| You know, I tried to read through the 'glory days' of the X-Men, starting with Giant Size X-Men #1 and going chronologically in publishing order from there (very easy with the Essential trades out), reading all the X-Men related titles as well. Now, I know if I managed to hit the mid-80's stories things would be good, but I just couldn't make it. The Dark Phoenix Saga wasn't even that great, and the next 20 issues after that (when Byrne left) were just so terrible that I literally had to stop reading entirely. I just couldn't do it.
I will recommend to everyone, if they have the patience to assemble the collection from eBay/comics stores, to read all of Jim Shooter's Valiant work, starting with Magnus Robot Fighter #1 and continuing up until Unity #1/Rai #0. It's just solid storytelling and a great story. I think Solar #0 might actually be one of the best comic books I've ever read, and Barry Windsor-Smith's artwork is amazing. | 