Forget about continuity, universes, timelines, etc; it's all very confusing, even to creators/fans. The best way to jump in is to just start reading.

How much time do you have for comics? The answer determines how expansive recommendations are. Regardless, don’t try to read everything. First appearances & early origins are not always good starting points—older comics can be an acquired taste for modern audiences. Remember, there are so many other great characters/stories/publishers to explore (and not all comics are about superheroes).

Think about your favorite stories from other media. What you might like to read in a comic? Are you more interested in good storytelling or becoming a Marvel knowledge nerd?

Creative teams change often and characters get re-worked e.g. I never cared for Hawkeye until Matt Fraction’s run. Focus on well-received and relatively self-contained stories. Pick an interesting character/team and seek their “greatest hits”. You may encounter the occasional unexplained reference/character/event—just ride along (Wiki if necessary).

Marvel Unlimited / Comixology for digital. instocktrades for physical (US). ISBNS for price aggregate.

Modern Marvel characters/teams:

Title | Writer | Note
---|---|---
Alias (Jessica Jones) | Bendis
Ultimates 1 & 2 (Avengers) | Mark Millar | Ultimate
Avengers / New Avengers | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 2
Captain America | Ed Brubaker
Captain Marvel | Kelly Sue DeConnick
Daredevil (1979) | Frank Miller | Daredevil 1
Daredevil | Bendis | Daredevil 2
Doctor Strange: The Oath | Brian K. Vaughn
Fantastic Four / FF | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 1
Hawkeye | Matt Fraction
Immortal Iron Fist | Brubaker & Fraction
Inhumans | Paul Jenkins
Iron Man: Extremis | Warren Ellis | Iron Man 1
Invincible Iron Man | Matt Fraction | Iron Man 2
Marvels (Marvel History) | Kurt Busiek
Moon Knight | Warren Ellis
Ms. Marvel | G. Willow Wilson
Planet Hulk | Greg Pack | Hulk 1
Punisher Max | Garth Ennis
Thor | Jason Aaron
Ultimate Spider-man | Bendis | Ultimate
Vision | Tom King
New X-Men | Grant Morrison | X-Men 1
Astonishing X-Men | Joss Whedon | X-Men 2
Uncanny X-Force | Rick Remender | X-Men 6

Events/crossovers can be fun and/or tedious. They are most appreciated by readers well-versed in relevant continuity. Generally, the best non-event comics integrate these seamlessly or avoid them entirely (notwithstanding editorial/executive mandates). Regardless, you may want to familiarize with major plot points.

Modern Marvel events/crossovers:

Title | Writer | Note
---|---|---
Avengers Disassembled | Bendis |
Secret War | Bendis |
House of M | Bendis | X-Men 2.5
Annihilation | Abnett, Lanning, Giffen | Cosmic
Civil War | Mark Millar |
World War Hulk | Greg Pak | Hulk 2
Annihilation: Conquest | Abnett, Lanning, Giffen | Cosmic
Messiah Complex | Brubaker, Kyle, Yost, et al. | X-Men 3
Secret Invasion | Bendis | Dark Reign
War of Kings | Abnett, Lanning, et al. | Cosmic
Messiah War | Kyle, Yost, Swierczynski | X-Men 4
Dark Avengers / Utopia | Bendis, Fraction, et al. | Dark Reign
Siege | Bendis | Dark Reign
Realm of Kings | Abnett, Lanning, Reed | Cosmic
Second Coming | Kyle, Yost, Fraction, et al. | X-Men 5
Fear Itself | Matt Fraction |
Schism | Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen | X-Men 7
Avengers vs. X-Men | Bendis, Brubaker, et al. | X-Men 8
Infinity | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 2.5
Secret Wars | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 3

Discover your preferences and let them inform your next comic selection. Do you like older/newer comics? Weird concepts? Super-smart meta-analysis and social commentary? Family-friendly content? Hyper-violence? Male/female protagonists? Humor? Horror? Have you noticed that a specific artist, writer, and/or creative team consistently produces content you like? Follow these instincts.

Suggestions to improve the list are welcome.

There are a few different places you can start:

If you HAVE to start from the beginning just read the first 24 issues, you can then skip over to Claremont's era

My recommendation would be to either start with Chris Claremont's 1st era (aka 70's) & 2nd era (aka 80's) on Uncanny X-Men or from 2001-ish (aka modern X-Men) time period onwards onwards. Either way just skip the 90s for now, you can alway go back to that later.

• Claremont's first era (70s): You can buy them HERE and HERE
  
  
• Claremont's second era (80's): You can buy them HERE and HERE
  
  If you want to start with Modern X-Men...
  
  
• ...you can start with Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men which you can buy HERE
  
  
• Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men start's right where Morrison's New X-Men leaves off and you can buy that HERE and HERE
  
  From there you can get caught up pretty easily if you follow this list in order:
  
  
• House of M (buy here)
  
• Messiah Complex (buy here)
  
• Second Coming(buy here)
  
• Schism (buy here)
  
• Avengers Vs X-Men (buy here)
  
  From there I would move on to the current All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men titles:
  
  
• Read all of All-New X-Men (pre Battle of the Atom Crossover) Buy here: VOL 1 & VOL 2 / VOL 3
  
• Read all of Uncanny X-Men (pre Battle of the Atom Crossover) Buy Here: VOL 1 / VOL 2
  
• Read Battle of the atom crossover (buy here)
  
• Catch up with All-New X-Men VOL 4 / TRIAL OF JEAN GREY / VOL 5
  
• Catch up with Uncanny X-Men VOL 3 / VOL 4
  
  Great, now you're all caught up!
  
  PS, the great thing about X-Men is there is a ton of content to explore aside from the main storyline!
  
  
• X-Statix (buy here)
  
• Uncanny X-Force (buy here)
  
• X-Factor (starts with these two: HERE and HERE)
  
• Cable & Deadpool (buy here)
  
• Wolverine & The X-Men (buy here)
  
• Ultimate X-Men (start HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE)
  
  
  ...and much more!
  
  Happy reading! :)

For the overall story of the Marvel Universe, post-Civil War:

• Mighty Avengers, Vol. 1
  
• Feel free to pick up New Avengers, Vol. 1-2. They're pre-Civil War.
  
• New Avengers, Vol. 3
  
• New Avengers, Vol. 4
  
• Civil War: Captain America Read at least this, if not Brubaker's entire run.
  
  Then we lead into Secret Invasion:
  
  
• Thunderbolts by Ellis & Deodato
  
• Secret Invasion
  
• Mighty Avengers, Vol. 2
  
• New Avengers, Vol. 5
  
  Which leads into the new status quo--Dark Reign:
  
  
• New Avengers, Vol. 6
  
• Dark Avengers
  
• Siege
  
  The new era is called The Heroic Age. Most books did their own thing for a while, and then:
  
  
• Fear Itself
  
  The next major event spun out of events going on in the X-Men books from about 2005 forward. As a huge X-Nerd, I'm in no position to judge how readable it is for anyone not very familiar with the X-Books at the time. If you want, I can give you an essential reading list.
  
  
• Avengers vs X-Men
  
• Age of Ultron
  
  Similar to AvX, the next event comes out of the stuff going on in the Avengers books by Jonathan Hickman.
  
  
• Infinity
  
• Original Sin
  
  Again, an event comes out of another book--Remender's UNCANNY AVENGERS:
  
  
• Uncanny Avengers
  
• Axis
  
  
  

For Marvel Comics

How to Get Into Comic Books (13:40) | Patrick Willems

Consider your intent/commitment. Think about your favorite stories/characters from TV, movies, games, books, etc. Do you seek quality storytelling or encyclopedic Marvel knowledge? Plan to collect? What time/resources are available i.e. how many comics could/should be read before burning out?

Don’t try to read everything—there’s too much. Forget about “catching up”, continuity, universes, and timelines; it's all very confusing, even to creators/fans. Older comics can be an acquired taste for modern audiences, so first appearances/early origins may not be the best starting points. Creative teams change often, characters get re-worked, and origins are re-told (e.g. I never cared for Hawkeye until Matt Fractions’ run).

Pick an interesting character/team and seek their “greatest hits”. Don’t get stuck “preparing”, just start reading. Focus on well-received, relatively self-contained, and complete stories. You may encounter the occasional unexplained reference/character/event—just ride along (Wiki if necessary). Remember, there are so many other great characters and publishers to explore, and not all comics are about superheroes.

Where to buy (US):

• Digital: Marvel Unlimited, Comixology, e-library (e.g. Hoopla - free), webcomics (free)
  
• Print (collected editions): instocktrades, ISBNS, library (free)
  
• Print (singles): midtowncomics, mycomicshop, DCBS
  
  Modern Marvel characters/teams:
  
  
• Alias (Jessica Jones) | Brian Michael Bendis
  
• Avengers | Kurt Busiek
  
• The Ultimates 1-2 (Avengers) | Mark Millar
  
• New Avengers | Brian Michael Bendis
  
• Avengers / New Avengers | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 2
  
• Black Panther | Christopher Priest
  
• Captain America | Ed Brubaker
  
• Captain Marvel | Kelly Sue DeConnick
  
• Daredevil | Brian Michael Bendis
  
• Daredevil | Ed Brubaker
  
• Daredevil | Mark Waid
  
• Deadpool | Joe Kelly
  
• Doctor Strange: The Oath | Brian K. Vaughan
  
• Fantastic Four / FF | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 1
  
• Guardians of the Galaxy | Abnett, Lanning, Giffen, et al. | Cosmic
  
• Hawkeye | Matt Fraction
  
• Immortal Iron Fist | Brubaker & Fraction
  
• Inhumans | Paul Jenkins
  
• Iron Man: Extremis | Warren Ellis
  
• Invincible Iron Man | Matt Fraction
  
• Marvels | Kurt Busiek
  
• Moon Knight | Warren Ellis
  
• Ms. Marvel | G. Willow Wilson
  
• Planet Hulk | Greg Pack | Hulk 1
  
• Punisher Max | Garth Ennis
  
• Thor | Jason Aaron
  
• Ultimate Spider-man | Brian Michael Bendis
  
• Vision | Tom King
  
• New X-Men | Grant Morrison | X-Men 1
  
• Astonishing X-Men | Joss Whedon | X-Men 2
  
• Uncanny X-Force | Rick Remender | X-Men 6
  
  /r/Marvel sidebar for more info.
  
  Events/crossovers can be fun and/or tedious. They are most appreciated by readers well-versed in relevant continuity. Generally, the best non-event comics integrate these seamlessly or avoid them entirely (notwithstanding editorial/executive mandates). Regardless, you may want to familiarize with major plot points.
  
  Modern Marvel events/crossovers:
  
  
• Avengers Disassembled | Brian Michael Bendis
  
• Secret War | Brian Michael Bendis
  
• House of M | Brian Michael Bendis | X-Men 2.5
  
• Annihilation | Abnett, Lanning, Giffen | Cosmic 1
  
• Civil War | Mark Millar
  
• World War Hulk | Greg Pak | Hulk 2
  
• Annihilation: Conquest | Abnett, Lanning, Giffen | Cosmic 2
  
• Messiah Complex | Brubaker, Kyle, Yost, et al. | X-Men 3
  
• Secret Invasion | Brian Michael Bendis | Dark Reign 1
  
• War of Kings | Abnett, Lanning, et al. | Cosmic 3
  
• Messiah War | Kyle, Yost, Swierczynski | X-Men 4
  
• Dark Avengers / Utopia | Bendis, Fraction, et al. | Dark Reign 2
  
• Siege | Brian Michael Bendis | Dark Reign 3
  
• Realm of Kings | Abnett, Lanning, Reed | Cosmic 4
  
• Second Coming | Kyle, Yost, Fraction, et al. | X-Men 5
  
• Fear Itself | Matt Fraction
  
• Schism | Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen | X-Men 7
  
• Avengers vs. X-Men | Bendis, Brubaker, et al. | X-Men 8
  
• Infinity | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 2.5
  
• Secret Wars | Jonathan Hickman | Hickman 3
  
  Discover your preferences and let them guide you. Do you like: old/new comics? Specific genres? Literary/natural narratives? Cartoony/realistic art? Familiar/weird concepts? References/self-contained? Social/political commentary? Family-friendly/explicit content? Optimism/pessimism? Have you noticed that a specific artist/writer consistently makes comics you like? Follow these instincts.
  
  Suggestions to improve this guide are welcome.
  

Jean Grey died in New X-Men vol. 1 #150, the end of the Planet X story arc, back in 2004.

Professor X died in Avengers vs. X-Men #11 in 2012.

You can read both of those series on Marvel Unlimited. You can read about Jean's death in New X-Men by Grant Morrison vol. 3 and you can read about Professor X's death and Cyclops' fall in Avengers vs. X-Men.

X-Men!

Go to you library and see if they have these (if they don't, get the ISBN numbers from their Amazon page and give those to your librarian. They can get the books on inter-library loan).

The list covers stories from 2001 onward (in order) ;)

• New X-Men by Grant Morrison Ultimate Collection Vol 1, Vol 2, & Vol 3
  
• Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon Ultimate Collection Vol 1 & Vol 2
  
• House of M
  
• Messiah Complex, Messiah War, & Second Coming
  
• Avengers vs. X-Men
  
• All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis Vol 1, Vol 2, & Vol 3
  
• Battle of the Atom
  
• All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis Vol 4
  
• All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey
  
• All-New X-Men by Brian Micahel Bendis Vol 5, Vol 6, & Vol 7
  
• Extraordinary X-Men Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3
  
• Death of X
  
• Inhumans vs. X-Men
  
  Any of the first six bullet points would be good starting points, and then after that Extraordinary X-Men would be the starting point nearest to the current comics.
  
  Or, if you don't want a bunch of back issues check out current issues of X-Men Gold and X-Men Blue!

If you like TPBs you can get this and this and it covers everything.

I know that you can get the arc on Comixology for $40.00 USD. I've found unless you are really into a character the companions are not necessary. On Amazon what you would look for is "Avengers vs. X-men issues #0-12" http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-X-Men-Brian-Michael-Bendis/dp/0785163182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393771845&sr=8-1&keywords=avengers+vs+x-men

Sorry about the long link. It's been awhile since I've linked and don't remember how to

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

Alias (Jessica Jones)

Avengers

The Ultimates 1-2 (Avengers)

New Avengers

Avengers

New Avengers

Black Panther

Captain America

Captain Marvel

Daredevil

Daredevil

Daredevil

Deadpool

Doctor Strange: The Oath

Fantastic Four / FF

Guardians of the Galaxy

Hawkeye

Immortal Iron Fist

Inhumans

Iron Man: Extremis

Invincible Iron Man

Marvels

Moon Knight

Ms. Marvel

Planet Hulk

Punisher Max

Thor

Ultimate Spider-man

Vision

New X-Men

Astonishing X-Men

Uncanny X-Force

Avengers Disassembled

Secret War

House of M

Annihilation

Civil War

World War Hulk

Annihilation: Conquest

Messiah Complex

Secret Invasion

War

Kings

Messiah War

Dark Avengers

Utopia

Siege

Realm of Kings

Second Coming

Fear Itself

Schism

Avengers vs. X-Men

Infinity

Secret Wars

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

Does this collection give me this general arc and includes these specific issues? this sounds awesome.

I also see there is another volume AvX: Consequences. Just curious

*link format

I highly recommend the Avengers vs. X-Men miniseries! Some might say it's mediocre-ish but I loved it.

Here's an Amazon link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-X-Men-Brian-Michael-Bendis/dp/0785163182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411593162&sr=8-1&keywords=avengers+vs+xmen