New X-Men was actually my first exposure to Morrison and Quitely, and it didn't leave a favorable impression of either. I didn't bother with anything the two of them did until my brother, who felt about the same way about NXM, told me Flex Mentallo was surprisingly good, and it was. I've dug on Quitely ever since, so I'd heartily recommend it.
Morrison grew on me more after reading his run on Animal Man, especially. There is one line from it I've always loved that I think you might like, from peeves you've mentioned on ns_d, "Pointless death and violence are 'realistic'. Comic books are 'realistic' now." It goes through some really sad turns, but it all comes out right in the end.