Click Here If You Want to Know What X-Books to Pick Up

[davidboring]

thanks, fishtaco, I'll have a look for it.

[venuscameback]

I would also love to know what trade to get next. Right now I have 4 essential books, the first 2 Grant Morrison books, and the first Joss Whedon book, with some random issues also.

If you really enjoyed the first two Grant Morrison trades, then I would recommend carrying on reading those in order of publication. Here Comes Tomorrow is fine but GM was building something, playing with themes, through his run and I think it reads best in the order they were published; and as Here Comes Tomorrow was the last arc he wrote I'd personally leave that for now. You won't struggle to follow the story any more than you might anyway (the last arc is not the most accessible to start with) but i think you'll get more out of it having read the earlier arcs beforehand.

Also as GM plays with a lot of long-standing/classic x-men themes, reading the first 5 Essentials is a good idea - but not ... well, essential - before heading deeper into his run

shameless plug time: as slively's business partner at LiveWireWorld.net I'd like to mention the website as a great place for buying trades at great prices :D


venus

[Rob H]

I've been reading Whedon's AXM from ish #1 but I'm still a newbie to the X world. I tried an issue of Uncanny and that confused the hell outta me so I'm planning to pick up the current arc of X-Men. Good idea? Thoughts?

[The Lucky One]

Not a good idea. Peter Milligan is a talented writer, but he hasn't been blowing anybody away with his stories on X-Men lately, and I doubt you'd find it any less confusing than Uncanny. My advice is to go back and pick up Uncanny #444, then try to read the issues since then (collected in the "The End of History" trade paperback, if you have access to it). And if you have any questions, feel free to ask here on the board.

Sweet avatar, too. Nothing beats the Man with No Name.
;)

-D

[fishtaco]

I've been reading Whedon's AXM from ish #1 but I'm still a newbie to the X world. I tried an issue of Uncanny and that confused the hell outta me so I'm planning to pick up the current arc of X-Men. Good idea? Thoughts?

Pick up the Essential X-men volumes. What issue of Uncanny confused you?

[Rob H]

Thanks Lucky and fish. I've read the first Essential X-Men and that was what sparked my interest in the X-Men in the first place (for the second time).

I can't really afford trades or Essential books and that's why I've turned to single monthly issues.

Issue 460 confused the hell outta me. It had a heap of characters that I have absolutely no idea about and the art didn't really do it for me. Maybe it was just my mood at the time.

[fishtaco]

Issue 460 confused the hell outta me. It had a heap of characters that I have absolutely no idea about and the art didn't really do it for me. Maybe it was just my mood at the time.

It can be confusing for newer readers, yes. But when you get to know your X-history, you would love it.

And yeah, Tom Raney's art isn't very good, but he was only filling in for the regular artist, Alan Davis, who happens to be a legend.

Feel free to ask any questions on the "Post Your Various Questions about the X-men Here Thread" about the issue. What confused you, and all. I'll answer. You can even PM me, if you want. :)

[Rob H]

Well alright. I really do dig the art alot more in X-Men but alot of people (including yourself) clearly favour the Uncanny title. What can I read that'll bring me up to date with this book? If you're going to recommend a trade, please be gentle and just narrow it down to one. I'll pick that up when I can and if I like it, I'll continue with Uncanny. Until then, I'll give the regular a try with the current arc.

EDIT: To be honest, I really wanted an X title that'd have most main X characters featured. As a newbie, that'd be alot of help but I guess all characters are "main X members" when you've been a long time reader. That's really why I started with Astonishing.

As far as I can tell from UncannyXMen.net .....

Storm, Bishop, Marvel Girl III, Nightcrawler, Psylocke and Wolverine are in UXM whereas Iceman, Wolverine, Havok, Polaris, Gambit and Rogue are in X-Men. I've bolded the characters I actually know a little about and put the ones that I've sort of heard of in italics. What will that acheive? I dunno but it might help. ;)

[Rob H]

To solve my problem, I just picked up the last couple of issues of Uncanny X-Men (461 and 462) as well as the current X-Men arc. That's three X titles on my pull. At least now I can have my cake and eat it too. Thanks again for the help.

[fishtaco]

Well alright. I really do dig the art alot more in X-Men but alot of people (including yourself) clearly favour the Uncanny title. What can I read that'll bring me up to date with this book? If you're going to recommend a trade, please be gentle and just narrow it down to one. I'll pick that up when I can and if I like it, I'll continue with Uncanny. Until then, I'll give the regular a try with the current arc.

EDIT: To be honest, I really wanted an X title that'd have most main X characters featured. As a newbie, that'd be alot of help but I guess all characters are "main X members" when you've been a long time reader. That's really why I started with Astonishing.

As far as I can tell from UncannyXMen.net .....

Storm, Bishop, Marvel Girl III, Nightcrawler, Psylocke and Wolverine are in UXM whereas Iceman, Wolverine, Havok, Polaris, Gambit and Rogue are in X-Men. I've bolded the characters I actually know a little about and put the ones that I've sort of heard of in italics. What will that acheive? I dunno but it might help. ;)

uncannyxmen.net is very helpful. Check out the spotlight on... for those characters at http://uncannyxmen.net/db/spotlight/ :)

[Rob H]

I love that site. Thanks alot.

Seeing how this is an "X Book" thread, if you could name three or four trades that'll get me up to date with all the major happenings in the X world (and that are relevant now), which would they be?

[Rob H]

Alrighty... I'll just picked up all the Essentials (if that's even possible). That should get me up to speed.

[fishtaco]

Seeing how this is an "X Book" thread, if you could name three or four trades that'll get me up to date with all the major happenings in the X world (and that are relevant now), which would they be?

It doesnt really work like that. I dont think there are 4 or 5 trades that can do that for you. Your best bet is still to go to www.uncannyxmen.net

There, you can

- Learn the whole history of major characters fast in the Spotlight on... section

- Learn a few basic things (real name, powers, affiliations, etc) about just about any character in the Character Glossary.

- Look up almost any issue in the Issue Summarys section.

- Learn about the major crossovers over the years (each one has changed the X-universe significantly).

- There is a trade paper back list

- Family trees and villain team info.

- Alien Races, timelines, and significant places info.

- A whole lot more in the Merging Minds section.

It is THE X-men research site. If I were Mike Marts, I would encourage everyone to use it. You can learn pretty much everything you need to know to be caught up.

[Rob H]

Thanks mate. I've been hanging around that site quite a bit lately. I've gotta say, the X universe is really reeling me in at the moment. I may even add another X book. Time to do a bit of trade hunting aswell. I'll start at the top and work my way to the bottom. ;)

[Rob H]

I've been picking up the Essentials as per recommended and I'm now reading New X-Men, X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Astonishing on a monthly basis. I wouldn't mind another.... any suggestions? There aren't really any other core X books but maybe you guys could recommend something out of opinion. Anything X related would be great.