X-Men TB Recommendation

[LongDistance]

Hi, I'm the president of the Supehero Club at Albany High School and our goal is to promote comic books (not just superhero ones) to the student body. Our school's PTA have just funded a grant for us to purchase comic books for the school library. Since many students liked the X-Men movies but haven't read the comics, I thought buying an X-Men TB may attract readers. So what book would you guys recommend? I need one that is not strained with continuity and easy for people who have only saw the X-Men movies to read. Thanks for your help

[Beast]

Ultimate X-Men would probably be your best bet. :)

It's it's own seperate continuity, and it's set in a more updated and modern theme and setting than the original X-Men comics started in. It's only 66 issues in, so there's not a lot of continuity or backstory to worry about. Just go for the TPB's of the series and you should be great. It's also the closest to movie canon while still being fresh and unique in feel and theme. It's a great read for all ages.

[JLarson]

Definitely the Ultimate X-Men trades.

Possibly the New X-Men HCs as well - at least the 3rd.

[The Lucky One]

I'd agree with Beast that the Ultimate X-Men TPBs are a good choice for kids just starting off with the X-Men. You might also consider what are called the "Essential" line of Marvel comics- they reprint old issues in big, thick black-and-white volumes of 20-25 issues apiece, so they're comparatively much cheaper than regular, color TPBs. Essential X-Men volume 1 starts off at the point where the team was rebooted in the mid-70s, introducing many of the characters kids would recognize these days from the movies (Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus). Because the book was being started over with a new team, it's pretty continuity-light. I would definitely recommend picking up the first 2 or 3 volumes of Essential X-Men to start off with (there are 6 total so far), as most of the classic X-Men stories can be found in those volumes.

May I also add, it's great that this is something you're trying to expose kids to, and I wish you the best of luck!

-D

[mattbib]

The above recommendations are great.

I'd also suggest The Dark Phoenix Saga. Even if you're unfamiliar with X-lore this story evokes so much emotion that it resonates even with most new readers.

[The Lucky One]

Matt's right on about the Dark Phoenix Saga. (It's featured in the second volume of Essential X-Men, along with another classic story, Days of Future Past.) You also might consider X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills. The original was a standalone graphic novel, little grounding in continuity, that just got to the very core of the themes of the X-Men. The second X-Men movie was loosely based off of it as well, so there's that connection.

And if you're looking for any non-X-Men TPBs, you might want to consider investing in collections of a recent Marvel comic called Runaways. It's an extremely well-written book about a group of young kids who discover their parents are supervillains and decide to become heroes to sort of redress the balance. It's all-ages appropriate, the art is crisp and clear, and kids can relate to the main characters, who themselves range from 11-18 years of age. Good, good stuff.
:)

-D

[DDM]

The Dark Phoenix Saga TPB
Days of Future Past TPB

[fishtaco]

By the 6 Essential X-Men (not essenial Uncanny X-Men) volumes.

Along with that, get...

X-Men: Old Soldiers
X-Men Visionaries: Jim Lee
Fall Of The Mutants
Excalibur Classic (The Sword Is Drawn)
X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David
Prisoner of Fire
Schism
Inferno

Some of the best X-Men has to offer.

As for Ultimate X-Men, I would not reccomend it. It isn't real X-Men. It's more like the X-Men book that helps the industry out. It's not in the normal canon. If you are starting an X-Men thing for your high school, then get the real X-Men stuff from the real X-Universe.

Ultimate X-Men is just going to confuse you.

[Twigglet]

By the 6 Essential X-Men (not essenial Uncanny X-Men) volumes.

Along with that, get...

X-Men: Old Soldiers
X-Men Visionaries: Jim Lee
Fall Of The Mutants
Excalibur Classic (The Sword Is Drawn)
X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David
Prisoner of Fire
Schism
Inferno

Some of the best X-Men has to offer.

As for Ultimate X-Men, I would not reccomend it. It isn't real X-Men. It's more like the X-Men book that helps the industry out. It's not in the normal canon. If you are starting an X-Men thing for your high school, then get the real X-Men stuff from the real X-Universe.

Ultimate X-Men is just going to confuse you.
Children won't want stories from 30 years ago, and they definitly won't want stories with 1000's of backissues.

Ult X-men won't confuse at all, it's continuity free and a great read!

[Beast]

As for Ultimate X-Men, I would not reccomend it. It isn't real X-Men. It's more like the X-Men book that helps the industry out. It's not in the normal canon. If you are starting an X-Men thing for your high school, then get the real X-Men stuff from the real X-Universe.

Ultimate X-Men is just going to confuse you.
It's as much real X-Men as any of the other books. In fact it's a great read, and that's coming from an old timer comic reader. And he already said he wanted stuff that didn't have tons of canon and would be accessible to fans of the movies. Ultimate X-Men is a good choice in this case. And how is it going to confuse anyone? It's pretty easy to follow for anyone with two brain cells to rub together. :)

[brian2322]

Hi, I'm the president of the Supehero Club at Albany High School and our goal is to promote comic books (not just superhero ones) to the student body. Our school's PTA have just funded a grant for us to purchase comic books for the school library. Since many students liked the X-Men movies but haven't read the comics, I thought buying an X-Men TB may attract readers. So what book would you guys recommend? I need one that is not strained with continuity and easy for people who have only saw the X-Men movies to read. Thanks for your help


you have the best friggin high school, at mine i am the only one who reads comics
Id say ultimate xmen is your best choice

[riftt]

I just picked up the first two Age of Apocalypse volumes and they are quite good. vol. 3 was in the april solits

[spoon_jenkins]

You can get the first Ultimate X-Men hardcover because it's the very beginning of the continuity for the Ultimate version.

But I don't think you should let fears about continuity scare you away from getting TPBs from the regular continuity. First, like The Lucky One noted, I think it wouldn't be hard for readers to start with Essential X-Men vol. 1 without any prior knowledge.

But more importantly, I think the main thing that will win over readers is great stories. The Essential volumes (and other TPBs reprinting stories from the 70s and 80s) may have more background to them, but the strength of the stories should overcome that. Numerous new readers have overcome it in the past.

It depends on how big your budget is. I'd get the first Ultimate hardcover, at least one Essential, and the Dark Phoenix Saga.

[xgeek52]

i can't find any fault with any of those recommendations...your school should be applauded for setting this plan in motion...i might recommend the two xtreme xmen tbp, mekanic and the updated man loves god kills as well as zero tolerance... :D :cool:

[Callie]

I would suggest the original God Loves, Man Kills as it preaches (often rather preachily. ;)) on tolerance and acceptance. It's the sort of stuff librarians would dig.

[Siddon]

You want to read any Uncanny X-men written by Chuck Austen or Joe Casey


share them with your parents

[LongDistance]

thanks for all your suggestions. I think I will go with the the Ultimate series suggestion, but I will do some research on the other titles.