Now you all know how much I hate to disagree and cause a ruckus or some such but, I actually would recommend a Chris Claremont X-Men story to start. It's a stand alone trade called God Loves, Man Kills. Originally released in '82, it is one of the most clear-cut examples of X-Men comics using mutant relations as a metaphor for race relations (totally just stole that line from the Wikipedia page but it's pretty darn accurate). In fact there are quite a few plot points that ended up in the first & second X-Men movies and the 3rd movie could have been a whole lot better if they had bothered to try and mine the same territory. Oh, and if they had never ever ever allowed Brett Ratner to touch it.

Beyond picking up X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills… I'd take a look at the X-Factor line (several trades… including the Essential X-Factor are available on Amazon rather cheaply right now) . Came out in '86, and based around the regrouping of the original X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, & Iceman) who initially focus on posing as mutant hunters in order to try help other mutants but unfortunately at the same time ends up validating the public's distrust of mutant-kind. Not surprisingly there is confusion about their intent, feelings get hurt, stuff gets blown up, and the Dark Phoenix saga does get introduced (in a good way, not in the lame way that the 3rd movie clumsily threw it in… again, I say suck it Ratner!) as well as Angel becomes Archangel, and so much more.

For me, those two suggestions really sum up what the X-Men were all about and showcase them quite well. Hopefully this helps somewhat in deciding what to pick up. Curious to know your thoughts if/when you do.

To be fair I’ve never *really* liked the X-men all that much and recently I’ve liked Claremont & Byrne even less so my opinions on their work may be just a tad skewed.
The reason I liked Morrison’s run is that he was brutal & set up some damn fine villains for the X-men to face while also introducing a bunch of new mutants (not to be confused with THE New Mutants) who had powers that weren’t all that desirable. Because lets face it, being a beautiful red-head who can move tanks with her mind as easily as she can pick up a piece of lint off the floor with her fingers is not that much of a burden to bear. But when your body becomes a gelatinous see-through blob and that’s the *only* special ability you get, yeah you’ve got some problems fitting in.

The latest Matt Fraction stuff is pretty good. Feels like he's really hitting his stride with the whole Utopia storyline. And Mike Carey's X-men Legacy made Professor X interesting for the first time in years. Not wild about Carey's Rogue stuff, but then I've never loved that character.

I've not given Fraction's stuff a try but based on how much I like his other runs I probably should, I just have a hard time pulling the trigger on that entire universe right now.
For the record I too could never stand Rogue (or Gambit and Psylocke for that matter) either.
I guess I should head to the comic shop tonight and get myself informed. Thanks Jonathan!

If you've never liked Claremont, you might not like Fractions run. He has done a nice job of blending Claremont style with Morrison themes… which might sound odd, but I think that's why I've liked it. I really hope he does something good with the Second Coming arc. I'm hoping Fraction finally redefines them his own way after it (which I'm hopeful for from the latest teaser image: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/X-Men-Teaser-10...).

Sorry, now I'm on a role. If you want a reliably great X-men action comic, though, Kyle and Yost's X-Force has been fantastic.

Jonathon, I've been loving Peter David's X-Factor but that book is kind of the red headed step child of the X-Universe.
I'll see if I can pick up some X-Factor books for cheap at Emerald City this year. Thanks!