X-Men suggestions

futureimperfect · 27 June, 2016, 11:26:11 AM

Hello everyone. My girlfriend is a fan of the X-Men movies and has recently informed me that she wants to start reading the comics. But she wants them to feature the characters she knows from the movies. Since the last time I read any X-Men comics was during the Operation : Zero Tolerance story line in the late 90's, I'm not really up to speed with the current X-Men teams. Can anyone suggest a series that she might like? I'm going to be getting her collected editions rather than single issues so it doesn't have to be current. Thanks for reading.

Greg M. · 27 June, 2016, 11:38:49 AM

The Grant Morrison 'New X-Men' run from 2001 might be a good bet. Largely excellent (a few wobbly art issues part way through due to massive deadline issues, but it recovers), and the team line-up has enough in common with the earlier movies to be familiar.

Link Prime · 27 June, 2016, 12:12:52 PM

Good suggestion from Greg there.
I'd also suggest Astonishing X-Men (2004) by Joss Whedon & John Cassaday.

A follow-up to Morrison's run, but a great series in it's own right (with as close to a 'classic team' line-up as we've ever had since). 25 issues in total (including a book-end special).

In my opinion there were only two other decent runs before it all went to hell after Avengers Vs X-Men, and they are;

X-Men Legacy by Mike Carey, issues 188 - 260 (including the very decent cross-overs Messiah Complex, Second Coming and Age of X).

Uncanny X-Force (2010) by Rick Remender. The last truly great run to feature the X-Men characters. 35 issues in total, inventive and shocking in equal measure.

Greg M. · 27 June, 2016, 12:32:31 PM

Weirdly, I completely forgot about Astonishing: definitely a good recommendation for the new reader, and fairly accessible. And yes, Carey's run is probably the last really good run on a main X-Men title, though I think some of it would prove totally impenetrable to a new reader, relying heavily as it does on decades worth of continuity.

Rately · 27 June, 2016, 12:48:55 PM

Quote from: Greg M. on 27 June, 2016, 11:38:49 AM
The Grant Morrison 'New X-Men' run from 2001 might be a good bet. Largely excellent (a few wobbly art issues part way through due to massive deadline issues, but it recovers), and the team line-up has enough in common with the earlier movies to be familiar.

The initial arc, E is for X-tinction, by Morrison, Quitely etc. is fantastic, and i'd suggest you pick up the recent retread of it by Chris Burnham and Ramon Villalobos. Its absolutley lovely stuff.

futureimperfect · 28 June, 2016, 12:58:15 AM

Thanks for the replies everyone. After looking into your suggestions I'm going to start her off with Astonishing X-Men. I didn't actually read too much about story or characters. I just saw that Warren Ellis wrote a few issues and I don't think his work has ever disappointed me before. And since I'll be reading them after her... sold.

AlexF · 12 July, 2016, 03:50:12 PM

I've always found part fo teh fun with the X-Men to be its very impenetrability. It can get super weird when some of that impenetrability is to do with decades of backstory, and some is to do with writers deliberately trying to seed mystery into their characters...

I don't think there's anything quite like the movies, but for new readers the standalone graphic Novel X-Men Season One (by Dennis Hopeless and Jamie McKelvie) is pretty great, especially if you like the soapy elements of the films.

If you really want to get into X-Men, I strongly recommend this website:
http://www.xplainthexmen.com/
and its long-running podcast, 'Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men', in which a couple of fans read through everything so no one lese has to. 116 episodes in, they've covered everything from 1963 to around 1990, still more than a decade off from Morrison's run!

Dandontdare · 12 July, 2016, 04:53:09 PM

Quote from: AlexF on 12 July, 2016, 03:50:12 PM
I've always found part fo teh fun with the X-Men to be its very impenetrability. It can get super weird when some of that impenetrability is to do with decades of backstory, and some is to do with writers deliberately trying to seed mystery into their characters...

I don't think there's anything quite like the movies, but for new readers the standalone graphic Novel X-Men Season One (by Dennis Hopeless and Jamie McKelvie) is pretty great, especially if you like the soapy elements of the films.

If you really want to get into X-Men, I strongly recommend this website:
http://www.xplainthexmen.com/
and its long-running podcast, 'Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men', in which a couple of fans read through everything so no one lese has to. 116 episodes in, they've covered everything from 1963 to around 1990, still more than a decade off from Morrison's run!

I've not read the X-men one, but I've read a couple of the season 1 books from the library and I hated them -as you said, they were all soap no substance

AlexF · 18 July, 2016, 02:39:31 PM

I haven't read any other Season One stories from Marvel, but I'm not surprised to hear they're not that good. I think the X-Men one works as a soap because that's a key part of the point of that series. The sci-fi concept behing mutations causing super powers is so ill-defined within the comics that it's basiaclly irrelevant, so it can focus on the super-teens at school angle, which I like.

Pyroxian · 18 July, 2016, 03:33:06 PM

Quote from: AlexF on 18 July, 2016, 02:39:31 PM
I haven't read any other Season One stories from Marvel, but I'm not surprised to hear they're not that good. I think the X-Men one works as a soap because that's a key part of the point of that series. The sci-fi concept behing mutations causing super powers is so ill-defined within the comics that it's basiaclly irrelevant, so it can focus on the super-teens at school angle, which I like.

Some of my favourite issues of the 80s run of X-Men / New Mutants were the more 'soap' type ones. Things like Slumber Party (NM #21). It's hard to care for characters when all they're doing is punching each other, so its good to take a step back and explore relationships etc.

Tjm86 · 18 July, 2016, 05:29:25 PM

Amen to that. Some of the mid forties on New Mutants were some of the best in the series. Early Guice art, Leonardi, Sienkiewicz ... My all time favourite is the bullying story in issue 44. Thought it perfectly captured the complexity of the situation. Ended up basing an assignment at Uni around it IIRC. The post mutant massacre future timelines issues were high quality as well. Then you get Bird Brain etc and it goes to pieces before being ground into the dirt by Liefield.

X-men circa this time (early 200's) was riding the crest of a wave. Windsor Smith's Wolverine issue, Phoenix's obsession with Selene, the slow disintegration of the X-men's world. Post Mutant Massacre it really felt like they fumbled the ball. A few highlights but nothing that really felt as good.