The X-Men are a team of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books

published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist/co-writer Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, the
characters first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963) and formed one of the most
recognizable and successful franchises of Marvel Comics, appearing in numerous books,
television shows, films, and video games.

Most of the X-Men are mutants, a subspecies of humans who are born with superhuman abilities
activated by the "X-Gene". The X-Men fight for peace and equality between normal humans and
mutants in a world where anti-mutant bigotry is fierce and widespread. They are led by Charles
Xavier, also known as Professor X, a powerful mutant telepath who can control and read minds.
Their archenemy is Magneto, a powerful mutant with the ability to manipulate and control
magnetic fields who leads the Brotherhood of Mutants. Both have opposing views and
philosophies regarding the relationship between mutants and humans. While the former works
towards peace and understanding between mutants and humans, the latter views humans as a
threat and believes in taking an aggressive approach against them, though he has found himself
working alongside the X-Men from time to time.

Professor X is the founder of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters at a location commonly
called the X-Mansion, which recruits mutants from around the world to teach them how to use
their powers and coexist with humanity. Located in Salem Center in Westchester County, New
York, the X-Mansion is the home and training site of the X-Men. The founding five members of
the X-Men who appear in The X-Men #1 (September 1963) are Angel-Archangel, Beast,
Cyclops, Iceman and Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl); Professor X and Magneto also made their first
appearances in The X-Men #1. Eventually, the X-Men roster expanded to include a wide variety
of members from numerous origins, including Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty
Pryde/Shadowcat, Rogue, Gambit and Psylocke. Since then, dozens of mutants from various
countries and diverse backgrounds, and even a number of non-mutants, have held membership as
X-Men.

Background and creation

In a 1987 interview, Kirby said:

The X-Men, I did the natural thing there. What would you do with mutants who were just plain
boys and girls and certainly not dangerous? You school them. You develop their skills. So I gave
them a teacher, Professor X. Of course, it was the natural thing to do, instead of disorienting or
alienating people who were different from us, I made the X-Men part of the human race, which
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they were. Possibly, radiation, if it is beneficial, may create mutants that'll save us instead of
doing us harm. I felt that if we train the mutants our way, they'll help us – and not only help us,
but achieve a measure of growth in their own sense. And so, we could all live together.[2]

Lee devised the series title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name,
"The Mutants," stating that readers would not know what a "mutant" was.[3]

Within the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are widely regarded to have been named after Professor
Xavier himself. The original explanation for the name, as provided by Xavier in The X-Men #1
(1963), is that mutants "possess an extra power ... one which ordinary humans do not!! That is
why I call my students ... X-Men, for EX-tra power!"[4]

Publication history
Original roster

The creators of the series were inspired by the Doom Patrol, a group of young superheroes
published by the competitor DC Comics who because of their superpowers were marginalized
just like the young mutants of Marvel.

The original X-Men members that were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, showing their original design

Early X-Men issues introduced the original team composed of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast,
Angel, and Iceman, along with their archenemy Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
featuring Mastermind, Quicksilver (Son of Magneto), Scarlet Witch (Daughter of Magneto), and
Toad. The comic focused on a common human theme of good versus evil and later included
storylines and themes about prejudice and racism, all of which have persisted throughout the
series in one form or another. The evil side in the fight was shown in human form and under
some sympathetic beginnings via Magneto, a character who was later revealed to have survived
Nazi concentration camps only to pursue a hatred for normal humanity. His key followers,
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, were Romani. Only one new member of the X-Men was
added, Mimic/Calvin Rankin,[5] but soon left due to his temporary loss of power.[6]

The title lagged in sales behind Marvel's other comic franchises. In 1969, writer Roy Thomas
and illustrator 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 comic) and Lorna Dane, later called Polaris (created by Arnold Drake
and Jim Steranko). However, these later X-Men issues failed to attract sales and Marvel stopped
producing new stories with issue #66, later reprinting a number of the older comics as issues
#67–93.[7]

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All-New, All-Different X-Men
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Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). Cover art by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum.

In Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum introduced a new
team that starred in a revival of The X-Men, beginning with issue #94. This new team replaced
the previous members with the exception of Cyclops, who remained. This team differed greatly
from the original. Unlike in the early issues of the original series, the new team was not made up
of teenagers and they also had a more diverse background. Marvel's corporate owners, Cadence
Industries, had suggested the new team should be international, feeling it needed characters with
"foreign appeal".[8] So each character was from a different country with varying cultural and
philosophical beliefs, and all were already well-versed in using their mutant powers, several
being experienced in combat. Another major difference is that unlike the original X-Men who
were White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) with the exception of the half-Irish/half-Jewish
Iceman, the "All-New, All-Different" X-Men team was composed of a Soviet/Russian atheist, a
German Catholic blue demon-like creature, a Kenyan-American woman, an Irish Catholic, an
Apache Native American, a Japanese male and a Canadian agent as its members.

The "all-new, all-different X-Men"[9] were led by Cyclops, from the original team, and consisted
of the newly created Colossus (from the Soviet Union/Russia), Nightcrawler (from West
Germany/Germany), Storm (from Kenya), and Thunderbird (a Native American of Apache
descent), and three previously introduced characters: Banshee (from Ireland), Sunfire (from
Japan), and Wolverine (from Canada). Wolverine eventually became the breakout character on
the team and, in terms of comic sales and appearances, the most popular X-Men character even
getting his own solo title. Sunfire would reject membership of the X-Men shortly after their first
mission. However, this team would not remain whole for long as Sunfire quit immediately and
never really accepted the other members, and Thunderbird would die in the very next mission.
Filling in the vacancy, a revamped Jean Grey soon rejoined the X-Men under her new persona of
"Phoenix". Angel, Beast, Iceman, Havok, and Polaris also made significant guest appearances.

The revived series was illustrated by Cockrum, and later by John Byrne, and written by Chris
Claremont. Claremont became the series' longest-running contributor.[10] The run met with
critical acclaim and produced such landmark storylines as the death of Thunderbird, the
emergence of Phoenix, the saga of the Starjammers and the M'Kraan Crystal, the introduction of
Alpha Flight and the Proteus saga.[11] Other characters introduced during this time include
Amanda Sefton, Mystique, and Moira MacTaggert, with her genetic research facility on Muir
Island.

The 1980s began with the comic's best-known story arc, the Dark Phoenix Saga, which saw
Phoenix manipulated by the illusionist Mastermind and becoming corrupted with an
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overwhelming lust for power and destruction as the evil Dark Phoenix. Other important
storylines included Days of Future Past, the saga of Deathbird and the Brood, the discovery of
the Morlocks, the invasion of the Dire Wraiths and The Trial of Magneto, as well as X-Men: God
Loves, Man Kills, the partial inspiration for the 2003 movie X2: X-Men United.[12]

Uncanny X-Men #227 (March 1988) by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri

By the early 1980s, X-Men was Marvel's top-selling comic title. Its sales were such that
distributors and retailers began using an "X-Men index", rating each comic book publication by
how many orders it garnered compared to that month's issue of X-Men.[13] The growing
popularity of Uncanny X-Men and the rise of comic book specialty stores led to the introduction
of a number of ongoing spin-off series nicknamed "X-Books." The first of these was The New
Mutants, soon followed by Alpha Flight, X-Factor, Excalibur, and a solo Wolverine title. When
Claremont conceived a story arc, the Mutant Massacre, which was too long to run in the monthly
X-Men, editor Louise Simonson decided to have it overlap into several X-Books. The story was a
major financial success,[14] and when the later Fall of the Mutants was similarly successful, the
marketing department declared that the X-Men lineup would hold such crossovers annually.[15]

Throughout the decade, Uncanny X-Men was written solely by Chris Claremont, and illustrated
for long runs by John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Paul Smith, John Romita, Jr., and Marc Silvestri.
Additions to the X-Men during this time were Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, Rogue, Jean
Grey/Phoenix, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot, Jubilee, Forge and Gambit. In a controversial move,
Professor X relocated to outer space to be with Lilandra Neramani, Majestrix of the Shi'ar
Empire, in 1986. Magneto then joined the X-Men in Xavier's place and became the director of
the New Mutants. This period also included the emergence of the Hellfire Club, the arrival of the
mysterious Madelyne Pryor, and the villains Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, Mojo, and Sabretooth.

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