X-Men, Renegade Superheroes!

The X-Men are a group of mutant superheroes, and among the most enduring and popular comic books published by Marvel Comics. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby originally created them in 1963. A band of mutant misfits, they were looked down on by society’s elite. And thus creating yet another minority group to become bigoted and hated by others.

Professor Charles Xavier founded the group under the cover of a "school for gifted youngsters" in rural New York. In fact, Xavier trained young mutants to control their abilities and use them for the cause of good. The original team consisted of five teenagers: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, the Beast, the Angel, and Iceman. Lee and Kirby did not last long on the original series, handing the reins over to a variety of creators, including Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, and Jim Steranko. Much of the run is regarded as unremarkable, among the lesser work of the early days of Marvel Comics. However, Thomas and Neal Adams produced a memorable series of stories in the late 1960s. It was too little, too late, and the book became a reprint title following issue #67.

Other members of the group during this period included Mimic, Changeling, Havok and Polaris. Their foes included the team's arch- nemesis Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, as well as the Blob, and the Sentinels.

In 1975, Len Wein and Dave Cockrum recreated the Xmen. Rather than a group of troubled teenagers who became friends, this group consisted of seasoned adults used to making their own way in the world. Under the leadership of Cyclops, the contentiousness, focus on character conflict and development, along with more sophisticated story lines, helped build these characters into a fan-favorite franchise.

The original "new" X-Men consisted of Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Sunfire, and Thunderbird. Marvel Girl would return in a substantially more powerful form, renamed Phoenix. Later additions included Shadowcat and Rogue. Their opponents included Magneto, Arcade, The Hellfire Club, Doctor Doom, the Brood, the Morlocks, and Mastermind.

With this quick synopsis of the origins of the Xmen, I hope I have piqued your curiosity. For a more in deep historical development of the individual members, you can jump to this X-Men article. From there you can follow the links to each team member individually, but be sure to come back.

Now if you happen to be into collecting and reading more about the Amazing Adventures of the Xmen, I have researched some excellent resources. Here is an excellent collection of X-Men comics and back issues. I don’t think you will be disappointed. And of course, the ole standby, Amazon , has a multitude of items to tickle your taste buds. Don’t stay too long though, and come back here.

You will be able to find other links to some very interesting and informational resources throughout my site. To get back to my comic book page, just close this browser. If you arrived at this page first, then by all means, look at my main URL in your address window and go there for some amazing comic book information.