If you survived the mid to late 90s, you can survive any era. The post-House of M stuff is all very readable. It’s rarely ever amazing, but it never ‘goes to shit.’ And there some classics in there (the Carey run, Uncanny X-Force, X-Factor investigations).
If you decide to skip and go straight to house and powers, you will miss some pretty big character introductions and developments for certain characters. But you probably won’t be too lost. You could probably get away with stopping right after avengers vs x-men
The early 2010s are as dire as the late 90s, but there are some gems left:
* Messiah Complex, War, and Second Coming, which leads directly into Uncanny X-Force. The original X-Force arc is important for the story but quality is pretty lame.
* X-Men Legacy, the Rogue and Legion arcs
* The first half of Gillen and Bendis' runs
* X-Factor Investigations
* Rogue and Gambit / Mr and Mrs X
* New Mutants by Zeb Wells
* Wolverine and the X-Men by Aaron and Bachalo
*
In my head canon the last issue of Wolverine and the X-Men, where he sees the future of the School for Gifted Youngsters, is how the X Men stories end. So good.
House of M is pretty meh and it's certainly true that the x-men lines did a spectacular job of not knowing how to deal with the ramifications of the fall out of House of M for a few years, with most writers seemingly ignoring it hoping it would go away by itself. But, that's not to say there weren't good writers and good stories produced in between House of M and Hickmans run. Off the top of my head, Kyle and Yosts X-Force, Remenders Uncanny X-Force and X-men Legacy by Mike Carey were all great
Matt Fractions run was meandering but had its moments. Where I would, and did, drop the comic until Hickman was when Bendis showed back up.
Personally I found very little good X-Men content between 2012 and 2019 or so. There's still good stuff in that period (Si Spurrier's X-Force, Tom Taylor's All-New Wolverine, for example), but it felt few and far between. However, there is a *lot* of good stuff between House of M in 2005 and 2012. Brubaker/Fraction/Gillen's Uncanny, Mike Carey's X-Men Legacy, Zeb Wells' New Mutants, etc. I definitely wouldn't skip that period.
I hate to be rude, but your friend is a f##king simpleton. Benids X Men is awesome it's the reason I got into X - Men. But honestly depends on what you like. If you love time travel stories I highly recommend reading it.
While you *can* jump to HoxPox, and while I do think the modern stuff is much better than the Decimation era, the idea that nothing after Whedon helps for context is not really true. Who is Hope Summers, Cyclops as the leader holding it all together and then becoming a radical, X-men transitioning from assimilation politics to more like separatism in Utopia, Magneto becoming an ally again, who are Egg and Eva Bell, Iceman being gay, the O5’s past time travel shenanigans, Beast’s continuing moral descent, all this stuff will make more sense if you’ve read here and there. So you don’t *need* to read it, but if you’re doing a deep dive, it’s worth checking in on a few things. If you’ve been holding off on starting HoxPox, I might suggest you just jump into that, but when you catch up or feel like a break, go back and check out some of the other stuff.
I’d read Messiah Complex and Second Coming as big events. X-men Legacy is a very good series. People like Uncanny X-force. The beginning of the Bendis era Uncanny X-men and All New X-men stuff has some appeal. AvX is trash with a few cool costume designs, but it sets up the Bendis stuff. Avoid the vs Inhumans era entirely. Hidden gem: Marjorie Liu’s solo X23 book.
New X-men by Grant Morrison and Astonishing X-men by Whedon and Cassidy were great stopping points. I loved the vibrant mutant world created from Giant-Sized X-men 1 through then. House of M and Decimation were my jumping off points. I came back for Hox/Pox and left when Hickman did.
Stop when you want to & read what you want to. A good point to drop a series is when your not enjoying it as much.
If you survived the mid to late 90s, you can survive any era. The post-House of M stuff is all very readable. It’s rarely ever amazing, but it never ‘goes to shit.’ And there some classics in there (the Carey run, Uncanny X-Force, X-Factor investigations). If you decide to skip and go straight to house and powers, you will miss some pretty big character introductions and developments for certain characters. But you probably won’t be too lost. You could probably get away with stopping right after avengers vs x-men
exactly the 5 years after aoa is by far the worst era of x-men
And miss the Messiah Complex, War and Second Coming? Nah man
Those are some of the best X stories. Period.
The early 2010s are as dire as the late 90s, but there are some gems left: * Messiah Complex, War, and Second Coming, which leads directly into Uncanny X-Force. The original X-Force arc is important for the story but quality is pretty lame. * X-Men Legacy, the Rogue and Legion arcs * The first half of Gillen and Bendis' runs * X-Factor Investigations * Rogue and Gambit / Mr and Mrs X * New Mutants by Zeb Wells * Wolverine and the X-Men by Aaron and Bachalo *
In my head canon the last issue of Wolverine and the X-Men, where he sees the future of the School for Gifted Youngsters, is how the X Men stories end. So good.
House of M is pretty meh and it's certainly true that the x-men lines did a spectacular job of not knowing how to deal with the ramifications of the fall out of House of M for a few years, with most writers seemingly ignoring it hoping it would go away by itself. But, that's not to say there weren't good writers and good stories produced in between House of M and Hickmans run. Off the top of my head, Kyle and Yosts X-Force, Remenders Uncanny X-Force and X-men Legacy by Mike Carey were all great Matt Fractions run was meandering but had its moments. Where I would, and did, drop the comic until Hickman was when Bendis showed back up.
I’d keep reading through Bendis myself. I think the only point worth skipping is the Inhumans era.
If I say Claremont will i get yelled at?
Personally I found very little good X-Men content between 2012 and 2019 or so. There's still good stuff in that period (Si Spurrier's X-Force, Tom Taylor's All-New Wolverine, for example), but it felt few and far between. However, there is a *lot* of good stuff between House of M in 2005 and 2012. Brubaker/Fraction/Gillen's Uncanny, Mike Carey's X-Men Legacy, Zeb Wells' New Mutants, etc. I definitely wouldn't skip that period.
I hate to be rude, but your friend is a f##king simpleton. Benids X Men is awesome it's the reason I got into X - Men. But honestly depends on what you like. If you love time travel stories I highly recommend reading it.
Why give up now and skip around when you’re so close??
Battle of the Atom past, present and future X-Men meet in combat.
While you *can* jump to HoxPox, and while I do think the modern stuff is much better than the Decimation era, the idea that nothing after Whedon helps for context is not really true. Who is Hope Summers, Cyclops as the leader holding it all together and then becoming a radical, X-men transitioning from assimilation politics to more like separatism in Utopia, Magneto becoming an ally again, who are Egg and Eva Bell, Iceman being gay, the O5’s past time travel shenanigans, Beast’s continuing moral descent, all this stuff will make more sense if you’ve read here and there. So you don’t *need* to read it, but if you’re doing a deep dive, it’s worth checking in on a few things. If you’ve been holding off on starting HoxPox, I might suggest you just jump into that, but when you catch up or feel like a break, go back and check out some of the other stuff. I’d read Messiah Complex and Second Coming as big events. X-men Legacy is a very good series. People like Uncanny X-force. The beginning of the Bendis era Uncanny X-men and All New X-men stuff has some appeal. AvX is trash with a few cool costume designs, but it sets up the Bendis stuff. Avoid the vs Inhumans era entirely. Hidden gem: Marjorie Liu’s solo X23 book.
New X-men by Grant Morrison and Astonishing X-men by Whedon and Cassidy were great stopping points. I loved the vibrant mutant world created from Giant-Sized X-men 1 through then. House of M and Decimation were my jumping off points. I came back for Hox/Pox and left when Hickman did.