X-Men « Comicsworld

March 1, 2008

X-Men

Filed under: xmen — boutje @ 8:36 pm

The X-Men are a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they debuted in The X-Men #1, published in September 1963. The X-Men are fictitious mutants who, as a result of a sudden leap in evolution, are born with latent superhuman abilities, which generally manifest themselves at puberty. In the stories, many ordinary humans harbor an intense fear and/or distrust of mutants (often referred to as Homo sapiens superior), who are regarded by a number of scientists as the next step in human evolution and are thus widely viewed as a threat to human civilizations; mutants who use their powers for criminal ends exacerbate the tensions. The X-Men were formed by the benevolent Professor Charles Xavier, (a.k.a. Professor X), a wealthy mutant who founded an academy to train young mutants to protect themselves and the world from Magneto, the Brotherhood of Mutants and other mutant threats.

The X-Men comic book series was one of comicdom’s earliest and most influential trendsetters in adopting a multicultural central cast; during the 1970s, the roster was diversified, adding characters from Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, and the Soviet Union. Characters representing many other ethnicities and cultural backgrounds have subsequently been added. The stories themselves have often included themes relating to the status of minorities, including assimilation, tolerance, and beliefs regarding a “superior race”.

The X-Men have been adapated into films and television shows. The television shows have included one of the most successful Saturday morning programs, X-Men: The Animated Series and the hit Kids WB! animated series X-Men: Evolution. In 2000, the X-Men movie directed by Bryan Singer was released and featured Patrick Stewart (as Professor Charles Xavier), James Marsden (as Scott Summers / Cyclops), Halle Berry (as Storm), Hugh Jackman (as Wolverine), and Anna Paquin (as Rogue). Its sequel X2: X-Men United was released in 2003, again directed by Singer. A third X-Men movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, directed by Brett Ratner, was released May 26, 2006. By 2008, two more films were in development, one featuring the origin of Wolverine and the other featuring the origins of Magneto.

The team’s name is a reference to the “X factor”, an unknown gene that causes mutant evolution. Co-creator Stan Lee recalled in his book Son of Origins of Marvel Comics that he devised the series title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name, “The Mutants.” In addition to this “official” explanation, the X-Men are widely regarded, within the Marvel Universe as well as by the readers of the series) to have been named after Xavier himself. In Uncanny X-Men #309, Xavier claims that the name “X-Men” was never intended to be a self-tribute.

The X-Men were founded by the paraplegic telepath Professor Charles Francis Xavier a.k.a. Professor X. Xavier gathered the X-Men under the cover of Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters at a large country estate at 1407 Graymalkin Lane in Salem Center, a small town in Westchester County, New York. The original X-Men consisted of five teenagers each of whom the professor taught to control their powers: Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake, and Marvel Girl/Jean Grey.

Early X-Men issues introduced the team’s arch nemesis Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants featuring Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and the Toad. Ironically, the cast of this comic book series, which would later become a vehicle for stories about prejudice and racism, was originally racially and ethnically homogeneous, seemingly comprised entirely of the WASP-type character that was the de facto model for most comic book heroes at that time. Furthermore, their arch nemesis was Magneto, a character later portrayed as a Jewish concentration camp survivor, whose key followers, son and daughter, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were Gypsies (Roma). Only one new member of the X-Men was added, Mimic/Calvin Rankin, but soon left due to his temporary loss of power.

In 1969, writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams rejuvenated the comic book and gave regular roles to two recently introduced characters: Havok/Alex Summers (who had been introduced by Roy Thomas before Adams began work on the strip) and Lorna Dane, later called Polaris (created by Arnold Drake and Jim Steranko). However, these early X-Men issues failed to attract sales and Marvel stopped producing new stories with issue #66, although a number of the older comics were later reprinted as issues 67-93.

To download X-Men 2099 issues 1-6 click below

X-Men 1