rocket1312

So as I mentioned in the graphic novel thread, I basically gave up comics about 8 years ago (it was around the time of Civil War), but inspired by the new movie I started going back and re-reading Claremont's run on X-Men. X-Men was always my favorite as a kid and what I realized in re-reading is that in the early days before New Mutants and especially X-Factor, it was almost completely self contained. Even in the latter days of his run at least there were only two other series (with very distinct premises and mandates to keep them separate) to keep track of. Once the 90's hit, everything changed.

In the years since, the most enjoyment I've gotten from X-Men was the Morrison run and the Whedon run. My favorite thing about them is that they were mostly self-contained. Is there anything like that today? I don't even know what the so-called flagship title is these days. Is there one? Everything seems so splintered to me now. This book follows Cyclops and the characters that follow him, this one follows Wolverine, this one only features women who take their orders from a time displaced 1987 Magneto. Oh, and six months from now we're going to restart all the series and shuffle all of the characters/creative teams around again. Ugh.

Is there a current (since 2006) that I can pick up that is basically a continuation of the X-Men I know and love that doesn't depend on a half-dozen other books in order to get the story (and doesn't change creative teams and directions every 6 issues)? I've heard that Remender's Uncanny X-Force is great and I may give that a try. I know it doesn't follow the main team, but at least it seems self contained. Anything else?

fumanstan

I was in the same boat as you a couple years ago trying to go back and catch up on X-Men. I highly recommend the Messiah Complex, Messiah War, and Second Coming books. The three trades are pretty well contained albeit with some mutants I didn't know or recognize, but I loved the story and i liked it as much as the older stuff.

I think that big overall arc explains Hope Summers and leads up to the current stuff following the events of House of M if you are familiar with that. After that would be Schism that deals with the Cyclops/Wolverine split and AvX. Those I found a little less interesting.

fujishig

I'll second the Messiah Complex/War/Second Coming recommendation... those felt a lot like really old school X-men crossovers.

Also, X-Force (Kyle/Yost) and Uncanny X-Force (Remender) is surprisingly self-contained, though really really violent. Highly recommended, though, and the first one flows pretty well into the second one (though the first one also includes the mediocre-at-best X-Necrotia)

I haven't really read much of the more recent stuff, but you'll probably have to at least read AvX to make sense of some of it.

majorjoe23

I really like Jason Aaron's Wolverine & The X-Men series, though it started to get bogged down in crossovers in the 20ths.

fujishig

Also Peter David's long run on X-Factor stands out. It does get bogged down with crossovers but David handles it pretty well.

I like Jason Aaron's Wolvie and the X-Men, but I can't make heads or tails of Bachalo's art most times.

madcougar

Whatever you do, I recommend Comic Vine to fill in the gaps between major arcs. Sometimes I have no idea what the hell is going on between books.

fumanstan

I agree on X-Force, I think that new team is established right after Second Coming so it would be a good run to read afterwards.

davidh777

My last serious run on X-Men was around Days of Future Past so I was going to mention Astonishing X-Men as a "new" series but then I saw you'd already read that.

Shadow Moses

Messiah Complex, Messiah War, Second Coming, Schism, Wolverine And The X-men, All New X-Men

fujishig

All New X-Men (that's the ones with the original X-men from the past, right?) is probably pretty good for someone who missed a lot because some of it is them reacting to all the changes.

I didn't really see the point of Schism. It was like a shortened mutant Civil War, but kinda pointless, especially with AvX following.

Obi-Wanma

Seconded.

Trevor

I must confess that I've tried to hate the X-men comics all of my life. I briefly bought it at various times since the 70s, most notably around the time of New Mutants; but I always try to wash my hands of it, even selling all my Dark Phoenix era issues once (doh!). But now that I'm back into comics and have sampled various story arcs thanks to Comixology freebies and sales (including some big collection sales right now btw), I'm liking almost every run I've read.

rocket1312

Thanks for all of the recs guys. I'm probably going to do a month or two of Marvel Unlimited and try to plow through some of this. I'll probably start with Messiah Complex and see how that goes.

I do own and remember enjoying the first year or so of the X-Factor reboot. I also remember being annoyed when it got caught up in all of the House of M/M-Day stuff.

But that's exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to avoid!

I'm currently trying to work my way through Claremont's entire run right now. I've read most of it over the years, but never chronologically. Because these were the first comics that I really read and loved, to me this is what comics "should" be like. Claremont certainly has his tics (too much exposition, dozens of open plot threads which may or may not be resolved down the line), but that's part of what I love about him. I remember after drifting away from the hobby in the late 90's, I came back when he started X-Treme X-Men and despite the series being only ok, I got really excited because they felt so much like the classics that I loved. I will say this though, the first year or so of the Kitty Pryde era (DoFP excluded) really got on my nerves as I was re-reading. I know the character is pretty beloved now, but boy do I find her early appearances grating.

fujishig

I thought David's (most recent) run of X-Factor started with House of M. Well, it really started with the Madrox mini and him forming the detective agency, but I could've sworn Layla Miller was a part of the team from the start, and she came from House of M. That's one of the things I liked about David's run, besides the humor; he really integrated the crossovers with the storyline. For instance, Messiah Complex changes some key things about the team. I have no idea if it was an editorial mandate or his decision, but he did a great job.

I still enjoy Claremont's run (and the art), but it has aged. The wall of exposition does get annoying. As for Kitty, I think she was supposed to be the kid character you could relate to... someone new to the mutant world, with a fresh perspective, a rebellious and prideful attitude and a teenaged crush. I remember thinking how spoiled she was when she insisted on not going to the New Mutants. But then as you grow older those traits becomes less endearing and less relatable; or we become old fogeys. All I know is that the kid characters in most cartoons and movies are usually the most annoying ones.

rocket1312

You're right. X-Factor did spin out of House of M. It was Civil War I was thinking of. There were a lot of factors that led to me giving up comics in 2006 (mostly financial), but one of the big things was crossover burnout. I had gotten completely sucked into the Identity Crisis/Infinite Crisis era of DC and was buying every single little tie-in I could. I actually thought DC handled it pretty well, but by the time it was over I just couldn't do any more company wide events. I had zero interest in Civil War.

I know what you mean about Kitty being the kid that readers could relate to, and I can appreciate that, but that first year just revolved around her way too much. Thankfully by the time the Brood stuff began, the other characters started to get some of their spotlight back.

slop101

Yeah, just as you mentioned, as have others, Uncanny X-Force fits your bill to a T.

It's self-contained, mostly the same creative team, the only back-story you really need is stuff from the '80s, and all 35+ issues are conveniently collected in one handy Omnibus book:



Wolverine and the X-men by Jason Aaron is more lighthearted and deals with the X-school, and while it fizzles out towards the end, it's pretty good overall.

davidh777

Maybe I'll try Uncanny X-Force too! Thanks for the tip.