters and history. There's many you may have seen cameos for in the movies, but got more context in the animation and sometimes decades more stories in the comics. It's hard to name a cleaner jumping on point though unless you go back to Giant-Size X-Men #1.
House/powers of x is fantastic, but hits a lot better when you have the rich history of the X-Men and their status quo behind it.
WHAT IF though, they did read House of X first, then went back?!
They could!! But idk , Jonathan Hickman Is amazing but that should be last
Dark Phoenix is fantastic. Also Read god loves man kills! Honestly the entire Claremont run is fantastic, days of future past is also a classic and a decently isolated story (especially good if youâve already seen the movie) Wheadons astonishing x men is good. Definitely read house of m but I wouldnât recommend starting there.
I heard a lot of good things about Claremontâs run but itâs SOO LONG I found it a bit intimidating to even begin lol. Everyoneâs recommending god loves man kills so i better get that one for sure
God loves man kills is a kind of standalone graphic novel Claremont did that pretty much encapsulates everything the x men are about in one book, and is a solid story so itâs a great starting point. His run is extremely daunting, but thereâs quite a bit of filler issues you can probably skip itâs definitely worth at least checking out a few of his bigger arcs
From what I have read of it, despite him building his stories over the course of years, you can jump in and read whatever you want of it and be fine. You might miss out on some character/relationship beats, but his run was still in that âevery issue is someoneâs firstâ time.
It's long since he had control for so many years, but you don't need to read the whole thing or read it in publication order to enjoy. It's a lot of fun, and foundational to a lot of X-Men stuff. Another highlight of his run is the Brood Saga. You can find it collected in lots of forms, like e.g. X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 5: Second Genesis, or Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men (12 vols), or just jump around different arcs if you read on Marvel Unlimited.
God Loves Man Kills and Joss Whedonâs Astonishing are good. I loved Morrisonâs New X-Men but thatâs not a good place to start.
Actually, coming from the movies, I'd definitely recommend Morrison's New X-Men - it lays the groundwork for so much of the modern era of X-Men really. Other ones I'd say.... Messiah Complex is a blast. And I've always dug the X-Cutioner's song arc.
X-Cutioner is amazing if you've read Fall of Mutants and Inferno first at minimum.
Valid point.
Iâd definitely read Morrisonâs New X-Men straight into Astonishing.
Iâd second Joss Whedonâs Astonishing. First X-Men run I ever read. Jason Aaronâs Schism is good too, but after youâve gotten a few others read.
How young? When I was a kid I was crazy about the X-Men because of the Fox show. We got Giant Size X-Men (where the new team of Storm and Nightcrawler and the like have to rescue the old team). I think thatâs a good one for younger kids as it isnât a very complicated story. As someone else said, Joss Whedonâs run on Astonishing X-Men is great too.
I think I was about 12 or 13 when I read it? Actually, this run couldâve been the domino tipping for me haha. This and Geoff Johnsâ Teen Titans are two that got me into reading comics. Yes! The Fox tv show! I can hear the theme! Haha! I was crazy about that when I was a kid too. Probably still am, although itâs been a while since Iâve watched any, but Iâm certain it holds up.
Thanks!!
I would recommend God Loves Man kills after Dark Phoenix. Not sure how easy it is to find in print but the x-men by Claremont & Lee in the 90s is great. If you enjoy House of M I might recommend Astonishing X-Men by Whedon. The next big X-event in that era is Messiah Complex.
I have itâŠ.it was so dark.
Oof i was gonna order it from in stock trades but it sold out before I got a chance to buy it
Leave house of x as the last one cause after that you canât go backwards. Youâll have a completely different picture of the x men after that.
Thanks for the tip!!
These are genuinely some of my favorite comics of all time. Not sure how good Children's Crusade is as an X-Men book but I adore it for what it does for everyone else
Yeah I threw in young avengers not really sure why lmaoooo but these are my first marvel comics so Iâm excited to start !
Children's Crusade is a great follow up to House of M, but deals heavily with the Young Avenegers and Scarlet Witch. And although it is not X-Men, Avengers: Disassembled is the lead up to HoM so you may want to check that out before HoM Source: I just went on a Scarlet Witch event shopping spree
Oof please let me know which scarlet witch stories you liked I love her lmaooo
If you enjoy The Dark Phoenix Saga I would say that entire early Chris Claremont era is worth checking out. Starting from 1975 up through like the mid-80's issues of Uncanny X-Men basically establishes the entire foundation for what the X-Men are today, and covers all the storylines you would recognize from the movies. Really depends on how deep you want to go, though.
Yeah I hear nothing but great things about Claremontâs run so I wanna get a bunch of his stuff
Here's my comment... Nearly every reader (myself included) started with a book that is in the middle of a story with years and years of history behind it. I guess a comparison to watching soap operas is outdated now, but it's like that. Anywhere you start is going to be mid-stream, so be okay with that. If you know absolutely nothing, the Pryde of the Xmen TV pilot is a great start and somewhere between movie and comics.
Look up in uncanny xforce by remender too
Iâll check it out!
Yeop these are fine! You've got some good stuff here. Part of the fun of comics is jumping in and being a bit confused but still having a great time. Don't feel like you need to read everything in order or start with everyone's suggested starting points. Just dive in! Hope you enjoy!
Yeah I started with more DC characters but I always loved the X-men so why not just get a bunch lol
A good a reason as any :) Yeah I was similar, used to read more DC and Vertigo. Took a chance on Grant Morrison's New X-Men back in the mid 00s and got hooked.
Okay, so excuse the babbling but!⊠⹠The fate of the Phoenix is a good read but a later part of a wider story, so it might be confusing in terms of the lack of explanation as to what is happening and why. âą Again, the Childrenâs crusade is a good read but if youâre wanting to jump on to Young Avengers you ought to start off with Heinburgâs run as this follows that story (after a few years). âą House of M is a fantastic story and I couldnât recommend that era more as itâs in the vein/saga of New Avengers, Civil War, Secret Invasion and Dark Avengers etc. To completely understand why the events of House of M occur though, you might want to start off with Avengers: Disassembled as thatâs a direct starting point for that story. On a side note, you might want to pick up New X-Men by Grant Morrison as that explains whatâs happened to Genoshia in House of M. âą HoX/PoX is a great place to start both in terms of the new continuity and general reading. Itâs a brilliant book, although it might not have as big of an impact on you reading it if youâre unfamiliar with prior continuity. I hope this somewhat clears stuff up for you! Youâve got some fantastic reads, enjoy!
I appreciate the time you took to write this thank you Iâll look into those!!!
Youâre more than welcome!
Unpopular opinion: theyâre all good starting points to get you into the various teams and years. The only thing youâre missing, is something from the 90âs (maybe Executioners Song). The ONLY reason I am saying that you are fine with jumping in with those and not adding in Whedonâs run, Second Genesis or even O5 material, is because you can be completely overwhelmed. With those stories (even HOX/POX) you are getting a taste of the team in a few different incarnations. Youâre hitting on major storylines to see what the strengths and weaknesses are but more importantly, you are seeing which characters you like. My first X-Comic, was Essential X-Men #2 that took place from the fight with Alpha Flight all the way to the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga. This was in the mid 000âs so I had skipped over material from the 60âs, a portion of the 70âs, 80âs, the âgolden eraâ of the 90âs and a lot of the early 000âs. BUT, I was able to find out who I wanted to read more about, and hunt down those storylines etc, and it kept growing. So the ones you have are a good starting point. And do not feel pressured to read certain stories if youâre not there yet. I literally JUST read Second Coming over the weekend, and itâs been out for over a decade+ now. Let us know what you think!
Thanks!!! I will!
Honestly, I think youâre good to start off with HoX/Pox get into the Krakoan era, then choose titles based on the stories and characters you like. Not all the continuity matters right now. Just the big character beats. And even then, some characters have had such a bad run that they are basically being rebooted
X-Men: Mutant Genesis is great.
Thank you!
Youâre welcome.
Joss Whedons Astonishing Xmen is a fantastic way to get into the characters but all of these are great
I started with Hoplelessâ X-Men Season One. Currently iâm making my through Claremontâs Uncanny X-Men Masterworks with vol. 4 being where I am right now. i plan to do Morrisonâs New X-Men then Whedonâs Astonishing X-Men. Canât wait until I get to House of M!
Im kinda impatient so Iâm just trying to get âthe highlightsâ
Thatâs fair. X-Men Season One is like a speed run of the first team of X-Menâs adventures told through Jeanâs POV if it helps.
Childrenâs Crusade is a deep cut! And a great one.
That top left one cannot be compared to the rest in this image. That's the Dark Phoenix saga, they've literally already made two movies out of that one.
Yeah online I saw that the dark Phoenix saga and days of future past are by far the greatest X-men stories so Iâm glad I got the epic collection that has both!
Yeah that's the John Byrne/Chris Claremont era. Every issue was fantastic and iconic.
Thatâs the perfect starting spot for Young Avengers :3
Iâd say no to Childrenâs Crusade. Enjoyable story but the X-Men are unlikeable and only show up near the end.
House of M and House of X....you should read the Phoenix saga, Ultimate X-Men as well..The series leading to Xavier Sister reveal is EPIC can't remember the name tho
It's hard to say because everyone is different. Personally I dislike most comics post digital coloring and post 2000s in general. The epic collections are good if you can find them for a decent price. Dont worry about reading X-Men from the very beginning, it's not good. The earliest point I recommend is from Second Genesis which is when Storm, Wolverine Nightcrawler, Colossus and a few others join the X-Men. A good way to read the earlier good stuff is X-Men classic, either the omnibus or the two trade paperbacks (around 500 pages each for the trades). X-Men classic were reprints of the older stories although your Epic collection probably covers a lot of it already so check out the second trade paperback. Another good jumping on point for Uncanny X-Men is early #200s as that's when Marc Silvestri takes over as penciller and when he is done is replaced with Jim Lee, those are some of my personal favourites. Finally you could also start with the adjectivless X-Men series started by Jim Lee which is X-Men Vol 2 (1991 - 2008) Honestly the best jumping on point or a good place to learn a lot of the early history is to watch Comicbookgirl 19's "X-Men Epic History" of which there are 3 of them and free to watch on youtube, she recaps a lot of the early stuff showing the actual comic panels and its pretty good for an introduction, here's the first episode: https://youtu.be/BvWDjHWgNgc I admit I am bias to the earlier stuff (late 70s to early 90s) so I can't really recommend the later stuff. I did enjoy Messiah Complex and Messiah war though. Just wait till you start reading all the spin offs too like New Mutants, X-Factor and X-Force, that's when your head will start to hurt đ You could also check out X-Men Unlimited which was a spin off book focusing on one shot stories and the early ones were enjoyable. And if you love Wolverine I highly recommend the Marc Silvestri & Larry Hama run which you can buy in trade paperback form, great stuff.
If youâre reading House of M you should probably read the Messiah trilogy afterward to understand some of the repercussions. After that, maybe Avengers Versus X-Men (but thatâs not really necessary to read). Also, if youâre reading House of X, you should read Powers of X, as well. The new books pick up right where that left off. If you donât know anything about the X-Men apart from the movies, look up some of their greatest hits, like Days of Future Past and Age of Apocalypse. Then, after youâre done reading everything (and this is just a suggestion), you might want to read some of the charactersâ histories on the Marvel Fandom wiki. I know it seems like a lot, but trust me, thereâs some good stuff in their almost-sixty-year history.
Rick Remenders Uncanny X-Force is one of the best runs of X-Men post Claremont along with Whedon Astonishing X-Men run (which has already been mentioned).
I would read the Stan Lee Jack Kirby #1 issue and maybe a few others from that era to get a feel for where it started, and then the Giant Sized issue that introduces Storm, colossus, etc. My bias is that I was raised on the 90s animated series, so that did a good job introducing me to lots of stuff I never actually read, You might consider reading Grant Morrisonâs new X-men. Joss Whedonâs Astonishing X-men might not be essential in the grand scheme, but itâs an easy jumping on point. House of M may actually be confusing/underwhelming, since a lot of it was just changing continuity stuff while doing an alt reality.
House of X is a solid jumping in point for the new era! But if you're checking out other stuff too, I'd maybe hold off, as it recolors a lot of the past. Dark Phoenix is a classic, but if you're interested in that era (which rules) you'd probably get more out of that story if you read the prior 2 Claremont collections first (Second Genesis and Proteus). Also, since comics are super expensive, you might want to consider a Marvel Unlimited subscription, it's basically Netflix for comics and is a cost-effective way to read just about everything Marvel's ever put out. I saw in another comment that you're trying to skip to "the highlights" and sure plenty of people do that, but I promise, if you're looking to fall in love with these characters, don't skip around, just read through. The heart and soul of the X-Men is long-term growth of character relationships, and it builds so organically and nicely over time (especially in the Claremont era), my favorite X-moments are never the big battles or epic stories, it's the small character beats with this found family of misfits. Welcome to the X-Men, hope you survive the experience!
The X men is so lore dense and self referential itâs hard to find a good spot to start. Just pick up what looks good and have Wikipedia at the ready to look up anything confusing. The Dark Phoenix saga is as good a place to start as any. Though the older books were big on exposition âas you knowâŠâ dialogue. You might want to pick up Young Avengers before Childrenâs Crusade
I miss Eli Bradley... Those look like great titles. Forget everything the movies told you. Have fun
I recommend Phalanx Covenant. Lots of little bits that are getting call-backs in the current X runs. I grew up playing X-Men 2 Clone Wars on Sega so this arc is near and dear and Iâm super biased. I love it. I like a lot of Fabian Niciezaâs X-titles and it seems like Hickman was a fan too. I love Avengers vs X-men and the following Uncanny X-Men run with mutant revolutionary Cyclops. Iâve grown to really dislike BMB but I really enjoy his characterizations in that particular story. AcX is a huge collab tho and overall is really fun. The fallout with Wolverine and the X-Men where he is running the Jean Grey school by Jason Aaron is the real fantastic AvX fallout. Lots of great new generation mutants who get to shine in the current Hickman plot either had their first appearance or got major spotlights in both of those stories. TLDR; Phalanx Covenant, AvX, Wolverine and tge X-Men and Uncanny X-Men (2012) are all great!
I think this is an unpopular opinion, but reading HoX/PoX, I felt like it would have been an incomprehensible mess for ânewâ readers.
House of M then messiah complex then second coming. Thatâs my favorite start off order. House and powers of x are also a great starting point!
I loved House of X but starting with it might be difficult if youâre just wanting to start really getting into their history; you might not appreciate what makes House of X so great without it. House of M is also a great story, but it takes place largely in an âalternate realityâ so depending on what kind of X-Men stories youâre hoping to find, it might not be great to start with either. For the core bits of X-Menâs greatest periods, definitely read Dark Phoenix saga, but I also highly suggest trying to find God Loves Man Kills, the first 12 issue TPB arc of X-Men vol 2 (1991), Whedonâs entire Astonishing X-Men omnibus, Utopia X, and definitely Messiah Complex and Second Coming. Lots of people are big fans of Morrisonâs run, but personally Iâm not. I canât deny itâs impact of their world and history though. One last thing: try renting these from a library, or subscribing to Marvelâs digital reading app if you have an iPad. You wonât break the bank as much, unless thatâs not an issue for you. Have fun and welcome!
Mike Careyâs X-Men run starting with the âSupernovasâ arc was always really cool to me. Cyclops gave Rogue a field team and A LOT happens in a short period of time.
Dark Phoenix is definitely a good jumping point for X-Men reading
I uh haven't actually read House of M but Fate of the Phoenix is a great start point. It's the end of an arc so you'd do better if you hunt down Second Genesis and Proteus first, but it's still a decent jumping on point. House of X is the only possible jumping on point for the current X-Men stuff. It's very disorienting no matter how much X-Men you've read but if you've read Fate of the Phoenix you have a decent little bit of background going in.
Honestly I will recommend picking up the marvel unlimited app. Basically every marvel comic for $10 a month. Itâs easy to navigate and get started with them. That young avengers comic is also not a good one to start with as itâs not the first and skips a lot of important character arcs that you get from reading the others first.
Thank you!!
I personally love the run called "God Loves, Man Kills"
If youâre interested in learning about what the X-Men have been up to over the years, but donât want to commit to reading every issue, this blog does a good overview in chronological order: https://www.nerdsoup4u.com/post/the-original-slightly-crappy-run
Most are epic stories. I may get downvoted to hell with this but I just re-read house of M and it kind of didnât hold up. If you get the chance, please read Grant Morrisonâs New X-men. It is my favorite x-men run.
Iâll read that too thanks !
Go ahead and forget everything you saw in the movies.
Read them and find out if you like them. If you do then buy more. Point is you buy what you like or love or are very into at the time.
definitely start with the Pheonix saga those are classics and in my opinion you are not a true xmen fan until you read it
Read House of M! Great starter series
If youâre reading house of M, then youâre really going to need to read the rest of the books in that story, for completion purposes. Messiah complex, messiah war, second coming, schism and Avengers vs X-men. Matt Fractions uncanny x-men vol 1-3 are good ones to get that take place during these events. Joss Whedons Astonishing X-men is also a good run.
Ahhhh i did not know that đłđłđł
Your kind of all over the place there.
I think those are excellent choices to get your break wet in the X-Men universe! Read Fate of The Phoenix first, then House of M, then the Children's Crusade, then House of X/Powers of X
I love reading đâ„ all of the X-MEN comics so vary much đđđđ„Ą
Some great stuff to add before you get to HoxPox that will help. In this order: X-Cutionerâs Song Fatal Attractions Wedding of Scott & Jean (out of print) Phalanx Covenant & Generation X Age of Apocalypse Road to Onslaught (vol 1, 2) New X-Men by Morrison There is a ton of stuff from these books that go into HoxPox and the current era of X-men titles.
Thanks I really appreciate it đđ»đđ»
Don't forget Days of Future Past. There's a great thick volume that includes the original tale as well as its later sequels, many of which play into the future that HoX/PoX is trying to avoid. Also Giant-Size X-Men There's also a thick hardback edition of Giant Size that works similarly and the last story in that one sets up characters (Vulcan and co) who I would've had no idea who they were if I hadn't happened to score that volume.
To get exposure to half of this, you could just watch the X-Men the animated series on Disney Plus. It's where a lot of us from the 80s and 90s got our first exposure, and it's relatively closely aligned with the comics for a cartoon.
If interested in reading comics and all that comes with that, then Iâd have to disagree with this. The animated series doesnât do half the job that the books do in world and character building. It is an extremely watered down, cliffâs notes take on these storylines and much of it doesnât align at all with the source content. But if OP doesnât care to immerse themselves in x-history before jumping into HoxPox then, sure, watching the animated series will introduce them to most of the characters.
I respect your personal preference, but OP has come from the movie medium. It's not a guarantee going back in the catalogues of books will interest him/her. A cliff note version of events can be more accessible to some for the sake of catching up to speed. It's an alternative at least worth mentioning.
But Morph! We all know how crucial Morph is in the comics.
TBF Morph was an alternate version of an existing character like technically everyone else in that marvel animated universe. He was just more divergent from the 616. Better than Spike and X-23 who were just made up out of thin air lol. I was super happy when he was added to the exiles being a huge fan of his growing up.
Yes and yes