Specter313
Ghost of all things X
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So, you've been away from the comics for a long time or are brand new to them, but you're completely overwhelmed about just what to pick up at the store. Well, I'm gonna go through, book by book, with what's out there right now and where you should put your money:
~Astonishing X-Men: This is considered to be the flagship title for the X-Men books, and is widely the most popular. It is still relatively young compared to much else that is out there, so it would be a good idea to pick up the hardback with the first two arcs, covering issues #1-12, and then pick up issues 13 and 14 which came out a few months back. The book is only bi-monthly until fall, so it can be a bit frustrating to wait for it, but is definitely worth the wait.
~ Uncanny X-Men: With this title, it is going to be going through a creative team change very soon, so it will be smart to wait until that happens, which will be in July, to start reading this book. As a primer, you should pick up the Deadly Genesis limited series because the upcoming story for Uncanny will spin directly out of that.
~ X-Men: See Uncanny, just minus the story you should read before hand.
~ X-Factor: This is a newer take on the old favorite, with Jamie Madrox running a detective agency with several of his old friends and some new ones, with Peter David, the man who originally brought X-Factor to fame, back writing. To get the back story, it would be a very good idea to pick up the Madrox limited series as well as House of M.
~ New X-Men: Following the students left at institute and the journey's of several of them to become the next generation of X-Men. To get the back story, try and get ahold of issues #1-19 when it was known as New X-Men: Academy X, and the few issues it was known as New Mutants.
~ New Excalibur: A revival of sorts of the British mutant team but with several new team members, has yet to make much of a big impact in the X stories, and no real backstory you need to look up, but still somewhat entertaining.
~ Cable and Deadpool: Not a big title as far as the other X-books are concerned, but if you always want a good laugh with great humor, this is something to really consider.
~ Exiles: Shows the adventures of certain alternate versions of mutants we know and their adventures on alternate worlds. Might want to wait for the current Worlds Tour mega arc to conclude.
~ Wolverine: The canuck has his own book of his solo adventures, as well as one called Wolverine: Origins where he is finally exploring the full events of his past.
~ Ultimate X-Men: This title is actually set in an alternate universe, where all the characters were essentially "updated" to take place and originate like if they would have emerged in our world. These are more in the tone of the X-Men films, so if that is something that floats your boat, then you definitely want to check it out.
Other recent mega events:
~ House of M and Decimation: A big crossover that had major rammifications on the mutant population where
Obviously, you'll want to read the big House of M main crossover to get the basic stuff down of what happened, hence the reason I spoiler tagged it. There are several titles that are labeled as coming directly out of it and tagged with a Decimation logo that you might want to pick up depending on how much you enjoyed it all.
~ Civil War: This is the big crossover event that it just starting this summer. Like House of M, you only really need to pick up the main title to get the gist of what's happening, but the X-Men will have their own limited title during the event.
Other:
~ Marvel has released a DVD-rom with all 40 years of the X-Men comics and their history on it, and is a complete steal for only about $50.
~Astonishing X-Men: This is considered to be the flagship title for the X-Men books, and is widely the most popular. It is still relatively young compared to much else that is out there, so it would be a good idea to pick up the hardback with the first two arcs, covering issues #1-12, and then pick up issues 13 and 14 which came out a few months back. The book is only bi-monthly until fall, so it can be a bit frustrating to wait for it, but is definitely worth the wait.
~ Uncanny X-Men: With this title, it is going to be going through a creative team change very soon, so it will be smart to wait until that happens, which will be in July, to start reading this book. As a primer, you should pick up the Deadly Genesis limited series because the upcoming story for Uncanny will spin directly out of that.
~ X-Men: See Uncanny, just minus the story you should read before hand.
~ X-Factor: This is a newer take on the old favorite, with Jamie Madrox running a detective agency with several of his old friends and some new ones, with Peter David, the man who originally brought X-Factor to fame, back writing. To get the back story, it would be a very good idea to pick up the Madrox limited series as well as House of M.
~ New X-Men: Following the students left at institute and the journey's of several of them to become the next generation of X-Men. To get the back story, try and get ahold of issues #1-19 when it was known as New X-Men: Academy X, and the few issues it was known as New Mutants.
~ New Excalibur: A revival of sorts of the British mutant team but with several new team members, has yet to make much of a big impact in the X stories, and no real backstory you need to look up, but still somewhat entertaining.
~ Cable and Deadpool: Not a big title as far as the other X-books are concerned, but if you always want a good laugh with great humor, this is something to really consider.
~ Exiles: Shows the adventures of certain alternate versions of mutants we know and their adventures on alternate worlds. Might want to wait for the current Worlds Tour mega arc to conclude.
~ Wolverine: The canuck has his own book of his solo adventures, as well as one called Wolverine: Origins where he is finally exploring the full events of his past.
~ Ultimate X-Men: This title is actually set in an alternate universe, where all the characters were essentially "updated" to take place and originate like if they would have emerged in our world. These are more in the tone of the X-Men films, so if that is something that floats your boat, then you definitely want to check it out.
Other recent mega events:
~ House of M and Decimation: A big crossover that had major rammifications on the mutant population where
the majority of the mutant population was left without their powers.
~ Civil War: This is the big crossover event that it just starting this summer. Like House of M, you only really need to pick up the main title to get the gist of what's happening, but the X-Men will have their own limited title during the event.
Other:
~ Marvel has released a DVD-rom with all 40 years of the X-Men comics and their history on it, and is a complete steal for only about $50.
