 The Xmen are fictional team of superheroes from Marvel Comics. The team was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and debuted in The Xmen #1, which was published in September 1963. The Xmen are mutants who are born with latent superhuman abilities, which lay dorment until puberty where they manifest themselves. In the stories, many ordinary humans harbor an intense fear and/or distrust of mutants (often referred to as Homo 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. The Xmen team were formed by Professor Charles Xavier, 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 Xmen 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 Xmen have been adapated into films and television shows. The television shows have included one of the most successful weekend morning programs, Xmen: The Animated Series and the hit Kids WB! animated series Xmen: Evolution. In 2000, the Xmen movie directed by Bryan Singer was released and featured Patrick Stewart (as Professor Charles Xavier), James Marsden (as Scott Summers / Cyclops), Halle Berry (as Ororo / Storm), Hugh Jackman (as Logan / Wolverine), Anna Paquin (as Marie / Rogue) and Ian McKellen (as Erik Lensherr / Magneto). Its sequel X2: Xmen United was released in 2003, again directed by Singer. A third Xmen movie, Xmen: 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 Xmen 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 Xmen #309, Xavier claims that the name "Xmen" was never intended to be a self-tribute.
The Xmen were founded by the paraplegic telepath Professor Professor Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X. Xavier gathered the Xmen 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 Xmen 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 Xmen 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. His key followers, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, were Gypsies (Roma). Only one new member of the Xmen 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 Xmen 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.
Xmen History: the 70'es
Xmen History: the 80'es
Xmen History: the 90'es
Xmen History: the 00'es | |
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