For a franchise with its roots deeply implanted in the world of comic books, there are a plethora of other ways that one could discover the X-Men. I, for one, first fell in love with Marvel’s mutants through the still-excellent 90s cartoon. It’s fair to presume that many others were won over by the widly-popular live-action movies. Beyond that, you could have easily discovered them through many other means, such as their toys or appearances in video games. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if a large portion of X-Men fans have never experienced the source material.
Maybe you’re one of those people. Up until earlier this year, I was one of those people. Where the heck do you start? X-Men as a comic book franchise spans over 50 years, dozens of comic lines and probably thousands of characters. Furthermore, the franchise is well-known for being one of the most self-referential and convoluted, as characters travel through time, fall in and out of love with each other, or die and come back to life repeatedly. Even now, if you ask anyone reading the current X-Men comics if Jean Grey is alive, the answer you will get back will probably make your head spin.
I am by no means an expert, but I think I’ve read enough bits and pieces throughout their history to make some recommendations to new readers. This list of reading material presented in chronological order to give you context for where they all fit within the greater continuity. However, I don’t necessarily recommend reading X-Men that way for a number of reasons that I’ll explain as I go. For now, below is my list of 8 good places to start reading the X-Men!
In Third Person 