When many people hear about the X-Men, they think of a silly kid's comic
book, but that is not so. X-Men, actually most comic books in general, are a
unique blend of two classic art forms; drawings, sometimes even paintings, and
storytelling. A comic artist must be able to convey the right mood and feeling
for his or her art. They must also be able to fluidly tell a story and fit it
all in the allotted number of pages. The stories often probe deep into the
human psyche, questioning what is right and what is wrong or showing human
frailty. That is not all. In a series like the X-Men, where there are at least
a few hundred characters, past and present, leading and supporting, even dead ...view middle of the document...
Later, the baby,
Nate, is infected by another bad guy with an incurable virus, so he's sent 2000
years into the future where he grows up then comes back to help fight the good
fight. Nate was brought into the future by a group of people pulled together by
his “older sister.”
His older sister is Rachel, who was born in an alternate timeline where
almost all the good guys were dead. Her parents were Scott and the real Jean.
She came back to prevent her time from ever happening and ended up about 2000
years in the future because a friend was stuck traveling about in the time
stream.
Meanwhile Alex feels that he cannot live up to Scott's standards so he
constantly tries to escape his shadow. He gets brainwashed into being a bad guy,
recovers to lead a group of good guys, and gets brainwashed again.
Great family history, no? Oh yes, there may be another brother around
somewhere.
The X-Men are all mutants, Homo Sapien Superior, the next evolutionary
step for human beings, a minority group of people with a genetic quirk, an “X-
Factor” that grants them extraordinary powers. Some are blessings, like the
ability to control the weather or to fly. Some are curses, such as the ability
to blast uncontrollably strong beams of force from the eyes. Blessed or cursed,
mutants are a group of people who are feared for their differences. Some
mutants strike back against humanity in a harmful manner. One group who attacks
regular humans is the Acolytes, formerly lead by the X-Men's oldest enemy,
Magneto. They have attacked hospitals and orphanages just to “cleanse the
genepool.” Some strive to bridge the gap between mutant and human. These are
the X-Men, a group of mutants, formed by Professor Charles Xavier, the world's
strongest telepath, “sworn to protect a world that fears and hates them.” The
X-Men comics are not just about prejudice either. They tackle many social
issues, such as abortion and AIDS.
The original team of X-Men consisted of five teen-agers and Xavier
(Professor X). These were not as popular as other titles of the times such as
Superman, Batman, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers. The early
stories were basically about a supergroup that went around facing super bad guys
and some prejudice now and then. After sixty-odd issues, X-Men started just
reprinting old stories. This went on for about thirty issues when the book was
going to be canceled. The X-Men were saved by the creative team of Dave Cockrum,
John Byrne, and Terry Austin with Giant Sized X-Men #1.
Giant Sized X-Men #1 introduced an “all-new, all-different X-Men.” This
boasted in a new team of mutants. The new team of X-Men was multi-racial and
multi-national, whereas the original team was a bunch of white American kids.
It was also a very radical team, considering the time period (the late...
