X-Men

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History of the comics

The original X-Men

The first X-Men comic was created in September 1963 by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.

Related Topics:
1963 - Stan Lee - Jack Kirby

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In the comic book series, the X-Men were founded by the paraplegic telepath Professor Charles Xavier, alias Professor X. Xavier gathered the X-Men under the cover of a "School For Gifted Children" at a large country estate at 1407 Graymalkin Lane in Salem Center, a city in Westchester County, New York.

Related Topics:
Paraplegic - Telepath - Salem Center - Westchester County, New York

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The original X-Men consisted of five teenagers still learning to control their powers, namely Cyclops (Scott Summers), Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Angel (Warren Worthington), Beast (Hank McCoy) and Iceman (Bobby Drake). Early X-Men issues also introduced the team's archnemesis, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Related Topics:
Cyclops - Marvel Girl - Angel - Beast - Iceman - Magneto - Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

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In 1969, writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams rejuvenated the franchise and introduced two new characters, Havok (Alex Summers) and Polaris (Lorna Dane). However, early X-Men issues failed to attract much critical acclaim and Marvel stopped producing new issues of X-Men in 1969. The series was still continued, reprinting earlier material in issue #67 - #93, and faded to near-obscurity.

Related Topics:
Roy Thomas - Neal Adams - Havok - Polaris

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The all-new, all-different X-Men

In 1975, writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum introduced a new team of X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 and this new team would appear in new issues of X-Men, beginning with issue #94. Rather than teenagers, this group consisted of adults who hailed from a variety of nations and cultures. The "all-new, all-different X-Men" were led by Cyclops from the original team, and consisted of Sunfire (Shiro Yashida), Thunderbird (John Proudstar), Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Storm (Ororo Munroe), and most notably, Wolverine (Logan).

Related Topics:
1975 - Len Wein - Dave Cockrum - Sunfire - Thunderbird - Banshee - Colossus - Nightcrawler - Storm - Wolverine

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The new issues of the series were illustrated by Dave Cockrum and later John Byrne, and written by Chris Claremont, who would go on to become the longest-standing contributor to the series. The run met great critical acclaim and produced the "Dark Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past", arguably two of the greatest story arcs in Marvel Comics, as well as ', the base of the 2003 movie '. Several new characters and teams were introduced, like Kitty Pryde, the Morlocks, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Rogue, Rachel Summers and Dazzler (Alison Blaire).

Related Topics:
Dave Cockrum - John Byrne - Chris Claremont - Dark Phoenix Saga - Days of Future Past - Marvel Comics - Kitty Pryde - Morlocks - White Queen - Hellfire Club - Rogue - Rachel Summers - Dazzler

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The series becomes a franchise

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", most notably The New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur and others. 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, such as Mutant Massacre.

Related Topics:
1980s - The New Mutants - X-Factor - Excalibur - Crossovers - Mutant Massacre

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Notable additions to the X-Men were Longshot, Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), Gambit (Remy LeBeau) and Psylocke (Betsy Braddock). A controversial move was to have Professor X relocate to space in 1986 and making Magneto the head of the X-Men. This period also included the arrival of the mysterious Madelyne Pryor and the return of Jean Grey.

Related Topics:
Longshot - Jubilee - Gambit - Psylocke - 1986 - Madelyne Pryor - Jean Grey

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Sales boom of the 1990s and artist exodus

In 1991, Marvel revised the entire lineup of X-books, creating X-Force, led by the mysterious warhawk Cable, written by Rob Liefeld, and launched a second X-Men series, simply called X-Men (the original series of this title having been already renamed to Uncanny X-Men), written by Claremont and illustrated by Jim Lee.

Related Topics:
1991 - X-Force - Cable - Rob Liefeld - Jim Lee

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Internal friction split the X-Men books' creative teams. Claremont left after only three issues of X-Men due to clashes with Marvel editors and with Lee, ending his fifteen-year run as X-Men writer. Months later, Liefeld and Lee left Marvel with several other popular artists (including Marc Silvestri and Whilce Portacio) to form Image Comics.

Related Topics:
Marc Silvestri - Whilce Portacio - Image Comics

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Notable story arcs of this time are the "The X-Tinction Agenda" (1990), "X-Cutioner's Song" (1992), "Phalanx Covenant" (1994), "Legion Quest"/"Age of Apocalypse" (1995), "Onslaught" (1996) and "" (1997), in which an anti-mutant army is given license to hunt down the X-Teams and other mutants.

Related Topics:
The X-Tinction Agenda - 1990 - X-Cutioner's Song - 1992 - Phalanx Covenant - 1994 - Age of Apocalypse - 1995 - Onslaught - 1996 - 1997

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The 1990s saw an even greater number of X-books, with numerous ongoing series and miniseries running at any given time. Ongoing series from this time included Generation X, starring another team of teenage mutants and X-Man, starring a powerful young mutant (Nate Grey - an alternate version of Cable) from the "Age of Apocalypse" reality. Marvel launched solo series for several characters including Cable, Gambit, Bishop and Deadpool, a sarcastic mercenary antagonist of X-Force. In 1998 Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter was replaced with the parallel world series Mutant X starring Havok.

Related Topics:
Generation X - X-Man - Deadpool - 1998 - Parallel world - Mutant X

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Changing and modernizing the franchise

Wandering plot lines and forgettable new villains plagued Claremont's return, leading Marvel's new Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada to remove him from the two flagship titles in early 2001 and move him to a new spinoff series, X-Treme X-Men. At the same time, Marvel cancelled or overhauled many series and added new series like Weapon X, Exiles and the new X-Force (later retitled X-Statix). Many of these new comics were sarcastic, cynical, or deeply responsive to the established look of the superhero comic book, and were a distinct reaction to the increasingly predictable nature of Marvel comics in the 1990s.

Related Topics:
Joe Quesada - 2001 - X-Treme X-Men - Weapon X - Exiles - X-Statix

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The focus of 2001 was the ascent of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely to X-Men, retitled New X-Men. Morrison's run was lauded as being both original and rejuvenating. The bright spandex costumes that had become iconic over the previous three decades were gone, replaced by black leather street clothes reminiscent of the dressed-down chic of the film The Matrix and the X-Men movies. In New X-Men, the Xavier Institute grew in size and scope, and introduced several powerful and memorable villains, most notably Cassandra Nova, Xavier's evil twin sister. During the Morrison run, Emma Frost went from vicious Hellfire Club dominatrix to icy member of the mutant squad, Xavier was publicly "outed" as a mutant, and the decades-long relationships of Jean Grey and Scott Summers and Lorna Dane and Alex Summers all disintegrated. In the meantime, Uncanny X-Men was written by Joe Casey, followed by Chuck Austen, only to mediocre acclaim.

Related Topics:
Grant Morrison - Frank Quitely - New X-Men - The Matrix - Cassandra Nova - Emma Frost - Hellfire Club - Dominatrix - Jean Grey - Scott Summers - Lorna Dane - Alex Summers - Joe Casey - Chuck Austen

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Another popular new X-Men series was Ultimate X-Men, writer Mark Millar and artist Adam Kubert's reinvention of the concept featuring teenaged versions of the X-Men and meant to appeal to new readers. Ultimate X-Men was set in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, alongside Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimates, a dark post-9/11 world that feared mutant terrorism and reflected the heightened militaristic climate of the Bush-era United States. Iconic characters were substantially overhauled and given new backgrounds, while meant to be refreshingly current for a new generation.

Related Topics:
Ultimate X-Men - Mark Millar - Adam Kubert - Ultimate Marvel Universe - Ultimate Spider-Man - Ultimates - Bush-era - United States

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Post Morrison X-Men and House of M

In 2004, Morrison left New X-Men and Marvel prepared for what was already being called the "post-Morrison period". Marvel cancelled X-Treme X-Men and placed Claremont back on Uncanny X-Men. The company also launched Astonishing X-Men with writer Joss Whedon (well-known as the creator of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and artist John Cassaday (Planetary). With the departure of Morrison the X-Men franchise shifted yet again, attempting to incorporate some of the newer energy of the previous run with more traditional elements. Following the destruction of the mutant paradise of Genosha by the deadly sentinels under the influence of Cassandra Nova, Xavier left in order to restore a vague sense of order and stability to the wasted land (recounted in the short second series of Excalibur), leaving Cyclops and Emma Frost as the new leaders of the Institute, which now functions as a large-scale school. Jean Grey was killed off during Morrison's run, allowing the former White Queen and Scott Summers to pursue a relationship, a controversial move that both intrigued and alienated long-term fans.

Related Topics:
2004 - Astonishing X-Men - Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - John Cassaday - Planetary - Excalibur

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Several short-lived spin-offs marked the 2004-2005, including books focusing on Gambit, Rogue, Bishop (in the mutant ghetto of District X), and Jubilee. ', a teenaged soap opera comic focusing on the lives of the new young mutants at the Institute, also began.

Related Topics:
Ghetto - District X

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The current period has been dominated by the reality-warping changes of the summer crossover event House of M, which has temporarily created a mutant paradise with Magneto as the world's dictator. It remains to be seen what will happen in the aftermath of House of M, or how the X-Men will respond.

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