Uncanny X-Men

Publication history

1963–1970: Original run

Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the series launched in September 1963. Lee originally wanted to title the book The Merry Mutants, but Marvel's editorial team insisted on using X-Men instead. The first issue introduced the original five X-Men (Warren Worthington III/Angel, Hank McCoy/Beast, Scott Summers/Cyclops, Robert "Bobby" Drake/Iceman, and Jean Grey/Marvel Girl) and their teacher, Charles Xavier/Professor X as well as their nemesis, the supervillain Erik Magnus Lehnsherr/Magneto. Although Lee would deny it, it was noticed by contemporary writer Arnold Drake, that the concept of the series emulated his own earlier series for National Periodical Publications's (now DC Comics) Doom Patrol, in many respects. However, National's editorial staff did not support Drake's concerns.

Initially published bimonthly, it became a monthly with issue #14 (November 1965). Lee's run lasted 19 issues, and featured the X-Men battling villains such as Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants (which included the siblings Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver); the Sentinels, giant robots programmed to destroy all mutants, and their creator Bolivar Trask; and Cain Marko/Juggernaut, Xavier's stepbrother transformed by a mystical gem and seeking revenge on Xavier.

The series was placed firmly in the Marvel Universe, with guest appearances by Namor the Sub-Mariner in #6 and the Avengers in #9. The jungle adventure hero Kevin Plunder/Ka-Zar and the Savage Land were introduced in issue #10. Roy Thomas wrote the series from #20–43 (May 1966 – April 1968). Thomas and artist Werner Roth created Sean Cassidy/Banshee in #28 (Jan. 1967). The X-Men #45 (June 1968) featured a crossover with The Avengers #53 (June 1968). After brief runs by Gary Friedrich and Arnold Drake – the latter of whom introduced the new X-Men Lorna Dane/Polaris and Alex Summers/Havok, and during which the series adopted a new logo designed by Jim Steranko – Thomas returned to the series with issue #55 and was joined by artist Neal Adams the following issue for an acclaimed run of stories. After a battle with the Hulk in issue #66 (March 1970), the title ceased publishing original material and featured reprints in issues #67–93 (December 1970 – April 1975).

1970–1975: Other appearances

Despite the title going into reprints for the next five years between #67–93, the X-Men continued to appear in other Marvel titles throughout this period in a guest-starring capacity or cameo appearance, either as a team or in solo adventures.

Angel appeared without the X-Men in a three-part story involving the murder of his father at the hands of his uncle, Burt Worthington, a.k.a. the Dazzler, in Ka-Zar #2 (Dec. 1970) and #3 (March 1971), and Marvel Tales #30 (April 1971).

Iceman made a guest appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #92 (Jan. 1971), where he battles Spider-Man after mistakenly assuming he abducted Gwen Stacy. Later, after realizing his error, they team up against corrupt politician, Sam Bullitt. Iceman appears alone once again in Marvel Team-Up #23 (July 1974), where he teams up with the Human Torch to battle Equinox. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Angel also make a brief appearance.

The Beast starred in his own series in Amazing Adventures #11–17 (March 1972 – March 1973) after accepting a position with the Brand Corporation, and decides to leave the X-Men for good. The original team appeared briefly in a flashback in #11 (March 1972) and in a present-day cameo appearance in #15 (November 1972). Professor Xavier and Marvel Girl briefly appeared in Amazing Adventures #12 (May 1972), and Angel helped Beast defeat the Griffin in Amazing Adventures #15. After his run on that series ended, Beast battled against the Hulk alone in The Incredible Hulk #161 (March 1973), concluding a storyline which began in Amazing Adventures.

Havok and Polaris, as recounted in a flashback in Incredible Hulk #150 (April 1972), leave the X-Men after a bitter quarrel with Iceman and move to New Mexico. In a present-day appearance in the same issue, they encounter and battle the Hulk, who mistakes Polaris for his former lover Jarella, and a biker gang.

As a team, the X-Men assisted Spider-Man in capturing Morbius in Marvel Team-Up #4 (Sept. 1972), written by Gerry Conway, after one of Xavier's colleagues is abducted by the vampire. In Adventure into Fear #20 (Feb. 1974), it is recounted in a flashback how Morbius escaped from the X-Men's mansion. Professor Xavier and Cyclops appeared in a brief cameo.

1975–1991: Chris Claremont era

X-Men was relaunched in May 1975 with Giant-Size X-Men #1, by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. The title featured a new, international team consisting of Scott Summers (Cyclops) of the United States, Ireland's Sean Cassidy (Banshee), the Japanese mutant Shiro Yoshida (Sunfire), and James "Logan" Howlett (Wolverine) from Canada, along with new characters Ororo Munroe (Storm) from Kenya, the German Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), Piotr "Peter" Rasputin (Colossus) from Russia in the Soviet Union, and John Proudstar (Thunderbird), a Native American. The original plan was to continue Giant-Size X-Men as a quarterly, but instead original stories were printed in the book, again initially bimonthly.

Chris Claremont's first issue as writer, #94, featured all the original X-Men leaving the team with the exception of Cyclops. Sunfire also left, having agreed to assist the X-Men on one successful mission only. Thunderbird was killed in #95. Moira MacTaggert, a human ally of the X-Men, and later to be established as a former fiancée of Xavier, debuted in #96. Marvel Girl became Phoenix in issue #101. This was followed by the first Shi'ar space opera story. Cockrum was replaced as penciller by John Byrne as of #108. Byrne became co-plotter, and during his run the series became a monthly title again.

The series title was changed to The Uncanny X-Men with issue #114 (October 1978).

For the remainder of the decade, the X-Men fought enemies such as Steven Lang and his Sentinels, Magneto, Banshee's cousin Black Tom Cassidy and Cain Marko/Juggernaut, the Shi'ar Erik the Red and the Imperial Guard, Arcade, Wolverine's former colleagues, the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, and MacTaggert's son Proteus. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Claremont and Byrne's run on The X-Men second on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".

The "Dark Phoenix Saga" in 1980 led to a change in the line-up of the team, with the death of Phoenix (Jean Grey), and Cyclops leaving the team to mourn her. Comics writers and historians Roy Thomas and Peter Sanderson observed that "'The Dark Phoenix Saga' is to Claremont and Byrne what 'the Galactus Trilogy' is to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It is a landmark in Marvel history, showcasing its creators' work at the height of their abilities." The storyline also saw the introduction of recurring antagonists the Hellfire Club, and its Inner Circle consisting of Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Harry Leland, Donald Pierce, along with Mastermind, previously a member of Magneto's Brotherhood. Teenage mutant Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat was introduced in #129 (Jan. 1980) and joined the X-Men in #139. Alison Blaire/Dazzler, a disco-singing, roller-skating mutant, was introduced in #130 (Feb. 1980), but did not join the team, instead having a solo title.

1991–2011: Post-Claremont era

After Claremont's run, the X-Men were divided into two color-coded squads, with a Blue team headlining the adjectiveless X-Men title, while the Gold team, consisting of Warren Worthington III/Archangel, Piotr "Peter" Rasputin/Colossus, Jean Grey, Robert "Bobby" Drake/Iceman and Ororo Munroe/Storm, appeared in Uncanny. This roster was later joined by Lucas Bishop, another refugee from the future. After Claremont's departure, Jim Lee continued as plotter, while John Byrne scripted from #281–286. Byrne was replaced as scripter from #287 by Scott Lobdell, who was fully credited as writer from #289. The "X-Cutioner's Song" crossover was released in the fall of 1992 and resulted in the outbreak of the Legacy Virus, a mutant-specific plague which continued as a story element in X-Men comics until 2001.

Crossovers continued through the 1990s. The "Fatal Attractions" crossover of 1993 saw the X-Men battle Magneto again, and the "Phalanx Covenant" story of 1994 focused mostly on the techno-organic Phalanx. Uncanny X-Men briefly ceased publication during the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline in 1995, which dealt with an alternative present created by a time-travelling assassin killing Xavier; it was replaced by Astonishing X-Men. Lobdell was writing X-Men as well from 1995.

Lobdell was replaced by Steven T. Seagle with issue #350 (Dec. 1997). He was replaced in turn with Alan Davis, as plotter, from issue #366 (Mar. 1999) to #380. Davis's run included "the Twelve" crossover from #370–375, in which Apocalypse sought the only 12 mutants, which also ran in his X-Men title, again being treated as a biweekly publication. As part of the Revolution relaunch, Chris Claremont made a brief return from #381 (June 2000) to #389, at which point he transferred to the new X-Treme X-Men title, as Grant Morrison took over X-Men (vol. 2) and that became the flagship X-Men title. From 2001, Lobdell made a short return, and then Joe Casey and Chuck Austen wrote runs into 2004. The title became bimonthly from 2003 to 2004.

The X-Men: Reload reshuffle of titles in 2004 led to Claremont returning to Uncanny with issue #444. The stories addressed the new status quo established by Morrison. Claremont remained until #473. His final story was "End of the Greys" in 2006, as part of the "Decimation" storyline, where the vast majority of mutants had lost their powers. He was replaced by Ed Brubaker, who wrote a 12-part epic space opera story "The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire", as a follow-up to his miniseries X-Men: Deadly Genesis. After this, the title led into the "Messiah Complex" crossover event, dealing with the first mutant birth since the Decimation.

2012: Volume 2

The original series ended with #544 and relaunched as a new volume after the events of the X-Men: Schism miniseries, wherein half the X-Men, led by Wolverine, returned to New York, to found a new school. The new volume featured the Extinction Team, containing members of the X-Men whom Cyclops had retained to deal with potential threats to the mutant race's survival. Gillen's run led into, and crossed over with, the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline and finished with issue #20 in October 2012. The volume ended with Cyclops, who had become increasingly hardline during Gillen's run, in prison for his actions during that storyline. Gillen wrote a five-part epilogue, AvX: Consequences.

2013–2015: Volume 3

As part of Marvel NOW!, a new volume of Uncanny X-Men was launched in February 2013 with an April 2013 cover date, written by Brian Michael Bendis, who is also writing another X-Men title, All-New X-Men, and drawn by Chris Bachalo. It features Cyclops and remnants of his Extinction Team recruiting new mutants to help them prepare for what Cyclops believes to be an inevitable revolution, coinciding events of the first All-New X-Men story arc. This volume saw Cyclops leading his team to an abandoned Weapon X facility to train new recruits and prepare for impending war against the humans, who see Cyclops as a terrorist due to his actions in Avengers Vs. X-Men. Eventually, Kitty Pryde and the time-displaced X-Men join his cause after facing a team of X-Men from a dystopian future. It lasted 36 issues, with the final issue reverting to the legacy numbering of Uncanny X-Men #600.

2016–2017: Volume 4

As part of All-New, All-Different Marvel, Uncanny X-Men was relaunched, written by Cullen Bunn with art by Greg Land. The relaunched Uncanny X-Men team features Magneto leading Psylocke, Archangel, M, Mystique, Fantomex and Sabretooth, while a different team led by Storm is called the Extraordinary X-Men. Cyclops's fate after Battleworld is shown in the Death of X miniseries, where Cyclops is exposed to the Terrigen Mist and dies from M-Pox.

The tagline for the relaunched series is "Bigger threats require more threatening X-Men", and is considered to be a continuation of Bunn's previous work on the Magneto solo series. The series will deal with threats that arise as a result of a new, more dangerous world post-Secret Wars. Summing up the team, Bunn states "They're upholding Xavier's dream, but they have no right to do so."

2019: Volume 5

Announced in August 2018, Uncanny X-Men (vol. 5) debuted November 14, 2018, with the weekly 10-part "X-Men: Disassembled" arc and follows on from the events of the Extermination miniseries. This incarnation of the team features Lucas Bishop, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe/Storm, Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock/Psylocke, Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Robert "Bobby" Drake/Iceman, Hank McCoy/Beast, Laura Kinney/X-23, Lorna Dane/Polaris, Jubilation Lee/Jubilee, Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat and Sam Guthrie/Cannonball as well as trainee X-Men Hisako Ichiki/Armor, Victor Borkowski/Anole, Megan Gwynn/Pixie, Idie Okonkwo/Oya, Robert Herman/Glob, Santo Vaccarro/Rockslide. Following the 10th issue, the series began focusing on a new team of X-Men featuring Scott Summers/Cyclops, James "Logan" Howlett/Wolverine, Alex Summers/Havok, Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man, Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Danielle Moonstar/Mirage, and Xi'an Coy Minh/Karma.

After this volume, all X-Men titles were cancelled and two intertwining six-issue miniseries written by Jonathan Hickman, called "House of X" and "Powers of X", began a weekly run in July 2019 and concluded on October of the same year. Shortly after those were completed, the X-Men series relaunched with X-Men #1, accompanied by the other related teams' regular series, such as Marauders, X-Force, Excalibur, New Mutants, X-Corp, Wolverine, X-Men: Giant Size, and reviving 1987's Fallen Angels; all part of the 2019 story arc "Dawn of X", which searches to unite all mutantdom and settle down as a whole species.

2024–present: Volume 6

It was announced that a new Uncanny X-Men series would return. The first issue was released on August 7, 2024, cover-dated October 2024, and is written by Gail Simone and pencilled by David Marquez. The members of this team are Wolverine, Gambit, Jubilee, Rogue, and Nightcrawler. In the series, the team are sought out by a group of teenage mutants, known as the Outliers, for help because they are being pursued by the creature Hag. This team consists of Ransom, Jitter, Calico, and Deathdream, and the X-Men subsequently agree to take them in and train them.

Contributors

Annuals

Like many comic book series, Uncanny X-Men had an associated double-sized Annual series, once in both 1970 and 1971, then regularly from 1979 to 2001. A second series of Uncanny X-Men Annuals began in 2006 as volume 2 issue #1.

Team roster

Timeline

Notes

This is an article about the comic book, and thus the publication history, not the in-continuity history. As such, the above reflects the team roster for the book at time of publication. Similarly, this article only reflects the team roster for the X-Men team whose home is this publication.

Professor X is the Headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and mentor to the X-Men, but he is rarely (if ever) a member of the X-Men team. In his role as mentor, he has typically been present in the book, but he has notable absences, including issues #43–64 (dead, later retconned as preparing for the Z'Nox), #200–273 (with Lilandra Neramani in Shi'ar space; replaced as Headmaster by Magneto during most of this absence), #340–351 (in government custody after the Onslaught crisis), #379–386 (educating Cadre K in space), and #495–513 (rebuilding his mind in X-Men: Legacy).

Jean Grey was replaced by the Phoenix Force from issues #101–137. This was a retcon that was only revealed years later.

At many times, the team roster has been the same as that appearing in X-Men (vol. 2) and during two periods, the two books have even been treated by their writer as a single bi-weekly title (issues #289–350 by Scott Lobdell and issues #366–380 by Alan Davis).

During issues #370–372, Wolverine was replaced by a Skrull infiltrator, leading to "The Shattering"/"The Twelve" storylines, and the Astonishing X-Men (vol. 2) limited series.

After moving to San Francisco, many other mutants continually appear as background characters or allies, but apart from during crossovers they are rarely considered part of the team roster.

After the series was relaunched as Uncanny X-Men #1, it featured Cyclops's "Extinction Team", composed of himself, Emma Frost, Namor, Magneto, Storm, Hope Summers, Colossus, Danger and Magik; Psylocke was briefly a member of this team while Emma was injured.

The sixth volume, beginning with Uncanny X-Men #1 (released August 7, 2024) also features the Outliers, consisting of Ransom, Calico, Jitter, and Deathdream, alongside the main X-Men team.

Title

Until 2011, Uncanny X-Men remained Marvel Comics' only Silver Age title to retain its consecutive issue numbering since its conception, even during the early 1970s reprint hiatus. The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four and other legacy titles have all, at one time or another, restarted their numbering at #1, though all later returned to their original numbering. The final issue to be published under the original numbering was #544, published in October 2011 with a December 2011 cover date, which was followed by a new #1 the following month. In 2015, Marvel released Uncanny X-Men #600, following Vol. 3 #35, as a conclusion to the Brian Michael Bendis' run on both All New X-Men and Vol. 3.

From issue #1-93 the indicia title was The X-Men. After the relaunch with issue #94, and up to #138, the article The was dropped from the indicia title, making it X-Men, but the article was added back in issues #139–141.

The title The Uncanny X-Men was first used in the issue #95 title block following the "Stan Lee Presents:" tagline, though the title did not appear on the covers or indicia titles yet; covers begin displaying this title in #114. Beginning with issue #142 and up to #407, the indicia title was finally changed to The Uncanny X-Men. Issue #408 was the first to use the indicia title Uncanny X-Men.

A separate series, titled simply X-Men, launched with an October 1991 cover date.

Collected editions

In other media

The title card of The Super Hero Squad Show episode "Hexed, Vexed and Perplexed!" is an homage to X-Men #1.

During a montage in the 2024 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Deadpool & Wolverine, Wade Wilson encounters a variant of Wolverine nailed to an X, a reference to the cover art of issue #251.