Whoa, what a journey! Just wanted to share with everyone my personal X-Men comic reading adventure. I wanted to get into comics over a year ago and I started searching of a way to do that here on Comic Vine. I found out about DCs New 52 and picked up some issues and really enjoyed the potential entertainment I could get out of it. But I wanted to try something Marvel, and I wanted to go for X-Men. Of course, I was completely lost on where to start so I thought to check Kijiji (a Canadian specific Craigslist) on what I can get from issue one.

X-Men (1991) was there from issue 1 to 200 at a great price of $150 (USD and Canadian dollars are about the same for anyone wondering). That is of course until I was rushed by the seller who had the issues unorganized and in person admitting there are some missing. I still bought them thinking there couldn't be that many missing of the 200 issues on September 26, 2011. I was bummed after a careful organizing that I had only 136 unique issues and some doubles. There were plenty of holes in the collection and I was still determined to fill all the gaps. Only after a couple of days I found another 26-230ish set at $150 (though I was able to bring that down to $100). This guy was really nice and legit. Full, organized set and he really rose my ambitions on getting the entire volume. I held 223 unique issues and had doubles on 124. Was able to sell them at a comic shop for practically nothing ($31) and by November 5, 2011 I had 250 unique issues at a total cost of $241.60. This can go on for a lot longer but I'll summarize. I kept informing myself and wanted more X-Men titles, got Astonishing X-Men, Age of Apocalypse Omnibus, X-23 (vol3), House of M 1-8 issues, Messiah Complex/War/Second Coming Hardcovers, Avengers vs. X-Men hardcover and all missing gaps of issues from a variety of sources. They were found in used book stores, regular book stores, comic stores, local conventions, Kijiji and Ebay. I would say the total costs for everything I have would probably amount around $600-$700.

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It's all worth it though. After I got settled into my new home, around November I began reading. Today I have read everything in this read order list I made for myself:

X-men 1-39

Age of Apocalypse

X-Men 42-113

New X-Men 114-156

Astonishing X-Men 1-6, X-Men 157-164

Astonishing X-Men 7-12, X-Men 165-174

House of M 1-8, X-Men 175-176

X-Men 177-181

Astonishing X-Men 13-18, X-Men 182-193

Astonishing X-Men 19-24 + Giant Size, X-Men 194-204

Messiah Complex

Astonishing X-Men 25-30, X-Men Legacy 208-218

Messiah War

Astonishing X-Men 31-35, X-Men Legacy 219-234

X-23 (v2) 1

Second Coming

X-23 (V3) 1-21

Astonishing X-Men 36-47, X-Men Legacy 238-265

Avengers vs. X-Men

Astonishing X-Men 48-55, X-Men Legacy 266-275

Astonishing X-Men 56, All-New X-Men 1-2, X-Men Legacy (v2) 1-2

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I wonder when I became such a fan? There were definitely some dry spots, but it was nothing compared to all the great 21 years worth of content I got to read in just about 1 year.

As for the present and future I will continue to get Astonishing X-Men, All-New X-Men, X-Men Legacy (v2) and MAYBE Uncanny X-Men (MarvelNow). I'm not wealthy or anything so the Uncanny X-Men is still up in the air.

If I had to mention the peak of enjoyment, it would have been during New X-Men, followed closely by Age of Apocalypse, Joss Whedon's Astonishing, House of M, Messiah trilogy. Just finishing All-New X-Men I get a glimpse of the X-Men from before my 21 years of content so I really feel like I have accomplished a lot and wanted to share that with you all.

Congratulations!

that sounds great

go hard or go home, as they say haha

Sweet list and awesome reading, I hate thinking about how much money I spend on paper :/

What were your favorite arcs?

Lucky. I would love to have all of those but I decided awhile ago that since I started reading late (not even 6 months ago) that instead of trying to go through all these back issues of Marvel and DC content, I would just start off where it is now with The New 52 and Marvel NOW. I have around 150 books right now and I'm still getting new ones every week. I also like starting off from these points because I like to start at the first issues.

@fodigg: Mutant Genesis was a great start. Fatal Attractions didn't seem such a big deal when I first read it, but it was an event that the volume kept referencing back to. Those kind of moments that have huge impacts I really enjoy. The Psylock arcs were pretty good (the whole double fiasco). Age of Apocalypse really transported me back to the 90s. Felt like a great epic action packed arc. All of New X-Men was great, it felt so refreshing after reading 100+ issues of the volume. House of M, again with the huge impacts I like, has had repercussions for the longest time. I'm not certain if current events have made that history or not. There was something I enjoyed about the SuperNovas arc, I don't know why but I certainly recall liking it. Though I can't remember the following arcs names, most of the ones that include Mr. Sinister were great. Like the time Xavier was tracking through his own memories and he discovered Sinister's "insurance" plans (Pretty sure it was Mike Carey who wrote those issues).

I know nobody asked but I wanna just mention that it wasn't all gum drops and lollipops of a reading, There were definitely some issues I absolutely dreaded reading. Anytime they bring up that dumb dimension in the mansion's backyard full of demons and is sealed up. Not a fan of "Evil Magneto" turned to the "softest gingerbread cookie you ever bit into Magneto". I agree that it is fine he became one of the X-Men, that made sense. Even the lovey-dovey stuff with Rogue was fine for a bit. But it didn't stop when it should have and just changed him as a result from why I used to liked him. Everything between Joss Whedon's and Marjorie Liu's Astonishing X-Men made me cringe. Liu has renewed a lot of my interest back into that series (thank goodness).

@G_Money_Christmas: There is one difference I can certainly tell you from experience of starting with number 1s. If I had to compare my New 52 series' which I started from New 52's first issues (also being my very first comics) and X-Men '91 series which I also have from the first issue, I would certainly be willing to say I am more of a fan of the X-Men series over the New 52 books. Basically the further back you go the more invested you are to that world and their stories. I understand that finding a huge lot can be more trouble than it is worth and a huge risk since you are not sure if you will like it or not, so I recommend (if you can't find a great seller for a huge set) find paperbacks of past popular arcs. No offense to the internet, but filling yourself in through the comics is the best. Though, watch out for spoilers, I had a real tough time trying not to read spoilers so i could have the best experience possible.

@emperium: So who would you say are your favorite X-Men after all of that reading?

@emperium: I haven't completely separated myself from all back-issues. I have X-Men (1991) #1 and a few more from that series (6-8 I think. They didn't have the others in between) and I would really like to get all of those because I found a seller who is selling them for $1 apiece. I've just gotten so invested in Marvel NOW and The New 52 (I've actually cut back quite a bit on how many New 52 books I read. I think I'm down to 6 now. It was double that at one point) that it pretty much takes up most of my comic book budget. and like I said, I like starting off at #1s. I do have more than one issue of X-Men #1, though because of all the variant covers. I really would like to have all the issues in that particular run, though. I really like it, plus, the cartoon from that era is based on some of the arcs from that series and it's one of my favorite shows.

@Blood1991: I probably have a really odd list of favourites (<- I'm Canadian, it's how we spell it) for the most part. I like Cannonball, Phoenix (Jean), Wolverine, Omega Sentinel, Magik, Legion (seems like David has so much potential, hopefully Marvel Now's Legacy shows it to us), X-23, Professor X, Rogue and Jubilee.

Awesome idea dude well done :D

@emperium: Nah your list is pretty normal for around here. Sam is awesome I love that guy "hoping Hickman does him justice in the Avengers".

I wish i was in your shoes. Im so ready to read AVX and the new stuff but im stuck still trying to catch up

@HAWK2916: It wasn't easy while I was reading either. I mean avoiding as many spoilers as I possibly can. Especially if you listen to the comic vine podcasts. I sometimes listen to it in my car during my drives to work, and when a discussion on say something live AvX is brought up I have no way of reaching my phone to fastforward, so what I did was just lower the volume until I heard them talking about something else. Then there are all the news articles on the site that kind of give away what is going on that sometimes ends up spoiling something. Then there are also wiki pages that I try to read on things I missed out on from my own readings and I scroll gently to make sure I haven't passed the story arcs I was on chronologically. If you're that anal about a great read run like I was, the only advice I can give is to tread very carefully online.

Wow Emperium. I admire your dedication, man.

I love X-Men comics, so I approve.