You can go to Wikidpedia and get a pretty good overview of the X-Men history without actually having to read 45 years worth of comic books. In fact I recommend that’s what you do. But there’s also a lesser known theory about how the X-Men originally came to be.
I’ve been a fan of the X-Men for a while. And, well, it’s been weird watching the rest of the world catch on. I’m suppose I’m happy that characters I’ve enjoyed are being enjoyed by other people. And really I’m too old to if “stuff gets too big.” I grew up a punk rocker AND a break dancer in the 80’s, so-to say I’ve seen my childhood mined by pop culture is the under-est of understatements. The first 20 times I saw something “cool” get discovered I was a little miffed. But now I’ve got a house note and visa bills to keep me preoccupied if you know what I’m saying.
So let’s talk X-Men. Like I said http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men will pretty much give you what you need. But to recap; they were created at Marvel Comics by the infamous Stan Lee in 1963 with Jack Kriby doing the art. Things went well until people lost interest in 1969. 1975 the book was given a second life with a bunch of new characters, including Wolverine. And this is where I come in. I had collected comic books as a kid because my older sister had. But she liked TERRIBLE comics like Richie Rich, Casper, Red Devil, Archie-basically the whole Harvey line. But ONE DAY she get a comic pack (that’s how they used to sell them in the olden days) that included issue 94 of the X-Men. Which was right after the special giant issue full of new X-Men. And I knew immediately this was better than The Flash, Batman and even Spider-Man.
One of the key people in the 1975 X-Men reboot was Dave Cockrum. Who had worked extensively at DC comics, particularly on the Legion of Super-Heroes. His specialized in creating character costumes. In fact he was instrumental in the look of the new X-Men. But the DC roots go deeper than that. Those DC roots PRE-DATE the original X-Men by 3 months in the form of The Doom Patrol.
Arnold Drake was the main creator of The Doom Patrol and you can read his comments about the situation at the link above. But it’s pretty hard not to see the connection The X-Men had Professor Charles Xavier, and the DP had Doctor Niles Caulder-both guys in wheelchairs. I mean come on! And the original premise of the DB is that there were misfits and outcasts SO weird they had to exist in secret, but they had super powers and still wanted to do good for society. Does that sound like the X-Men to you. Yeah, of course. So go read the wiki’s. You decide.
