Reddit reviews Essential X-Men, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials)

I actually just recently did a read-through of Ilyana's history, there's definitely some good stuff there. I'll tell you that it's a lot easier with Marvel Unlimited, since a lot of her early stuff is hard to find in physical form.

To begin:

• Uncanny X-Men (1963) #146 - Ilyana's first appearance.
  
• Uncanny X-Men (1963) #160 - The issue where Ilyana becomes Magik. #146 and 160 can be found in Essential X-Men vol. 3.
  
• Magik: Storm & Illyana #1-4 - This series tells the story of how Illyana became Magik. Can be found in X-Men: Magik: Storm & Illyana.
  
• New Mutants #14-17 - This is the arc where Illyana joins the New Mutants. Can be found in New Mutants Classic vol. 2.
  
• New Mutants #71-73 - These issues are the New Mutants tie-ins to the Inferno crossover event, where Illyana makes a sacrifice to save the New Mutants. Can be found in X-Men: Inferno.
  
• Uncanny X-Men (1963) #301-303 - Part of the Fatal Attractions story arc, Illyana contracts the Legacy Virus and dies. Can be found in X-Men: Fatal Attractions.
  
• New X-Men (2004) #37-41 - Illyana returns. Found in New X-Men vol. 5: Childhood's End.
  
• X-Infernus #1-4 - In this miniseries, Illyana tries to regain control of her soul from the demon Belasco. Found in X-Infernus.
  
• New Mutants (2009) #1-5 - This initial arc sees the New Mutants coming back together. Found in New Mutants vol. 1: Return of Legion
  
• New Mutants #15-21 - The team deals with some leftover details from Inferno. Illyana leaves the team. Found in New Mutants vol. 3: Fall of the New Mutants.
  
• Uncanny X-Men (1963) #540-543 - These issues cross over with the Fear Itself event and involve Magik helping to try and stop a supercharged Juggernaut from destroying the X-Men's home. Found in Uncanny X-Men: Fear Itself.
  
• Uncanny X-Men (2012) #1-20 - This is Kieron Gillen's Uncanny run that went through Avengers vs. X-Men. Illyana's a fairly key figure in the whole thing. Can be found in Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen vol. 1-4.

There's not another omnibus, but there are several other ways to continue reading.

Marvel Masterworks prints about a dozen comics in each book, in full color. [Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men - Volume 7] (http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Masterworks-Uncanny-X-Men-7/dp/0785135138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408764821&sr=8-1&keywords=marvel+masterworks+uncanny+x-men+7) is where you'd need to start.

Essential X-Men prints a ton of comics in black & white. You'd need to start with [Essential X-Men Vol 3] (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-X-Men-Vol-Marvel-Essentials/dp/0785106618/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408764892&sr=8-2&keywords=essential+x-men+3).

You can also collect the TPBs. [From the Ashes] (http://www.amazon.com/X-Men-Ashes-Chris-Claremont/dp/0871356155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-1&keywords=from+the+ashes+x-men) (168-176) is a classic run, one of Joss Whedon's favorites.

Lifedeath and Ghosts are two other TPBs around the same time period.

Here are my favorite story arcs, in chronological order, after where you're at:

1. God Loves, Man Kills (graphic novel) -- possibly the best place for a newcomer to start
   
   
2. Vignettes 1 & 2 -- back-up stories from Classic X-Men, short stories that delve more into each character
   
   
3. The Brood Saga (Uncanny 154-158, 161-167) -- a mix of Alien & The Matrix, includes the first meeting of Magneto & Professor X (#161) and the first meeting of the X-men & Rogue
   
   
4. Wolverine (Claremont/Miller limited series 1-4) -- the first Wolverine comics, must-read; comes right before From the Ashes
   
   
5. From the Ashes (Uncanny 168-176) -- one of Joss Whedon's favorite runs; Wolverine's wedding; Rogue joins the X-Men; Storm gets a mohawk
   
   
6. Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown (limited series 1-4) -- highly recommended, great artwork
   
   
7. Inferno (Uncanny 239-243, ties in with X-Factor etc) -- typical sprawling X-over, the X-Men issues are better than the X-Factor & New Mutants etc.
   
   
8. Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run 1-24 (the Warren Ellis run after this is also good). The Whedon run also has an amazing motion comic partially available on Netflix.
   
   Other notes...........
   
   

• Uncanny 229-239 -- I think this run is worth checking out. It includes 3 story arcs leading into Inferno: The Reavers (and the X-Men's move to Australia), the return of the Brood, and Genosha. This would be a good time to check out the Wolverine unlimited series.
  
  
• There's some good stuff after this, esp Psylocke becoming a ninja (256-258) and Wolverine & Cap America in #268, but it's in a bit of a decline (although Jim Lee's art is incredible).
  
  
• Grant Morrison's New X-Men run gets recommended a lot, but personally I think it's overrated. The art undergoes jarring shifts as artists change, some of the art is truly bad, and it's a damn shame how Morrison assassinated Magneto's character. And there's basically just 4 X-Men in it, 3 of them being members of the original Stan Lee team.
  
  Enjoy!