I want to get into X-Men but I don't know how. Should I just find a "best stories" list and start from the top...

I want to get into X-Men but I don't know how. Should I just find a "best stories" list and start from the top? Is there some "chronological" order that it's better to read things in?

Just read the Claremont stuff. That's where all the good stories are

Start from where the second team appears and work yourself forward

Definitely read Astonishing X-Men by Whedon and Cassaday.

All the Sauron run before the rebbot is a good place imo, you have little histories at the end of each comic with the origin of each xmen, from there you can go to the Claremont comics

Read classic Claremont from Giant-Size X-Men and then Uncanny X-Men 94+++++
Or read this.

Read Inhumans instead. Mutants suck and gonna have a full heel turn soon anyways.

Anything done by Cockrum or Byrne is going to be good. JRJR first run is pretty awesome too.

You're better off just not. X-fags are basically the battered housewives of Sup Forums at this point

But the X-comics are not that bad. There were some great stories and there still can be. They're trying to be better, I believe it.

Read All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis.

Start at Claremont's stuff when the second team comes along and replaces the boring original guys. If you have trouble doing that then start at The Days of Future Past which you posted a picture of. During my own read that was the first big storyline I really enjoyed.

Stop.

I'm a pleb. That said, suggestions:

Dark Phoenix (basis for X Men 3)
Days of Future Past (basis for eponymous movie)
God Loves, Man Kills (basis for X Men 2, along
Mutant Genesis (Jim Lee. The one with the incredibly well-selling issue #1)
Morrison's New X-Men
Whedon's Astonishing X Men
Phoenix Endsong (if you can stand Greg Land art)

Then there's the other standard top 10 list stuff. Messiah Complex, Mutant Massacre, House of M, Age of Apocalypse.

Start from Uncanny X-Men #97 and go from there. "Best stories", especially with the X-Men, is a terrible way to go since often times those stories are built up on the backs of previous stories. The Dark Phoenix Saga is the culmination of years worth of storytelling for instance that starts with UXM #97.

That's why I consider it the best place to start. Giant-Size is shit, the Count Nefaria story isn't that great either and the one-off afterwards is a nothing story. #97 is the true beginning of Claremont's run as that's when he starts immediately seeding everything involving the Phoenix, the Shi'ar, etc.

I'd also recommend the second Roy Thomas run on the original series. The stories once Havok and Polaris come in get pretty good and there's some great stuff in there.

>Whedon's Astonishing X Men

I keep hearing this but I'm hesitant to believe the guy behind Age of Ultron is one of the best all time X-Men writers.

The stories aren't spectacular, but decent. The art is also nice. It's sort of a continuation of Grant Morrison's run, but without crazy Morrison shit. It brings back Colossus, has the first appearance of the villain Danger, as well as Abigail Brand, who Bendis liked enough to swipe for Secret Invasion. It's pretty standard Whedon faire, and certainly not essential to canon, but it's accessible to new readers.

comic writing isn't the same as working on a large movie team, like not at all

>a continuation of Grant Morrison's run, but without crazy Morrison shit
But that's the best part

if you want to read the best X-Men then read the original X-Factor.

Thought marvel already failed at the heel turn and the inhumans.

Is Medusa ruined forever? At least a decade?

>Phoenix Endsong.

Ugh. This was horrible.

Are there any X-Men stories where the humans are right?

I hated OG X-Factor, all the Scott and Jean relationship drama was a chore to read through.

Whedon was a great writer on stuff like Firefly and Angel. Is AOU all you've seen from him?

Just read Claremont and once his run is done think AND THEN THE BOOK GOT CANCELLED FOREVER

it's better that way.

Does the one count where X-Club gets trapped in a VR simulation created by Purifiers and Hope turns every mutant into mindless zombies simply by existing? I mean, it wasn't real, but humans were certainly right about Mutants being the end of the world.

Oh, now that I'm thinking about it, there's also a story in the first run of New Mutants where the team travels into an alternate future and Mutants have created this Metropolis-esque society where regular humans are slave laborers.
Now that I'm thinking about this, I heard something like this also just happened in Secret Empire again? I wouldn't know, I'm not reading shitty events.

Whatever. Best I could come up with right now.

It's just easy.
It's isn't great by any means, but it's decent enough and easy to read.

I personally think it's just kinda shit, but I understand that most readers will enjoy it more than I did.

Had some brief flings with Morrison and Whedon but otherwise I left X-Men in the 90s. No regerts.

I largely agree, but I liked AoA, too. You can even kind of just skip to it from the end of Claremont.

AoA

Am I wrong in thinking that AoA looks like the epitome of 90s edge?

>Should I just find a "best stories" list and start from the top? Is there some "chronological" order that it's better to read things in?

the answer to both questions is the same. Claremont, Start with Giant Size, then Uncanny 94 onwards.

Have you read Onslaught?

If the remaining mutants on that poster got together, could they stop the sentinels?

>They're trying to be better, I believe it.
Spoken like a true battered housewife.

Um, no. The tagline for the story is "this issue everybody dies" that should tell you everything you need to know

But he'll change, I know it!

yesterday we had a good thread about this with good recommendations, read that thread

Hard-resets/Starting points:
(Hard reset basically) Giant size X-men by Claremont. Introduces new team (Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, etc.) All of the classic stories begin here in this era.
(Hard reset basically) New X-men by Grant Morrison. Starting point for modern era X-men. You'd still have a hard time ever catching up if you start here, but most people recommend it.
(Hard reset basically) Schism (event). The story is meh, but this event basically sets up the team dynamics and and direction for the X-verse up until today.
(Starting point) All-New X-men (2012). You could start here if you want some context for what's going on currently. Continues the paradigm set by Schism and introduces new elements that are still in play today. This is where I started reading X-men a few years ago. While reading these month to month, I went back and read everything from Schism (skipped AvX because unnecessary) forward to get caught up.
(Hard reset basically) X-men Gold/Blue/Prime (2017). These are the primary on-going titles currently. I think there are around 8 issues of each for you to get caught up on. You don't need to know anything to start reading these except the opening blurb introducing each issue. Yes there will be some characters, team dynamics, and plot devices you'll have questions about. Wiki will answer most of those.

If you want to start reading X-men and you value context like I do, you really just have to pick a starting point and go. Even if you start, there will be runs of books you'll miss or won't be able to get, then you won't know why Wolverine is old or who the fuck Fantomex is. Wiki that stuff if it's important to you and just roll with it. Even when people have been reading for years they can't figure everything out because of time travel, dimension hopping, and alternate timelines.

>tfw did this
>didnt know at what point should i start reading New Mutants or X-Facter
>then the scans turned to shit