COMICS PORTAL: Celebrating 60 Uncanny X-Men Years!

On Thursday, March 16, the “X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years Live Virtual Event” will happen!

WHAT’S THIS EVENT ABOUT?

On Thursday, March 16, at 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT, Marvel Unlimited will host a live, subscriber-only celebration of 60 years of mutant madness! It will spotlight the history and creative legacy of Marvel’s mutants, from their beginnings as the original five to their present era in the Krakoan Age.

Anyone wishing to attend must become an annual member at Marvel Unlimited by March 7! You will journey through the history of the mutants with live interviews, fan Q&As, giveaways, and more.

Participating in this event will be Chris Claremont, Gerry Duggan, Jonathan Hickman, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Louise Simonson, and Walt Simonson. Appearing from the X-Men: The Animated Series will be Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald. Also, from Marvel Studio’s X-Men ’97 will be Beau DeMayo. They will all relive the X-Men’s epic moments and share the secrets behind your favorite X-Men characters.

Current Marvel Unlimited Annual or Annual Plus members will receive an email with details on how to register for the event. To sign up or upgrade to Marvel Unlimited Annual or Annual Plus tier, go to marvel.com/xmen60event.

For those new to Marvel Unlimited, it’s your all-access pass to over 30,000 Marvel comics at  your fingertips!

THE X-MEN LEGACY!

The X-Men remain one of the most influential groups in comics to this day. Originally drawn by Jack Kirby and written by Stan Lee, these mutants started out as a group of five, each with his or her own unique abilities. Warren had wings and could fly, Jean had telekinetic powers, Hank was brilliant with beast-like abilities, Bobby was the Iceman, and Scott was the leader with deadly laser-strong eye beams.

However, it wasn’t until the “uncanny” version of the team happened that the X-Men really took off. Wolverine was on board, Storm had weather control, Colossus turned to iron, Nightcrawler could teleport, and Thunderbird was added strength and agility to the group.

It all took place in Giant-Size X-Men #1, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Some of the memorable storylines included the Dark Phoenix saga, the alien Brood tale, and the various encounters with Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The X-Men have influenced many Marvel titles, including their own, the Avengers, Wolverine’s own book, Excalibur working in the UK, and the original five’s reteaming in X-Factor.

MY TAKE

I remember when Jean Grey passed. My twin brother, who had followed the X-Men for many years, literally cried for days when he read that comic. I did my best to console him, letting him know that death in comics is never permanent, but he pretty much grieved until Jean was found alive later on. The story had that much influence on him.

I also had a roommate who’s first name was Scott, so he was interested in Cyclops as a character. For him, I bought the X-Men titles for a long time. However, I noticed that his interest fell after a while, so I stopped buying them. I had found the storylines rather difficult to follow because I hadn’t read all the books, which a friend told me was required to “get” the X-Men properly.

I remember the hey days of the X-Men, when they were on pretty much every fan’s pull list in stores. I was in a local shop one day when two fifteen-year-old boys met, and one of them held up a cover of the X-Men featuring Wolverine. “Look,” he said, “it’s Wolverine—and he’s SWEATING!” I interjected, “Don’t you just hate it when they make him act out of character?” They both looked at me quizzically, then they moved to the next aisle so they could continue their conversation in peace. The guy who ran the shop had bent down behind the counter so they wouldn’t see him laughing at my comment.

Wolverine has changed over the years. At first, he was short and smelly, calling everyone “Bub.” Then, as his popularity increased, he grew taller and less offensive, eventually even leading the team.

It’s really odd for me these days to realize we haven’t seen a live-action X-Men film in years! Granted, there are animated shows on the way, but I have trouble with Marvel animated because they tend to tell long, LONG stories instead of boiling them down to understandable episodes. I remember turning into a Spider-Man animated show to see that it was chapter 35 of a story. Yikes!

The truth is, though, that the X-Men really ruled the comics industry for many years. While they aren’t quite up in the stratosphere any longer, they are still fondly remembered by many long-time fans.  I know many fans who hope that they will once again dominate the comics landscape. Will that happen? I don’t know, but we’ll see!

SO, NOW WHAT?

One of the aspects of the mutants that made them popular among the industry was the fact that they were indeed the victims of oppression. Because they were different, they were attacked by big metal monsters and people who looked on them as “less” than they were even though they had powers others didn’t have.

I knew several fans of color who looked at them as symbols of the treatment the people of their race experienced.

However, the thing I often found hard to understand was the fact that the mutants often looked like teen models rather than people whose abilities made them obviously different. I never saw a mutant who had an extra arm poking out of their forehead, for example. Radiation and other kinds of ways humans gain powers and such often don’t make individuals look better, but worse, it seems to me.

Granted, there have been some X-Men who appear very different from the average Joe, like the current incarnation of the Beast, Nightcrawler, and others. But they are the exception rather than the rule, and that has always bothered me.

Still, you can’t argue against the idea that, for 60 years, their influence has been “uncanny,” so Happy Anniversary, X-Men! Here’s hoping you have many, many more!

What do you think? Are you a current or a former fan of the X-Men? What could Marvel do to help the mutants become more popular again? Which mutant is your favorite? Whatever your opinions, be sure to share them in the space below!

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