The original X-Men
In 1961, Marvel Comics editor/writer Stan Lee, artist Jack Kirby and several other illustrators produced a number of superhero titles which stressed character personalities and personal conflict as much as action and adventure, including The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man. The X-Men was one of the last titles of this Silver Age renaissance, appearing in September 1963.
In the comic book series, the X-Men were founded by the paraplegic telepath Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X. Xavier gathered the X-Men under the cover of a "School for Gifted Youngsters" at a large country estate at 1407 Graymalkin Lane in Salem Center, a city in Westchester County, New York.
Cover-billed as "the strangest heroes of all", the original X-Men consisted of five teenagers still learning to control their powers:
Cyclops (Scott Summers), whose eyes constantly gave off heatless blasts of concussive force that could only be controlled by a "ruby quartz" visor. He would become the X-Men's field leader.
Marvel Girl (Jean Grey, later known as Phoenix), a telekinetic of limited power. She was Xavier's first female student.
Angel (Warren Worthington III, later known as Archangel), who took his name from the large, angel-like feathered wings which sprouted from his back sometime during military school and allowed him to fly.
Beast (Hank McCoy), a genius with remarkable physical prowess, whose enlarged hands and feet granted him enhanced agility and dexterity.
Iceman (Bobby Drake), who could transform his body into ice and lower temperatures by absorbing moisture from the air.
A precursor to the concept of a school for feared genetic mutants appeared in the 1953 science fiction novel Children of the Atom by Wilmar H. Shiras, which has been credited — though never officially confirmed — with inspiring the X-Men. The title characters of the novel were also mutants, the results of an unintended experiment in genetic mutation. The term "Children of the Atom" has also been used at times during the X-Men franchise's history, often as a subtitle for various X-Men publications and video games.
Despite the philosophical concepts which appeared in The X-Men, Lee has said he invented genetic "mutants" to find a way to create a number of super-powered characters without having to come up with a separate and interesting origin for each one.
The X-Men #1 also introduced the team's arch-nemesis, Magneto, who controlled magnetism and who felt that mutants should rule over or kill all normal humans. Magneto's character would later be fleshed out to reveal that he once shared a friendship with Professor X, and that his decree that mutants must conquer or be conquered grew from his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. The X-Men #4 introduced Magneto's team, the Brotherhood of Mutants, including Mastermind, the Toad, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Other villains were also introduced during this era who would loosely become affiliated with the Brotherhood over time, including Unus the Untouchable, the Vanisher and the Blob, the latter having the most longevity with the group, joining or aiding nearly every incarnation.
While a few other important villains debuted during the 1960s — such as Professor X's superhumanly strong stepbrother the Juggernaut and the mutant-hunting robot Sentinels — the X-Men often fought easily forgotten mutant criminals, alien invaders and brutish monsters. As a result, this era is largely regarded as unremarkable and The X-Men became one of the less successful Marvel series during the 1960s.
During this early era, only one other member was briefly added to the team:
Mimic (Calvin Rankin), who could use the powers of others, including the other X-Men. He is notable for not only having blackmailed himself onto the team, but also being the only member expelled by Xavier. Whether or not he is truly a mutant is heavily debated.
Lee and Kirby departed the series in 1966, handing the reins over to Roy Thomas and Werner Roth. Roth gave up the regular art chores in 1967, and Thomas dropped the scripting slot in 1968. The title went with no long-term creative team for about a year, but had a couple notable artists. Jim Steranko drew several issues, one added the villain Mesmero to the cast and Barry Windsor-Smith drew three issues. In 1969, Thomas returned, joined by fan favorite artist Neal Adams in an effort to save the series from its sagging sales. These issues are more highly regarded by fans and introduced recurring villains Sauron and the Living Monolith as well as two more X-Men:
Lorna Dane (later Polaris), a green-haired mutant with similar powers to Magneto; and
Havok (Alex Summers), Cyclops' rebellious brother who could absorb cosmic energy and use it to disintegrate objects or create energy bursts. Like his brother, he had great difficulty controlling his destructive powers.
Though sales did improve while Adams illustrated the book, it was too little and too late, and Marvel stopped producing new issues of The X-Men in 1970 with issue #66. The series continued by reprinting old issues and the X-Men appeared in other Marvel comics — including prominent appearances in Marvel Team-Up, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America — but faded to near-obscurity.
1970:
The all-new, all-different X-Men
In 1975, writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum introduced a new team of X-Men. Rather than teenagers, this group consisted of adults who hailed from a variety of nations and cultures. The wide range of cultures came from Marvel's intention to target the title in markets outside its U.S. base. Giant-Size X-Men #1 introduced this team, called together by Professor X to rescue the original team from captivity on the radioactive "living island" of Krakoa.
The "All-New, All-Different X-Men" were led by Cyclops, and consisted of:
Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida), a hot-tempered Japanese mutant who could generate superheated plasma and fly.
Thunderbird (John Proudstar), an Apache who possessed superhuman strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, and instinctual tracking senses and skills.
Banshee (Sean Cassidy), an Irish mutant with a "sonic scream" that allows him to fly and generate concussive sonic blasts.
Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), a quiet, contemplative Russian who could transform his entire body into "organic steel", increasing his size, strength, speed and endurance while making him virtually indestructible.
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), a rascally German who possessed great agility and the ability to teleport. His appearance, with iridescent eyes, blue velvet fur, three fingers on each hand, two toes on each foot, fangs, pointed ears, and a prehensile tail, makes him look like a demon--an ironic contrast to his strong, devout Catholic faith. Note that one of his lesser known powers is the ability to fade from view in shadows.
Storm (Ororo Munroe), a strong-willed woman who was raised in Africa. She is psychically linked to the weather patterns of Earth, allowing her to control and manipulate the weather. Storm would become the X-Men's leader in times of Cyclops' absence.
Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett), a gruff Canadian government agent who possessed heightened senses, a regenerative "healing factor" which also slowed his aging process, and retractable adamantium claws. A covert agency named Weapon X had bonded the fictitious metal alloy to Wolverine's skeleton. Revealed piecemeal, Wolverine's origin would become one of the series' greatest mysteries.
After Giant-Size X-Men #1, Marvel began publishing new issues of Uncanny X-Men, featuring the new team minus Sunfire (who had quit) and Thunderbird, who had died in battle after two issues in Uncanny X-Men #95. The series was illustrated by Cockrum and written by Chris Claremont, who would go on to become the longest-standing contributor to the series. One of the most important storylines of this era was "The Phoenix Saga" (Uncanny X-Men #101–108, 1977), in which Jean Grey seemingly bonded with a cosmic entity called the Phoenix and led the team on an intergalactic mission. The saga introduced the Shi'ar alien race and its empress Lilandra, a recurring love interest of Professor X. Moira MacTaggert and Proteus were introduced as well.
In 1978, Cockrum was succeeded as penciller by John Byrne, who also co-plotted the series with Claremont (soon retitled — informally in issue #114 and officially in issue #142 — The Uncanny X-Men). This marked the beginning of what many consider the X-Men's first creative renaissance, during which the series became one of the most popular in the industry. Following a confrontation with Magneto, Professor X and Jean Grey believed the X-Men lost and over the continuity of a year, the team fought its way back home. Byrne also introduced a series of Canadian-themed adventures with the introduction of Alpha Flight, a Canadian super-hero team. Wolverine consistently won awards as the most popular comic character — as a result, at least one issue per year between 1980 and 1984 focused on him. In 1982, Wolverine was given a limited series, penned by Claremont and drawn by Frank Miller, introducing the Japanese culture element of his character.
Dark Sagas
Claremont and Byrne thrust the X-Men into a variety of desperate situations that tested their character, most notably "The Dark Phoenix Saga" (Uncanny X-Men #129–137, 1980). In this story, the aristocratic Hellfire Club seduced Phoenix, using Mastermind's mutant ability to create complex illusions. This tampering with her mind unleashed Phoenix's dark side, and she went on to destroy a populated solar system with over five billion inhabitants. Although the X-Men tried to control her and apparently succeeded, Lilandra had Jean Grey captured in the hope of ending the Phoenix threat. Professor Xavier called for a duel of honor for the right not to surrender Phoenix. Lilandra, with the agreement of the Kree and Skrull as long as the superheroes' defeat was guaranteed, agreed to the challenge. The result was a battle on Earth's Moon between the Shi'ar's Imperial Guard and the X-Men, with Jean Grey's fate hanging in the balance. The X-Men were eventually overwhelmed, but the stress of the battle, during which Cyclops was injured, overcame Phoenix's mental restraints against her dark persona, and it returned. At that point, Lilandra ordered the solar system destroyed in hopes that the Phoenix might be killed in the process, and Professor Xavier regretfully ordered the X-Men to kill their teammate to prevent such destruction. Because of Jean Grey's humanity and willpower, Phoenix committed suicide to prevent further loss, a watershed moment for comics; major characters had rarely been killed up to that point, and sacrificial suicide had previously been inconceivable. "The Dark Phoenix Saga" introduced several characters, including Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, (the White Queen of the Hellfire Club and future X-Man), and Dazzler.For their swan song, Claremont and Byrne produced "Days of Future Past" (Uncanny X-Men #141–142, 1981), which portrayed a dystopian future in which America is a wasteland controlled by Sentinels. In this alternate future, most of the X-Men and other heroes are dead, and mutants are confined in concentration camps. In the storyline, the psyche of the adult 'Kate Pryde' is sent back in time to the body of her younger self (Kitty), and she convinces the X-Men to help her thwart the assassination of a senator by the shapeshifter Mystique and her new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, including new characters Avalanche, Pyro, and Destiny as well as the Blob. This dark vision of a future created by fear, hatred, and intolerance has inspired many X-Men stories in the years since.
In 1982, Claremont wrote and Brent Anderson illustrated the graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, in which Reverend William Stryker began a religious crusade against mutants, capturing and brainwashing Professor X to manipulate his powers to attack and eradicate mutant minds. The X-Men united with Magneto to battle Stryker, resulting in one of the clearest examples of mutants as a metaphor for race relations in the series. More than twenty years later, the story inspired the plot of the second X-Men film.
Meanwhile, Uncanny X-Men continued with Claremont and artists such as Paul Smith and later John Romita Jr.. Early 1980s storylines introduced the aliens Deathbird and the Brood, the subterranean mutant gang the Morlocks and the futuristic mutant hunter Nimrod; explored Wolverine's love of Japanese aristocrat Mariko Yashida; saw Storm adjust to the temporary loss of her powers and form a relationship with the mutant government weapons contractor Forge; and delved into Cyclops' relationship with Madelyne Pryor, a seeming doppelgänger of Jean Grey. This last story ended with Cyclops marrying Madelyne and retiring from the X-Men.
The X-Men gathered several new recruits in the early and mid-1980s, including:
- Sprite, (Kitty Pryde), later briefly called Ariel and now Shadowcat, a Jewish-American teenager who could "phase" through solid objects, walk on thin air, utilize her powers to scramble electronic systems and extend her intangibility to anything she touches. She would later be called Shadowcat after an adventure in Japan with Wolverine.
- Rogue, a southern belle who involuntarily drained powers and memories from anyone she touches, leaving them weakened or unconscious for the duration and permanently comatose in a few cases. Rogue was introduced as a member of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
- Rachel Summers, the second Phoenix, later the second Marvel Girl, and the adult daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from the "Days of Futures Past" timeline. Telepathic, telekinetic, and able to travel through time astrally, she formerly acted as host of the Phoenix Force, which amplified her powers and allowed her to physically transport herself and other people or objects through time at will.
- 1980s
In the 1980s, the growing popularity of Uncanny X-Men and the rise of comic book specialty stores lead to the introduction of several spin-off series nicknamed "X-Books." The first, The New Mutants, was launched in 1983 and featured a new group of teenaged mutants attending Xavier's school. In 1986, the original X-Men, including a controversially resurrected Jean Grey, formed X-Factor. In 1988 Marvel added the offbeat Excalibur, featuring Rachel Summers, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and the British superheroes Captain Britain and Meggan. In 1988, Wolverine was granted his own solo series, which often dealt with his struggles with personal honor and his past. With several spin-off series being published alongside the main book, as well as storylines crossing through each book, X-Men continuity became increasingly complex and difficult to follow. The X-Men franchise became one of Marvel's most valuable assets during the decade and inspired other comic book properties, such as Spider-Man and DC Comics' Superman and Batman, to create several interconnected "families" of multiple books.
Another controversial move was to have Professor X relocate to space in 1986 after he sustained injuries so severe that only Shi'ar technology could save his life, while a convenient solar flare prevented Xavier from returning to Earth. The major controversy arose from former arch-villain Magneto taking Xavier's place in running the school as well as the X-Men and New Mutants. This was the reason given for the original X-Men's decision to form X-Factor and keep their identities secret, as they thought the new team had "betrayed" Xavier by working with Magneto.
This plethora of X-Men-related titles led to the rise of crossovers, sometimes called "X-Overs", storylines which would overlap into several X-Books, sometimes for months at a time. The first, 1986's "Mutant Massacre," featured the Marauders, a group a murderous mutants, who slaughtered the Morlocks and severely injured many of the X-Men who intervened (Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler's injuries allowed the writers to ship them off to England for Excalibur). The saga introduced Mister Sinister, a nefarious mutant geneticist who was the Marauders' leader and a central figure in many subsequent plots. It also brought Sabretooth, previously an opponent of the martial arts hero Iron Fist, into the X-Men's world as an adversary for Wolverine, with hints that the two were linked in the past.
During this period Claremont unveiled a new X-Men line-up consisting of Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, Colossus, Havok and several new and pre-existing characters:
Magneto, the team's then-reformed former nemesis, was left in charge of the X-Men and New Mutants by Xavier as he departed for outer space. Magneto left the X-Men after he failed to prevent the death of one of the New Mutants (Douglas Ramsey, also known as Cypher), and ultimately reverted to villainy. It was during this era that Claremont expanded and gave Magneto his Holocaust origin.
Longshot, a television action star with "good luck" powers from an absurdist alien dimension run by the tyrannical television network head Mojo.
Dazzler (Alison Blaire), a former disco singer who could absorb sound energy and convert it into a variety of light effects, including lasers. Dazzler had been introduced in the book several years earlier and had had her own comic series in the intervening years.
Psylocke (Betsy Braddock), originally introduced in the Captain Britain comic as an English telepath, she would change powers many times over the years, and would go through a body-swap with a Japanese woman, becoming a sexy, martial artist femme fatale in the process, and is currently telekinetic.
Also in this time period, in addition to crossovers, the X-Men co-starred in two mini-series: The Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men and The X-Men vs. the Avengers. The former took care of a dangling plot thread left over from the "Mutant Massacre" story, as the Fantastic Four's leader, Mr. Fantastic, and their enemy, Dr. Doom, were needed to save Kitty Pryde's life.
Following the 1987 Fall of the Mutants crossover, in which the X-Men died and were reborn after fighting a demon called the Adversary in Dallas, the team briefly relocated to an abandoned outpost in Australia. This period of X-Men history saw the introduction of the Reavers, a band of cyborg mercenaries, and the Inferno crossover, which revealed that Madelyne Pryor was actually a clone of Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister. The X-Men and X-Factor battled Pryor, who was now the insane Goblin Queen, and the demons she had allied herself with. One of the high points of the story was the reunion of X-Factor and the X-Men; X-Factor had no idea the others were really alive, and the X-Men had assumed Jean Grey was still dead. The Australian sojourn finally ended with Storm and Rogue presumed dead and most of the others, despondent, choosing to enter the Siege Perilous, a crystal which determined their individual fates. Claremont took this opportunity to write Dazzler and Longshot out of the series (they paired up and left to raise a child). Unlike most X-characters, they were rarely seen or heard from since their departure. However in 2005, Dazzler returned in New Excalibur and has since rejoined the X-Men, while Longshot was briefly teamed with the Exiles and is now a member of X-Factor.
In late 1989, Marvel began publishing Uncanny X-Men twice a month, allowing Claremont to write intertwined plot threats involving a number of X-Men. The 1990 crossover, the X-Tinction Agenda, pulled the X-Men back together, with Storm, Banshee, Wolverine, Psylocke and three new members:
Forge, an American Indian with the mutant gift of instinctive invention.
Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), a teenage Chinese-American "mall rat" who could generate explosive energy, she calls fireworks. Jubilee stowed away with the X-women when they teleported home from a mall excursion. She lived in their quarters without their knowledge for several weeks, finally revealing herself to save Wolverine from a crucifixion at the hands of Lady Deathstrike.
Gambit (Remy LeBeau), a suave Cajun thief who could charge objects (most commonly playing cards) so that they exploded on impact when thrown. His hypnotic charm allows him to exert subtle influence over sentient minds, compelling them to believe what he says and agree with his suggestions.
The final battle of this era, the Muir Island Saga, saw the X-Men, X-Factor and some allies fight an old nemesis of Xavier, the Shadow King.
From 1987 until 1990 Marc Silvestri illustrated Uncanny X-Men. He was succeeded by young artist Jim Lee, who was one of the most popular artists in comics during his tenure on the title.
