What was your first X-comic?

[Jindianajonz]

I was listening to a podcast today where a guest said he joined X-men at an unusual time- specifically, the second issue of the original Genosha arc. Aside from entering the second part of a multi-part story, this was a very tumultuous time for the X-men, with Claremont's entire run arguably culminating in Inferno a few issues later, followed by some one off adventures before the team falls apart. The hosts argued that this wasn't too bad, though, as Claremont took special care to make sure anybody jumping into comics for the first time would have some sort of background written in to acclimate themselves.

My experience was just as odd. I had started buying comics at the local grocery store a couple months earlier, typically What If issues (I think Punisher joining Shield or Captain America getting revived today were my first comics). But somehow, X-men called to me across the shelves, and I dove in with.... Uncanny X-men 309. Yes, the issue where Xavier dreams and remembers his past with Amelia Vought. Not a bad issue, but certainly not the thing you'd expect to catch the attention of a 10 year old kid. Somehow I endured, and collected issues intermittently until the Phalanx Covenant introduced me to the wider X-Universe. And with Age of Apocalypse a few months later, I was hooked.

So how did you get into X-titles?

[Spectral Knight]

My first X-title was Essential X-Men Vol.1 Issue.1 (UK series) bought in Smith's for the car journey read up to Butlin's during the October half term.* This reprinted UXM #300, #301, #104 and CXM #12 BUT I'd already been introduced to the X-Men a couple of years earlier with TAS. (And actually had also watched episodes of Spidey and his Amazing Friends with Iceman and Firestar even before then...!!)

Oddly my very first comic with an "appearance" (in the loosest sense of the word) of the X-Men was between TAS and Essential #1, and it was a Spidey comic - Exploits of Spiderman Issue 8 (I think...) which had a cover promotion of a free X-Men poster within. I was into Spidey already at that age, but as an excitable 7 year old who'd found his perfect TV show not long before, I was dead pumped to see what the pin-up of Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue and the rest would look like. Little did I know they'd lured me in with promises of glory that were to be unfulfilled. It was a butt-ugly Kirby pin up of the O5. I was genuinely like "who are there people?". Sure I recognised Cyclops, but Beast without the blue fur? Jean in a mask? Angel being boring. Eugh.
So when Essential came out even though it was just after Claremont left it at least looked like the team I was watching every Saturday morning...!

*Has there ever been a more British sentence typed on here?

[AntiBody]

I can't quite remember because I got these in very quick succession of each other, if not at the same time, but mine was either Uncanny #298 or #300 (the prism variant, naturally).

I'd seen TAS and was intrigued, and my dad, rightly sensing that comics had fiercely piqued me, got me those two issues, Warlock and The Infinity Watch #1, and Ghost Rider #25. It absolutely set the tone for me: X-Men, cosmic, and...whatever else lol.

Those issues of Uncanny were fantastic though - I was enraptured. Terrific jumping-on points. I was 11 or 12 then, and I didn't quite know at the time but could tell on some level that this was the start of something major. Here I am, about 30 years later, taking on a personal mission of chronologically reading as many X-Books as I can get my hands on lol. Both of these issues are collected in a Fatal Attractions trade and I'm simply thrilled to read them again when the time comes!!

[Tessa1984]

X-Men (Vol. 2) #16 somehow ended up in my hands. This coincided with the release of TAS, I believe. I decided I wanted to become a comic book collector, found a local shop, and purchased a X-Men (Vol. 2) #1 back issue. I just HAD to read it in published order -- never mind the fact that there was 30 previous years of continuity at that point.

[das_boot]

Mine was the Jim Lee X-Men #1 (collected and reprinted in a UK published comic including the comic version of the animated series)

I had no idea who Psylocke was so assumed she was Jean Grey but with purple hair and somehow a ninja in the comics. I was about 9 at the time, don’t judge me.

Kept collecting the omnibus SK mentioned through Age of Apocalypse and up to Onslaught. Fell out of love with the comics around Onslaught and started reading again with Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men/Claremont’s X-Treme.

[Magnus]

For the 616, either X-Men (1991) #1 or #19 - I have both issues, got them when I was a kid around the time they came out, but not sure in which order - might've been very similar to Tessa!

I also got the entire first volume of X-Men Adventures (the comics based off the cartoon), and a couple issues of the second volume, and then the entire volume of "Adventures of the X-Men" in '96-97. I think my dad bought them for me, and given that I was 6 at the time, might've been why he mostly stuck with the TV show ones... I remember being both confused and intrigued by how different #19 was, so that one may have been a mistake. Some nice spreads of Colossus and Psylocke in there though.

I didn't really start collecting the mainline titles until a few years later, right around "Revolution" (UXM # 381 and X-Men #100), though I did pick up a few random issues right before that (I have an issue of The Twelve and a couple of the Ages of Apocalypse right after). Pretty much been collecting steadily since.

[grief]

The first comic that I ever purchased (teamed up with little brother to get it) was Cable #20, his Phalanx Covenant tie-in. That prismatic foil stripe going down the right side of the cover, the wrap-around image, Cyclops, Jean Grey, AND Wolverine featuring in it? My first exposure to the X-Men was probably the Animated Series, so this was like the Holy X-Trinity PLUS whoever this Cable guy was! What a deal!

The first comic I bought myself was Bishop #4, from his mini-series. That foil cover title font, Pacheco's beautiful pencils, Mountjoy absorbing Archangel, Gambit, and Psylocke - so cool.

And then I bought Uncanny X-Men #322 - and stayed with Uncanny ever since. The only time I've dropped it was during Bendis' run, and after a few years I even got that.

[tokenBG1009]

I was given a random comic from... somewhere. I don't know how I got it. I don't know if it showed up in the mail. It was just there.

I didn't remember what issue it was but I remembered the cover so I had to go digging because I sure as fuck don't remeber what happened in the issue itself

If was Uncanny X-Men 347. Trial of Gambit Part 3. I didn't read another physical book until late X-Treme X-Men.

[Blackcyclops]

So the very first comic book I ever read was some Spectacular Spider-man #155 or 156, I forget. I just casually came across it in the local grocery store. I immediately fell in love with Spider-man, and for a while be was all I asked for.

But then like in early ‘90, I actually went to a comic book store with my granddad and I picked up a back issue of Uncanny, #240. The cover with Sinister and the demons and Maddy…it actually scared me a little.

The first comic I bought with my own money? X-Men #1. I knew it was just different.

[WorldWideWade]

Came into comics a bit late in High School and no joke started buying them as an excuse to spend more time at the shop where I played Yu-Gi-Oh the trading card game. I decided to buy Xtreme X-men 31 because Rogue and Gambit were on the cover and they were cool in TAS. Though to be honest I was more familiar with X-Men Evolution and the movies at that point.

I quickly started collecting back issues of Xtreme and Austen Uncanny Xmen as well as the Essential TPBs of Claremont's run. Also got into Exiles, Xstatix, and Academy X. I was full blown addicted and buying way too much around House of M through Civil War. Learned my lesson that not every comic in a crossover is a must buy.

However the first comics I got into were probably the Ultimate Spider-man TPBs they had at my school library. The Ultimate line legitimately brought me in as a new reader.

[Juggernaut]

My first comic was Xforce #3. Bought it at a yard sale. Saw Spider-Man on the front and said for a $.25 why not. TAS was my intro into mainline X-men, but I’ll always remember xforce for introducing me to the juggernaut who remains my favorite to this day.

[Snowbrigade]

My first X-men comic was an issue of the Swedish X-men comic from around 2000 which didn’t contain any X-men comics at all but a couple of wolverine issues from the time when he was replaced by a skrull. I was so confused but my parents had forced me into a subscription (I was 10 and I guess they wanted me to read something) so I was in for the ride when the following issues contained the twelve saga, beginning of revolution (in Sweden they only published the first half of the claremont issues and then moved on to) eve of destruction and new X-men.

My only knowledge of the X-men came from TAS and I was confused by all of the new characters and their history. I remember the issue from ages of apocalypse where everyone is in an illusion of X-men 1 and Jean grey arrives at the mansion and is greeted by the first X-men including Storm and Gambit. I totally failed to grasp that they were not part of the original team as it made as much sense as anyone else from X-men TAS

[Blackcyclops]

I had been buying old Marvel Handbooks from my LCBS, so when I started watching the TAS, I felt all smart because I knew all the cameo characters lol…for a brief time I was my local Monolith,

[Anna Raven]

I don't know if this counts, but this was definitely my first "X-Men comic".

https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-enterta ... -of-texas/

Basically it was like an "ashcan floppy" insert that ran in the Dallas Morning News in 1983. I remember being instantly captivated by the characters, especially Nightcrawler.

As far as the first "real" X-Men comic, I think I had an issue or two of the Mutant Massacre, but I don't remember which ones exactly. After that, it was probably years before I got another X-Men comic, probably not until a Jim Lee issue, maybe the one with Rogue in her Savage Land outfit.

[EphemeristX]

My first X-Comic was two. Uncanny X-Men 186: Life-Death and Rom Annual #3. Though not an X-Comic, the issue co-starred the New Mutants and featured the Dire Wraiths, creatures who also featured in UXM 186.

I'd inherited a bunch of random comics as a kid. Most of it was DC or horror comics, but there were a few Marvels in the mix. Those two were two of them. I had no idea who any of these characters were, but I found the stories so engrossing (being a horror fan, the Dire Wraiths were very intriguing), that I pored over them again and again. Funnily, I thought the wraiths were a much bigger problem for the X-Men than they ended up being when I started reading them properly a decade later.

[northy33]

I think it was X-Men # 15 and Uncanny # 294 togehter - I was never so immediatly 'fixed' to an idea. It was - more or less - the start ot X-Cutioner's Song and I liked it hard. Started to buy from then on - and tried to get older stuff in collections. Still not stopped this way. Wow - I'm old.

[Flapflop]

Mine was the Dutch X-men translation (X-mannen) issue #100 special wich collected Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #256-260 (post Siege Perilous with the Wolverine/Jubilee/Psylocke Lady Mandarin story, Colossus thinking he was painter and memory lossed Dazzler becoming a movie star). So Claremont with Lee and Silvestri, that's my X-men baptising. Combined with the Animated series that was running on TV at the same time.

In the Netherlands Juniorpress bundled more issues into one, typical 2, but sometimes they were bigger and called a Special. This one was a bigger because it was #100. To make it les obvious, for X-men 2nd series they made a new series that was bigger anyway and they were all just called X-men Special from the get go (X-mannen Special).

From then one i went reading and collecting (also backwards) issues at fairs and 2nd hand stores. As a teenager i didn't had thart much of money. I stopped and started losing interest in reading and collecting after Fatal Attractions. Didn't had all in Dutch by then but a lot, especially the bigger stories from Claremont.

From 2008 on i had a steady job and found my love for X-men again and started to read als more modern ones and read and convert everything and more that i didn't have into English. I started with Essentials and single-issues but found out the best way, also how it looks on my shelves, is Omni's, OHC, HC or trades.

By now I have and (re)read everything (exept UXM omnibus vol 5, but thats coming this year) from X-men from #1 1963 (and also #1 2nd series from 1991) until after AoA in Omnibus or OHC. Everything from that till after Avengers vs X-men in trades, OHC or omni. And almost everything after that till after Hickmans Inferno as well.

But I also still got all my Dutch issues

[das_boot]

My first X-Comic was two. Uncanny X-Men 186: Life-Death and Rom Annual #3. Though not an X-Comic, the issue co-starred the New Mutants and featured the Dire Wraiths, creatures who also featured in UXM 186.

I'd inherited a bunch of random comics as a kid. Most of it was DC or horror comics, but there were a few Marvels in the mix. Those two were two of them. I had no idea who any of these characters were, but I found the stories so engrossing (being a horror fan, the Dire Wraiths were very intriguing), that I pored over them again and again. Funnily, I thought the wraiths were a much bigger problem for the X-Men than they ended up being when I started reading them properly a decade later.

I feel like knowing this information about you explains a LOT about you as a forum user, especially the horror comics aspect.

[EphemeristX]

My first X-Comic was two. Uncanny X-Men 186: Life-Death and Rom Annual #3. Though not an X-Comic, the issue co-starred the New Mutants and featured the Dire Wraiths, creatures who also featured in UXM 186.

I'd inherited a bunch of random comics as a kid. Most of it was DC or horror comics, but there were a few Marvels in the mix. Those two were two of them. I had no idea who any of these characters were, but I found the stories so engrossing (being a horror fan, the Dire Wraiths were very intriguing), that I pored over them again and again. Funnily, I thought the wraiths were a much bigger problem for the X-Men than they ended up being when I started reading them properly a decade later.

I feel like knowing this information about you explains a LOT about you as a forum user, especially the horror comics aspect.

Outside of the fact that I'm a horror gay (I was born that way, obvs), Life-Death was such a poignant, adult, gritty sort of self-contained story that it captured my mind. Who was this woman and this man in this penthouse? Who were these women who hated eachother but were also trying to survive these monsters? The DC books of the time were so colorful and even jubilant in their celebration of superheroics, but the X-Men? It was something different entirely. I've been in love with Storm and Rogue since I was six.

[Holland Oates]

Unus the Untouchable’s first appearance

[Red Strings]

Weirdly enough, my first issue I ever remember buying was also from Essential X-Men monthly collection - it was Essential X-Men #78. It was the ones that used to sell (maybe still do?) in corner shops.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_X-Men_Vol_1_78

a reprint of X-Men #81 and a couple issues from the Hunter for Xavier arc from uncanny #362 - onwards.

I remember buying it and I remember the first page was Nightcrawler trying to get Marrow to join in a training exercise in the Danger Room. I read the first page, convinced my Dad to buy me it and read it cover to cover and I was OBSSESSED and bought every issue onwards until I discovered, like, a REAL comic book store and started collecting the monthlies.

Good times.

[Jindianajonz]

Weirdly enough, my first issue I ever remember buying was also from Essential X-Men monthly collection - it was Essential X-Men #78. It was the ones that used to sell (maybe still do?) in corner shops.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_X-Men_Vol_1_78

a reprint of X-Men #81 and a couple issues from the Hunter for Xavier arc from uncanny #362 - onwards.

I remember buying it and I remember the first page was Nightcrawler trying to get Marrow to join in a training exercise in the Danger Room. I read the first page, convinced my Dad to buy me it and read it cover to cover and I was OBSSESSED and bought every issue onwards until I discovered, like, a REAL comic book store and started collecting the monthlies.

Good times.

I had never heard of that series, so checked out that link. And I can't help but laugh at
strange green gaseous women figure - (First appearance)

[Spectral Knight]

Are you a Brit (or Irish) as well, Red Strings?

I don't think Essential is still published unfortunately, I think Panini changed a lot of their titles around as Covid hit. They're still publishing reprints just not the "original" titles of Essential X-Men / Astonishing Spider-Man.

Still, nearly 25 years worth of publishing is a hell of run.

[das_boot]

Yeah, Redstrings is a Brit too!

[Oldmanlogan79]

Annual 4. Spanish version. Read it in summer 1991. Felt instantly in love with everything.

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