Starting point in the X-Men universe?

Or better yet, the hardcover that contains the first two New X-Men trades.

1) Astonishing X-Men (the current ongoing series). The rest of the recs are in chronological order:

2) Essential X-Men 1-3 (1 and 2 are Claremont/Byrne and introduce the "All-New All Different" X-Men that set the tone for everything to come -- Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, etc -- and cover the bulk of the Phoenix saga; 3 is Cockrum instead of Byrne, and isn't as good, but includes "the return of Dark Phoenix" and Dracula.) I know I'm skipping over the Essential Uncanny X-Men, the original comics by Stan Lee, but it isn't because they aren't good -- they just don't have as direct an impact on the post-Claremont X-saga. By all means read them if you become an X-fan, but they won't catch you up on much you don't already know from the cartoon and movies.

3) Days of Future Past, if it's not included in the Essential collections (I don't remember) -- this introduced the "horrible genocidal future in which mutants are interred in camps and/or hunted down by hunter-killer robots" meme which has periodically dominated the X-titles, and the original storyline dealing with that future is still probably the best.

4) The Mutant Massacre, which was the first big crossover storyline among the X-titles but also the best (and maybe the only good one).

5) Ask Dan for post-Mutant Massacre recommendations

A) The Dark Phoenix Saga TPB (Uncanny X-Men #129-137; starts in medias res, in a way, but hits the ground running with the good stuff, and I think there's enough of a preamble in the story to let you get your feet sufficiently wet before diving in) (there's also a trade paperback that collects the issues directly following this arc - #138-#143 - which features the wowie-zowie "Days of Future Past" 2-parter) (both Days of Future Past & Dark Phoenix have been rejiggered for the cartoon, yes?)

B) Astonishing X-Men: Gifted TPB (1st 6 issues of this recently launched series; Joss Whedon & John Cassaday give their respects to the Dark-Phoenix era X-group - their camraderie, their chemistry, their conflicts - while pushing things forward from where Grant Morrison jumped ship; plenty of stuff to enjoy for fanboys, as well as folks whose curiosities were piqued by the TV show & especially the movies) (this isn't out yet, but will be in a few months) (January 2005, according to Amazon)

C) New X-Men - Volume 1: E is for Extinction & Volume 2: Imperial (Grant Morrison's reimagineering of the X-Men, showing a healthy DISrespect for precendents; features Sentinels, interplanetary shenanigans, psychic warfare, and all sorts of other cool bits that tap into the strengths of the X-franchise while simultaneously blowing the doors off the joint; slightly more "mature", in terms of character interaction & plot goings-on & respecting the reader's brainpan, than what's happened before, which might be your speed if you're turned off by the awkward seriousness of super-hero books) (also intermittently features the gorgeous art of Frank Quitely) (note: there are SEVEN New X-Men volumes collecting Grant Morrison's run; if you like these two, you should get the other 5 AND READ THEM IN ORDER)

D) Essential X-Men: Volumes #1 and #2 (B/W mondo-sized cheaply-priced collections of the beginning of the X-Men team everyone knows & loves - starts w/ Giant Sized X-Men #1, goes into X-Men #94, and zooms off from there; kind of dicey going at first, but enjoyable in a quaint way, and then John Byrne hops on board w/ issue #108 to take the X-folk up into the lofty climes where they currently reside; Volume #1 covers Giant-Sized X-Men #1, and X-Men #94-119; Volume #2 goes from #120-144, including the Dark Phoenix / Days of Future Past stuff I mentioned at the start)

Or what everyone else said while I was typing this. FWIW, I think you can get what you need from the X-Men through my little walk-through and be content knowing you're not missing much otherwise.

The other night I found the collected issues of the Magneto War from 1999, I don't think I ever read those issues.

Is thers a TPB of "Inferno?" I have a sadistic urge to read it, as I don't have the complete run of issues.

As a general rule avoid the mid to late 1990's, and Mr Sinister & Stryfe.

Fuck that gay shit.

SLAM #1 (of 42)
Brian Michael Bendis / Mark Millar (W)
(from a plot by Saul Williams & El-P)
Roger Cruz (Layouts)
Michael Lark (Finishes)

Down on the street, in the HEARTS and MINDS of teenagers, where BULLETS and BOMBS do no harm, a WAR is waged ... a war of WORDS!

BEAT versus RAP! BERNARD versus STREET POET RAY! ALLEN GINSBERG versus EMINEM! Turn on! Lean back! Step up! Lose yourself! MOSH!You'll see the best minds of your generation ... SPITTING HOT FIRE!

Read all the Astonishing X-men, and the first trade by Morrison, enjoyed them both so far.

That said, if you want recommendations, read the Cockrum/Byrne/Smith/JRJR illustrated, Claremont written UNCANNY X-MEN. Stop at #200. Just stop there. It's the only way to be sure. Okay, maybe stick it through the Lee/Silvestri era, but stop after that. If you don't, you've only got yourself to blame.

You can read X-FACTOR, but stop after the Simonson team stops. And for the love of all that's holy, don't read any X-MEN (aka NEW X-MEN) until Morrison steps on. Just don't.

Peter Milligan has written some really great issues in his current run too. His X-Force/X-Statix is superlative as well, and probably a better starting point for some people than many comics that actually bear the title X-Men.

SO SO SO SO TRUE

But hey, everyone's likely to have a different opinion on this stuff.

In truth, though, there's no good "starting point" for this stuff anymore. Which is one of the big problems with continuing the audiences for these books.

But that could be intentional too, since it's pretty obvious now that most any changes made to the characters since the end of the original Claremont run can be wiped from the canon within a few months of your departure, or killed off at the whim of some third-string writer. (Poor Maggott!)

Not really, it just means there's a lot of different places to jump on, with variations on the characters and themes to suit different tastes.

Astonishing X-Men reads very nicely, but it's almost entirely devoid of new ideas and meaningful events.

The whole mutability of the canon thing is another thing that's both totally wonderful and utterly tragic, with regards to superhero comics in general. Thing is, these books live and die on the characters (or in the case of X-Men, a handful of core characters) and not the creators. I'm of the opposite case now, where I'm much more likely to stop reading a book once creators I dislike or am indifferent to step on (unless they wow me out of the gate.)

One of the other big problems, is you can't sell new comics on the basis of one strong single issue. You have to get folks a trade to get a feeling of anything resembling a complete story.

Oh, drat. I've derailed the thread. I'll stop now.

Oh, I agree with this, inasmuch as a lot of people loved it for the Morrison-ness of it rather it being a really amazing X-Men run.

I'm at the other end of you, Matt - I'm more fascinated by the longterm life of the X-Men canon/franchise than anything else. NXM is by far my favorite, but it's not the only X-Men that I really like a lot. Sometimes I buy X-Men comics on a whim just to get a fix. That's how I got into Brian K Vaughan's Ultimate X-Men run, and it's how I randomly purchased the most recent issue of Uncanny X-Men with Rachel Grey on the cover. (It's a solid, entertaining issue, one of the best Claremont comics I've read in ages.) Keep in mind that I've been following this stuff since I was six years old.

I've been following X-MEN of various stripes since I was 12, starting in 1980 or so, so my view may somehow be jaundiced by the passing of time.

Yet we can agree on the awesomeness of Morrison's X-run. Yes, let's do that.

I'm not so sure about this. He has a completely different cast, and it's set in the Mutants = Superstars started by Morrison (and ended.. last month?) which isn't really representative of "The X-Men". As it turns out :(

Of course, a couple years later my neighbor who had rental property had some renter leave several boxes of comics behind when skipping town. I think they had pretty much every UXM comic from the Dark Phoenix saga through issue #250 or so. And pretty much all of New Mutants and a bunch of other things from that period.