Since X-Men First Class Opens On June 2...

The Uncanny X-Men will always be the the animated TV series with the best opening soundtrack of all.




The X-Men is, of course, a team of young mutants led by Professor X who has taken it upon himself to shelter, train, and harness their power for the benefit of all. That includes the humans who persecute them and see them as threats.

That, basically, is the premise of the story of the X-Men: a dystopian world where humans and mutants struggle to co-exist peacefully, where one hunts down the other, while the other tries to explain himself.

One way or another, we all feel misunderstood, isolated, and discriminated (even persecuted) by society for our weirdness and freakiness, just like the mutant superheroes of the X-Men who just happened to have the X-gene in them. That's why we love the X-Men; we long to be them, to use our freakiness and weirdness to our advantage, and in effect have their superpowers and make a difference. (Which is saying there is a superhero in all of us.)

As such, more than just featuring smashing fight sequences between humans and the mutants, or between the X-Men and Magneto, the X-Men series have delved into pressing issues such as anti-semitism, religion, racism, even gay and lesbian rights.  (When Nightcrawler asks Mystique why she's never used her shape-shifting powers to just blend in with everyone, she says "Because we shouldn't have to").

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, the Uncanny X-Men has successfully transcended multiple platforms, from comic books to animated cartoon to video games and the big screen.  

June 2 is when X-Men First Class opens in theaters worldwide.

A Bit of Trivia

• The X-Men was originally intended to be called the Merry Mutants--clearly not a promising title for movies. 
  
• Northstar (who first appeared in 1979) was one of the first openly-gay superheroes in American comic books.
  
• In the Age of Apocalypse timeline when Professor X is accidentally killed, Magneto took up leadership of the X-Men.
  
• In issue #114, Storm marries Wolverine and bears his daughter named Kendall Logan.
  
• Wolverine's real name is James Howlett, though he is more commonly referred to as Logan.
  
• In the Dark Phoenix saga--where Jean Grey assumes the evil and infinitely-powered role of Dark Phoenix and destroys an entire star and billions of its inhabitants--many possible endings were proposed, including having Lilandra depower Jean Grey or Jean Grey being banished into a radioactive asteroid to burn there forever, before finally agreeing on a plot where Jean Grey sacrifices herself and takes her own life.
  
• Galactus was created by Stan Lee as a departure from the usual run of villains in comic books. Says Lee, "I wondered, 'How could we get something bigger than a villain? Let's do a guy who's like a demigod - I like the name 'Galactus'". Thus Galactus possesses the Power Cosmic.