Uncanny X-Reading

I have a modest sized comic book collection: 2,253.  That may seem like a lot to those outside the comic collecting world, but I have a few friends in the community with more than they can count.  I've decided that I am going to reread the entire collection, and since 75% of those books are part of the X-Men cannon, I figured I should read them in order.

Peter Marinari created a great guide at Crushing Krisis.  He "examined every X-Men title ever published and put them in order – one story at a time – so you can read without switching books mid-story (or even mid-issue). The guide takes advantage of the breaks in stories created by Marvel’s own collected editions wherever possible and was built by referencing release dates, chronology guides, and Marvel’s own Official Indexes."  He did such an impressive job, that I will be following his lead.

Peter divided the X-Men history into "eras".  I am going to skip the first three eras reading all the issues I do have in a consolidated Era #0.5: Once Upon the X-Men later in my reading cycle.

Era #0: Before X-Men.  Stories occurring prior or parallel to X-Men #1 in September 1963.  I have only three limited series that tell stories from this flashback era with no interest of collecting any more (at least at the moment): Rise of Apocalypse, Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix and First X-Men. 

Era #1: Original X-Men.  Stories occurring after X-Men #1 in September 1963 and prior to Giant-Size X-Men #1 in May 1975.  This is the Silver Age X-Men that I wished I owned.  The era also includes two flashback series in my collection: X-Men: The Hidden Years and Emma Frost. 

Era #2: Second Genesis.  Stories occurring between Giant-Size X-Men #1 in May 1975 and Uncanny X-Men #140 in December 1980.  This is the first half of the Bronze Age that my collection will eventually reach back to.  The only flashback title I own now is Uncanny X-Men: First Class. 

I am postponing the reading of the Era #3: The New Mutants.  Stories occurring between Uncanny X-Men #141 in January 1981 to Uncanny X-Men #198 in October 1985.  The second half of the Bronze Age is the period in which I first heard about and started reading the X-Men.  I am currently extending my collection to include these issues.  I am about two-thirds of the way there, so once I have those last few, I will return to this era and read it as a complete set.

That means I will be starting with Era #4: X-Factor.  Stories occurring between Uncanny X-Men #199 in November 1985 and Uncanny X-Men #243 in April 1989 & X-Factor #40 in May 1989.  It is during this period that I become a life-long fan, so it is probably appropriate to start here.

I am writing this as part of a personal log on what I expect to be a long journey.  It will very likely touch on bits of my life mixed into the nostalgia.  We will see where it goes.