So I just picked up Infinite Crisis #4... Is the ending really that Alexander Luthor uses Shazam's magic to create a galactic-sixed goatse image? And this somehow brings Earth-2 back?

I've heard of pulling stories out of your ass, but that's ridiculous.
A Reader | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 12:52 am | #

My wife got into the X-Men (for a few years, at least) after picking up one of the early Bret Blevins issues. I can't give you an issue number, because I ditched the title after #200 and haven't looked back since, but it was around the time Dazzler joined.
Andrew Weiss | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 3:52 am | #

How about the old stand-alone Uncanny story where they go through Dante's Inferno?

I think it was an annual.
Jon | Email | 01.20.06 - 4:27 am | #

The "Lifedeath" stories, drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, were great. Since I don't have them in front of me, however, I don't know how "in-the-know" one has to be to appreciate them.
Mike Loughlin | Email | 01.20.06 - 5:47 am | #

I know that it's actually a graphic novel and not an issue, but I always liked "God Loves, Man Kills."

Oh, and consider this my contribution to the new "meme".
David Lawson | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 6:22 am | #

Morrison/Quitely's E For Extinction, which kicked off their run--it's only 3 or four issues and captures the essence of the concept.

Of course, Morrision's run is the only X-Men comic (aside from X-Statix) I've read since about 1983.
Cole Odell | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 6:25 am | #

X-men #1, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Boy, them's comics.
Daniel Taylor | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 6:47 am | #

Actually, I should probably amend that statement to: "unless the specific request was for a super-hero comic with over-done melodrama and lesbian innuendo."

And, yeah, Morrison's initial story-line is as clean an introduction to the concept as you're probably likely to get without going back to the first issue.
Dorian | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 6:57 am | #

I started reading X-Men back with the 2-part Kulan Gath story that co-starred the Avengers and Spidey. Didn't have to know much except that Manhattan had gone Conan-ville. What was that the 170's or so?
Michael Denton | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 7:05 am | #

Funny, I was going to suggest Grant's first story arc but other, wiser souls have beat me to it. I absolutely despised the X-men backwards and forwards but a friend of mine pushed the trade on me and I loved it. It was the first X-Men arc in ages that made me excited about the future.
Scarlett | Email | 01.20.06 - 7:11 am | #

I started with #145-147, the three part Doctor Doom/Arcade storyline. I picked it up because I had vaguely heard of the X-Men, but Dr. Doom was cool. That was a good start, especially with #146 being all the "second stringers."
Scott | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 7:21 am | #

I could point a few solo issues, like Annual #11 (by Claremont and Alan Davis), Uncanny #186 and #198 by Claremont and BWS, the last part of the trilogy being published as 'Adastra in Africa' as a part of the BWS' Young GODS series. Some of the best for new readers are some solo issues, like the Wolverine LS written by Claremont and drawn by Frank Miller. Last night I was just reading Uncanny #309 (by Lobdell - who has written some awful stuff here and there, but has a few gems on Uncanny - and JRJR) and it is a psychological analysis of Xavier (for something similar there is X-Factor #87 by PAD and Quesada. Great stuff for whoever likes these types of stories). X-Men Unlimited #1 by Lobdell and Bachalo and the early Generation X (#s1-6 and #17-24) issues are among my favorites. Both Excalibur runs by Alan Davis. The pre-Mutant Massacre (and beginning of event-driven crappy storylines) stories of Claremont, Paul Smith and JRJR (167-209 - a friend of mine started reading comics because of those, and my girlfriend's got a few of them over her house now - she started to read my comics with the Excalibur origin one-shot) with fill-ins by BWS, Alan Davis, Paul Chadwick and Rick Leonardi. There're always the Asgardian Wars (Claremont, Paul Smith, Arthur Adams), too.
I think the comic might suffer from the fact that the roster is not made of recognizable characters like the Avengers or JLA, or a small roster like the FF. The fact that the Xavier School is both a, well, school (this was a highlight of Morrison's run) and shelter for mutants from all around the world adds to the dynamics of the changing roster - that one day made sense before editorial mandate started to define that. The comic is basically about a bunch of people - who think very differently from each other and the best part, argue to prove their points - banded together and how they relate to each other. Between 'missions' they get on with their lives - inside and outside the school -, I think that makes it more interesting than seeing the Avengers or JLA sitting at a round table waiting for something to happen. Soapy-opera, yes, but criticizing it for being what it is, is like missing the whole point. If someone doesn't like these kind of stories, then the comic is not for them. Not the best comic around, but far, far from being the worse.
Gian | 01.20.06 - 7:38 am | #

I don't actually think what I got hooked on is the best choice, it might depend on the age of the person asking, but I started with the fat Asgardian Wars trade. Filled with enough Claremount exposition, including roll calls, to explain everything twice. And Art Adams. Art Adams is awesome.
hcduvall | 01.20.06 - 7:50 am | #

Speaking for me, the first issue I read was Uncanny #168, the one with Kitty Pryde saying "Professor Xavier stinks!" on page one. Sucked me right in. And Paul smith's gorgeous art didn't hurt.
Nik | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 8:30 am | #

WOLVERINE: Claremont & Miller

WOLVERINE: NOT DEAD YET (out of print, but who knows what the future may bring)

NEWXMEN: INFERNO and NEWXMEN: RIOT AT XAVIER'S (the two arcs with the most Quitely goodness, as well as the most Quentin Quire, who challenged the X-Men ethos like none before or since)

The Jemas-era CABLE/SOLDIER X run (which managed to give the big-shouldered freak a second dimension for the first and only time, allowing him to develop a genuine sense of purpose in the world)

Maybe the first ULTIMATE X-MEN trade...and maybe the last of the Millar run...although Vol 1 features Sentinels, the ultimate (har!) weak link in the X-Men chain.

That do you?

//Oo/\
Matthew Craig | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 9:08 am | #

AH, but those who had read Joe Casey's run already knew Cable could be cool.

And you're forgetting the X-Men in Australia years! The most mind-numbingly weird X-Men comics ever...
Tim O'Neil | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 9:12 am | #

My first X-men was the issue where (spoiler Jean Gray/Phoenix died, double size #137, I think. It was an interesting place to start.
Jay from Tennessee | Email | 01.20.06 - 9:30 am | #

I'm going to suggest X-Force #116 by Milligan & Allred. Even though it's not as "typical X-Men" as some of the other suggestions, it's still one of my favourite X-stories.
The Doc | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 10:40 am | #

The only X-Men comic anyone ever needs to recommend to someone.
Bully | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 10:53 am | #

Yeah, I'd have to go with New X-Men 114 or whatever it was, the first part to E is for Extiction. But it depends on the friend I guess. I know a few guys who ... aren't capable of understanding a lot of Morrison's stuff, and even All-Star Superman puts them off. For someone like then, I think any random X-Men issue would serve just fine. But then, I'm a jerk.
David Cutler | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 11:24 am | #

Yeah, I never read much X-Men until the Grant Morrison run. That seems like a reasonable jumping-on point, though I'd think anyone who's seen the first X-Men movie could probably jump on anywhere and sort of get it.

I've since picked up the Joss Whedon trades, which are good fun, as well.

But then, I'd pick up Firestorm if it was written by either of those guys.

(Oh, I heard that Grant Morrison is taking over Strangers in Paradise after issue 90. Actually, I made that up, but spread it around, anyway.)
Franko | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 11:27 am | #

As much as I would like to just agree with all the folks citing Morrison's run, as I really liked most of it, I do think enjoyment of it requires a stronger knowledge of and initial interest in X-Men books than might be desired here. It does a tremendous amount of exploring past stories.

A few years ago I actually tried this, handing a total non-fan, who had only recently become interested in comics through Sandman, Ultimate X-Men #41. She eyed it (and me) with great suspicion, but was definitely surprised by it.

Not that this led to more X-Men reading, as I couldn't really recommend anything from the Millar arcs, but it was a successful suggestion.
xakyrie | 01.20.06 - 3:34 pm | #

Ditto to Annual #11 - a Davis and Claremont classic.

Uncanny #225-227 - The Fall of the Mutants 3-parter, from back when these X-Men "events" were self-contained stories.

X-Men #1-3 (that's the 90s series I'm talking about) - It's the beginning of the downwards spiral for the X-franchise, but it is a great story--Claremont's last hurrah before he got kicked off the book over disagreements with Jim Lee and Bob Harris.

Ultimate X-Men - the Brian K Vaughn run. This one, Mike, *is* an X-Men comic worth recommending to new readers, and is much closer in spirit, quality and even team dynamics to the X-Men movies than the regular X-Men comics. It's almost like they meant it when they called this one "Ultimate" X-Men.
*
steve-o | Email | 01.20.06 - 6:28 pm | #

If Marvel ever brings it back into print, the collection of Thomas/Adams issues. I remember reading that book when I was a (relatively) young comics fan and being blown away.
Jonathan Miller | Email | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 7:43 pm | #

You know, as bad as they can be sometimes, I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with the X-Men. Yeah, it's overly melodramatic sometimes, but really, most comics are. It's just easy and fashionable to single them out since it was at the forefront of the '90s style, with bad Jim Lee costumes and, you know, Cable.

I've mentioned it before, but when I was a kid, the Arcade story in Uncanny #123-124 was what got me into the X-Men in the first place, and when I re-read it last year in the Essentials, I think it held up pretty nicely. There's nothing huge about it, but the group dynamics in that issue are a really nicely-encapsulated version of what makes that team work.

And of course, the end of Uncanny #132 is the most important panel in the history of modern Marvel comics, bar none.

As far as more currentt stuff, yeah, the Morrison New X-Men are great, but I really like Millar's Ultimate X-Men run as a crazy and fun modernization of the Claremont/Byrne stuff. And although I'm apparently the only one on here, I really like Astonishing, too.

Lifedeath has Storm and Forge on the cover. Therefore, I have never read it.

But what I have read is the story where Collossus breaks up with Kitty, so Wolverine and Nightcrawler take him to a bar to get him drunk and beat the shit out of him, but the Juggernaut shows up instead. THAT'S good comics!
Chris | Homepage | 01.20.06 - 7:54 pm | #

I have three non-comics friends who read my New X-Men hardcover and then feverishly demanded to be given the rest of it, and a DC-minded friend who swore she'd never read X-Men who did the same thing, so I still swear by it's accessibility.
David Cutler | Email | Homepage | 01.21.06 - 2:53 am | #

Alots already been said, so I'll just toss in my personal favorite:

The X-Men "From the Ashes" TPB. With the exception of the issue where Rogue joins, everything is pretty much self-contained.

--m4
mojo_iv | Email | Homepage | 01.21.06 - 9:16 am | #

I'm a big fan of the "God Loves Man Kills" graphic novel. Also, I am fond of the whole "X-Men in Australia" period because it's the comics I grew up with and the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of "weird, dumb super-hero fun".

Also because Longshot is the man.
Nathan | Email | 01.21.06 - 9:55 am | #

I'll second the vote for X-Men Unlimited #1. Brilliant little story, focusing on Cyclops, Storm, and Professor X. Really gets to the heart of those characters. And Bachalo makes it look gorgeous.
Leigh Walton | Homepage | 01.22.06 - 3:32 am | #

Original series #125-143, accept no substitutes.
Tom Spurgeon | Email | 01.22.06 - 12:35 pm | #

To me, the X-Men was a little like the Rolling Stones. It was good in the '60s, awesome in the '70s, a little embarrassing by the late-80s, but it still has some surprises even in the 21st century.

I liked what I've read of the Morrison/Quitely "New X-Men", but I am not sure it is the right entry point. How about Uncanny X-Men #129? The Hellfire Club/Dark Phoenix stuff is what put the X-Men on the map. It hooked me as a kid and held my attention until well after Claremont had lost his fastball (which I'd peg around the 'Wolverine' mini-series).
Dean Hacker | Email | Homepage | 01.22.06 - 11:50 pm | #

The X-Men/Teen Titans crossover is one of the best standalone comics ever made. It's a good read, doesn't rely on anything, and it works as an introduction to either teams, really.
Wrye | Email | 10.12.06 - 12:34 am | #