Synbios459 said:
I would like to get into X-Men. Is there any books or something I could get that would be good for a noob?
The guides listed below will certainly work, but I dunno how much fun they'll be to read if you really aren't already a fan of the comics. They could be vastly entertaining, or they could be somewhat perplexing.
I'd say you can enjoy the comics with a minimum of backstory, and that if you've seen the movies and cartoons you're already set to jump in. The adaptations differ from the source material, but it's nothing you can't roll with, and while there's a vast amount of backstory you don't strictly need it to enjoy what's currently being published.
So, the question is where to start reading the X-Men. Time to break out the graphic novels and collected editions! Some suggestions:
New X-Men Vol. 1 - Opinions vary, but for my money Grant Morrison's recent New X-Men run was the best the series had been in years. Morrison moves beyond the soap opera heroics that had dominated the X-Men for so many years and makes things a bit more idea driven and freakier. This isn't to say that it's a drastic change from a winning formula, mind you, but it's certainly an improvement. Don't worry, you can go in cold and thoroughly enjoy the comics. The only problem with New X-Men is that the art is sometimes uneven; fortunatly, the writing makes it all worthwhile, and, occasional unfortunate rush jobs aside, the art is generally just fine. If you like this, there's a satisfying amount of New X-Men out there, but not so much you'll be completely overwhelmed by it. Look for the big ol' hardcover edition, available for less than twenty bucks used through Amazon.
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1: Gifted - Morrison's run has ended and Astonishing X-Men is the new hotness, combining John Cassaday's stunning artwork with snappy writing by Joss "Buffy/Angel/Firefly" Whedon. Cue fanboy rioting. The first volume is pretty damn great, with some neat ideas and Whedon's trademark writing style. I regret to inform that the second volume of the series (soon to be released in trade) is not quite as good but it's hardly a wash, has some great moments, and still looks fantastic. With another 12 issues in the works, I expect Astonishing to recover from it's recent slump and provide damn fine reading in '06. In the meantime, the first volume is a great read and relatively cheap to boot - ten bucks new from Amazon, less used.
Essential X-Men Volumes 1-6 - Now, if you're digging what you're reading and really want to jump into the X-Men mythology, you'll be glad to know that vast chunks of it are available dirt cheap as black and white reprints on newsprint paper. These are not beautiful archive editions, but at $17 for 500 pages, who cares? These volumes begin with the X-men relaunch in the mid-70s (creating the modern day team you know from the movies and cartoons) and are currently somewhere in the mid-80s. Virtually every issue has been written by the man who defined the current X-Men, Chris Claremont. On the one hand, this provides for an astonishing amount of single-author continuity, but on the other hand Claremont's more than a bit stylized and this older material may strike you as a bit cheeseball. Stick with it! Dated or otherwise, these are damn fine comics. In particular, Volume 2 is Claremont at his peak, with wonderful art by a pre-batshit-insane John Byrne and featuring the two most influential X-Men stories: The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past. If you dig Volume 2, five more volumes of classic Claremont comics await.
That's more than enough to get you started. If you read all these and need more direction, just hollar.
FnordChan
